My close friend is the Head of English at a secondary school. She was in tears when the exams got cancelled. All her hard work with the students down the pan. All the students work down the pan. Everyone who she had spent hours of her time with after school providing extra support to boost their grades, pointless. She wasn’t dancing for joy. I don’t know any teacher who is dancing for joy right now.
Why do teachers get out into the same category?
Let’s do it with every other job. As you know, all teachers fit in one category.
Nursery is always a good one: all nursery staff are young chavvy girls who didn’t do very well at school, have little grasp of English grammar and couldn’t do anything else so landed on the child care course.
All doctors are privately educated elitist who actually know nothing because Dr Google tells us everything, and they never see us when we want them too because they just want to go home early.
Cares are all foreign immigrants who can barely speak English.
Retail staff are obviously never did well at school if they’ve ended up there so we can talk down to them.
Stay at home mums are just lazy and should provide for their children.
Bankers are all men who get huge bonuses and will loose all your money.
Any of the above true? No.
So likewise:
Many teachers are on a rota system in school. Some frequent, some not so.
Some are still looking after most of their school, some only a handful.
Some schools are setting a full day of work each day and parents are complaining.
Some schools are setting very little and parents are complaining
Some teachers are providing feedback daily and parents are complaining they won’t get off their back
Some teachers are not providing frequent feedback and parents are complaining.
Many of them have taken advantage of the fact that this is actually the Easter Holiday week and actually given themselves time off. Teacher pay is pro rata - want them to work right through the holidays for you this year (which so many have to do anyway) - be ready for a tax increase to pay them all!
Live teaching is a safeguarding hazard in many situations. Some children can’t be shown on a computer screen in someone else’s home as it puts them in danger. It’s not just “refusing” to do live teaching, they can’t!
I’m a furloughed HLTA who is doing nothing. Feel free to thrash me. I already feel low, kick me further.
My class teacher (reception) has spent the last 2 weeks making videos. For every day:
A literacy video - lesson and demo & task
Maths video - lesson and demonstrations &task explanation
A topic video
A French video for each week
She is emailing 3 reading books (scanned in) personalised to each child a week
A science video each week
All these videos have explanations, demonstrations and tasks given. Worksheets sometimes attached, sometimes they’re asked to present the task in a way they choose or she tells them to make a video, make a picture, model etc and explain it.
I’m fact I should add that many days she has made 3 videos for maths and 3 for literacy. For the purposes of differentiation. So everyone has a suitable challenge. She and the rest have been working their backsides off. As normal. I helped create some worksheets and videos before furlough began. Once the term kicks off she will provide feedback for whatever comes back.
Some parents have said they will not be able to complete it all. Some have said its not enough. Some say it sounds great. A couple haven’t even bothered to log on yet and probably won’t.
You can’t ever please everyone.
Stop tying all teachers together. It’s ridiculous. And I for one was more than happy to be on the tosta to look after key children because it’s my job! But I’m furloughed, so won’t be.