Today has been a hard day

[GravityFalls]

I don’t know if it’s just because it’s sinking in that this for the long haul, or because it’s the start of what is normally the best part of the year or what, but I’ve found today really hard.

I teach sixth form and so have a very Y12 heavy timetable and obviously they need to be kept up to date as much as possible. I’m not required to do live lessons thank goodness but it’s taking ages to get everything sorted on Teams because lessons where I might bung them a handout and then talk around it and give them a bit of writing to do now need to be proper PowerPoints with narration and structured activities. So although I have medium term plans and schemes of work it’s all needing way more work from me than usual. Plus every assignment I set needs some sort of written feedback, even stuff I’d usually tick and flick because it’s not really fair to just return work without a work to students who have tried hard to get things in. And this is taking AGES. It’s so much harder than writing comments by hand in spare moments which I usually do.

Then I teach practical BTEC work so I’ve had to rejig the year so they’re doing written work from other units as we’d reached a standstill on their original units. And I’m constantly worried about what we do when this work runs out. And about the 25% of the class who have done nothing since March 20th and who I’m constantly trying to chase up to no avail.

Plus my two primary aged DC have had an influx of work from their school which is great but it’s more to juggle. I don’t know, I’ve just felt very overwhelmed and tired today and I MISS WORK! Although I don’t want to go back until it’s safe either.

I take my hat off to you. Having to teach your own kids is enough of a headache, but you're still working flat out, even harder. You must be exhausted. Thank you from a very grateful parent!

I have nothing useful to add but as a parent of a 6th former who would not get out of bed if he didn't have his college work still going, I am extremely grateful to the teachers who are overcoming really difficult circumstances to try and maintain the new routine and 'normality'.

Thank you

I completely agree. Have 2 young dc one school age and one nursery age who need entertaining plus 3 separate teams and zoom meetings today plus multiple phone calls to make (have a work phone). I'm in pastoral mainly so less actual work setting but still marking and tasks to create and set plus lots of students to contact. Today has felt impossible and my poor DC have literally been screen bound most of the day. Dh is a key worker so working all week as well

Some days are very hard at the moment. No real advice or anything - just wanted to let you know you’re not alone and to say thank you for all the work you’re doing.

I know what you mean about the marking more/differently and that kind of adjustment : although, oddly, I find it more rewarding to see how much effort some of them are making and to be able to 'virtual chat' about their notes.

I am not narrating powerpoints, though! can they not read?!

I absolutely take my hat of to you. I'm not surprised you're overwhelmed.

I'm only part time and am working on curriculum documentation and other paper work, but Dh is having to cover the kids (toddler and 7) so I can work. Occasionally v clingy toddler is challenging. This would be impossible if I was full time.

for you OP, and solidarity. On the days I'm teaching I pretty much have to leave my dc to it. Will have the chance to register the younger ones on Teams tomorrow before my day starts and hopefully they will pick it up quickly.

Anyone else going to make their dc lunch the night before? One less thing to worry about during the day!

I don’t do it for all of them but I’ve always been more of a “talky” teacher so my existing PowerPoints are quite bare bones and I tend to flesh them out a lot. Some I can just add extra to but other stuff works better if I talk over them. I found out how to record my screen so I can pause a video and give comments like I would in class which is pretty cool. Also I’m starting NEA stuff and I know if I just give them the brief I’ll have a handful who panic and run off and do the whole thing in a cold sweat in a week and other who think “wow we’ve got ages” so I wanted to make myself very clear about timelines and so on. I’m very much a teacher who does stuff that works and not for show or going along with fads so I really wouldn’t be doing it unless I knew it was best for my classes! I have big classes too - 20-25 - so even light touch marking takes forever.

Oh god, yeah. That's a lot!

I know what you mean about NEA . I am trying to delay starting that with year 10 because it will just go horribly horribly wrong. I can't add an exasperated sigh to a ppt, can I ?

Well the great thing about sixth form college is I can be a bit less formal so part of my narration is to get the more chatty style I’m used to that’s really missing from remote teaching! Also I’m very glad not to have KS3 and 4 to deal with right now. But the strain of having so many Y12s with all the responsibility that puts on my shoulders is heavy.

And my heart sinks at missing those lovely bright sunny drives into work in the morning, lessons when my BTECs are out filming and I get the classroom to myself, work experience week, gained time, the nice atmosphere that comes with classes you know well when the weather’s good and summer’s looming...it’s like all the grind and none of the fun.

You still have work experience ??

We don't get much gained time at my place but summer can be quite nice . I miss my scenic drive. Don't miss the sweltering classroom though.

I think we teach similar subjects OP.

Let me guess - a subject that would come in very handy for the general public right now but which is catered for in precisely zero online learning packages?

Work experience because we have so many vocational learners who are supposed to do it as part of their course (good luck finding placements that are every vaguely related to the subject for more than half a dozen students!)

I do get quite a bit of gained time but that's balanced by a heavier timetable and fewer frees than I got in school. Plus lunchtime meetings and a 4pm finish. Overall I like the balance though. June and July can be great if you have lots of upper sixth classes - sitting in peace and writing schemes of work.

Anyway, I like my job! I like my students and I like my workplace. And god knows I always want a break from it but this is just ARGH. It's fine, I'll cope, we all will. But it has only the vaguest resemblance to my actual job.

I hear you! I have Y12 and trying to keep them up to date is really hard. I am doing audio sessions through teams but of course, I can't give them handouts so I am having to edit PowerPoints to put extra information on them.

I teach Physics and often do a lot of the calculations/derivations on the whiteboard but I am having to make animated worked solutions.

I have a 6 year old too and his school have sent a really full, detailed timetable of work for him which is great but I have no idea how I am going to do it all!

I am missing being in the classroom and having the interaction with the students. It's just not the same online.

I’m finding it hard, I have 3 young children (5,3&11months) as well as classes to teach, my husband is a key worker so I’m struggling to find time to record without being interrupted, I was getting really stressed about it today until one of my year 9 students emailed me saying:
“Thank you for teaching me online, I don’t mind if your baby interrupts because she’s really cute and it makes me happy.”

My 5 year old has quite a detailed work packet to do which we’re struggling with, his sisters are not making it easy for us.

Yeah one of my year 4 children had a break down in school today.
It’s so very different and hard in school as well.
How do we social distance from students crying ???

I walked past two of the local primary schools today, both very quiet, windows shut etc. and it made me so sad. I really miss teaching, the real life part of it. I'm still doing all the paperwork but you don't get that joy of talking with the kids, seeing them get ready to move up a year, getting excited with them about all the things that usually happen this term.

starrynight19
I was on the brink of tears myself when two students cried and one had a panic attack on the last day (luckily not all at the same time), I just didn’t know what to do for the best.

It sounds like you’ve come away with all the bits you like least about your job and not a lot of the stuff you do. Especially hard if you normally like your job!

I noticed the mood shift in our house when the three week extension was confirmed. We were expecting it, but still! When I got thinking about it I realised we’re asking so much more of our house and our family relationships (and the cleaning schedule ) in lockdown. We’re going to try strategies we use when we bring a newborn in, see if that helps relax things a little. I have five things I know I need to do to go to bed feeling like I’ve had a good day, anything else is a bonus. Full details here for those interested - hope tomorrow is a good day for you. One day at a time Fingers crossed your July, at least, should be more normal for you, once the fall out has settled a bit post lockdown. livelearntogether.co.uk/the_secret_to_a_successful_home_based_day/

From a parent of primary year 6 and secondary year 10 I salute you all

I can't tell you how many times I've said to my dc and family how lucky we are that the teachers are going above and beyond to help our kids so much.

Mine are at different schools yet both schools have been absolutely amazing.

The communication is outstanding bearing in mind how many students they all have to teach help and set up for.

We will be gifting our teachers when we go back to normal and are planning a party to say thank you from us all for being so brilliant at the hardest time for the kids.

Your blog is lovely livelearn.

The newborn approach is appropriate!

*Yeah one of my year 4 children had a break down in school today.
*It’s so very different and hard in school as well.
How do we social distance from students crying ???

Oh gosh poor thing

Sorry if I am going to be patronising but there sounds as if there are a few ways that you can streamline.

I have a similar workload and have been experimenting a bit. I do all my lessons on google slides. It is quicker than power point to make and then I send the kids a link. They can make their own copies. I put explanations, video links and questions in there.

Previously I was getting them to upload their copies of my presentations with questions answers and tasks done. Now, I am going to stop that as it was too time intensive (mostly spent chasing up missing work!). So, instead I am going to use www.goformative.com

It is great for assessing knowledge and understanding quickly. You can write multiple choice questions or even longer answers. It automatically marks the MC questions and provides a really quick way of marking longer answers. I do that after every lesson - around 10 questions from a text book takes about 20 minutes to make - and hopefully it will cut down on marking time. As I teach science and maths IB (loads of MC questions from a question bank), it works great for immediate assessment of learning.

I experimented with making my own videos and screencasts for explanations but there are so many goods on the internet, I just give the kids links for those.

Occasionally, when I need to do a screencast, I use loom. It generates a link immediately and you can share it with only specified people. If you have a wordy subject, I can imagine that you could have a pdf or scan of the student's work and instead of written feedback just talk through it. I used to work with an english teacher who swore by recording verbal feedback as it really cut down on marking time and she said that the students really liked it.

If anyone has any time saving tips for me, I would love to receive them.

I had a year 7 assessment the other day. It would have taken 30 minutes in class - hand out, take in and mark in about an hour. Feet up while watching kids do the test. Hand it out. 1-2 hour process start to finish.

Instead, we did it online. I had kids emailing constant questions (the same ones!) throughout the test. Kids not being able to upload their answers, kids getting "lost", parents having to be contacted to find "lost" kids. Tests downloaded and marked on paper with feedback sheet. Marked sheets uploaded with feedback sheet. About 5-6 hours of work in total.

Live and learn from that experience - there have to be better ways of doing it. It annoys me that some parents and management are turning a blind eye to how much extra work in being generated.

Sorry, I am probably not helping you OP. But it is therapeutic to have a moan!

I know how you feel OP. This time of year I should be doing revision sessions, my level 2 BTEC students will be going and I'd have the gained time to sort some things out for my new job. It's the best time of the year, and it's been taken from us. As much as we understand why it has been done and agree with it, it still sucks. One of my students is pregnant and I'm desperately worried about her.

I don't teach a subject with textbooks and there's next to no useful stuff available online except what teachers have shared on Facebook groups - I do make use of these but my subject doesn't lend itself at all to quizzes or self-marking stuff.

As I'm a quick reader and typist, recording verbal feedback would take significantly longer than what I'm doing right now too! I'm not trying to "yeah, but...", it's just that there are no shortcuts that don't significantly short change students who are, to be fair, putting in a lot of effort (the ones that are doing it). Marking online for a writing heavy subject is hard and takes a long time, especially for classes of 20+. No way around it. In class I'd dart around during lesson and give quick verbal feedback or a quick comment - can't do that now.