The Teachers’s Republic Refuge - solidarity comrades!

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

So continuing on from our boycott/flowers we need to continue to defend our profession. This is teacher/school staff chat - if you do not fall into that category please start you own thread elsewhere.

#solidarity

I'm hugely worried about the gap. It's my weaker students who aren't engaging or doing any work and with each day it becomes more overwhelming and difficult for them to catch up. But other than encourage from afar there's not a lot we can do.

Checking in. With gin.

Oh the ENDLESS Y7 emails...

My Y10s are worse, actually. But because we have a digital textbook the number who have emailed to say 'it says pop ups disallowed'

I am tired of replying to say that is the settings on your computer at home. I am not the IT dept. This is a technical issue. I teach History - and anyway, this is the book you have been supposedly using for a YEAR now. Does that mean you've never accessed a text book at home?

Cheers everyone! It's been a long day! Concerned about vulnerable children and my reports have to be in Friday! Oh and set and sort next weeks planning!
Tomorrow has to be better!

We had a massive internet outage here today so that was fun.

Internet outage here too. Currently struggling with a pastoral lead who quit suddenly after promising to send work home/collate info etc..now lots of pissed off students and parents. Somehow pissed off at me as it was my job prior 6 months before and therefore hasn't been my job role for 6 months. 6 and 3 year old largely running around semi naked in the background too

I can’t believe that there is yet another thread about why we aren’t making videos to download. Can they really not understand that I don’t want hundreds of students to have videos of me, that they can doctor in whichever horrific way they want, and spread all over the internet for eternity?! My students are lovely. But it only takes one!

Ffs, there is? I blame the Sutton Trust for feeding the idea to the media that 2/3 Of students are being 'deprived' of live lessons. I am confident that my non live lessons, to be done when students have time and headspace are miles better than me lecturing and spoonfeeding them for an hour while they nod off...

My DH sets up his live lesson, they toddle off to do it and he reads the paper...

Also, the fact that students with good IT equipment with progress, those without are left behind

*will progress

Well that too, but you need IT for PowerPoint. To be fair, I'm more irked by the idea that a show off prancing about with his fancy camera is a de facto brilliant teacher.

Signing in late comrades, apologies working and not well ( probs corona, have been tested and waiting for result)
Fortunately we are not ringing any kids, the HoYs are doing that bit but still constantly trying to chase the same kids who are doing nothing. Some of these are no surprise ie vulnerable, bone idle etc but also a number of kids who usually would work ok in school are doing sweet fa.
We are a 1:1 device school anyway so all the kids have iPads and we normally know who doesn’t have internet at home as it’s flagged up by years managers. Gap is going to be massive.

Also, rather selfishly I am worried about the loss of my marking fees. It’s great cpd but I also earn a lot of extra cash in every other year and concerned about how I can plug that gap when my food bills have gone through the roof ( no free lunches for me, three extra adult dc at home guzzling for England).

Rosie Get well soon. It's not selfish to worry about marking fees, nobody needs money worries on top of everything else.

Even if the kids were checking in (as one regularly does) to.complain.that I'm setting too much...then disappear again...at least I'd know they were kind of involved. My fear is that school is going to seem far away and hard to get back into.

Or am.I just projecting?

Thanks betty

Feel better soon rosie not the teacher piss off kind, nice ones

I don't actually think our HOYs are doing anything!

My wee DS has his 16th tomorrow whilst in lockdown. Nice cake but no presents and no meal out. We don't do much anyway, as he pointed out, but it is a bit sad.

My wee DS has his 16th tomorrow whilst in lockdown. Nice cake but no presents and no meal out. We don't do much anyway, as he pointed out, but it is a bit sad

Awww Piggy, it’s rough isn’t it? 16th as well. My school have put me down on rota to go in to school next week on my DD’s birthday. Not a milestone birthday though.
to all who have birthdays during this.

Solidarity to everyone who had Teams nightmares this morning.

Dh has ordered a load of wifi signal boosters for our house as there are currently 3 of us huddled around a booster with a rubbish signal and the dc are arguing over who gets to go on the wired connection.

No gin here today but I've been mainlining tea. I can't face any more marking tonight, thinking of getting up early tomorrow instead.

Hope you're feeling better soon Rosie and happy birthday to your ds tomorrow, Piggy .

Newsnight just suggested Saturday school. I'd rather resign.

I had a lovely email today from one of my year 9s. He thanked me for doing explanation videos so he knows what he's supposed to do each lesson. I literally do a 3 minute video for each lesson showing an example of the main skill they need to use on the worksheet. It doesn't feel very much to me, but the kids are watching them and seem to find them useful.

We have been told to definitely not do live lessons because it is disadvantaging the pupils who don't have the right equipment or have to share the equipment and can't access those lessons. So I send a link to one of my example videos each lesson and a worksheet to go with it. It's not as good as my normal lessons, but it's enough to keep them ticking over til we go back, whenever that will be.

Impressed you can get an explanation into 3 minutes, MsAwesomeDragon! I definitely waffle too much .

Our Teams lessons are all recorded for later access, but I also link a video from someone like Dr Frost or Mr Corbett. They do a much better job at explaining things than I do!

(Didn't go to bed, but finished my marking instead ).

Happy birthday to @piggywaspushed DS 🎂

Hope your son has a lovely Birthday as he can Piggy.