The Fortieth Republic - Schools are safe but they are vectors so go online

[SantaAssociationRepresentitve]

You are most welcome to this school staff support thread to get us through stressful times. It is meant for school staff only – a sort of room of requirement. Baiters, haters, goaders, and bashers can jog on somewhere else.

If you are NOT staff and just have a general education query please start your own thread.

You can play here if you are a member of one the following groups-

-ABBA - anti bashers and baiting association
-SWAB - school workers against bashers
-SWOT - school workers opposing teacherbashers
-STARS - schoolworkers together against ranting + slurs

Do not give the staffroom password just in case it attracts the wrong sort

Other requirements for staff room entry include the ability to find the staff room, the ability to find a clean mug in the staff room, knowledge of the photocopier codes, and the ability to sniff out where the booze is stashed - Thirsty Tuesdays, Fizz Fridays now in operation.

If you come with a stick to goad us then that is not allowed in the staffroom and you will receive a detention

Those of you doing live lessons. What do you do when the class are doing an independent task? I mean, I've muted myself and told them to type into chat or unmute to ask for help if they need it. But what do I do while I wait for them to do their work? It's y12, and I feel really awkward just waiting for them to ask me a question. If I was in the classroom this would be the time when I'd be wandering the classroom and checking in on the kids I know would struggle, but they aren't likely to ask me questions in full view of the rest of the class. I don't like this any more than just recording a video and sending it out to them.

No I didn't really think so... it's a great illustration of registers / other things that I can't remember the correct terms for to do with language, that, on long-running threads, you can often tell who's saying what without looking at the Username!

@MsAwesomeDragon

Those of you doing live lessons. What do you do when the class are doing an independent task? I mean, I've muted myself and told them to type into chat or unmute to ask for help if they need it. But what do I do while I wait for them to do their work? It's y12, and I feel really awkward just waiting for them to ask me a question. If I was in the classroom this would be the time when I'd be wandering the classroom and checking in on the kids I know would struggle, but they aren't likely to ask me questions in full view of the rest of the class. I don't like this any more than just recording a video and sending it out to them.

I don't know if this helps, but when I did live lessons with Y8 last term (obviously different to Y12), I restructured the lesson so that I did all the input, did various AfL tasks to test understanding, and then set a longer independent task to be done at the end. I stayed online so they could ask questions, but they could leave the call if they wanted, and submit the task later.

I didn't do a plenary.

It's not ideal teaching, but it felt like the most efficient use of time, and it seemed to work ok? I don't know if this would work for older year groups, though.

BTW, the best tip I got for Teams teaching last year (possibly from someone on here) was to ask a question, or give a task (e.g. True/False), then give the kids one minute to type their answers into the chat, then get them all to press enter at the same time.

This means everyone gets a chance to answer, not just the fastest typers!

@JanuaryChill

No I didn't really think so... it's a great illustration of registers / other things that I can't remember the correct terms for to do with language, that, on long-running threads, you can often tell who's saying what without looking at the Username!

That is so true.

Some posters you can recognise within one post of a name change because of their style (not a Staffroom poster that I'm thinking of here, btw).

I give them a time to come back, stop the call and then come back at the end of the call. We record all of ours so it means there's not twenty minutes of dead air.
Because I'm a nerd, I make a class notebook page for each lesson with a link to the video so I use that time to sort it - but they email or message me if they need to.

I don't worry about sixth formers doing independent work, I just hang around at my laptop and get on with whatever else needs to be done (also, go and get a cuppa, check the kids aren't killing each other). Mine are well used to sending me Chat messages or emails if they need help so I don't feel bad about it. We have 4.5 hours a week of lessons with sixth form so they really don't need me hovering all the time.

Have now seen a couple of posters claiming schools might be closed for rest of the academic year! Apparently Boris didn't rule that out yesterday - I must have missed that question then!

Any thoughts? I mean I can see that we're not completely likely to be back straight after half term, but aren't they still saying by Easter things will be getting back to normal?

Not that I usually believe half of what they say, though!

URGENT TEAMS HELP NEEDED!

I've put this in a new message to attract the crowds.

So this morning I was sharing a Powerpoint for the first time, talking over it, and using links to YouTube videos and sharing those in a separate screen. So far so good. But when I stopped sharing the video, my PP was gone and I had to reopen it and share it again every time. There must be a different way of doing this that I'm too stupid to figure out!

I realise there may be a significant difference between the time it's safe for schools to open schools, and the time the government decides to open them, of course!

*safe for schools to open, and

@JanuaryChill

Have now seen a couple of posters claiming schools might be closed for rest of the academic year! Apparently Boris didn't rule that out yesterday - I must have missed that question then!

Any thoughts? I mean I can see that we're not completely likely to be back straight after half term, but aren't they still saying by Easter things will be getting back to normal?

Not that I usually believe half of what they say, though!

Who knows with this shower of shite?!

I was thinking of the way ‘out’ for them. I thought someone better had, as I doubt Gavlar will give it any thought.

I can’t see them getting whole schools with whole classes back all at once. Too risky-especially with s44. Unless the numbers were way down low.

They could do an announcement and get Y11/13 and maybe YR/Y1/Y6 in again from February half term-in small groups? That wasn’t terribly popular though last time, was it.

Rotas?!

The problem now though, there is too many KW. You can’t have half and half rotas on a weekly or fortnightly basis, if you already have half your class in every day anyway?!

gravity was it just minimised in fact down on the bottom bar thing? Did you check?

Replying a bit late, sorry - trying to get 3 primary aged children set up on their tasks on teams is a bit of a mare - thanks so much for reassuring me re the safeguarding worry. My anxiety is sky high at the moment and I'm fixating on random hhiings.
Really hope he doesn't interrupt my next lesson as.it is my tricky yr 9s who won't be so understanding.

With the dead air thing - I'm using it to go check on my own home learners! Or set up another online lesson later in the SOW etc

Thanks @Appuskidu . I guess it is tied to the vaccinations- and even Whitty said last night that it's quite an ambitious schedule (or words to that effect!). Of course there'll be enormous pressure from Anne Longfield et al.

But when we're back at 1000 deaths a day that might abate for a while. 😔

@RandomGrammarPun have looked back and worked it out, now need to google to find out what your original name actually meant....

@Piggywaspushed I don’t know - I couldn’t see it anywhere. I have to use teams in a browser because the app crashes my computer terribly, so I might not have all the functionality. It’s doing my head in today!

@StanfordPines

Our head is say that you are either in or not too. At least that way we can give them consistent learning. Part of the problem last time was that we would have some only on certain days so there was no way to do continuous work. It also makes it clear that this is school not child care.

We have gone down that route to.

It is actually a good way to drive down numbers - as some parents only wanted 1/2 days a week.. They will find alternative 'childcare' now for those days.

gravity do it as share screen rather than embedding the ppt in teams?

Teams is running really slowly today....

Our Headteacher received a snotty email from one of the parents about my live lesson - says the connection kept breaking up thats not my fault if they have bad internet ='[

However, I have also received 7 emails saying how much fun the kids had at my live lesson which really did cheer me up.

Music this afternoon - god help these childs neighbours! they wont know whats hit them.

Do NOT look at the AIBU thread on sending kids in to school because you want to 'resist'. It's poisonous.

I might try reporting it in a bit. It is encouraging people to put lives at risk.

@HerdyGerdy the LFT cannot be compulsoray? I understood it was optional adn there is a consent form....?

I had a reaslisation this morning about other parents in other jobs. So lots of people I know seem to be worrying about getting their work done during the 'working day' and I think wouldn't be prepared to basically do some of that work later in the evening. I think we as teachers are so used to working late into the night (just me?!?) that I am getting my kids through their remote school, teaching my lessons but then all my planning. prep etc. I just do in evenings and weeks. I think there are some jobs where you obviously have to be on calls at the same time as others, but also there are a lot of jobs where you could just do your work at a different time of day, but that it wouldn't usually cross anyone else's mind to do that. I realise this is a sweeping generalisation and I don't think it applies to everybody, but I certainly feel it applies to a fair number of other jobs where people once they leave work are done for the day maybe?

@Piggywaspushed

Do NOT look at the AIBU thread on sending kids in to school because you want to 'resist'. It's poisonous.

I might try reporting it in a bit. It is encouraging people to put lives at risk.

DESMOS QUESTION my activity is set to private, but I've got the bit where I can give the students the link. That's OK right? setting not to private just means I can share with other teachers but students will be able to access it when I have it set to private yes?