The Forty Sixth Republic - online learning has killed the 'snow day'

[Staffdontblowitnow]

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

So following my good news about the vax last night today’s news is that I thought I had parents evening but due to a cock up I don’t have any appts. So as I don’t actually work Thursday and Friday I’m done for half term! Apart from one little thing after school tomorrow!

Yay MrsHP!! Happy half term 😃

I've still got today and tomorrow to get through, but only one live lesson today and none tomorrow. So tomorrow will be a relatively easy day, send out the work and then wait a couple of hours til they start sending it in for marking, which will be "looks good, have a nice half term" as I'm sending answer sheets for self marking tomorrow as well. It'll be nice to have a less demanding day.

Still furious over FE colleges can do rotas

Not all choose to do so, or to put in place (proven) measures that keep staff safe and benefit learners - hence my resignation.

Any Google Classroom users know if there's a way for students to get rid of/hide an assignment from their to-do lists (once they've done it) that the teacher doesn't want turned in?

Why not just hand have them hand it in? You can mark the whole assignment as 'reviewed' in your to review page so it doesn't hang around for you.

They can also hand it in even though it's empty itms if it's a case of being a task that doesn't lend itself to handing it.

Well, most of them do hand it in regardless, and I have discovered the "mark as reviewed" bin folder, but I Have Guilt that they might expect it to be marked anyway.
I have a vague recollection that a parent told me they'd found a way to hide things on their wall, but can't remember who/what/when or most importantly, how.

Why are some teachers so mean

DS , year 12, just did some assessments in which he got top A/A ; A/A and top B

Just got his grade sheet : current performance ABB.

They do say that this reflects all his work but all his work has been as good and he works really hard.

I despair of how pessimistic fellow teachers can be. I wonder what the rest of his sociology class got to be honest! They probably got higher grades than they deserved to gee them up...

Poor chap is a bit deflated.

I came into teaching late after having done lots of other things. I started at my first school at the same time as my son did in Y7, and my daughter started there a few years later. It’s very interesting being a teacher and a parent at the same school.
I loved the place and was so impressed from the beginning by most teachers’ obvious care about and consideration for their students. But I was surprised to find a few who were mean, didn’t appear to like children, were terrible snobs or who would have appeared old-fashioned even when I was at school, as well as the terminally disorganised and careless.

That's harsh piggy. If his assessments are A/A* then he should have a current grade of A (erring on the side of caution). My hod is quite harsh in his grading, generally so they continue to work, but I often feel really sorry for the kids who have worked their socks off and five really well but are downgraded due to some sort of psychological play to encourage them to keep working. I'm sure some of them just feel really gutted and discouraged.

born I think you might be describing me with terminally disorganised and careless I think I'm pretty good in the classroom, but I'm so incredibly disorganised with marking and paperwork!!!

Interesting thoughts on reopening from our local authority - this is after meetings with DfE apparently -

'the return could be regional depending on local transmission rates but the DfE will be avoiding the situation which we saw at the end of last term where schools in some localities within a local authority were asked to act differently to those in other localities;

if the return is to be phased, the government will state the priority groups to come back first as they did last summer, although the priority year groups may not be as they were last June. There is a strong steer that they are not considering local flexibilities in this;

there is no current desire around part-time or rota systems for children but we are aware that national discussions are taking place on how to manage all children in that return whilst still ensuring safety;

the testing of secondary school and FE students using the lateral flow tests is likely to feature prominently.'

Awesome, my default is disorganised and careless - if teaching has done only one thing, it’s helped me find ways to overcome this - I realised it was causing me so much anxiety I had to sort it. Same with punctuality! Now I’m a sodding control freak instead.

Teaching is a great job for me because I can’t do anything without a looming deadline and teaching is daily deadlines, in terms of lessons that need to be taught, therefore planned for. I’m hopeless at extended projects.

I’d also be disorganised but I write everything down in Idoceo that is my iPad teacher planner. Birthdays have an entry two days before that says ‘post birthday card’ etc.

I have taken to emailing students and copying in parents

me : where is your homework?

student: I uploaded it to Teams

me : no you haven't - see attached printscreen

student : oh okay I will do it

me : where is your homework ?

student : I have done it

me : where? if I cant see it then I cant give feedback

at this point the occasional parent will get involved but not all. Time drifts on and it is report time

parent : why has Sebastian got an E/U?

me : dunno. maybe it is because I have received no homework

parent : I wasn't informed blah blah stick blah blah

me: see email attachment - you were copied into everything. funnily enough it is to the same email address that you use to berate me for not doing my job.

silence ...

me : where is your homework that I set on ......

it never stops

Interesting as our head has been warned they're beginning to run out of tests and tests have to be ordered 2 weeks in advance in order to be supplied (tricky when you don't know how many you will have used in two weeks or will need to use going forward).

They're not going to feature very prominently if they're running out even with the majority of kids not in school to use them.

Re: google classroom no good for current dilemma but maybe in future put tasks you don't want handed in as an announcement in the stream rather than set an assignment and students can just comment 'done' if they feel the need?

I am still annoyed at the idea that I will have to do twice weekly tests in my scant free time, whereas a primary teachers (sorry!) can do theirs at home.

Honestly, our DH ahs never been so fulfilled as he clearly is since these tests came in!

Staff. I've been using my new found snipping skills to send parents who question things shots of my feedback on work and reminders etc when they complain about low engagement marks.

Eg you need to do x, y and z.... x, y and z have still not been done why have you handed this in again.... nope still no different don't hand in again until it is done. Kind of silences their complaint of low mark and what on earth is expected of them to get decent marks because they know their perfect child is doing perfectly.

I’m hopeless at extended projects

Me too. I was amazed at the efficiency of teachers when I first started working in a school.

I've just had SLT drop in to my maths lesson. Luckily it was good timing - just when you're doing the mega questioning and you've got kids that don't quite get it, but can be persuaded to get it through the questioning.

@MsAwesomeDragon

That's harsh piggy. If his assessments are A/A* then he should have a current grade of A (erring on the side of caution). My hod is quite harsh in his grading, generally so they continue to work, but I often feel really sorry for the kids who have worked their socks off and five really well but are downgraded due to some sort of psychological play to encourage them to keep working. I'm sure some of them just feel really gutted and discouraged.

My (acting) HoD also does this and I hate it.

Giving low ability Y8s a crap grade doesn't motivate them, it just makes them give up/switch off.

@borntobequiet

Really concerned the bombshell for Monday will be extending school into the summer hols. But surely they can't afford it and it's not cos effective?

The problem with this government is that they have no idea about how anything works, and mostly can’t be bothered to find out. So they can’t plan for anything.**
A few politicians stand out in that they know stuff. Jeremy Hunt is an example, he may not have been a good Health Sec in the sense of supporting and improving the NHS but he’s intelligent and learned how it works, hence his pronouncements on how to handle the pandemic have been largely convincing and correct. Hancock is less bright but also appears to have learned while in post, so he appears to be more trusted than others.
The rest are just bumbling along and looking out for number one. No one has a clue about education.
** See: Brexit.

Yep, this is my concern too- they have no idea how things work, and they won't realise it costs too much until they are actually being presented with a bill for it.

Or else they will offer it as an option to schools, and when schools say they can't afford it, that pushes the blame onto everyone else!

I agree that catch up looks good to parents now, but in the summer when people want to go away or spend some time outside it won't seem so good!

Teaching is a great job for me because I can’t do anything without a looming deadline and teaching is daily deadlines, in terms of lessons that need to be taught, therefore planned for. I’m hopeless at extended projects. That's me to a T!! I generally plan one day ahead, so I am planning tomorrow's lessons today. Some of my colleagues can't relax unless the whole week is planned, PowerPoints created and resources printed off by Monday morning at the latest. I do the same at report time too. Colleagues write reports weeks in advance, over holidays usually, and I generally do them over the 2/3 days before the deadline. It helps that I have decent spag, am a fast typer and don't try to fit too much into my reports, but honestly I'm really efficient with an imminent deadline. I would faff for hours if I tried to do stuff too far in advance.

Any philosophy/film/media/ politics/law teachers, these look excellent

www.herts.ac.uk/study/open-days/lets-talk-about-uni

I work with some people who plan all their stuff about a term and a half in advance. I plan incessantly and still end up having to plan everything again on the day I am teaching it.

I thrive on adrenalin so am not a forward planner even though that is usually the only thing SLT praise! I never relay keep a calendar or diary. I just remember stuff.

I work with some people who plan all their stuff about a term and a half in advance. I plan incessantly and still end up having to plan everything again on the day I am teaching it

If I plan too far in advance I end up forgetting everything. Hopefully this will improve as my subject knowledge improves.