Extended spring break?

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One thing that really impressed me about the school district where I lived is that they sent out a survey to parents about two weeks in and asked what parents need, what they want, and how they can make it happen, and they actually listened! They cut down on the different platforms required in order to use the online curriculum and focused on the three most effective options. They got internet access and devices to every student in the district that needed them. They have made an effort to provide lessons on the most important material that can be done offline. (They still have to be retrieved online, but they can be done at home offline.) They got businesses in the area to donate home school supply bags to the elementary kids who need them so every kid has access to writing, drawing, index cards, construction paper, markers, scissors, ruler and protractor, and glue. They’ve made all the enrichment activities school-wide, so siblings and families can work on them together to save time. They’ve got an IT station open two days and one evening a week where people can switch out devices that need repairs or get help. They’ve really listened to what the families need and are being innovative to get the job done!
 
My granddaughter even has on online session with her PE teacher twice a week. They discuss what activities can be done in the home or backyard and then do a ten to fifteen minute stretching and calisthenics! Her teacher has a one year old that’s often in the video conference as well which delights my 10yo grandkid! She has had art projects suggested…we’re fortunate that I’m a crafter and have a ton of materials to use but those that don’t have much at home are provided craft bags donated by Staples and Office Depot.

They are all working exceptionally hard and I’m sure putting in much longer hours than their contracts! I’m hoping more parents become aware of how great teachers really are and that the next time a tax increase is proposed, it’ll stand a chance of passing…usually, they don’t in my area. If anyone deserves raises after this quarantine, it’s healthcare workers and teachers.
 
It sounds like our district could learn a lesson from your district.

I talked to two of my co-workers today, and they said they’ve just given up. Keep in mind these are professional lab techs with Bachelor’s degrees. They just don’t have the energy anymore.

I told them not to worry–that their kids will catch up with everyone in their own good time. Stress makes us more susceptible to health problems and interferes with our immune system, so keeping the home stress-free is more important than trying to keep up with a mandated school schedule that was poorly-thought out by teachers who didn’t realize that “shelter-in-place” mandates did not excuse everyone from their jobs.
 
Is it so hard for you to understand that not everyone has the same style you do? Lots of families do have a parent at home or a childcare provider that isn’t completely useless with a tablet. Should they just spend the next few months sitting around twiddling their thumbs because other people work long hours and struggle to keep up? As it’s been pointed out by several posters, most school districts are not making this work mandatory. They are simply providing opportunities for parents to teach their kids from home, or in many cases, for kids to teach themselves from home, for those who can. And you suggest that they should just give up on school because your coworkers aren’t able to participate fully? If spending time on school work is causing them undue stress, then don’t, but why should the other families be given up on? You don’t seem to realize that for many kids, especially the most vulnerable, school is their lifeline. And for those with disabilities, less-than-fully-literate parents, and who don’t speak English at home, it’s always this much of a struggle. They still do it. I had a child of 10 years on Seesaw last night after 11PM, asking about music activities he could do with his younger siblings. They are in their mom’s boyfriend’s apartment. They have nothing else to do and they WANT to learn. I know a single, Spanish-speaking mom with two young girls who is furloughed. She has two concerns right now, that her landlord doesn’t evict her and that her kids don’t fall behind in their English. Education is that important to her because she knows that her kids’ futures depend on it. She doesn’t consider it petty nonsense with which the teachers are callously interrupting her more-important adult business. Just because education doesn’t fit into your friends’ lives at the moment, why should everyone else do without it? Especially since many districts are doing it really well? In other words, the world doesn’t revolve around “people like you”. If your friends can’t help their kids do their schoolwork, I don’t see what the school can do about it. They’re required to stay six feet away.
 
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Allegra said:
As it’s been pointed out by several posters, most school districts are not making this work mandatory.
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It has nothing to do with “my style.”

I agree with much of what you say–IF the schooling suggestions are just that–suggestions. But that’s not the case in our district.

In our district it is mandatory. It’s not just an option. Kids are being graded.

I think this probably has a lot to do with the very poor test results, and the schools trying desperately to keep the kids from sliding into even greater academic failure. It’s really hard to keep convincing tax-payers to pay the fourth-highest property taxes in the nation when the biggest piece of the tax “pie”–over 50%–goes to the public schools, which are not succeeding in helping the children to become educated. I can understand why the teachers are working to help the children continue learning.

But it’s not just an option. It’s mandatory. It not’s “just an opportunity for parents to teach their kids from home.”

Why should my co-workers’ children be held back or receive failing grades because their parents/grandparents can’t keep up with the small percentage of parents who are at home and have the time and energy to spend on the five-hours of learning assignments?

And do you really think that a mandatory five hours a day for working parents is reasonable and “do-able?”

Think about it–up at 5 a.m., get the children fed and to Grandma’s, then drive to work and be there at 7:00 a.m. , off work at 3:30 p.m., drive to Grandma’s to pick up the children, home by 4:00 p.m. (assuming that the kids just ran out to the car and hopped in!), make a dinner (or do some take out), start school by 5:00 p.m. Maybe one parent can clean up the dinner and do other chores like laundry, pet feeding, any necessary shopping, etc. while the other parent does teaching, and then trade off half-way through–maybe dad can take the kids outside for Physical Education–yes, our school district teachers are assigning physical education activities to the kids!–Finish by 10:00 p.m., get the kids to bed by 10;15 (after all, children always love going to bed!), parents to bed by 11:00, and up at 5:00 to do it all over again. That’s six hours of sleep–not enough for most adults and children who are trying to avoid contracting a very contagious virus.

And this scenario is assuming TWO parents, and assuming that both parents work the same day shift. A lot of people, especially health care workers, are working 2nd or 3rd shift, and often two parent families have mom and dad working 2 DIFFERENT shifts, which leaves one parent to take care of the kids and their mandatory schooling.

Do you honestly think that’s reasonable? Am I just a whiner?

I think it’s unrealistic. I think that what you are saying about “options but not required” makes a lot more sense and would be much more helpful for children and parents who are under the stress of sheltering-in-place.
 
Hi Peeps! Are these parents contacting the school board or district president and explain this. I’d have them point out not only the unreasonableness of the time requirements but also it being mandatory! I definitely agree with you here.

My grandkids are monitored for time spent on lessons and attendance but there still is no requirement! I’d recommend a group email or phone calls to discuss this.
 
Is the school district directly saying that students should do 5 hours a day? Or is that how long it your friends say it takes for them to do their work? I think it is really hard for a teacher to guess how long it will take for every student to do an online assignment that no one, including the teacher, has worked with before. When my daughter’s school first began the online school, they had the kids enroll in EVERYTHING. We had, at one point, ten different apps or websites we had to sign into a day. It was taking more time to figure out all these passwords and link than it was to actually do the activities. It was ludicrous! The school district asked for feedback, they got it, and they adjusted. The teachers selected a handful of platforms that are working well and the district asked the teachers to focus on those, with an emphasis on just two main ones. No one was prepared for this. Even when they were closing down school, they were telling us two weeks. It’s taken time, experimentation, and adjustment to make this work correctly.
I can say that it is not possible for all of the students to do even a reasonable amount of work. Some of our students aren’t even living within our district anymore. They’ve got to stay with relatives that can actually stay home with them, some of them in other states. Whether or not they want to admit it now, this semester is going to be a wash, grade wise. They don’t have time or resources to not promote huge numbers of students, so I wouldn’t worry about that. Maybe it’s an opportunity for people to realize that school isn’t about grades. It’s about learning. Even if the school districts go through the farce of attempting to grade this semester, the grades will be meaningless and everyone knows it.

Do I think you are a whiner? Not about the foolishness of trying to grade students this semester. But the rant about teachers sitting around sipping wine and watching whatever-it-was, yeah, that’s whining. And the nonsense about teachers making high salaries for no work is completely delusional. If these teachers are really and truly coming up with five hours of work a day AND grading it, they are obviously working their butts off. Your expectation that school should be cancelled for everyone just because you and some of your friends find it too stressful and to heck with everyone else? Yeah, whining. Selfish whining at that. Your weird complaint that the PE teachers are making videos so kids can spend time exercising in their yards? Yeah, whiny AND weird. Why wouldn’t parents want that? Most the parents and caregivers I know are begging for stuff like that right now!
 
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Mmm as a high schooler (not a parent) , it can get pretty difficult for me. I work alongside my dad at his landscaping business and I have to do online school. Although this maybe a difficult period of time, I feel as if it also benefited me in some way. I’ve been praying more frequently. And I finally had a chance to pray the Rosary , which I haven’t been saying in a long time ):

One of my personal favorite prayers is the Divine Mercy Chaplet (:
 
Allegra said:
Your expectation that school should be cancelled for everyone just because you and some of your friends find it too stressful and to heck with everyone else?
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Just to clarify–I have no children living at home. I’m 62 years old, and my kids are long grown and independent.

And just now on the 9 p.m. news, the announcement was made that school is finished for the year. Schools will not re-open. The teachers will continue to put out “suggested” learning activities, but nothing will be required. Final grades will be given based on the work that the students did up until the last day before the schools were closed. Any grades that students receive for completing the learning activities will only raise their current grade, but no student will be downgraded for work complete or not-completed.

So apparently the school district did some research and learned more about how other districts around the country are doing things, and decided to end the attempts to continue what they were doing. I’m sure there is rejoicing across the city, as it’s not just “me” and “my friends” who were “stressed” by this–anywhere people gathered (e.g., grocery stores), there was discussion of the futility of trying to make parents work two jobs during the pandemic.

I will say this–it’s kind of refreshing to hear someone disparage health care workers like me and my friends instead of praising us for being “heroes”. It’s a dose of reality.

And I’m glad that you are able to respect your teachers. For several decades, the teachers’ union has held Illinois captive with demands for higher salaries and more benefits, and striking until their demands are met. Here is a quote about Illinois teacher salaries:

"Nationally, teachers were paid an average annual salary $60,483 in the 2017- 2018 school year, according to the most recent data available from the National Education Association. In Illinois , the average salary was $66,778, ranking 10th among U.S. states." (boldface mine)

That’s more than I make after almost 40 years of working in the hospital lab. That’s more than my husband makes in the computer industry.
 
One week of the graded work under my belt, I’ll say they did a good job putting this week’s instruction together, but my comfort levels rest a lot on having been an elementary school teacher in the same district.

I’ve really been trying not to be critical of it, but I will say they need to upload the districtwide stuff for the week before Monday. The individual stuff from the teachers, fine take all the time you need, but the district packets could go up sooner so we can plan and print.
 
Where did anyone disparage health care workers? Unless you are trying to suggest that your opinion, and that of your friends, represents that of the entire health care industry, and also that me pointing out the absurdity of your position is somehow an attack on the integrity of the entire health care industry. Personally, I have no problem differentiating between your being wrong about education, teachers, and the fact that the whole world doesn’t experience the same as you do and the fact that it’s good that you are helping as a lab technician. Those aren’t mutually exclusive. I also don’t buy the bit about your discussing digital learning with the whole world or even the entire grocery store. No one’s saying diddly-squat in the grocery store and you know it. Most people are trying to avoid going in there at all, and when they do, they’re staying as far away from others as they can. I’m glad that the teachers of Illinois are doing so well, compared to the rest of the country. I live about ten minutes from Illinois and based on what I’ve observed, they deserve it. I’m not sure why you think lab techs should make more than teachers. All that is required for that is an associate’s degree and not much experience. Teachers have to have at least a bachelor’s degree and many districts require a master’s degree after a certain amount of time. Most states require additional ongoing training even after that. According to the internet, the average pay for a full-time technician is around $40, 000 a year, which isn’t much less than what I make after 12 years and significantly more than my first teaching job, which was under $30,000 and only paid for half of the health plan.
 
We are asked to have our stuff up for the week by Friday of the previous week, in case stuff isn’t working and needs to be fixed.
 
Allegra said:
I’m not sure why you think lab techs should make more than teachers. All that is required for that is an associate’s degree and not much experience.
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You are incorrect.

A medical technologist has a Bachelor’s Degree, and must complete an internship in a hospital lab (this internship currently lasts for the duration of the two college semesters; when I was interning back in the 1970s, it lasted a full year), and also pass a Registry Exam covering all aspects of the clinical laboratory. Also, medical technologists are currently required to complete a certain number of hours of continuing education to keep their certification.

There is a lab position called “Medical Laboratory Technician”, which requires the Associates Degree and a shorter internship. For years, my hospital did not hire MLTs, supposedly because they were not able to do all the tasks that an MT does, but I personally think it’s because the lab director for those years was a intellectual snob. Since she moved on and other lab directors have taken her place, we have been hiring MLTs again, and I’m so glad! We have such a shortage, and these professionals do a fine job.

In our hospital, the MLTs receive tuition reimbursement if they go back to school to finish the Bachelor’s Degree and sit for their Medical Technology Registry Exam. We have several MTs who came through that route.

IMO, it’s a smart way to go–a two-year degree is not as expensive as a Bachelor’s and can be done at community colleges, which often allow the student to live at home. The pay is less, but still respectable and enough to live on. And many hospitals will reimburse for the additional schooling to earn the Medical Technology degree.

In the past, there was also a certification called “Medical Laboratory Assistant” or “MLA”, but I don’t think this is offered anymore. Two bad–it was a six-month program, which was often a realistic option for young women and men who didn’t have a lot of money or freedom to attend a longer college-based program. It gave them a good job with a decent wage, and they could always seek further education and get the hospital to pay for the tuition.
 
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I never said that medical technologists should be paid more than teachers. I believe our wages are fair. And I don’t think teachers should be paid less. I think that $65,000 is a fair wage. Apparently many teachers disagree with me.

I suggest that, as you are a teacher, that after the COVID-19 crisis is over and we are able to move about freely again, you contact your local hospital lab and ask if you can shadow some medical technologists for a few hours. It would be most helpful if you could shadow techs in all the departments–microbiology, hematology, chemistry, blood bank, coagulation, and immunology (or serology, or whatever they call it–this is a department that often makes its home with another lab department!). I think it would be helpful for you to see for yourself what we actually do.

One more comment–years ago, the power went out in our hospital, and the lab was unable to do our usual work. Throughout the rest of the hospital, even though it was dark, work continued–at least until they finally realized that the lab was totally down. The operating rooms were told that there would be no blood available, as we had to preserve the supply we had for dire emergencies involving life and death (blood requires refrigeration–this is law, not just our preference). No chemistry screen and no hematology screens could be done. We could not read our microbiology cultures, although we tried hard with the aid of flashlights and gave the doctors the best information we could–but no susceptibilities, and we couldn’t keep opening and closing the incubators at the risk of killing potential pathogens.

By 10 a.m. the hospital closed down. All surgeries were cancelled, and the ER patients were taken to a different hospital across town. The floors continued to monitor patients, but all the labs had to be taken across town in order for the nurses to provide effective care. And all routine labs (e.g., annual physical exam screenings) were delayed until the lab was up again.

That’s how important hospital labs are–without them, hospital work comes to a halt.

During the COVID-19 crisis, WE are the ones staring that virus in the face while we either do the actual testing or prepare the specimens to be sent to a lab that does the testing. And we are the ones who let the doctors and nurses know the results of the tests.

So I hope you will take me up on my suggestion and go visit the lab for yourself.

Because I recognize the value of my own work does not mean that dis-value school teachers. My daughters had wonderful school teachers once they were enrolled in a private school (where the teachers were paid much less than their public school peers). My older daughter is a professor at a university and she is loved by her students, many of whom go on to work with her in the entertainment industry.

I believe that in my district and in my state, the teachers’ union has done more harm than good.
 
School districts vary if you drive in any direction. This thread is getting sort of prickly, but it’s not mine to steer. Should I start another if I want a place to talk about how school is going?
 
I feel like I an in the twilight zone. At no point have I ever disparaged lab technicians or their work. You accused me of it, but it never happened. I only asked why you believe that lab technicians should be paid more than teachers. It seems that on average, they are paid around the same, though there is a significant difference in both careers depending on the amount of training one has. For example, a teacher must have a master’s degree or even a doctorate degree to expect the kind of wages you are saying are average. A teacher with only a bachelor’s degree will likely not make that much, even if they work as a teacher for the same district for their entire career. It sounds like it works the same way with lab technicians as there are different levels of certification. I didn’t disparage lab technicians, or all health care workers, as you have accused me. You HAVE disparaged teachers, claiming they are sitting around sipping wine and watching TV while unjustly collecting an unjustly high income. At the same time claiming that they are assigning five hours a day of homework and assessing it for grades, which is an undertaking that would require a substantial amount of time, effort, and sobriety. (That isn’t true, by the way, at least in south-western Illinois. I know several teachers who work in STL Metro East school districts and they have not been mandating anything or planning to access for a grade. The message you saw on the news is the same one that was released in Metro East a week before any Missouri school districts decided to close, so it’s old news. Maybe your friends haven’t been checking their emails?)
 
Allegra said:
What do you want to say about how school is going?
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It seemed like the topic of parenting during the extended spring break could lend itself to the continued topic of parenting/schooling at home during the outbreak. Or that could be a new thread. I don’t know.

When I was teaching, informal meetings with my colleagues were so helpful. We’d talk about how things were going or what things eachother were trying and troubleshoot after listening to eachother. This situation has turned me into my kids’ teacher and my kid’s teachers into curriculum coaches who are stretched pretty far. I don’t have colleagues to troubleshoot with. I miss that sort of support.

I’ve considered reaching out to local moms I know, but it is so tricky. All of my current teacher friends just got their hearts stomped on by the official we aren’t going back announcement. So I don’t want to speak frankly about the course content when I know they are doing their best. My non teacher friends that are living it are a lot of the moms from the somewhat toxic moms group I fled. They’re so wound up right now any discussion sends them into a frenzy.

Example of frenzy: I mentioned on my own fb page something that occurred to me… that I should not skip the step of having kids write first and last names on these practice pages and home work because next year’s teachers will inherit enough weirdness. Hopefully I can make just one less future no-name paper for them by strengthening and maintaining the habit. I was surprised how much backlash I got.
 
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All that being said, the parenting subforum can be sort of a ghost town so the topic might not bear fruit.
 
I was actually surprised to find out that my kid didn’t know how to spell her last name! I guess they haven’t been asking her to do it at kindergarten, so we are practicing writing her first and last name on her writing assignments. I do think it’s a good idea, though I don’t think it hurts much if people don’t.
 
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