Extended spring break?

[Peeps]

Let’s just pack in, ladies and gentleman. This is not a good place to have this debate. The limits on time and word count make it difficult, plus we all have a lot more to concern us at this time in history.

Because of my experiences and those of my fellow citizens, I am not likely to be persuaded that I am in the wrong, and likewise for those of you who have taken the time to respond to me.

I believe that Illinois will never be corruption-free until our Speaker of the House is gone (and I’m not wishing for his demise–I’m hoping that his constituents will vote him out, but that’s not likely!). I don’t think this will happen in my lifetime.

Stay safe.

 

[Peaceable]

Hooray for our teachers! In our district, they are really working hard to individualize lessons for students, and attempting to make the best of a really challenging situation. Yes we’re struggling too, the technology is not perfect, and the younger ones are not 100% cut out for this approach. But kudos to the teachers on the front lines! I think it’s actually more work for them. Our kids are having to submit things online, and teachers are needing to give detailed feedback for each kid, using technology called that they are not necessarily perfectly comfortable with either. For now, the workload seems to be manageable, with about an hour of lesson a couple days a week, and the majority of things they have to do is more homework based. Supplementing the best that I can with all the homeschooling materials that I’ve accumulated, and online classes. I’m always getting down on myself because I feel like I could be doing more, but it is what it is!

 

[Peaceable]

This sounds rough. Is your district open to having a conversation about doing something more reasonable, especially for frontline healthcare workers? I do agree that sometimes the expectations from the school district assume that one or both parents are staying at home—Not true if both parents are in some essential industry!

 

[Peaceable]

Sorry I posted before seeing this post. I will say that it’s always been a pet peeve of mine that there’s been so much variation in the public school systems locally and across the country. It seems like a local politics can sometimes be a factor. I really wish there were some way to be able to provide the same opportunities for kids across the country in terms of education. I tend to think technology might have some (or a lot) of answers, but it’s frustrating that the answers aren’t coming soon enough. I hope things get better for you soon.

 

[TC3033]

It seems like a local politics can sometimes be a factor.

I would say that is a huge factor…see my post above.

 

[Peeps]

I do agree that sometimes the expectations from the school district assume that one or both parents are staying at home—Not true if both parents are in some essential industry!

You get it.

Now that school has ended in the district except for those who are trying to improve their grades, the issue is over and the parents don’t have to stress out anymore.

 

[Allegra]

I think this is a good as any a place to have this debate. And I don’t know about you, but my schedule is about as flexible right now as its every going to be. And since my job is to teach, it is a pretty important concern to me. So I’m fine with continuing to talk about it as long as anyone wants to.

 

[Peeps]

And I don’t know about you, but my schedule is about as flexible right now as its every going to be.

That’s just it, Allegra–you don’t know about me.

My schedule is not flexible right now because I am working as much as ever in the hospital. Thankfully we are less busy because most of the elective surgeries and general physical exams are postponed for now. But today I still had plenty to do–there are still people who are having strokes, or falling down, or who have diabetic ulcers that flare up, or…well, the list is long!

And for the last several months, I’ve been taking care of my mother-in-law and father-in-law in the evening–making and taking a homemade supper and sitting it out for them on a table and eating with them, and then doing the dishes afterwards. My husband helps them with their bill-paying and other finances, and he does little chores for them around the house. It’s emotionally-draining–last night my mother-in-law, who has Alzheimers, forgot how to walk, and it took my husband a long time before he was able to help her get from the dinner table to the sofa, and my father-in-law was crying over her condition. (She used to be so intelligent and lively.)

And when I came home from work today, I found out that she hasn’t been able to get out of bed all day, and my school nurse sister-in-law was called to go over, but we’re not sure if she ever made it over there. She’s been in denial for a year now, insisting that her mother is fine and “just doesn’t want to do all the things everyone asks her to do–what’s wrong with that, hmm?!”

Aaargh!

And the issue in question on this thread is NOT a pretty important concern to me personally, as my daughters are grown and working. My concern is for my co-workers, who have had a pretty rough time of it over the last month–work hard all day at a job that puts us in contact with the COVID-19 virus, and then head home to work for several more hours trying to teach when they are not trained in how to help their children learn, and the teachers–I’m not lying here!-- the teachers are NOT available in the evening hours to chat with online or otherwise.

I think they are all grateful that mandatory home-schooling is ended now. Thank goodness, because we just got the COVID tests in our lab, and once they are validated (which other techs were staying late to set up), we are up and running with our own testing rather than having to send it away to at least four different labs around the country. Not sure if doing the testing ourselves will be easier or harder, but it can’t be any worse than all the work we do on those send-outs.

So I’m out of the discussion about teachers. I agree with those who say that not much will change here as long as we have such a corrupt government. Hopefully anyone who is reading this thread will at least think really hard before making a decision to move to Northern Illinois.

 

[Allegra]

Ok. Well…see ya.

 

[TC3033]

You get it.

Ya, so do we.

and then head home to work for several more hours trying to teach when they are not trained in how to help their children learn,

I’m still wondering about this “several hours”… My 8 year old could literally finish his work within an hour, 11 year old maybe 2 hrs…tops.

not trained in how to help their children learn,

I could maybe see this as being an issue for a high-school kid taking 2nd year calculus who’s tryiing to balance a dirivatie when I haven’t touched calculus in 15 years… From all the lessons we automatically get online, within the 5-15 min video the homework isn’t rocket science…

I’m not lying here!-- the teachers are NOT available in the evening hours to chat with online or otherwise.

Your co-workers have reached out and asked?

This whole thread has read as a pre-conceived notion about A) how terrible teachers are and B) hearing only one side of the homeschooling “struggle”.

 

[Peeps]

I’m still wondering about this “several hours”… My 8 year old could literally finish his work within an hour, 11 year old maybe 2 hrs…tops.

There are a lot of children who struggle doing school work, and although they are not diagnosed as “learning disabled,” they are definitely more immature, perhaps, than their classmates. It’s possible that their ability to organize their thoughts and finish tasks in a timely way just isn’t developed yet.

Also, there are a lot of children who will NOT submit to learning anything if it comes from their parents. One of my friends at work tells me that her 8 year-old will do anything for his teacher, but refuses to do anything with his mother.

Some children are also stressed out by the pandemic. They know that mommy is working with COVID at the hospital, and it scares them. One of my friends says that her daughter cries every time they try to do schoolwork–she hates trying to do school at home. Home is for dinner and playing and television and games, not school!

I could maybe see this as being an issue for a high-school kid taking 2nd year calculus who’s tryiing to balance a dirivatie when I haven’t touched calculus in 15 years… From all the lessons we automatically get online, within the 5-15 min video the homework isn’t rocket science…

Not all parents are good teachers of children. Isn’t that why we send them to school to work with professionals who have been trained to work with all types of children?

Also, I think that when a parent has worked all day, it’s very hard to keep working at night, too, especially when you know that this will be the grind from now until…who knows? Parents get tired and crabby. And even highly-intelligent parents aren’t always able to figure out the “new math” or other subjects that they aren’t good at.

I know for a fact that many of my co-workers in the lab are clueless when it comes to the humanities. That’s why they decided to become medical technologists–they hated English, writing, reading stories and analyzing them, etc.! So it’s hard to sit down with a child and read a book and figure out how the characters are “feeling”."

Same for people who are artists–they don’t always understand science and math!

Again, that’s why parents send kids to a school to work with learning professionals.

 

[TC3033]

There are a lot of children who struggle doing school work, and although they are not diagnosed as “learning disabled,” they are definitely more immature, perhaps, than their classmates. It’s possible that their ability to organize their thoughts and finish tasks in a timely way just isn’t developed yet.

Also, there are a lot of children who will NOT submit to learning anything if it comes from their parents. One of my friends at work tells me that her 8 year-old will do anything for his teacher, but refuses to do anything with his mother.

Some children are also stressed out by the pandemic. They know that mommy is working with COVID at the hospital, and it scares them. One of my friends says that her daughter cries every time they try to do schoolwork–she hates trying to do school at home. Home is for dinner and playing and television and games, not school!

You’ve literally described our 8 year old… perfectly.

Not all parents are good teachers of children. Isn’t that why we send them to school to work with professionals who have been trained to work with all types of children?

Nobody said that had to be good…we’re not dealing with rocket science here. I could see it being tough for a parent…maybe trying to teach HS calculus…but by that point the student, I would think, would be on line with their teacher during the day.

they hated English, writing, reading stories and analyzing them, etc.! So it’s hard to sit down with a child and read a book and figure out how the characters are “feeling”."

Hey…you said it. I’m an engineer…I hate it too, but it hasn’t been some daunting task either. Makes it sound like more of a preference vs. too much work.

Again, that’s why parents send kids to a school to work with learning professionals.

All of our assignments have been accompanies by the lessons. Any little bit of help the kids have needed hasn’t been rocket science.

I’m still unsure why this work can’t get queued up before the week starts. That’s made it so easy.

 

[DisorientingSneeze]

2 days into week 5 and I’d say my plan is not to plan so much next week. I need a little more fly by the seat of my pants (which is so contrary to my nature)

I spent most of Monday morning sifting through the content they had just uploaded, printing, and mapping out the week. Then my son got into a zoom meeting where it turned out they would be completing the reading lesson. I thought, well thats cool I can actually coast with him for a day. Then he came back crying saying it was all too fast and he didn’t write anything.

I’m tempted not to have him tune in for the zoom meetings because they provide so many other resources and it is hard to keep the rest of the kids away from him, but I think he likes seeing his classmates, so I’ll just see how he feels.

My kindergartener and pre-schooler are pretty excited about everything the district has provided. There are no grades collected for them. My preschooler isn’t enrolled. We don’t qualify for public preschool but the kindergarten curriculum is all mixed with pre-k stuff so I may as well teach her.

Next week on Monday when they upload, I will loosely plan and then print only the content area i plan to cover thay day. Tuesday the packets are available. I can drive by and get them to save my printer from certain death.

Nobody has to respond or even read this Its just helpful to gather my thoughts.

 

[Allegra]

It sounds like you’ve got a good routine going. My 4yo is also doing most of the same assignments with his kindy sister. There’s some stuff he can’t do yet, but lots of it, he can.