Schools closed until March/April? (part 4) **Mod warning in OP 22/01**

Sammy2012

teachinggal123 wrote: »

Can someone clarify (as there seems to be some confusion about this) ... has the DES advised that there should be daily and 2-way communication from each teacher?

Or is that for secondary only?

Daily contact is stated in the document from the department. Its up to the school to decide the form that takes.

mirrorwall14

teachinggal123 wrote: »

This is not an excuse.

It may not be an excuse but it is a possible explanation.

If they have no childcare or are a home carer without support what is the alternative for the children? No teacher at all? Because subs are nowhere to be found so if a teacher in that situation has to take unpaid leave then that’s where they’ll be.

I was clear that I do think there should at least be videos from the teacher explaining concepts even if live isn’t possible. Even with childcare issues etc they can be done at night as many of us did the last time double jobbing teaching and minding our kids.

teachinggal123

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

It may not be an excuse but it is a possible explanation.

If they have no childcare or are a home carer without support what is the alternative for the children? No teacher at all? Because subs are nowhere to be found so if a teacher in that situation has to take unpaid leave then that’s where they’ll be.

I was clear that I do think there should at least be videos from the teacher explaining concepts even if live isn’t possible. Even with childcare issues etc they can be done at night as many of us did the last time double jobbing teaching and minding our kids.

I'm not getting at you personally, but this is what gives teachers a bad name.

It is simply not acceptable to say a teacher cannot do his/her job because they have to be a carer or mind their own kids. If that is the case the teacher should take unpaid leave as you suggest.

The DES has said that there should be daily, 2-way contact between teacher and student. One email a week is certainly not that.

wirelessdude01

Round and round we go.

Those who have issues with what their school is offering should approach the class teacher if they have a means of contact, if no means or still not happy then contact the principal and if still not happy then contact one of the parent reps on the BOM to see what the remote learning policy states. Each school has to have one in place now after being ratified by the BOM.

Locotastic

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

I set mine some projects last year but set up a learning path on scoilnet, with links to information that they could research. Project had to be done on google slides and they had to incorporate audio. Really easy to do once they learned how to do it by messing around with it. Good skills to have going into secondary. I shared them all with the class using google drive and they also had to present them to the class over zoom using share screen.

The traditional type project is redundant in these circumstances as it creates additional stress at home.

At least those are skills that are useful to have and there's interaction.

Making a rocket ship entirely from recyclable material (last time we had to make a viking longboat and a monastery using reusable waste and I say 'we' I mean me because his interest was gone out the window after 5 mins) I'm not so sure.

They do love arts and crafts but they will do it spontaneously when they feel like it.

Without teacher interaction I fear there will be no motivation for much to be done no matter how much I try to get them to do it. It ended in tears last May and I had to call a halt to it, result was we did nothing for the whole last month of school because it was just causing him stress.

mirrorwall14

teachinggal123 wrote: »

I'm not getting at you personally, but this is what gives teachers a bad name.

It is simply not acceptable to say a teacher cannot do his/her job because they have to be a carer or mind their own kids. If that is the case the teacher should take unpaid leave as you suggest.

The DES has said that there should be daily, 2-way contact between teacher and student. One email a week is certainly not that.

They are doing daily 2 way contact with the parent provided they reply to the google form. It’s not how I’d do it I know and I I would be complaining.

I have already said I believe the OP should be requesting more and I believe they will be. That is the exact route that needs to be gone down.

I have no idea why you are taking such personal offence to this. We have no idea what is going on in the household. None. You have no idea if ‘this’ is what gives teachers a bad name. The OP can ask for more and then see what comes back down the line. If it’s nothing then yes they can and absolutely should go down the complaints route

am_zarathustra

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

They are doing daily 2 way contact with the parent provided they reply to the google form. It’s not how I’d do it I know and I I would be complaining.

I have already said I believe the OP should be requesting more and I believe they will be. That is the exact route that needs to be gone down.

I have no idea why you are taking such personal offence to this. We have no idea what is going on in the household. None. You have no idea if ‘this’ is what gives teachers a bad name. The OP can ask for more and then see what comes back down the line. If it’s nothing then yes they can and absolutely should go down the complaints route

The irony of this poster being so indignant about others not doing their job should not be lost on anyone on the Teaching and Learning forum!

Solid advice to ask for more info on why a call or video explainations aren't an option. I think a few short videos are manageable for most regardless of childcare issue about maybe there is more going on

wirelessdude01

am_zarathustra wrote: »

The irony of this poster being so indignant about others not doing their job should not be lost on anyone on the Teaching and Learning forum!

Solid advice to ask for more info on why a call or video explainations aren't an option. I think a few short videos are manageable for most regardless of childcare issue about maybe there is more going on

There is a reason why they don't frequent the T&L forum anymore.

teachinggal123

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

They are doing daily 2 way contact with the parent provided they reply to the google form. It’s not how I’d do it I know and I I would be complaining.

Agreed.

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

We have no idea what is going on in the household. None. You have no idea if ‘this’ is what gives teachers a bad name. The OP can ask for more and then see what comes back down the line. If it’s nothing then yes they can and absolutely should go down the complaints route

I do think this gives teachers a bad name to be honest.

And I am referring to the numerous primary schools - including the large rural school where my sister sends her children - who did the one email a week thing during the last lockdown. I'm sorry if you are at odds with my opinion on this, but it is not acceptable to excuse teachers who send one email a week (I'm not saying you are doing this btw) even if they are carers or have their own childcare issues.

Sammy2012

Teachinggal how is your prep going this time round?

teachinggal123

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

There is a reason why they don't frequent the T&L forum anymore.

There is a specific reason, but we wont go into that here and drag the thread off topic (as you are trying to do)!

mirrorwall14

teachinggal123 wrote: »

Agreed.



I do think this gives teachers a bad name to be honest.

And I am referring to the numerous primary schools - including the large rural school where my sister sends her children - who did the one email a week thing during the last lockdown. I'm sorry if you are at odds with my opinion on this, but it is not acceptable to excuse teachers who send one email a week (I'm not saying you are doing this btw) even if they are carers or have their own childcare issues.

I did not excuse teachers who give one email a week anywhere. I have been quite clear that it is not on, and it is not even applicable here as the teacher is planning to communicate each day as per the DES guidelines. I may not like how they have interpreted the guidelines and I have advised the OP as such.

You have now moved to generalisations about schools and are referring to the last lockdown.

I’m done with this conversation.

teachinggal123

Sammy2012 wrote: »

Teachinggal how is your prep going this time round?

It's going well thanks. I'm learning from past mistakes and doing my best. the technology is tricky for me but I have help and I'm making a huge effort despite very unhelpful colleagues and a d1ck of a principal!

Dayo93

Our school primary is an email on a Sunday with daily breakdown and 2 X 30 min Zoom calls a week, if anything I feel more under pressure now than last lock down as 2 parents are working , I am shift so will potentially be compressing the work into 3 days and get the minder to do the zoom calls as they are more to see friends etc than classes

Str8outtaWuhan

teachinggal123 wrote: »

Can someone clarify (as there seems to be some confusion about this) ... has the DES advised that there should be daily and 2-way communication from each teacher?

Or is that for secondary only?

it seems very wooly and lots of wiggle room, the two way contact could be a letter in the post and a letter back right up to zoom classes, they both technically fit the criteria. I'm not expecting anything til tomorrow morning , I treasure my weekend and holidays and I wouldn't begrudge a teacher theirs.

wirelessdude01

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

I did not excuse teachers who give one email a week anywhere. I have been quite clear that it is not on, and it is not even applicable here as the teacher is planning to communicate each day as per the DES guidelines. I may not like how they have interpreted the guidelines and I have advised the OP as such.

You have now moved to generalisations about schools and are referring to the last lockdown.

I’m done with this conversation.

Wonder will they refer to their own behaviour during the last school closure?

Everyone should see how schools and the teachers their kids interact with actually fare out this week. Give them a shot. You never know that you may be surprised. You can't go all gung-ho from the get go or you can scare both parents and students away.

Once again the guidelines that the DES are so wishy washy and are so open to interpretation that it is going to lead to scenarios where people aren't happy but the schools are actually abiding by what the DES laid out but not the spirit of it.

Funnily enough, I had two emails today saying that I am expecting too much live engagement and that it isn't fair on those children who have working parents. CANNOT WIN.

lulublue22

Dayo93 wrote: »

Our school primary is an email on a Sunday with daily breakdown and 2 X 30 min Zoom calls a week, if anything I feel more under pressure now than last lock down as 2 parents are working , I am shift so will potentially be compressing the work into 3 days and get the minder to do the zoom calls as they are more to see friends etc than classes

Please don’t stress . Teachers are very aware of the pressure parents are under and will understand if not everything is covered. Tbf you can see already from this thread that you can’t suit everybody and remote learning hasn’t actually started yet.

LenWoods

Top respect and goodnight to all the Múinteoir Mammy's starting there first day with the class of 2021 tomorrow morning,
Another feather in the cap as my father would say, 👍

Whenseptends

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/i-m-running-on-empty-mother-says-she-has-to-lie-to-son-with-autism-about-schools-not-reopening-1.4454629?mode=amp

Mother of Four. With a 15 year old autistic son.

"The last lockdown his anxiety levels shot through the roof. He went from being happy and easy going to flapping and hitting and repetitive talking. He followed me around all day asking questions. It was really hard going for him and I don’t want him to feel like that again if I tell him the schools are closed.

“Online learning doesn’t fulfil his social needs and structure. The Department of Education had time to plan in the event of another lockdown but it’s evident they have no plan B.”

She said lockdown means she is her son’s “sole source of stimulation, speech and language and occupational therapy. That’s not good for him or me. I’m running on empty.”

amacca

am_zarathustra wrote: »

The irony of this poster being so indignant about others not doing their job should not be lost on anyone on the Teaching and Learning forum!

Solid advice to ask for more info on why a call or video explainations aren't an option. I think a few short videos are manageable for most regardless of childcare issue about maybe there is more going on

I'd imagine you are correct but there is the issue of woefully slow internet connections in some areas

Uploading one video can take hours...if you say record 10 mins in stream and that results in a file size of spprox 100mb an then you use something like handbrake to compress that and you get it down to around 15-20mb and you are pleaded with yourself thinking your 2mb-4mb broadband won't be too long upload that .......only to find that the upload speed is severely restricted and much less than 2mb (much much less) and even uploading your compressed video will take hours ....now multiply that by 4/5 videos a day and you start to see how some may not be able to do these things efficiently if their line isn't up to it.......just something to consider for people.....dunno if it's an option to go into school? But then again that might represent a covid risk

Onthefence

My school are doing 2x30 min Zoom calls a day. I'd really love to know how the parents are feeling about that. Too much? Too little? I'm not the principal so I'm not allowed ask. Primary too.

Dayo93 wrote: »

Our school primary is an email on a Sunday with daily breakdown and 2 X 30 min Zoom calls a week, if anything I feel more under pressure now than last lock down as 2 parents are working , I am shift so will potentially be compressing the work into 3 days and get the minder to do the zoom calls as they are more to see friends etc than classes

wirelessdude01

Onthefence wrote: »

My school are doing 2x30 min Zoom calls a day. I'd really love to know how the parents are feeling about that. Too much? Too little? I'm not the principal so I'm not allowed ask. Primary too.

Are they scheduled at the same time every day? What are they to be used for?

Onthefence

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Are they scheduled at the same time every day? What are they to be used for?

Yes, same time every day.
Teaching, reading, check-ins etc

am_zarathustra

amacca wrote: »

I'd imagine you are correct but there is the issue of woefully slow internet connections in some areas

Uploading one video can take hours...if you say record 10 mins in stream and that results in a file size of spprox 100mb an then you use something like handbrake to compress that and you get it down to around 15-20mb and you are pleaded with yourself thinking your 2mb-4mb broadband won't be too long upload that .......only to find that the upload speed is severely restricted and much less than 2mb (much much less) and even uploading your compressed video will take hours ....now multiply that by 4/5 videos a day and you start to see how some may not be able to do these things efficiently if their line isn't up to it.......just something to consider for people.....dunno if it's an option to go into school? But then again that might represent a covid risk

Rural broadband is absolutely a consideration for some people, totally correct. I wonder would a voice call or just a voiceover a very simple powerpoint work?

Has anyone heard of schools being open, it was mooted but I couldn't see anything concrete in the circular that was released. If staff could even go a couple of times a week to upload it might help!

Sammy2012

am_zarathustra wrote: »

Rural broadband is absolutely a consideration for some people, totally correct. I wonder would a voice call or just a voiceover a very simple powerpoint work?

Has anyone heard of schools being open, it was mooted but I couldn't see anything concrete in the circular that was released. If staff could even go a couple of times a week to upload it might help!

My broadband at home is much better than my broadband in school.

wirelessdude01

Onthefence wrote: »

Yes, same time every day.
Teaching, reading, check-ins etc

Be interesting to see how parents of those kids who cannot login at those times respond to their children being left behind due to live teaching.

wirelessdude01

am_zarathustra wrote: »

Rural broadband is absolutely a consideration for some people, totally correct. I wonder would a voice call or just a voiceover a very simple powerpoint work?

Has anyone heard of schools being open, it was mooted but I couldn't see anything concrete in the circular that was released. If staff could even go a couple of times a week to upload it might help!

I know that we have been told that we will only be allowed access to the building once a week. Only one person at a time and has to be run though the principal.

am_zarathustra

Onthefence wrote: »

Yes, same time every day.
Teaching, reading, check-ins etc

I remember being in 1st class and twice a week our teacher (a nun) and her best friend (another nun, in a wheelchair so not teaching full time but used to come to our classes) read Roald Dahl books to us for an hour. It was everyone's favourite part of the week, when I meet adults I was in school with we still talk about it. They did voices and we all started reading the easier books ourselves then. It might not seem like much but even a familiar voice reading a book for half an hour could be brilliant. I remember almost nothing else from that year, just how much I loved those days and how they absolutely gave me a real love of books that I keep to this day

Sammy2012

am_zarathustra wrote: »

I remember being in 1st class and twice a week our teacher (a nun) and her best friend (another nun, in a wheelchair so not teaching full time but used to come to our classes) read Roald Dahl books to us for an hour. It was everyone's favourite part of the week, when I meet adults I was in school with we still talk about it. They did voices and we all started reading the easier books ourselves then. It might not seem like much but even a familiar voice reading a book for half an hour could be brilliant. I remember almost nothing else from that year, just how much I loved those days and how they absolutely gave me a real love of books that I keep to this day

Thats a lobely idea. And one i might use on seesaw.

Onthefence

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Be interesting to see how parents of those kids who cannot login at those times respond to their children being left behind due to live teaching.

Only one of my many issues with it. The children whose parents aren't worried at all concern me equally.