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Child Item

School not using Video Conferencing but lashing out the homework

AmberGold

I have three children under 12, none of their schools are taking the opportunity to avail of the latest technology to provide lessons.

Given WhatsApp, Teams and Zoom etc are free this is disappointing as all we seem to have is teachers flinging homework over the wall & lots of it at that.

I appreciate teachers have their own children to look after but an hour or two a day wouldn’t be too much to ask.

Is this unique to the schools my children attend or are our educators missing a trick, I’m thinking about contacting the principal of the school to voice my concern.

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teachinggal123

Teacher here.

I'm going to be totally honest and say that very few of my colleagues are doing anything at all. They have used all the excuses already mentioned in this thread ... no laptop/broadband, GDPR, no "official" school policy, no training, etc etc etc. The principal supports this as he is mid-50's and not at all computer literate. There is some contact with exam classes from some teachers but nothing significant. Other teachers have made no contact whatsoever since 12 March. Some others have made a bit of effort to email homework, but are now saying in our WhatsApp group that they are stopping this for various reasons (one of the main ones being "why work now if we are going to be made do "extra" hours in the Summer").

My nephews/nieces in primary school receive one email at the beginning of the week (from the main school email a/c) with suggested work. There is no other contact outside of that. All teachers are uncontactable and have not responded to emails sent (although last 2 weeks were Easter holidays).

I said all of this on another thread and got attacked by other teachers trawling through my post history and saying I must be in a **** school. I'll probably get attacked again now, but I'm being honest and telling the truth. I also have a lot of friends from other schools and they are also doing nothing or the absolute minimum.

The fact is that many, many teachers won't do any of this online stuff (in my experience this is the vast majority). The simple reason is that they don't have to and there will be no consequences. It'll all be dismissed as "anti-teacher ranting" or the "usual teacher bashing" if anyone questions this attitude.

Hard to say all that as a teacher, but it is the truth.

Coralcoras

sasta le wrote: »

Have ye only 2 rooms?

If you really want to know: There’s the hall and the bathroom and box room for my son. We are saving for a deposit so expenses are tight.

Coralcoras

Wife of Secondary level teacher. Currently giving him space in the kitchen so he can get work uploaded to google classroom. He’s saying this is so much harder than going into the classroom. He’ll be available for emails. I think the difference here is the principal. She’s quite proactive about online activity - it has been this way even before the lockdown.

TCM

noodler wrote:

God all I've been reading is how teachers were doing full days

...and your point is?

gnf_ireland

teachinggal123 wrote: »

Teacher here.

I'm going to be totally honest and say that very few of my colleagues are doing anything at all. They have used all the excuses already mentioned in this thread ... no laptop/broadband, GDPR, no "official" school policy, no training, etc etc etc. The principal supports this as he is mid-50's and not at all computer literate. There is some contact with exam classes from some teachers but nothing significant. Other teachers have made no contact whatsoever since 12 March. Some others have made a bit of effort to email homework, but are now saying in our WhatsApp group that they are stopping this for various reasons (one of the main ones being "why work now if we are going to be made do "extra" hours in the Summer").

My nephews/nieces in primary school receive one email at the beginning of the week (from the main school email a/c) with suggested work. There is no other contact outside of that. All teachers are uncontactable and have not responded to emails sent (although last 2 weeks were Easter holidays).

I said all of this on another thread and got attacked by other teachers trawling through my post history and saying I must be in a **** school. I'll probably get attacked again now, but I'm being honest and telling the truth. I also have a lot of friends from other schools and they are also doing nothing or the absolute minimum.

The fact is that many, many teachers won't do any of this online stuff (in my experience this is the vast majority). The simple reason is that they don't have to and there will be no consequences. It'll all be dismissed as "anti-teacher ranting" or the "usual teacher bashing" if anyone questions this attitude.

Hard to say all that as a teacher, but it is the truth.

Your honesty is refreshing and does very much against the militant unionised position of many of your colleagues.

Just make sure your name is never made public !!!

But all you are saying is what many parents are experiencing. And thankfully not all teachers behave like this and they are the ones we all hope are teaching our kids.

witchgirl26

I think it's a very different thing for primary & secondary school to be honest. Can you imagine trying to organise 30 junior infants on a video call? Not a hope!

My sister has 2 in primary school & they get sent the stuff to do at the start of the week. However they wouldn't be able to do any video conferencing. The only laptop in the house is her work one which she can't download anything to as it's very locked down. They don't own an ipad and she also needs her phone for calls during work. So how on earth is she meant to facilitate video conferencing for her 2 kids in different classes? She can't afford to go & buy them tablets or laptops. The school they go to recognise that parents have different circumstances and respect that. They're giving them things that parents can do with the kids and asking for the main parts to be emailed back where possible.

gnf_ireland

Coralcoras wrote: »

Wife of Secondary level teacher. Currently giving him space in the kitchen so he can get work uploaded to google classroom. He’s saying this is so much harder than going into the classroom. He’ll be available for emails. I think the difference here is the principal. She’s quite proactive about online activity - it has been this way even before the lockdown.

Yes you are right. So much depends on the school and the culture supported by the principal. This is no different with most jobs - some are very proactive around remote working and others think it’s a means for employees to go missing.

Hope you all manage during this window with the new family addition. It cannot be easy given the circumstances

thegetawaycar

As much as some teachers are doing great work and making lots of effort it's few and far between.

I'm not sure why the department haven't extended the school year to November and then start the next year in January and hope to get back to the current timetable in 2 years time.

Young kids need the face to face time, if teachers are saying they can catch up next year then what about the students who struggle? And if 3 or 4 months of school can be caught up on in 1 year (9 or 10 months class time) then really the curriculum needs to be reviewed as it's not taxing enough.

A lot of parents would be pissed as they'd miss the holidays in Summer but really the education is more important and a month off over Christmas and then start the new school year mid January would be possible.

I'm sure the unions would be pissed but the teachers are paid based on the hours they are providing over a full year so it shouldn't be an issue.

beggars_bush

The Bishop Basher wrote: »

Well they’re going to have to figure it out.

Times have changed for the foreseeable future.

Is every school going to provide laptop for the teacher?

Pay for the data use by the teacher at home?

The direction from the department to schools has been zero

beggars_bush

thegetawaycar wrote: »

As much as some teachers are doing great work and making lots of effort it's few and far between.

I'm not sure why the department haven't extended the school year to November and then start the next year in January and hope to get back to the current timetable in 2 years time.

Young kids need the face to face time, if teachers are saying they can catch up next year then what about the students who struggle? And if 3 or 4 months of school can be caught up on in 1 year (9 or 10 months class time) then really the curriculum needs to be reviewed as it's not taxing enough.

A lot of parents would be pissed as they'd miss the holidays in Summer but really the education is more important and a month off over Christmas and then start the new school year mid January would be possible.

I'm sure the unions would be pissed but the teachers are paid based on the hours they are providing over a full year so it shouldn't be an issue.

They're paid a salary, not based on hours

Coralcoras

gnf_ireland wrote: »

Yes you are right. So much depends on the school and the culture supported by the principal. This is no different with most jobs - some are very proactive around remote working and others think it’s a means for employees to go missing.

Hope you all manage during this window with the new family addition. It cannot be easy given the circumstances

Thanks - ah I’m sure everyone is having a difficult time in one way or another.

The teacher bashing just really makes me sad. I married into a family of teachers...good ones at that who are proud of what they do. My partner did a physics degree (Got a first with a phd offer from the college) and could have gone on to do anything. Instead he chose to continue his families tradition. I hope this societal perception expressed here don’t turn the best of the best away from this profession...as I want high quality graduates to guide my children through learning...and life.

You get all types in organizations and teaching is no different.

I want to add, that this online learning system was set up in the school by two interested teachers (husband is one). He wasn’t paid to do it and did it at the weekends. It was because of this earlier work that the infrastructure was there - another factor in addition to good leadership.

beggars_bush

teachinggal123 wrote: »

Teacher here.

I'm going to be totally honest and say that very few of my colleagues are doing anything at all. They have used all the excuses already mentioned in this thread ... no laptop/broadband, GDPR, no "official" school policy, no training, etc etc etc. The principal supports this as he is mid-50's and not at all computer literate. There is some contact with exam classes from some teachers but nothing significant. Other teachers have made no contact whatsoever since 12 March. Some others have made a bit of effort to email homework, but are now saying in our WhatsApp group that they are stopping this for various reasons (one of the main ones being "why work now if we are going to be made do "extra" hours in the Summer").

My nephews/nieces in primary school receive one email at the beginning of the week (from the main school email a/c) with suggested work. There is no other contact outside of that. All teachers are uncontactable and have not responded to emails sent (although last 2 weeks were Easter holidays).

I said all of this on another thread and got attacked by other teachers trawling through my post history and saying I must be in a **** school. I'll probably get attacked again now, but I'm being honest and telling the truth. I also have a lot of friends from other schools and they are also doing nothing or the absolute minimum.

The fact is that many, many teachers won't do any of this online stuff (in my experience this is the vast majority). The simple reason is that they don't have to and there will be no consequences. It'll all be dismissed as "anti-teacher ranting" or the "usual teacher bashing" if anyone questions this attitude.

Hard to say all that as a teacher, but it is the truth.

Could be solved in the morning if department issues guidelines to schools that teachers and schools must provide some sort of schedule of work and a way to review it

HerrKuehn

beggars_bush wrote: »

Could be solved in the morning if department issues guidelines to schools that teachers and schools must provide some sort of schedule of work and a way to review it

if they did that there would be others complaining that all the relevant stakeholders were not consulted. There is no way to win.

[Deleted User]

I'm a teacher but with a small LMS business in Asia, so I'm on the other end of this providing the platform for some schools around me.

Mine integrates BigBlueButton so it works in the browser including IOS. It has breakout rooms like Zoom and shared documents. But I also added interactive study content which the teacher can pop up on the screen for students over the video. As in each student does the content themselves. Also have points so teachers can award them and the student gets a popup saying they got one. At the moment, I'm building my own version of Kahoot style games as well which will be opened up and the kids do the quizzes live.

Would be happy to hear of any features you guys would like or you've found to be missing. Cheers.

beggars_bush

HerrKuehn wrote: »

if they did that there would be others complaining that all the relevant stakeholders were not consulted. There is no way to win.

Teachers and schools like direction and follow ciculars

Unfortunately the approach in Ireland is that every school is an island

Dylan94

beggars_bush wrote: »

They're paid a salary, not based on hours

It is based on hours. The number of teaching time per week for 33.5 weeks per year. A teacher who only teachers 15 hours per week will get a lot less than those on 22 hours per week.

The pay is based on the number of hours worked in the year and is either spread out over the year or paid as its earned.

There are two main types.
Teacher A works for 20 hours per week and gets paid €25 per hour (just a made up number). They work for 33.5 weeks throughout the year. For every week that they work they get €500. During the mid terms, Easter, Summer etc they get paid €0. Their total for the year is €16,750.

Teacher B also works for 20 hours per week, a gets paid €25 per hour. Also working for 33.5 hours per week. For every week that they work they earn €500, but are only paid €322. The rest of the €500 is kept and paid when schools are closed and they can't earn money. This is then returned to them during the mid terms, Easter summer etc when they will also get €322 per week. Their total for the year is €16,750.

lawred2

witchgirl26 wrote: »

I think it's a very different thing for primary & secondary school to be honest. Can you imagine trying to organise 30 junior infants on a video call? Not a hope!

My sister has 2 in primary school & they get sent the stuff to do at the start of the week. However they wouldn't be able to do any video conferencing. The only laptop in the house is her work one which she can't download anything to as it's very locked down. They don't own an ipad and she also needs her phone for calls during work. So how on earth is she meant to facilitate video conferencing for her 2 kids in different classes? She can't afford to go & buy them tablets or laptops. The school they go to recognise that parents have different circumstances and respect that. They're giving them things that parents can do with the kids and asking for the main parts to be emailed back where possible.

yeah but this is the usual smokescreen thrown up to justify doing nothing - not many parents would want that or are actively asking for their children to be sat in front of a PC for hours on end..

but a weekly work plan might be nice... and certainly wouldn't take much.

facehugger99

Teach30 wrote: »

Yea I dont want my students knowing I live at home with my parents. The noise levels they create make it an unsuitable area for streaming from.

Just like us all the students will have to cope. Resilience is a key feature of wellbeing and this is a great time to work on that.

Nothing wrong with using email to assist in remote learning, they can ask their parents/guardians for help if they need to and I’m only an email away if they have questions.

Public-sector entitlement and inflexibly summed up in one handy post.

thegetawaycar

beggars_bush wrote: »

They're paid a salary, not based on hours

Maybe I didn't phrase that well, that's my point, they are paid for the full year so contact hours should be moved to later in the year.

teachinggal123

thegetawaycar wrote: »

Maybe I didn't phrase that well, that's my point, they are paid for the full year so contact hours should be moved to later in the year.

According to my colleagues this will never happen. And if it is forced on teachers they will stop working now.

But dont believe me ... let's ask the teachers on here a simple question: would you be prepared to work during the Summer?

neonsofa

Teach30 wrote: »

Right and have my mother roaring at me do I want my dinner/am I going to the shop now/will I answer the phone/what am I doing etc etc or their grandchildren running in on top of me - they have NO boundaries. I would actually be mortified for my students to see that living situation. I am not willing to risk it to be honest.

Overall I’d like to point out that while it may seem that a teacher is doing very little you have no idea what is going on in their lives.

I’m struggling as it is being at home caring for my elderly parents. The lack of contact with friends, the fact my wedding has been cancelled and I can’t see my fiance. My nerves are in shreds, I can’t sleep and I also have to worry about not getting in trouble for lack of internet access. When in reality I am trying my very best to stay on top of things but I feel like I’m sinking as I have no routine in my life.

Let me back in a classroom and I will gladly teach from there.

I am in a similar situation in terms of working from home with a lot of people in the house at the moment due to quarantining, including a child who does her best to understand "mam is working" but it's difficult when she has schoolwork etc that she needs help with.

Have you got a car? My wifi/phone internet both work in the driveway so I have started doing confidential/sensitive conference calls from the car when required. Privacy all round and I am physically not "home" and therefore no roaring up to me. It also means if someone does come looking for you, you can see them coming out and mute the mic/video in advance.

Also, a set schedule is a good idea in terms of others knowing when they can/cant disturb you. Yeah they will still disturb you, but if they know you will be taking a break at half ten/eleven they may wait until then to call up to you instead of you seemingly being available to them all day every day. Even a notice on the door during those times for kids.

Not saying its ideal, but it makes things easier. Sorry to hear about your wedding.

teachinggal123

neonsofa wrote: »

I am in a similar situation in terms of working from home with a lot of people in the house at the moment due to quarantining, including a child who does her best to understand "mam is working" but it's difficult when she has schoolwork etc that she needs help with.

Have you got a car? My wifi/phone internet both work in the driveway so I have started doing confidential/sensitive conference calls from the car when required. Privacy all round and I am physically not "home" and therefore no roaring up to me. It also means if someone does come looking for you, you can see them coming out and mute the mic/video in advance.

Also, a set schedule is a good idea in terms of others knowing when they can/cant disturb you. Yeah they will still disturb you, but if they know you will be taking a break at half ten/eleven they may wait until then to call up to you instead of you seemingly being available to them all day every day. Even a notice on the door during those times for kids.

Not saying its ideal, but it makes things easier. Sorry to hear about your wedding.

You don't understand.

This person does not want to do any of these things.

If he did he would have already done them.

AmberGold

I have to say the response from some of the Teachers on this thread has been an eye opener. Its actually sad considering everything.

Dylan94

teachinggal123 wrote: »

According to my colleagues this will never happen. And if it is forced on teachers they will stop working now.

But dont believe me ... let's ask the teachers on here a simple question: would you be prepared to work during the Summer?

Yes, as is every teacher in my school as long as PPE is provided. With the exception of those with underlying illness, living with an over 70 person or some very reasonable reason, every one else has been very supportive of the need to help our 6th years this summer.

teachinggal123

Dylan94 wrote: »

Yes, as is every teacher in my school as long as PPE is provided. With the exception of those with underlying illness, living with an over 70 person or some very reasonable reason, every one else has been very supportive of the need to help our 6th years this summer.

So they will all continue teaching now AND work during the Summer?

Or is it "one or the other"?

Dylan94

teachinggal123 wrote: »

So they will all continue teaching now AND work during the Summer?

Or is it "one or the other"?

They will continue teaching all year groups now. Then in the summer we will continue to support the 6th years.

Fleetwoodmac

teachinggal123 wrote: »

You don't understand.

This person does not want to do any of these things.

If he did he would have already done them.

I read the post differently, and apologies Teach30 if I'm incorrect. He/she is clearly struggling, with so many variables going on and they have named that several times in their post. Empathy and understanding is perhaps one of the most valuable traits we can teach our children and reading this persons post, it's necessary here. I have a child who has additional learning needs and yes would love direct teaching and instruction, but it shouldn't be at the detriment of someone's health, when they are clearly struggling.

neonsofa

teachinggal123 wrote: »

You don't understand.

This person does not want to do any of these things.

If he did he would have already done them.

I got the impression they were just finding it difficult given the circumstances at home, which I did initially too til I found some workarounds through trial and error. (Although I dont particularly want to do them either :pac: )

Teach30

teachinggal123 wrote: »

You don't understand.

This person does not want to do any of these things.

If he did he would have already done them.

Read back over my posts and you’ll clearly see I have done them.

I’ll gladly take any suggestions from you as how to remedy the following.

I made a 16 min video going through three pages with a class. Included in video are my brother walking in not aware I was doing something and proceeding to ask me was I doing something. My mother looking for a newspaper and the phone ringing three times in background. And a roar from mother at me asking would I answer it. Despite a sign on the door saying I was doing work and a verbal instruction.

Anyways completed video including all interruptions and proceeded to upload, file is too large to attach to an email. Currently 2 hours later it is still uploading to google classroom and I have no idea if it will work or not.

Seeing as you say I’m doing nothing, What else should I be doing?

Teach30

teachinggal123 wrote: »

You don't understand.

This person does not want to do any of these things.

If he did he would have already done them.