Schools closed until February? (part 3)

Endintheclowns

E36Ross wrote: »

Why can't they sit the Dail in schools?


And I'll volunteer to collect them in a bus, because apparently thats safe!

You'd be lucky to have a bus, most are collected in minibuses which are basically Ford transits with windows.

Stateofyou

rob316 wrote: »

Are your lives worth anymore than the front-line healthcare workers? Your environment you are been asked to work in has far less risk than those. I respect teachers but you are an essential public service just like healthcare, emergency services and police.

I'm a parent, as I already said here numerous times.
As for healthcare workers they signed up for it and are trained to handle infectious diseases. They have proper PPE including masks that actually filter out and protect from viruses.
Teachers are being asked to be in a room with up to or more than 30 other students now 3 times a week with unprecedented spread - one of the worst in the world in fact - with a virulent strain far more infectious and that seems to affect the age group there more, whilst wearing simple cotton face masks yet untested against this strain.

Essential public service like health care workers, emergency services and gardai cannot work from home.

I think you know all this, you just couldn't give two f-cks because it isn't YOU facing any of it.

wirelessdude01

scouserstation wrote: »

But why would you be going into small overcrowded classrooms when there is so much space that can be utilised now, schools operating at a greatly reduced capacity surely there is scope to carry out classes in a safer environment?

You really don't get it do you.

Neyite

We just got a text saying that online teaching (primary) school will resume on Monday. Honestly it's a relief, my lad is the kind that will work diligently for the teacher and not do a tap for me and I'm interested in seeing how it will go. I really hope it's a success all round. The teachers and staff of our school put together their online contingency teaching plan during late July and August when they were supposed to be off dossing. The principal was on site all but a handful of days during the entire summer as were many of the teachers preparing both the school and their online strategy.

I read recently a first person account of someone who was a child during the Bosnian war and who's education was interrupted due to the conflict for several years. As an adult he's now highly qualified. But it made me think that ok, this is crap for everyone involved - whether you are mildly inconvenienced or facing the impossible but if we and our families stay healthy, it's hopefully temporary and education can happen at any age.

Many of us just want the safety to stay home during the current frightening numbers - our kids are just like us, wanting their normal lives back but equally, being very nervous of catching this bloody disease. Students are innocent vectors of this plague and by continuing to send them to mingle they carry it back home to the more vulnerable. I've a cousin who, despite their best efforts, brought home covid to their elderly and vulnerable relatives. Both ended up in hospital, one nearly died. It's too soon to tell what long-term damage was done. But my cousin - the guilt will never leave her. But she's a grown woman who can logically see that it wasn't her fault. I doubt my 8yo would ever get over it if he brought covid home to his asthmatic dad. So he's staying home. He might not get much of an education during this pandemic but my priority is health first, education second.

khalessi

rob316 wrote: »

Are your lives worth anymore than the front-line healthcare workers? Your environment you are been asked to work in has far less risk than those. I respect teachers but you are an essential public service just like healthcare, emergency services and police.

Speaking as someone who has worked both environments I would say they are as important. So should I be entitlted to the same protections as essential workers?

JRant

jimmytwotimes 2013 wrote: »

Wife back to wfh since yesterday. Getting a good reminder here of the last lockdown minding 2 kids under age of 8.

Getting thro the day with nobody injured is a victory. We'll have to do schoolwork from their primary school from next Monday.

3 trips to school, leaving my wife working from home and minding the kids at the same time from next week as well.

Prerecorded stuff, done at night, will be manageable but, jesus, doing live lessons with 2 kids running around the place. An argument for our zoom meeting on Friday with a principal who has no kids.

Good God

Of course it's manageable. Did it for months last year. At the start it's a bit off-putting but you get used to it very quickly. It was quite funny the amount of VC's we had and a little toddlers head would suddenly appear on screen, unfortunately for me it was more often than not mine

hesaidshesaid

Can I get some parent and teacher feedback on this please?

We are a mainstream primary with a sizeable Special ed team. Our plan for next week is that each class 3rd-6th will have a daily 30 min zoom with the teacher to set up work for the day, have a chat, maintain connection etc. They all have their books home. The calls are timetabled to avoid clashing with siblings in homes where there may only be one device, phone etc available. Infants to 2nd will do two of these zoom calls per week. We are looking at breaking those classes into smaller groups for the zoom calls.

Work will be submitted on Seesaw. We intend to use the books as much as possible.

There will be assemblies every Friday for Infants, another for 1st & 2nd, another for 3rd & 4th, another for 5th & 6th

I'm on the Special Ed team, I'm assigned to 6th class. I take multiple groups for maths and English. They would be better served by me actually teaching them on Zoom rather than assigning Seesaw tasks. How much hassle is it for parents etc if kids have a few zoom calls a day? Lack of devices will be an issue I imagine.

Deeec

I actually cannot see how the leaving cert can go ahead this year. If it does the Dept of Education are opening themselves up to legal cases being taken against them. I can understand there being no procedures in place for education during lockdown 1 but 9 months on and still the department have put nothing really in place for education - it is a huge fail on their part. Everyone knew there was a high chance schools would have to close again - everyone knew this except our government it seems.

The leaving certs of this year missed 3 months of school last year. Some pupils got better help during this time than others for various reasons ( largely down to lack of instruction from the DES). The right decision would be to close schools for all next week ( hopefully the DES will see sense on this) so god knows how long schools will be closed this time. The amount of help pupils will receive will vary from school to school ( and indeed within schools also). The LC students this year are in a much worse position than the LC students last year. The DES have failed in their role to ensure the education of these kids although they had plenty of time to plan for each scenario. Shamefully they done nothing. It simply is not an even playing field for thses kids. In my opinion the DES and government are liable for this. This could cost the government alot down the line.

JRant

hesaidshesaid wrote: »

Can I get some parent and teacher feedback on this please?

We are a mainstream primary with a sizeable Special ed team. Our plan for next week is that each class 3rd-6th will have a daily 30 min zoom with the teacher to set up work for the day, have a chat, maintain connection etc. They all have their books home. The calls are timetabled to avoid clashing with siblings in homes where there may only be one device, phone etc available. Infants to 2nd will do two of these zoom calls per week. We are looking at breaking those classes into smaller groups for the zoom calls.

Work will be submitted on Seesaw. We intend to use the books as much as possible.

There will be assemblies every Friday for Infants, another for 1st & 2nd, another for 3rd & 4th, another for 5th & 6th

I'm on the Special Ed team, I'm assigned to 6th class. I take multiple groups for maths and English. They would be better served by me actually teaching them on Zoom rather than assigning Seesaw tasks. How much hassle is it for parents etc if kids have a few zoom calls a day? Lack of devices will be an issue I imagine.

Speaking as a parent I think that would be a great idea. A 30 minute zoom call, even daily, should be absolutely no problem, and the children would love it.

scouserstation

rob316 wrote: »

Why?

Special needs kids need these classes, they are vital to their routine and progression. 6 months without school saw a big regression in my son.

You won't get much sympathy here, judging by some of the comments iv seen some people here would rather see the disadvantaged, vulnerable and disabled schoolkids thrown under the bus for the greater good of "protecting public health" and closing down a workplace that carries less risk than a supermarket

Stateofyou

hesaidshesaid wrote: »

Can I get some parent and teacher feedback on this please?

We are a mainstream primary with a sizeable Special ed team. Our plan for next week is that each class 3rd-6th will have a daily 30 min zoom with the teacher to set up work for the day, have a chat, maintain connection etc. They all have their books home. The calls are timetabled to avoid clashing with siblings in homes where there may only be one device, phone etc available. Infants to 2nd will do two of these zoom calls per week. We are looking at breaking those classes into smaller groups for the zoom calls.

Work will be submitted on Seesaw. We intend to use the books as much as possible.

There will be assemblies every Friday for Infants, another for 1st & 2nd, another for 3rd & 4th, another for 5th & 6th

I'm on the Special Ed team, I'm assigned to 6th class. I take multiple groups for maths and English. They would be better served by me actually teaching them on Zoom rather than assigning Seesaw tasks. How much hassle is it for parents etc if kids have a few zoom calls a day? Lack of devices will be an issue I imagine.

This would work well for my 2. Both have own devices. I'm really hoping our school decides to do something online like you've described. If they don't I will be suggesting it.

khalessi

scouserstation wrote: »

You won't get much sympathy here, judging by some of the comments iv seen some people here would rather see the disadvantaged, vulnerable and disabled schoolkids thrown under the bus for the greater good of "protecting public health" and closing down a workplace that carries less risk than a supermarket

So have you stepped up? I noticed you dodge that question twice, been frontline yet or is it just keyboard warrioring you get up to?

Deeec

JRant wrote: »

Speaking as a parent I think that would be a great idea. A 30 minute zoom call, even daily, should be absolutely no problem, and the children would love it.

I agree. I think it would focus the children on their work and let them know that their teacher hasnt disappeared and its not just mammy and daddy trying to make them do schoolwork.

hesaidshesaid

JRant wrote: »

Speaking as a parent I think that would be a great idea. A 30 minute zoom call, even daily, should be absolutely no problem, and the children would love it.

Thanks for the response. My question is though, say your child comes to me for support with maths and english, then he/she could have three zoom calls daily. One from the teacher, one for Maths, one for English. 30 mins each. Too much?

I would much prefer to do it this way but am concerned it could be overwhelming for families.

khalessi

hesaidshesaid wrote: »

Thanks for the response. My question is though, say your child comes to me for support with maths and english, then he/she could have three zoom calls daily. One from the teacher, one for Maths, one for English. 30 mins each. Too much?

I would much prefer to do it this way but am concerned it could be overwhelming for families.

How many children have you in SET?

Deeec

hesaidshesaid wrote: »

Thanks for the response. My question is though, say your child comes to me for support with maths and english, then he/she could have three zoom calls daily. One from the teacher, one for Maths, one for English. 30 mins each. Too much?

I would much prefer to do it this way but am concerned it could be overwhelming for families.

I think possibly 3 zooms could be a bit much. There are some families with 3 or 4 primary school kids so that could be 12 zooms for a family to fit in. It could get hard to manage for WFH parents. If you could limit it to 1 per day it would work better IMO.

BonsaiKitten

hesaidshesaid wrote: »

There will be assemblies every Friday for Infants, another for 1st & 2nd, another for 3rd & 4th,I'm on the Special Ed team, I'm assigned to 6th class. I take multiple groups for maths and English. They would be better served by me actually teaching them on Zoom rather than assigning Seesaw tasks. How much hassle is it for parents etc if kids have a few zoom calls a day? Lack of devices will be an issue I imagine.

My school will teach live in long sessions so this solution probably won't work for you, but in my school the LS will join the main class lesson at the scheduled time and the class teacher will just pop them into a breakout room with their students. When the session time is up, both student and teacher leave the breakout. Much easier for parents to handle than signing into multiple sessions imo.

mirrorwall14

Deeec wrote: »

I think possibly 3 zooms could be a bit much. There are some families with 3 or 4 primary school kids so that could be 12 zooms for a family to fit in. It could get hard to manage for WFH parents. If you could limit it to 1 per day it would work better IMO.

Yeah this would be my thoughts. It would have to be individualised based on the families and resources they have available.

Having said that, if it’s small numbers you could ask the parents

hesaidshesaid

khalessi wrote: »

How many children have you in SET?

I take 16 kids and also work with the whole class at times.

khalessi

hesaidshesaid wrote: »

I take 16 kids and also work with the whole class at times.

I do SET 6th also, it just depends what suits you as you will make it work. I have 28 and online concentrate totally on them We didnt do inclass teaching this year due to Covid but I cover when necessary.

wirelessdude01

hesaidshesaid wrote: »

Can I get some parent and teacher feedback on this please?

We are a mainstream primary with a sizeable Special ed team. Our plan for next week is that each class 3rd-6th will have a daily 30 min zoom with the teacher to set up work for the day, have a chat, maintain connection etc. They all have their books home. The calls are timetabled to avoid clashing with siblings in homes where there may only be one device, phone etc available. Infants to 2nd will do two of these zoom calls per week. We are looking at breaking those classes into smaller groups for the zoom calls.

Work will be submitted on Seesaw. We intend to use the books as much as possible.

There will be assemblies every Friday for Infants, another for 1st & 2nd, another for 3rd & 4th, another for 5th & 6th

I'm on the Special Ed team, I'm assigned to 6th class. I take multiple groups for maths and English. They would be better served by me actually teaching them on Zoom rather than assigning Seesaw tasks. How much hassle is it for parents etc if kids have a few zoom calls a day? Lack of devices will be an issue I imagine.

Sounds great in theory and great effort but what we found and the feedback we got after the last lockdown was that live zoom lessons caused issues at home. I did one zoom call a week that was essentially a check-in, we did quizzes some weeks as well. Children could drop in and out as they wished. Parents in our school don't want too much live stuff.

hesaidshesaid

Deeec wrote: »

I think possibly 3 zooms could be a bit much. There are some families with 3 or 4 primary school kids so that could be 12 zooms for a family to fit in. It could get hard to manage for WFH parents. If you could limit it to 1 per day it would work better IMO.

Thanks. The problem is that the class zoom will be the teacher quickly setting up the work for the day in all subjects. These kids come to me for a modified version of that work, I'm their English/Maths teacher so to speak. The quick set up would likely confuse and stress them unless they know it will be reiterated in their learning support group. It's hard to know how best to support them. The breakout rooms is a possibility.

scouserstation

khalessi wrote: »

So have you stepped up? I noticed you dodge that question twice, been frontline yet or is it just keyboard warrioring you get up to?

Playing the man instead of the ball here but been your so interested I work in catering in Blanchardstown hospital, not exactly front line but my job now carries risks, risks that weren't there before, but I'm not gonna go complaining to my union I'm just gonna get on with things and accept the world we now live in is no longer the same

mirrorwall14

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Sounds great in theory and great effort but what we found and the feedback we got after the last lockdown was that live zoom lessons caused issues at home. I did one zoom call a week that was essentially a check-in, we did quizzes some weeks as well. Children could drop in and out as they wished. Parents in our school don't want too much live stuff.

Just to back that up, 2/3rds of our students don't want to be live all the time or at all (2nd level). They want to check in yes, but found online live classes very tough

the kelt

rob316 wrote: »

Are your lives worth anymore than the front-line healthcare workers? Your environment you are been asked to work in has far less risk than those. I respect teachers but you are an essential public service just like healthcare, emergency services and police.

But to be fair tho teachers they’re not treated as frontline workers though

For example in the rollout of the vaccine students are last and teachers 3rd from the bottom of the list.

Are there other frontline areas that have had their budget for ppe and sanitizer cut by 40%?

I’m not actually a teacher. I just don’t get the logic, I get some love sticking it to teachers etc hence the multiple new accounts doing just that, a bit pathetic but there ye go. Basically they’re forcing c 100k people out 3 days a week whilst telling everyone this is the worst pandemic ever and everyone needs to stay at home.

I mean the dail decided today they’re a bit wary of this new strain so will only meet twice a week but say schools are relatively safe based on data from sep to December, ie before the new strain started circulating.

I don’t understand why people don’t actually see these issues or is it just an excuse to get one over on teachers cos of the cushy holidays etc.

Stateofyou

hesaidshesaid wrote: »

Thanks for the response. My question is though, say your child comes to me for support with maths and english, then he/she could have three zoom calls daily. One from the teacher, one for Maths, one for English. 30 mins each. Too much?

I would much prefer to do it this way but am concerned it could be overwhelming for families.

Our kids teachers have sent a photo of math steps broken down step by step which was perfect, so maybe another call isn't always necessary?

Neyite

hesaidshesaid wrote: »

Can I get some parent and teacher feedback on this please?

We are a mainstream primary with a sizeable Special ed team. Our plan for next week is that each class 3rd-6th will have a daily 30 min zoom with the teacher to set up work for the day, have a chat, maintain connection etc. They all have their books home. The calls are timetabled to avoid clashing with siblings in homes where there may only be one device, phone etc available. Infants to 2nd will do two of these zoom calls per week. We are looking at breaking those classes into smaller groups for the zoom calls.

Work will be submitted on Seesaw. We intend to use the books as much as possible.

There will be assemblies every Friday for Infants, another for 1st & 2nd, another for 3rd & 4th, another for 5th & 6th

I'm on the Special Ed team, I'm assigned to 6th class. I take multiple groups for maths and English. They would be better served by me actually teaching them on Zoom rather than assigning Seesaw tasks. How much hassle is it for parents etc if kids have a few zoom calls a day? Lack of devices will be an issue I imagine.

So for our situation, OH & I both WFH - he does a lot of calls and meetings, I might have one or two a day but mostly work without interaction with colleagues except via email. We have 1 8yo in Second class with no SN. He's got See Saw on his own kindle.

That would work for us - I'd much prefer a short live interaction with the teacher every day, with work set out for the class and let them off knowing it's to be done by the next day at the same time. (with additional texted correspondence via see saw if they have questions.)

Staggering the zoom calls would work for my neighbour with 6 (!) school going children and if book-based then they wouldn't all be fighting over the one or two devices.

It wouldn't work for my neighbour who's very against her 4 kids having screens. But tbh, that's her decision for her kids so it's up to her to find a work around by getting a printed lesson plan off the teacher and doing it her way.

It might not work for the kid who's got a learning disability but I imagine a tailored approach might have to happen there - but mom in that case is very pro-active and would guide any additional studies herself.

khalessi

scouserstation wrote: »

Playing the man instead of the ball here but been your so interested I work in catering in Blanchardstown hospital, not exactly front line but my job now carries risks, risks that weren't there before, but I'm not gonna go complaining to my union I'm just gonna get on with things and accept the world we now live in is no longer the same

No not playing repeating a question you asked earlier soooo were you playing the man? So you work in the kitchen not frontline, with risks that were not there before but are critical of people who do work frontline with risks that werent there before. Interesting.

jimmytwotimes 2013

JRant wrote: »

Of course it's manageable. Did it for months last year. At the start it's a bit off-putting but you get used to it very quickly. It was quite funny the amount of VC's we had and a little toddlers head would suddenly appear on screen, unfortunately for me it was more often than not mine

That's great for you but my two could end up killing each other as they'd be unsupervised for 5/6 hrs a day.

hesaidshesaid

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Sounds great in theory and great effort but what we found and the feedback we got after the last lockdown was that live zoom lessons caused issues at home. I did one zoom call a week that was essentially a check-in, we did quizzes some weeks as well. Children could drop in and out as they wished. Parents in our school don't want too much live stuff.

Can I ask what you decided to do instead? I think I remember you saying you had set up an online platform?