The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it!
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon!
Today’s question:
QUESTION: If you could grade how distance learning is going, what would you grade it, and why (A,B,C,D or F)?
Talk about it….
It depends on the Parent energy and involvement and thinking out of the box. From what I’ve heard so far.D-
I agree, D-
I’d give it pblic schools a D.Their unions don’t want teachers to work.
I’m a teacher at a non traditional school that gets an A. We had months to get it ready and are quite sucessful.We planned for every contingency and my students are engaged and working hard.
I think it depends on the age group. High school probably a D. Granddaughter is in kindergarten and I would rate it a B. Only downside is she is a people person. Online friends isn’t working out for her to well.
I’d give it pblic schools a D.Their unions don’t want teachers to work.In some areas, teachers don’t like parents seeing what is going on in the distance learning classes.
I’m a teacher at a non traditional school that gets an A. We had months to get it ready and are quite sucessful.We planned for every contingency and my students are engaged and working hard.
D ….. there’s been enough time to refine the program
If the parents have raised a child who is responsible – I would say a B+, if not then good luck.
Right, because it’s the kids who are incapable of using the technology…
I have 2 in public high school in the area and I would give it a B. It is not 100% perfect by any means but I think, when all things are considered, it is being done quite well. I would like my kids back in school though for reasons mostly unrelated to the quality of the instruction they are getting.
My GF is a teacher. She gives it a big fat F because of the student tracking software.
She’s interacting more with the software than her students.
F-
Same here.
first off if the schools are closed why am i being taxed for it and where is the money?
second i am really appreciative of the teachers and their time
as they are not directly invoking the curriculum but doing what the state approves and supplies ….
i would say overall the speed and personal oriented videos from teachers with bias pushing narratives of RBG and party indoctrination
as well as a lot of personal talk of the teachers homes and ideals and happenings using up the short time
as well as them not being able to address all of the students for their accomplishments due to internet glitches and kick offs
as well as getting materials to the students homes …..
as well as the involvement of physical education
as not every child is outside or able to grab a ball fast or throw indoors
yeah i agree with above a d-
of the experience so far and as is
the problem is its all unfair for the students and especially the teachers
again
the state and system did a poor job of implementing a concise attempt
it was rushed and poorly thought out
but to be expected from a liberal state of power and a union approach from the teachers union and dept heads of mdusd as usual
this state cares very little about education at the pre college level
pouring all their attention at the college level of indoctrinating socialism
into students
as a one party regime state or small country would do
sourcing state controlled liberal minded and functioning media and courts
as well as DA and city politicians to push agendas
at all costs forcing a mental instability of the people and the children’s minds as they are flooded with a one direction philosophy and party rhetoric from all sides
anyways yay team we won now get in line for bread and cheese
all in jest of course …if it was real we would all be screwed
+1
I would guess many teachers are working harder than they have in many years. I have heard several describe distance learning as being a first year teacher all over again. A return to the classroom seems it would be less work for their members but the most vocal populations, no matter how few, are the most visible.
F
F
F
Springtime D. This was terrible. Everyone was trying to wrap there heads around it.
Fall B. Engagement is key and It really depends on the teachers.
If you don’t like DL, you’ll hate hybrid.
Your student will still be left alone zooming half the time, the other half going to school risking exposure.
Remember the MDUSD is running a $21 million deficit for this school year (A pre COVID-19 accounting by the District)
They don’t have the money for a safe return to campus without a vaccine.
C. The teachers are not putting in the full amount of time that is scheduled. I. E. They say two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon, but they are always one hour each, every single day. Might as well home school.
It’s been really hard here, our kids are young and the teacher’s spend a lot of time just trying to get all the kids on the right page and with the right supplies for the day’s lessons. The kids also get bored staring at a screen all the time, as my brother said, “It’s like you took away all the best parts of school and left the difficult parts.” It’s not a total failure, there is some learning going on, but maybe at 65-75% of what they would be getting in a classroom? So I’ll be generous and say D+/ C-.
@itsme MDUSD is receiving $25 million in CARES relief funding to provide resources for a return to school. The district needs to be held accountable to use this for our students. DL is not working for many students and families and teachers should be given the option for a safe return. For those that love DL- they should also be allowed to continue.
Not a student nor a suffering parent, but the arrogant attitude of the CTA and their apologists rates an F.
I’d award teachers an -F grade for holding us hostage on this issue, and a -C on classroom performance.
The MDUSD School Board deserves an across-the-board grade of -F.
Both of these ‘special interest groups’ know that students who are homeless, low-income, people of color, already behind, etc…are being disproportionately harmed by distance learning.
As with the rest of the Cower-in-Place orders, there is a group who wins, and a group who loses. And that usually determines the level of support for these policies.
F.
Time for (a) homeschooling and (b) reduction in property taxes. We’re tired of being hounded for tax increases to “fix the schools.”
The public school system is a failure, especially when the teachers are pushing their political agenda and union demands.
These are simply my observations, however, iIt appears to me to depend on the grade level, and it’s more of a pass/fail set of circumstances that an A-F grade. I believe for K-12, at this time, distance learning perhaps is ineffective for some because the social aspects of attending classroom instruction is so important at these ages. That is what students seem to be missing out on. It has also been “imposed” rather than sought out which may create some resentment, in addition to the child care issues some single and working parents are facing.
For college age, it might be slightly more effective, but for post-graduate work it is pretty close to what you would be doing anyway — self-motivated research, writing, and learning under the guidance of someone educated and experienced in the field who you consult with periodically. In these two groups, college and post-graduate, the social aspects in life have generally become separate endeavors from the learning experience. So, maturity clearly has something to do with it.
A lot has to do with the personalities involved, also. Distance learning simply isn’t for everybody and it isn’t a good idea to force children who don’t take to it to suffer through. Some kids need an authority figure for “guidance,” while others are motivated to seek out knowledge on their own.
My personal experience with it involved professionally produced videos of instruction by highly skilled individuals in each field, coupled with extensive assigned reading lists, moderated group discussions, other relevant instructive videos, and testing. It was an intensive educational experience and took hours of preparation and homework. I personally would not care to do it day-in and day-out for any extended period of time for more than one class at a time. It was exhausting. That was two classes, roughly eight weeks each not taken concurrently. But, I feel I got more out of those sessions than any other in-classroom experience I’ve ever had. There were fewer distractions. It definitely wasn’t anything like the somewhat casual and spontaneous Zoom teleconferencing meetings I’ve seen. It was very much a highly structured, professionally video taped, edited, polished, and pre-produced final presentation that clearly had extensive thought and research in this type of instruction behind it.
F- Most parents are not school teachers. They lack skill, patience, besides having to work. Kids are missing out on so much…. I feel bad for them. No friendships are being forged, lack of socializing, abuse in the home is up, and it goes on and on. Put the kids back in school!
F-
As a high school math teacher with over 20 years of teaching experience I definitely see pros and cons. I can’t speak for other teachers but in my classes, attendance and grades have never been better. The main reasons for this are 1) There are little to no distractions or behavior issues 2) I require students to have there camera on at all times. I try to make the class as normal as possible. And 3) As at most schools, students are attending less classes each day and have more time to get help. The biggest con is the social interaction students aren’t getting with their peers or their teachers. I worry that this will lead to more isolation, loneliness, and other maybe more serious issues. I’m hopeful that no later than January I’ll get to actually meet my students in person. I’d give it a B
I would give it an B+. My son, who is in the 8th grade, goes to a private school. The school keeps hime busy and is on point. Every Sunday night, his homeroom teacher emails him (my wife and I are cc’d) his weekly assignment for that week: Mon. – Fri. per class: (i.e. Social Studies, English, Science/Math, Religion). On it, it indicates what assignment needs to be done and what needs to be completed by due date, when to review for a test, and when the date of the test is being held. It also provides the office hours of each of his teachers – if he needs help in any of his subjects or if he doesn’t understand any of the assignments and homework. In a nut shell, class begins at 8:30am via zoom, the homeroom teacher takes roll, then depending on the day the teacher lectures about the subject in which they are learning (e.g. The 13 Colonies, English, Science, etc). After an hour of zoom he tells me he is going to take a break. After 15 min. he goes back on. At 12ish he takes a lunch then he goes back at 1pm then takes a break around 2ish and then he is let out around 2:30ish. I know in between there is plenty of dead time that he doesn’t do anything. This is an everyday routine for him. Though I have to admit, my wife and I constantly ask him if he did this or have turned in his homework or needs any help. It’s bewildering how he does not ask us for help with any of his classes since the first day of school. My daughter on the other hand, who is a freshmen in college, is doing well with distance learning. In fact she has come up to me many times and ask for help with her homework. She also has met so many new friends from far away cities through zoom. On the contrary, there is a disadvantage to distance learning, I often see my son being frustrated and zoom fatigue. Frustrated because oftentimes are internet goes down or it is very slow, or too many background noise in the house. I feel his frustration and zoom fatigue because as a person who works from home and attends a lot of zoom meeting, I took get a bit frustrated, and fatigued from zoom meetings. I can’t say anything about public school distance learning, but I have a few family members whose children go to public schools and they tell me their stories. They do not like distance learning for their kids because they feel that their kids are not learning anything and seems as if they have a lot of free time playing video games either on their phone or the computer. As far as – if they are missing out on things…. my wife and I make it a point to take our kids out for a walk, eat out, shop at nearby cities (e.g. WC, PH, Lafayette), visit different parks, explore the trails. Contra Costa County is a great place for outdoorsy activities. Take the kids out, they too need an outlet. I can’t wait for school to re-open. “We’re Not Gonna Take It Anymore!” – Twisted Sister
Online learning can be effective for colleges and universities as those students paid for the course and are motivated to learn. But online learning for grade school, middle school, and high school is a joke on top of an already poor-performing public school system. I would give it a D-.
Be careful people. they are pushing the vaccine narrative really hard on this one. Why do you people think that a vaccine is going to be affective against a virus? It is not and never will be. this is a big pharma ploy to get money.