Getting back to work

[Retsdon]

Just now, Raja Clavata said:

I admit it is / was a contentious concept, nearly didn't include it. Happy to withdraw it on the basis that the rest of what I suggested appears to hold.

Good teachers are born not made. Assuming knowledge of subject matter and essential classroom management skills, what really separates the sheep from the goats is an ability to carry a class. Of course an experienced teacher has a bigger toolbox of tricks and techniques to choose from but basically some teachers have it and some don't. I think it's largely an innate ability.

Interestingly, in my experience teachers who struggle in the classroom as likely as not flee upwards into management. 

[treetree]

1 hour ago, Raja Clavata said:

 

There is a major up-skilling going on in the sector I work in. No offence but for most of the people I work with, and many other out there, becoming a teacher would be down-skilling.

No offence taken, because what I imagine you actually mean is that your current jobs pays much better than than the teaching profession, which is why you wouldn't do it.

[Retsdon]

Anyway, back to the topic of getting back to work. I think one of the big handicaps in Britain has been this government's instinct for central control. Given that infection rates differ widely between regions and even quite localized areas, it surely would make sense to devolve these kinds of decisions to local authorities - particularly the opening of schools. Some areas have practically no Covid infections and so schools could go back easily. Others have quite high rates of infection and schools going back will almost certainly kick those rates even  higher.

Instead of decreeing everything from on high, why not let people whom these decisions will effect be party to the decision making process? 

[Mice!]

16 minutes ago, Retsdon said:

Instead of decreeing everything from on high, why not let people whom these decisions will effect be party to the decision making process? 

 

17 minutes ago, Retsdon said:

between regions and even quite localized areas, it surely would make sense to devolve these kinds of decisions to local authorities - particularly the opening of schools

You can tell your not in the country,  at the moment they have said they will look at different areas as needed.

There is England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland , so that's 4 areas singing from different hymn sheets, if you add in another dozen or so then how will that help things, just more levels of bureaucracy slowing things down.

Liverpool have for instance said they won't reopen schools, so what if Manchester,  Birmingham,  Newcastle all say the same??

[AVB]

Just to give some perspective on the amount of education children are getting or not getting at the moment. My children go to a good school so I suspect are getting well above the national average. In a normal week my children have 78 timetabled periods (13*6) A few of these will be games lessons/matches so I appreciate that these can be taken off of the table at the moment. My daughter (year 9) currently has 35 periods timetabled and my son (year 11) 25. 
 

so one child is getting 32% of lessons and the other 44%. I fear a lot of schools will be delivering a lot less than this. In my opinion remote schooling isn’t delivering what it needs to deliver and hence the need to get children back sooner rather than later. 

[blackbird]

On 16/05/2020 at 12:48, blackbird said:

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Edited May 17, 2020 by blackbird

[Bumble]

5 hours ago, AVB said:

Just to give some perspective on the amount of education children are getting or not getting at the moment. My children go to a good school so I suspect are getting well above the national average. In a normal week my children have 78 timetabled periods (13*6) A few of these will be games lessons/matches so I appreciate that these can be taken off of the table at the moment. My daughter (year 9) currently has 35 periods timetabled and my son (year 11) 25. 
 

so one child is getting 32% of lessons and the other 44%. I fear a lot of schools will be delivering a lot less than this. In my opinion remote schooling isn’t delivering what it needs to deliver and hence the need to get children back sooner rather than later. 

We are setting work on a lesson-by-lesson basis, according to the students’ usual timetables, meaning each student will be expected to complete between 25-28 individual pieces of work per week (higher ability students do additional Science & English lessons).

That work has to be designed to last then between 45mins-1hr, and has to cater for a the wide spectrum of abilities found within most classes. That can include individual set tasks or group lessons taught live on Teams. We also set assessment tasks after every 8 lessons, which are submitted online, marked & returned. 

The biggest barrier to success I’ve encountered so far is parents somehow being unable to cope with understanding the work set and therefore not being able to help their children with it. 

[Mice!]

We sent an email earlier about our kids going into school, as once schools reopen the wife will be working as well, we received a reply before tea( that's evening meal to non Lancashire folk) that probably means the head teacher is working 7 days a week.

[Bumble]

31 minutes ago, Mice! said:

We sent an email earlier about our kids going into school, as once schools reopen the wife will be working as well, we received a reply before tea( that's evening meal to non Lancashire folk) that probably means the head teacher is working 7 days a week.

If they are anything like a lot of my colleagues & I, their work emails will come through to their phone’s email inbox for the sake of efficiency. 

Edited May 17, 2020 by Bumble

[AVB]

1 hour ago, Bumble said:

We are setting work on a lesson-by-lesson basis, according to the students’ usual timetables, meaning each student will be expected to complete between 25-28 individual pieces of work per week (higher ability students do additional Science & English lessons).

That work has to be designed to last then between 45mins-1hr, and has to cater for a the wide spectrum of abilities found within most classes. That can include individual set tasks or group lessons taught live on Teams. We also set assessment tasks after every 8 lessons, which are submitted online, marked & returned. 

The biggest barrier to success I’ve encountered so far is parents somehow being unable to cope with understanding the work set and therefore not being able to help their children with it. 

Thanks. What year group do you teach? Are the children ‘set’? They are in all lessons at my children’s school which must help a lot. 
 

I can understand most of my daughters work but some of the maths gets a bit tricky (and I was good at maths). Most of my sons goes over my head but he is fairly self sufficient. 

[Bumble]

41 minutes ago, AVB said:

Thanks. What year group do you teach? Are the children ‘set’? They are in all lessons at my children’s school which must help a lot. 
 

I can understand most of my daughters work but some of the maths gets a bit tricky (and I was good at maths). Most of my sons goes over my head but he is fairly self sufficient. 

I work in secondary, so I teach years 7 through to 11. They are set by ability in core subjects (English, Maths, Science & MFL), and in mixed classes for the rest. My subject isn’t set, so I’ve got to cater for the full spectrum of academic ability. 

Edited May 17, 2020 by Bumble

[Lord v]

I'm back at work Monday. 

GET IN! 😁

[mossy835]

i never stopped working.