Stupid things teachers are asking for during remote learning....

[Kestrel]

I am so tired of the teachers asking for stupid things during the current online "school". I know they're overwhelmed, but this is crazy...

Last week, they did a scavenger hunt - the kids were supposed to go find things, photograph them, and sent to the teacher. This is school how? Took DS hours to figure out how to take a photo on a cell phone and get it to the teacher. He did three of the eight items in four hours, I told him to forget the rest.

The week before, it was "spirit week" and they were supposed to wear a different thing each day (crazy hair, school colors, pajama day, ect) and send photo to teacher. We didn't even try.

Now - they're doing the school talent show, and we are supposed to video DS doing a "talent" and send it in. We won't be doing this, either.

I know we're in the minority in that we don't have a computer with a camera, so these things are harder for us, but... we are working, too.... please stop assigning things that the kids can't do independently. We can't stop our workday because the kid needs to find "X".

Is anyone else's school asking for weird stuff like this?

[SnuggleBuggles]

We opt out of most as well.
Any reason to not upgrade your tech though? Just since it seems like these things really will become more needed. Would a Fire tablet have the features you need? Zoom calls, take pics/ send them? Ds2 uses his iPad for all school stuff. I definitely take our tech for granted!

[gymnbomb]

Ours asks for photos/videos of things at least a few times a week, but they also sent every single kid home with a chromebook that has a camera (we are not in a wealthy or high performing school district, in fact we are really trying to move out of it before middle school, they just happen to have had a 1:1 device program for a few years now) so that part in and of itself doesn't bother me. But we are also skipping all of the virtual spirit week suggestions -- every day is PJ day at our house right now! -- and it annoys me when the music and PE teacher want me to try to make my child sing/dance/play catch for the camera. The more assignments my 6 year old can do all by himself, the more of my job I can actually get done.

[Green_Tea]

For every family who is annoyed by these activities, there is another family asking for more. It’s fine to opt out of a scavenger hunt. Teachers are under tremendous pressure to connect with students. Just do what you can and keep in touch with the teacher to let them know you’re doing what works for your family.

[lizzywednesday]

...

Is anyone else's school asking for weird stuff like this?

We are lucky to live in a district that has a massive income inequality, so there are a lot of things that have now become "optional" for DD.

They have announced a total of 2 "spirit days" since we started remote learning, but the usual "do not freaking tell us the evening before" applies (they had gotten really good about giving at least week's notice before this) so we haven't done any with DD.

If things get frustrating, I drop DD's teacher a quick email letting her know that DD is having a bad day or whatever the issue is to get some flexibility.

I think a "scavenger hunt" would send me over the edge, though. It was hard enough figuring out whether or not to make her do the "art challenge" she came home with in March (emailed the art teacher to apologize & he said not to worry about it) but a scavenger hunt from her classroom teacher would make me scream.

[georgiegirl]

Our school doesn’t ask for stuff like that. All zoom/google meetings are social only and once a week and optional. Everything else is school work. And it’s voluntary.


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[pharmjenn]

Our school doesn’t ask for stuff like that. All zoom/google meetings are social only and once a week and optional. Everything else is school work. And it’s voluntary.


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Your school work is voluntary?
DS12, 6th grade will get a pass/fail based on effort. If he does more than 40% (per a convo with the VP) he will pass. I have to force him to do that! The PE teacher wants them to do 60 minutes of physical activity per day, and log it. I get that exercise is healthy and good, and PE must have a way to determine a grade, but my kid is in the midst of depression and has stopped doing even the physical activities he enjoys.

[TwinFoxes]

Your school work is voluntary?

Ours is ungraded and voluntary. The grade kids had on March 13th is the grade they have. I think the HS kids can improve, but they can not get a lower grade.

[georgiegirl]

Your school work is voluntary?
DS12, 6th grade will get a pass/fail based on effort. If he does more than 40% (per a convo with the VP) he will pass. I have to force him to do that! The PE teacher wants them to do 60 minutes of physical activity per day, and log it. I get that exercise is healthy and good, and PE must have a way to determine a grade, but my kid is in the midst of depression and has stopped doing even the physical activities he enjoys.

Yes. Grades K-9 are voluntary and 10-12 are mandatory. It’s because of equality issues. Unless they can guarantee every child a device and internet access, they won’t require it. My boys (K and 5th) do all their academic work, but I don’t make them do specials (art, PE, music), except I make DS1 practice his instrument and record songs go submit to the band teacher. DD (8th but taking 2 high school classes, algebra 2 and Spanish 1) does all school work. She can get feedback. It’s not graded. She can raise her grade but not lower it. Officially it’s still standards based grading in 8th (but they have concurrent letter grades for practice for next year). She’s also getting high school credit for PE. No requirements but DD does 60+ min of activity a day since she’s an exercise addict.

[essnce629]

Our school doesn’t ask for stuff like that. All zoom/google meetings are social only and once a week and optional. Everything else is school work. And it’s voluntary.


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This is how DS2's elementary school is, except for the voluntary school work. Our school didn't start remote learning till 5 weeks in on April 20th and they just started optional Zoom meetings last week. They are also just for fun and the only chance for the kids to connect with their teachers live (our school uses Seesaw for their online learning and all lessons are prerecorded by the teachers). Last week's Zoom included a craft for Mother's day and this week the teachers are doing a drawing with the kids and then a game. Unfortunately, DS2 has no interest in participating and seems like none of the other boys do either. The sign up they sent out is almost exclusively girls.

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