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  1. #1
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    Default Just when I thought LDL was going splendidly....DD2 has an F in Art.

    DDs have been in school for about a month now (DD2 started first week of August, DD1 2nd week of August). DD1 is a freshman in high school, has different classes every day, but is very meticulous and self-sufficient. No problems with her yet....DD2 is in 6th grade and returned to the same K-8 public school she's already been in so she knows the routine. She also has 3-4 (or more?) special apps for math, English, etc. She seems to be navigating it well. Or so I thought. But Long Distance Learning has instituted a whole new system and I think everyone is frustrated with the tech challenges.

    I got a lengthy email from the art teacher yesterday afternoon (on a SATURDAY!), and she also made sure to cc the 6th grade teacher and the principal. I don't know if she copied and pasted it to every student who didn't submit artwork but she laments that DD2 hasn't submitted a single assignment (and "half the trimester is done"). She also says she has "requested and instructed and discussed and reviewed and rather exhaustively explored" the process of taking photos of their art and uploading it to Google Classroom. Then she added that she also gave the students a "tedious lecture" on Monday of this past week that the deadline to submit work was Friday. It was quite a dramatic email. I can clearly tell she is frustrated that DD2 (and likely some other students) aren't following her instructions.

    DD2 has been showing me her artwork over the past month (since I work from home full-time) so I know she's been doing the work. I was immediately embarrassed and lectured DD2 about being responsible and asked how could she not submit her work when I know full well she has done it?!?!

    Apparently, DD2's Chromebook doesn't have a good camera so she was taking photos on her iPad but couldn't figure out how to get it to Google Classroom. Instead, she pasted the photo into an email to her teacher and has been doing that. I asked her what the teacher replied and she showed me that the teacher asked her to upload it to Google Classroom. DD2 basically just ignored the reply and kept emailing them!

    I went back and re-read the art teacher's email. She wrote, "[DD2] HAS sent some through gmail, which is a little like not quite finishing the work." Well, technically, she did submit it but the teacher gave her a 0 on all the assignments so DD2 has an F in Art.

    I immediately downloaded the Google Classroom app to DD2's iPad and watched her upload each of the 7 art photos to Google Classroom. I wrote an apologetic email to the art teacher, principal, and 6th grade teacher acknowledging that I should have been more closely monitoring DD2 (despite the fact that I'm working full-time). I also was a bit annoyed that the art teacher only emailed me (DH did not get an email) so I added him to the email and explained he's seeing patients so I am the only one home to monitor DD2.

    I also had DD2 write an apology email to the art teacher (cc'ing the principal and 6th grade teacher). I was frustrated that DD2 did not ask for help when she couldn't figure out how to get the art to Google Classroom and then just ignored her art teacher's email asking her to still upload to Google Classroom. When we talked about it, DD2 explained she didn't want to bother me as she's seen how stressed I've been with work. Of course that made me feel so guilty. I reassured her that even if I can't help her immediately because I'm in a Zoom meeting or on a deadline, I will always make time for her.

    So yeah, that's how month 1 of LDL has been going for us. Anyone else having a similarly frustrating time due to the new tech requirements?

  2. #2
    mmsmom is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    We got an email today (on Sunday) from DS’s PE teacher that he has missing assignments. I’m not sure if he didn’t do them or didn’t submit but for him the procedures are the same from last Spring so I feel there is no excuse. He’s in 8th and in school in person alternating days. We basically let this one go but told him if we get another email about missing assignments then there will be no video games during week. I think for him it’s lack of organization or laziness... assignments are posted on a central page so it is very easy to keep track. In your case I feel bad for the teacher & your DD. It’s clear there is frustration from the teacher and sounds like your DD tried. I would have hoped the teacher would have reached out after the first few missing assignments instead of waiting especially when it was clear it was a tech issue. But sounds like you did all the follow up you could and it will be better from now on.

  3. #3
    sariana is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    I'm a teacher.

    This a totally understandable situation (on both sides) and a perfect example of why we all need to show each other grace during these extraordinary times. I teach some honors classes, and I get panicked emails from those students because they are afraid of getting a LATE penalty. I just can't do that right now, but they are used to stringent policies.

    I hope your DD's teacher accepts the apology and the work and understands that we all are facing challenges.

    (I wonder if she got a reminder from her school that progress reports are due or something, and she worried about having too many Fs.)
    DS '04 "Boogaboo"
    DD '08 "Lilybear"

  4. #4
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    I've just dealt with something similar. I'm trying to give myself and everyone else in this crazy process grace, but sometimes it is really hard.

    Like why email everyone and their dog about this issue now instead of heads up a week ago so you could have solved it then.

    Yes, I'm expecting my kids to do a lot of independent work this year, but they are still kids.

  5. #5
    PZMommy is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    Why didn't she notify you sooner?? Clearly she could see that your daughter was doing the artwork, since she was emailing it to her.

    My son started 6th grade at middle school and we are 100% virtual learning. The first week he had a PE assignment, and I watched him upload it the day it was assigned. He had several days to complete it, but he did it immediately and sent it that day. The day it was due he got a message from his teacher on their learning platform that it didn't upload correctly and she could not see the work, and he needed to resubmit it. Of course, he didn't see this message, because it was the 3rd day of school and his 3rd day of using this learning platform and he had no idea what the yellow dot on the top of the bell was for. So at 3pm when the assignment was officially due he got an F. I got done teaching and out of my staff meeting at 5 and saw his grade of a 0. That is when we discovered the teacher's message. He has never gotten that kind of grade on anything before and he had a meltdown. He hates PE, so this was not helping his feelings towards PE. I sent her a message explaining the situation and thankfully she was willing to accept the assignment and gave him full credit.

    This virtual learning thing is so hard!

  6. #6
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    Thank you for your commiseration. I think virtual learning is very hard on everyone and I wish we weren't all trying to figure it out because we HAVE TO. It would be different if we chose to do LDL. I feel terrible for the teacher--I can't imagine the stress/annoyance of having to repeatedly remind all her students to submit art via Google Classroom (we're at a K-8 school so I'm sure she has a ton of students). I don't blame her for not emailing me (and who knows how many parents) earlier. I bet she cc'ed the principal and main 6th grade teacher as back-up. I was more annoyed she didn't include DH--men are co-parents, too!

    At the end of the day, I take responsibility. I wrongly assumed DD2 knew how to handle submissions--she has not had any issues with math, English, etc. I think it's the added step of taking a photo and uploading it that flummoxed her. But I also feel terrible that she didn't ask for help. Sigh. It's just a terrible situation all around.

  7. #7
    WatchingThemGrow is offline Blue Diamond level (20,000+ posts)
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    How wise of you to download google classroom to the ipad and upload the pics there! We'll be doing something similar tomorrow!

    So we get missing assignment emails from google classroom...and man, they sting! You think the kid is doing the work, but we often find out they did the work but never hit submit!

  8. #8
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    I literally just posted about this in the lounge before realizing I should have posted about it here.

    It’s miserable. DS has zeros in everything. According to the school he not only hasn’t been turning in assignments but he isn’t even doing the attendance exit tickets.

    I was invited to google classroom as a guardian by his teacher but nothing shows up for me when I accept the invite :/


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    DS1: 10/08 (the “tenager”)
    DS2: 07/18 (the wild one)

  9. #9
    bisous is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    I confess I'd be unconcerned with an F in art in a grade that doesn't "count" for anything in the future (anything besides high school) and would probably only be irritated at the teacher for a. sending an obnoxious email and b. sending it late and c. not mentioning anything when your DD is submitting work except it is via email vs a different program. (Teachers, I'd love to hear the "other side" of this. I'm probably being unfair.)

    To my kid, I'd work on getting the program fixed (which you already did!), having a conversation about asking if you have trouble with something and call it a day. DS1 has run into a lot of tech problems through school. It has led to me teaching him to "just email screenshots to your teacher and go to bed" because that's totally acceptable in the professional world that I live in. During BTS night DS1's AP ES teacher said as much. "If the system isn't working for you, just find anyway to get me the relevant information and show me that you did the assignment." He said he even got screen shots taken from a phone and sent via email and that worked for him! If the AP science teacher is ok with it it seems strange that the 6th grade art teacher can't also be cool with it.

    Side note: One thing I am observing is that as kids are moving to digital ALL my kids are really loathe to ask for help when they can't figure something out. I think it is a kid thing, to not realize that adults are here to help them problem solve. I find it strange because they are sure good about asking for sandwiches and screen time and all kinds of other things that they want. But I'm discovering that even my HSer is very shy about getting instruction from his teachers if he doesn't understand something. I want to say that this is the big difference that I see between adults and kids. I got my MA when I was almost 30 in a program that catered to "returning students" and I would say the biggest difference is that the adults were so much better at communicating with the professors! I don't know if there is a fix for this or if it is just a maturity thing?

    OP, just letting you know that your ire is understood! That you're a great mom (way more conscientious than I am and I'm learning from you!) and we sure all need each other to commiserate and navigate this crazy landscape.

  10. #10
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    essnce629 is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by bisous View Post
    Side note: One thing I am observing is that as kids are moving to digital ALL my kids are really loathe to ask for help when they can't figure something out. I think it is a kid thing, to not realize that adults are here to help them problem solve. I find it strange because they are sure good about asking for sandwiches and screen time and all kinds of other things that they want. But I'm discovering that even my HSer is very shy about getting instruction from his teachers if he doesn't understand something. I want to say that this is the big difference that I see between adults and kids. I got my MA when I was almost 30 in a program that catered to "returning students" and I would say the biggest difference is that the adults were so much better at communicating with the professors! I don't know if there is a fix for this or if it is just a maturity thing?
    I'm seeing this too. DS2 (6th grade) had a breakdown in the middle of science class last week because he accidentally got logged out of his Google classroom and Gmail and couldn't remember his password to log back in and when I tried to help him reset it I couldn't since it was a school account and needed to be reset by a school administrator. I told DS to just continue with class (they were on Zoom doing a fun hands on building project) and we'd figure out the password stuff after class. But he couldn't, he was upset because his teacher wanted them to fill out a Google form before starting the project and he couldn't because he couldn't log on. I told him to just forget the form and move on with the class but he couldn't get past not doing what the teacher said and ended up crying on the couch under a blanket! I ended up getting on his Zoom and chatting with the teacher privately in the middle of class to tell her why he had disappeared. She said no problem and that they could figure it out after class just like I said! DS ended up missing the entire class and to get everything reset I had to call his school and talk to the office administrator. In the end I had a talk with DS about patience, grit, and going with the flow during online learning and he ended up finishing the project on his own between classes and submitting it. I'd like him to be more independent, but he is just 11 and has only been in middle school for less than 2 weeks so I'm finding I need to ask him after each class if there's any issues or if he needs help with anything. I'm also asking to see his Google classroom assignments every single day after he had 3 missing and late assignments the first week of school!

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