VENT- I don't want my building to reopen! Public school

Mama Bear

Thu, Oct 22 2020, 3:46 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

They're staring at screens all day in school, too. You're talking about a frum school where teachers are actually teaching. By us, students are doing mostly remote work. They're doing the Google Classroom work, just in school. In my classroom, my coteacher has a medical accommodation and teaches synchronous lessons ON ZOOM!! So they're literally getting remote instruction in school. I'm just there to answer questions.

Many kids are not seeing their friends, since their friends have chosen all remote or are not in the same cohort as they are. We're talking about high school kids who come in 2 days out of every 6 in a hybrid model. If their last name happens to place them in a different cohort, their friends are not in school at the same time as them. That has actually influenced the kids to go all remote.

OMG that is nuts! Why do they have to come into the classroom to do remote instructions??? What kind of saichel is that? and what do you do while they are working remotely in teh classroom? I dont get it.

amother

Thu, Oct 22 2020, 4:20 pm

amother [ Smokey ] wrote:

If not for the union, I wouldn't have a duty free lunch (no bathroom break at ALL), drawer with a lock for my purse, and would have to find my own subs or come in sick (don't know what I would do over YT). I gladly pay my dues to the union.
Also, I work in a good school, but without the union for protection, teachers assaulted by students would not be able to have them removed from the classroom if the principal didn't care to. Or, not allowing an angry and potentially violent parent from accosting you in your classroom during the work day. These things do happen to teachers who work in states with no unions.
Those are just a few of the things the unions have fought for. Ime, pple who bash teachers union don't really know why there is a need for them.

Oh, trust me, I understand the need for the unions. I have had to deal with them myself, with principals who targeted me for pregnancy and medical issues (sent me to disciplinary meetings). Unfortunately, in my school, the UFT rep is totally in bed with admin, and he doesn't do a darn thing for us.

That being said, I abhor the political activism from the union and the fact that during this pandemic, they have not once thought about the good of the kids. Additionally, I think Mulgrew is a two-faced dirtbag, pretending to be on his teachers' side when it's expedient but then making deals on the sly that leave us holding the short end of the stick. I voted for MORE in the last election.

amother

Thu, Oct 22 2020, 4:22 pm

Mama Bear wrote:

Yes, it is.

The reason many teachers have chosen to do things this way is precisely that we have been forced to manage both the in-person kids and the remote kids at the same time. It's impossible to set up two separate things, so it's easier just to do it all online when at least 75% of the kids are at home at any given time, anyway.

I've basically been a babysitter who answers questions if necessary. I can't even come close enough to really help them one-on-one.

amother

Thu, Oct 22 2020, 4:25 pm

imorethanamother wrote:

I hate teachers unions, because their goal is the teacher’s welfare. Unions are important for factories or workplaces where the worker needs to be protected. In a teachers union, the focus is the teacher and not the classroom or the student. And I don’t see why teachers are more at risk of being “taken advantage of” in the workplace than any other workplace. My boss constantly gives me jobs outside of my exact job description, and that’s just life.

That’s a spin-off though.

This is where you don't understand how much power principals have.

If not for the unions, we wouldn't have a lunch period, would get paid peanuts (we work like dogs normally, which is one of the reasons I'm leaving teaching - I can't take it anymore), probably wouldn't have healthcare or a pension, would be at the mercy of our principals' whims- so if they dislike Jews or pregnant women or whatever, we're gone (not so farfetched - I had principals target me for being pregnant or having medical issues), etc., etc.

amother

Smokey

Thu, Oct 22 2020, 4:32 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I actually work outside of NY. The NYC one is known to be political because of how connected the school system is with the city government. I'm not up on the latest, but up until recently wasn't the chancellor a political appointee? When you have one hand washing the other, things are ripe for power grabs. Most other school systems are much more separate, and those unions aren't focused on power plays or political activism.

Where I work, their involvement with the decision to go with virtual learning (for now) was focused more on making sure we were provided with materials needed to teach, were provided with training, had a set schedule within the regular school day schedule, etc, and were guaranteed our usual planning time which would anyway be built into a school day. When the head of the system recently wanted the students to stay virtual but teachers to come in and teach from the building, they fought that, and said it should stay voluntary (which it is).