My daughter just finished her first week of independent online high school. She’s as happy as a clam.
We're about a month into online learning, and my students seem to be divided pretty equally in thirds: About 1/3 love online learning, about 1/3 are pretty ambivalent and don't care as long as they can progress towards graduation, and about 1/3 are miserable because they're not seeing their friends.
Things the happy students like: We're starting an hour later, so everyone can sleep in a bit. Fast workers can finish /sign off /aren't stuck waiting for the slower students. Many mentioned comforts of home -- being near a refrigerator full of snacks, snuggling with their dog while working. Flexibility in scheduling; that is, if they can't attend "class" at 9:45, they can just watch the recording and do their work later in the afternoon -- they're still counted present as long as they do their work. And maybe 20% tell me they LIKE not seeing people on a regular basis; some say they've never been socially content in high school, others say they don't have a lot of friends at our school. But, yeah, a lot of our kids are quite pleased with the situation.
Things the unhappy students miss: Friends and getting out of the house. Our district is talking about whether we'll come back, and I had to go over potential rules with my students: masks, lunch in classrooms, one-way hallways, 1/3 of the students in the classroom at any given time, etc. The unhappy students were split on whether they'd want to return under those circumstances or not -- what they really want is for the problem to disappear, and (being kids) some just don't accept that's impossible.
But as a teacher I've also seen the consequences of students using someone else's medication.
Yup, every teacher has seen some of this.
Parents often wonder, "Why can't my kid carry this OTC med?" Yeah, it sounds reasonable. It's about your kid giving it (or another kid taking it) and then having a bad reaction; kids are kids -- they don't always do what they should.
Do aids even get paid more than minimum? I wouldn’t be thrilled having to work in very close proximity to students with low pay.
In our area, a teachers' aid must have a 2-year degree and earns more than a retail or fast food worker but less than a teacher. It's still a good job though because they earn a pension, whereas many other jobs in that salary range do not.
On another note, this is a super tough time to be a teacher. We are the point of delivery so we are judged for every decision, hiccup, or lack of planning.
So true.
Our kids can't learn if they don't have food.
Well, it's possible but not common. I was a poor kid and was frequently hungry -- but I was also a smart kid, and I saw clearly that education was the best way to improve my life.
I would be careful about saying they're "playing the doctor's note game" without knowing their exact situations.
Pre-Covid I've had plenty of high-school kids tell me flat out, "Yeah, I have X number of absences, so my mom is taking me to the doctor on Thursday. I'll just get a note saying I have migraines or something else, and all my absences will be excused."
People do this. In my area, one popular doc is known for it.
You guys do realize that we still need people to go into the trades, right? Even more shocking is that some of the students with the highest SAT scores actually go into a trade instead of going to a four year college.
My brother works in trades, and I'm sure he makes double my salary. Skilled trades are a great career choice.
Our students’ math scores fall every year. The standard at which these kids graduate is not what it was twenty years ago. It seems we’ve lost our way. First and foremost, I want academic rigour. It’s not happening here. Perhaps where you are it is, but not here.
As a teacher nearing retirement, I see this same thing. Much of it is done in the name of compassion -- this kid has a bad home situation, that kid has a learning disability, but instead of working with the problem, we've excused more and more. It's absolutely true that a high school diploma today isn't what it was when I started teaching.
Every single one was a middle age or older woman who was basically doing the job to keep busy. It was not a sole source of income.
This is not true at my high school -- most of our aids are in the special ed department. One is a grandmother who is sole support of two grandchildren. One is the mother of a special ed kid who was involved with her son's class /eventually took a job -- but I have the impression she needs the money. One is a 20-something just out of community college /saving money to complete her 4-year degree. One is an Army veteran (quite a few vets find their way into the school system, and without exception I've found them to be exceptional people).