Halfway Home – Remote Teaching – NYC – May 11

On March 12 we saw students in class. That was Thursday. Friday was a special day in my school – we still saw students, but not regular classes, and attendance was down. And then – no more. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday the next week were PD. And classes resumed, remotely, Monday March 23. That was 49 days ago. And there are only 46 days until June 26. We are more than halfway.

Tough things I have learned so far

• Being on a computer for a full day is exhausting.
• “Remote teaching” is not the same as regular teaching. We work more, less effectively, and don’t get as far.
• Technology has lots of issues – many that we had not thought of.
• Principals who were unreasonable in person are unreasonable remotely. I have not heard even one case of an abusive admin becoming mellower in this process.
• Electronic paperwork can be worse than paper paperwork.

On the brighter side

• It’s ok to slow down.
• Taking things a week at a time is not only smart, it’s also gotten us through 8 of 15 weeks.
• We have gotten at least a little better at organizing our systems. I mean, at least I have. But I think most of us have.

This can get me to June 26. But worries for September

• What will September bring?
  • Schools open?
  • Schools remote?
  • Schools hybrid?
• How can I program without knowing what school will look like?
• How will we stay safe in September?
• How will the union protect us in September?

That last one brings up some real questions about the UFT.

• What went wrong in mid-March?
• How can crisis response be improved?
• How can communication be improved?

Because communication IS improving, and because we are not facing an immediate crisis, I can relax, a bit, here. But these questions matter.

Seven weeks until June 26. But then ten and a half weeks until Labor Day.