When it Comes to Cameras in Virtual Classrooms, Compromise Over Compliance - Philly's 7th Ward

When it Comes to Cameras in Virtual Classrooms, Compromise Over Compliance - Philly's 7th Ward

WHEN IT COMES TO CAMERAS IN VIRTUAL CLASSROOMS, COMPROMISE OVER COMPLIANCE

For me, my home is a sacred place; not only because I am a person of faith but also because my home is an intimate and safe space where my relationships, culture and humanity is nurtured, affirmed and celebrated. I like to believe that my wife and children think the same thing.

Generally speaking, I never invite strangers into my home, but there are times when doing so was necessary. Usually, those times involved a broken appliance that needed to either be repaired or delivered. What is important to note is that I had to invite them to my home; they couldn’t come in without my permission. However, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, my children’s classmates and teachers are guests in my home each day via classroom zoom meetings… and I didn’t invite them.

The pandemic has pushed educators and families to innovate and adapt; this includes turning homes into educational spaces for remote or hybrid synchronous learning. Whether teachers are using zoom or google classroom, video conferencing is the new classroom and many districts require that students keep their cameras on. This means that classmates and teachers have a window into your home.

As I said earlier, I don’t invite everyone into my home. Yet my wife and I have agreed to the reality of uninvited guest for the sake of our children’s safety. Their cameras are on; it is the policy of the school district that they’re CONTINUE READING: When it Comes to Cameras in Virtual Classrooms, Compromise Over Compliance - Philly's 7th Ward

15 Strange and Scary Goings-On Surrounding Covid-19, Schools, and Teaching

15 Strange and Scary Goings-On Surrounding Covid-19, Schools, and Teaching

15 Strange and Scary Goings-On Surrounding Covid-19, Schools, and Teaching

How to handle a pandemic is a new territory for school officials and educators. Here are some observations of odd and downright scary practices surrounding the disease and school attendance.

1. Adults online. Students are in-person. School board members meet online to discuss business. They’re worried about catching the virus, but they determine it’s best to send students and teachers back to in-person school. If board members are concerned about Covid-19, children and teachers are too.
2. Watch those teachers. There’s no school attendance for students, but teachers must still report to school to provide online instruction. They’re not trusted to teach safely from home. Trust teachers and treat them like professionals.
3. Covid-19 musical chairs. Children in school exposed to the coronavirus are moved around every 15 minutes called “musical chairs” to change the air. This keeps the school from having to quarantine students who are exposed or asymptomatic. It’s disruptive, dangerous, and a sign that students and teachers shouldn’t be in class.
4. Standardized tests go on. In-person schooling is deemed unsafe, but administrators insist that students and teachers come together for standardized testing. Parents despised these tests before the pandemic. The disease hasn’t made them more endearing. Is a test worth catching Covid-19? Aren’t they collecting enough data about children online? Isn’t that scary enough?
5. Calling teachers essential workers. Teachers are important, and it’s too bad it CONTINUE READING: 15 Strange and Scary Goings-On Surrounding Covid-19, Schools, and Teaching

What It’s Like to Be a Teacher in 2020 America - The New York Times

What It’s Like to Be a Teacher in 2020 America - The New York Times

What It’s Like to Be a Teacher in 2020 America

Teachers find themselves at the heart of the national crisis — responsible not just for children’s education and well-being, but also for essential child care as parents struggle to get back to work.

“It seems very poor policy to pay a man 20 or 22 dollars a month for teaching children the ABC’s when a female could do the work more successfully at one third of the price.”

— A school committee in Littleton, Mass., debating how to source teachers for its classrooms in 1849

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More than 150 years ago, Massachusetts lawmakers came up with a radical idea: All young people should be educated. The commonwealth passed the country’s first law requiring that children go to school, then was left wondering where to find the teachers it needed to educate all those children.

A school committee in Littleton, Mass., came up with a simple solution. “God seems to have made woman peculiarly suited to guide and develop the infant mind,” the committee wrote, in 1849. Why pay men $20 a month when “a female could do the work more successfully at one third of the price.”

Not only did women appear uniquely fitted to the work of teaching; they also didn’t have competing professional opportunities that would drive wages up — or so the logic went. “The argument was, ‘Look, women will learn to be better mothers by practicing on other people’s children,’” said Richard Ingersoll, a sociologist at University of Pennsylvania. “Proponents made the case it was a win-win.”

As other states followed Massachusetts’s lead, and public schools opened across the country, they filled with female teachers. By the late 1880s, women made up 63 percent of the country’s teachers. The profession has remained female dominated ever since.

In 2017, women comprised more than three-quarters of public-school teachers, in a profession that remains stubbornly underpaid and undervalued.

In 2018, the starting salary for a public-school teacher averaged $38,000. In more than 1,000 districts, even the highest paid public-school teachers with advanced degrees and decades of experience earn less than $50,000. A 2010 report from McKinsey looked at the state of teaching in America compared with other developed CONTINUE READING: What It’s Like to Be a Teacher in 2020 America - The New York Times

The State of Online Safety for Kids | Dissident Voice

The State of Online Safety for Kids | Dissident Voice

The State of Online Safety for Kids

There’s no doubt that the resources of our digital age are valuable. They provide us with new development opportunities and help us to build meaningful connections with a diverse range of global communities. The past couple of decades have seen our adoption of tech grow, and as such we are seeing the first generations of digital natives. Kids are surrounded by technology from an early age and are more comfortable with its use. They continue to use it in creative ways, not least of which is organizing themselves for ecological and political activism.

That’s not to say that there aren’t significant challenges. We have become cognizant of the various dangers the online environment presents. We must do what we can to protect children from the potential for harm. But we also need to go further; preparing them to be aware of the issues, and giving them tools to navigate the more treacherous waters.

Restricting Content

Particularly when it comes to younger children, there’s a need to reduce the risk of exposure to harmful or unsuitable content. There are certain regulations and legislation in place designed to protect them. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) has been in place since April 2000 and requires operators of websites aimed at children to obtain parental consent for those under the age of 13. But, let’s face it, it can be too easy for kids to wander off into areas not designed for them, and potentially interact with those who don’t have their best interests in mind. This is where technology can be CONTINUE READING: The State of Online Safety for Kids | Dissident Voice