A Mother’s Lament about Distance Learning

By dianeravitch

March 22, 2020 //

This video went viral after it appeared on Twitter.

Categories Education Reform, Home Schooling, Online Learning

35 Comments Post your own or leave a trackback: Trackback URL

SomeDAM Poet says:

March 22, 2020 at 11:10 am

Social Distancing

Keep your distance
From the college!
Spread resistance
To the knowledge!

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mathman says:

March 22, 2020 at 11:11 am

How are they dealing with SPED online? Many students have one-on-one paras. This must be quite challenging.

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Bob Shepherd says:

March 22, 2020 at 11:25 am

Haaaa!!!! I love this mother.

Looking on the bright side, this crisis should wake everyone up to the ridiculousness of distance learning.

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Alice Mulligan says:

March 22, 2020 at 11:26 am

I love that woman.

Throughout modern history, formal education has been abruptly halted for a variety of reasons: war, disease, natural disasters, etc. Society did it’s best, tended to the crisis and schools picked up where they left off at a better, safer time.

The panic that we are all witnessing in ensuring that children do not miss a moment of instruction is the result of bad policies that were created in recent years to line the pockets of lobbyists, private enterprise and billionaire ‘educational philanthropists’. I’m talking standardized tests, data-driven assessments aimed at undermining and penalizing educators and rigorous instruction that is truly detrimental to children.

Let’s all take a deep breath here. Stay healthy and take care of each other. Our children deserve it and so do we.

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retired teacher says:

March 22, 2020 at 11:27 am

This mom’s bug-out video is similar to what my daughter is going through in Texas. Fortunately, Texas is no longer demanding that students master Common Core math, and this year the state is allowing students to show traditional solutions to problems as well as those from the CCSS. Students are being shown there is more than one acceptable way to solve a problem.

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- RageAgainstTheTestocracy says:
  
  March 22, 2020 at 2:45 pm
  
  You mean an 8 yr. old in TX no longer has to explain, in writing, why
  2 + 2 = 4 ?????
  
  What is our world coming too?
  
  Reply
faige says:

March 22, 2020 at 11:46 am

Every time I see it, I laugh wholeheartedly from the teacher perspective. Get real parents this should be the least of everyone’s concerns.

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Arthur Camins says:

March 22, 2020 at 12:00 pm

Yup! So, which kids with which parents can pull off circumstance-forced home schooling? Obviously, the privileged with parents not having to spend the day working from home and with multiple computers and kids with no distraction issues. Kinda narrows the field, doesn’t it? Can we drop the pretense that anything remotely like school-based learning will take place?

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- flos56 says:
  
  March 22, 2020 at 12:35 pm
  
  Schools in my area are distributing laptops or tablets to the students even in the city of Buffalo (not just the suburbs). The local cable company is setting up hotspots in the city so children can access the Internet. Hopefully they are bored enough to go to some educational sites or go through the worksheets/textbooks that have been sent home (delivered via the school buses). Meals are also available at select sites.
  
  However, this mom’s lament is precious. I’ve watched it several times when I need a pick me up.
  
  Reply
  - SomeDAM Poet says:
    
    March 22, 2020 at 2:33 pm
    
    “The local cable company is setting up hotspots in the city so children can access the Internet. ”
    
    They’d better be careful for their own good because if people realize that their own towns can provide wireless service for all of their residents at much lower cost than people currently pay the cable companies, it will put the latter out of business.
  - flos56 says:
    
    March 22, 2020 at 9:17 pm
    
    They’ve been setting up hotspots downtown for years in order to compete with the suburbs. I’m not sure of the details, but I assume that Buffalo in some way is paying for this service.
- retired teacher says:
  
  March 22, 2020 at 1:01 pm
  
  Many poor students do not have computers at home, and the poor schools they attend do not have enough computers to send them home either.
  
  Reply
  - flos56 says:
    
    March 22, 2020 at 1:14 pm
    
    Here’s a time when all those tablets the LA School System purchased can be put to good use.
JH says:

March 22, 2020 at 12:14 pm

This speaks volumes. It’s a very real concern about too much stress in the home – and a reminder that kids need to play… puzzles…. and not get stressed out by school or adults.

Also – reminder that high percentage of homes do not have internet – so the need for REAL TV and apps. And, we need tv programming (I guess youtube too) where teachers and adults talk with and to the kids live like Mr. Rogers, (Captain Kangaroo and Romper Room (where I grew up local public tv), and more.

Chicago Public has several resources online – yes, lessons in all subjects developed by their teachers and others (but no grading)! including this link which includes FOR HOMES WITHOUT INTERNET – including “old school” like Play Hopscotch and more!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xoDu3mtXsvni3triEOzGC9YF9o1_TmAT/view

PBS has wonderful resources along with their regular programming – and links for parents how to talk to kids and don’t stress your kid out.
https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/how-you-and-your-kids-can-de-stress-during-coronavirus

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Bob Shepherd says:

March 22, 2020 at 12:25 pm

Trump imagining an untested miracle cure, in his usual childish, ungrammatical English:

“So we’re going to pray from God it works.”

This is what you can expect from the Reality TV star and ex President of Trump University who is playing U.S. President on TV now. Magical thinking.

Maybe we could draw a circle around the US with a Sharpie and write the words “KEEP OUT CARONA FLU” in big letters.

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- Bob Shepherd says:
  
  March 22, 2020 at 1:05 pm
  
  Here’s the exact quotation, Trump, from Saturday afternoon’s Whiter House coronavirus press briefing: “So we’re going to pray from God that it does work.”
  
  Reply
  - SomeDAM Poet says:
    
    March 22, 2020 at 2:42 pm
    
    If God is praying we are all screwed.
Bob Shepherd says:

March 22, 2020 at 1:18 pm

“But did we get good advice from the president of the United States for the first 12 weeks? No. All we got were lies. Saying it’s fake, by saying this is a Democratic hoax. There are still people today who believe that, to their detriment. Speaking as a public health person, this is the most irresponsible act of an elected official that I’ve ever witnessed in my lifetime.” –Dr. Larry Brilliant

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LeftCoastTeacher says:

March 22, 2020 at 1:37 pm

There are so many reasons why distance learning can never work. People don’t understand how teachers create structured environments in our classrooms that make education happen. There’s a lot more to teaching than just giving and grading assignments. The move to distance learning is making a small handful of companies plenty of money while everyone else loses their jobs, but it’s not making learning “continuous”.

People, including many of my educator colleagues, are so gullible. Does not ‘distance learning’, like ‘competency based learning’, sound like the same old Orwellian language tech companies have been using for decades to grease their products into our classrooms? Why are we calling it ‘learning’? It’s not that. It’s brainless busywork, plain and simple. Call it ‘distance busywork’. Call it ‘online time consumption’.

I feel this woman’s pain — as a teacher. I am dumbfounded by how many teachers and teachers unions have emailed me, imploring me to jump on the distance busywork bandwagon. Everyone suggests a different free app (just log in with your name, email address, and favorite ice cream flavor). What are they thinking? Are they thinking? We can be smarter and better than this. Education cannot and must not continue during a school shutdown.

Call it ‘distance quackery’. Call it ‘online fatuousness’…

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- SomeDAM Poet says:
  
  March 22, 2020 at 2:37 pm
  
  Personally, I think it makes more sense for parents to encourage their children to pursue some constructive creative activity that they enjoy doing but maybe never had time to do before.
  
  There’s lots of information available on the web (eg, on YouTube) for learning new and interesting avocations that might very well turn into vocations later on.
  
  Reply
  - SomeDAM Poet says:
    
    March 22, 2020 at 2:39 pm
    
    But even if they didn’t become vocations, they would be worthwhile endeavors.
  - flos56 says:
    
    March 22, 2020 at 8:35 pm
    
    There needs to be a multitude of approaches to meet the needs of each child (depending on theIf age group). I suggest good old fashioned reading as one such activity. If only the libraries were still open. I’m doing a little art, music and “gym” along with story time with my grandson along with those worksheets (which at least requires some effort) along with a math app he is familiar with and enjoys. Let’s see how tomorrow goes.
    
    I suppose having a degree in elementary education (even if it was forty + years ago) is a plus.
jcgrim says:

March 22, 2020 at 3:17 pm

The good news, is that this techy-boy fantasy is dying before our eyes.
Parents won’t have it.

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- LeftCoastTeacher says:
  
  March 22, 2020 at 6:58 pm
  
  Your keyboard to the Lord’s eyes.
  
  Reply
ColorFermat says:

March 22, 2020 at 3:37 pm

Shiri Koenigsberg Levy is a special education teacher, so I am sure that she knows how to use improper fractions and what solfège is. This is a humorous piece. As any good humor, it is meant to reflect the viewer’s own predicament. Kudos to Shiri for finding a fitting tone and message, she is a YouTube star now.

The sad fact that so many viewers take this video at face value says plenty about their own education. Even worse, they seem to think that not knowing basic math of music facts is completely acceptable. “Now our children will find out how dumb we are” – indeed, they will.

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Yooo says:

March 22, 2020 at 4:10 pm

I am into a lot of personal development kind of stuff, and one thing that irritates me about some of the “thought leaders” I follow is their constant criticism of the education system. I ended up unsubscribing from Seth Godin’s blog because he’s constantly singing this tune of “all schools do is teach compliance.” If you are not familiar with him, he is known as pretty much the best marketer out there. His blog and books are so popular that if you just type his first name in Google, his blog will be the top result.

This was the last post I read from him. https://seths.blog/2020/03/the-conversation/

He constantly sites this experiment (https://www.technologyreview.com/s/506466/given-tablets-but-no-teachers-ethiopian-children-teach-themselves/), and implies that this is what we should be doing more of here. What’s the use of teachers when we can just give everyone an iPad and let them figure out everything themselves?

Outside of that, Godin pretty fun to read. However, I just couldn’t take it anymore and need a break.

COVID-19 is a reformer’s dream, but as of right now, it looks like traditional schooling may rise in popularity by the time this is over.

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- flos56 says:
  
  March 22, 2020 at 9:31 pm
  
  There is some truth in that, most students learn to give the teachers what they are looking for and in that way become compliant. Some refuse to “play the game”. However, that doesn’t mean that outside of school these kids are still compliant. Have you met a teenager?
  
  Reply
  - Yooo says:
    
    March 23, 2020 at 7:20 am
    
    Yes. There is some truth in that, but that is everywhere and not just school. Additionally, I dislike how a lot of those people criticize lectures, desks and rows, and only asking questions at certain times and such when it comes to school. Like Betsy DeVos’s tweet about classroom design, it is a totally inaccurate description of how schools operate today.
    
    https://www.newsweek.com/teachers-correct-betsy-devos-picture-modern-classroom-835161
    
    Then there’s the constantly repeated adage that schools were designed for factory workers and still functions that way.
    
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/10/10/american-schools-are-modeled-after-factories-and-treat-students-like-widgets-right-wrong/
    
    The funny thing is that when these people give their $30,000, 1 hour speech at a conference somewhere, the audience is sitting in rows, listening to them lecture, and can only ask questions at a certain time, if at all. It sounds like the school model they criticize.
LeftCoastTeacher says:

March 22, 2020 at 6:57 pm

If I really care about my students, I have to care about their parents. If the world transitions online, Great Depression level unemployment will be the new normal. Wealth inequality will skyrocket even more than it already has. Being a tech enthusiast right now means being callous toward the millions of people who just received their last paycheck. Anyone who writes or says we need to permanently sacrifice our way of life and spend the rest of our days looking at screens because of current, temporary events needs to take a big step back. Those aren’t just lifestyles being lost; they are people.

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LisaM says:

March 22, 2020 at 8:59 pm

My son is upstairs yelling and stomping as I type this. NoRedInk.com is giving him a fit and he’s not dealing with it well….AGAIN. It mirrors MAP testing except it’s worse and will take you back to the beginning if you mess up towards the end….and then you have to do everything all over again. Lots of cussing upstairs! Can’t wait for this to stop!

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- flos56 says:
  
  March 22, 2020 at 9:03 pm
  
  Order some good old fashioned workbooks online. I used to do them for fun when I was a kid. Get some art kits too so he can do some creative projects. If what he’s doing now is too frustrating, find some other activity. It’s just not worth it,
  
  Reply
- RageAgainstTheTestocracy says:
  
  March 22, 2020 at 11:33 pm
  
  This is a global scale existential crisis the likes of which we haven’t seen since WWII. It is likely to get much worse before it gets better.
  The school year is effectively over. Unplug his computer and try to find some activity that will be relaxing for your son. Understand that a typical 7 hour school day involves a tremendous amount of hidden downtime. Teachable moments are few and far between.
  
  Some science related options:
  
  The Curiosity Stream ($12/yr) offers on-demand streaming of hundreds of interesting and engaging science related videos.
  
  The Short History of Nearly Everything
  by Bill Bryson
  Fantastic overview of the history of scientific achievements
  Book of audio tape. A must read for every science student!
  
  if you are willing to provide your email I can send you some science activities that I think your son will enjoy. Nothing stressful.
  
  Reply
  - LisaM says:
    
    March 23, 2020 at 11:28 am
    
    He goes to a private HS because he wasn’t doing well with all the online learning and other deforms going on in our public school system. This is the first time that he has ever liked school. He has his literature books to read and his ELA teacher will post an online quiz/test to make sure that they are doing the reading. He is also a teacher that loves sentence diagraming, so grammar is important but he isn’t very techie….I think he just found something that he thought would work? His Chem teacher (also not very techie) is posting Chemistry experiments that he is doing at home on line so that the kids can watch and then he gives them their assignments…..he is doing a great job trying to make it personal. My son is very techie, but he hates online learning and finds it repetitive and boring when all these sites are offering garbage as learning.
Montana teacher says:

March 22, 2020 at 11:54 pm

Are any of you teachers being asked to continue meeting in your PLCs remotely? That’s what’s adding to my stress.

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Lorraine Partridge says:

March 23, 2020 at 3:23 pm

I loved this so much I added it to my Google Class Stream so that our foreign language students could feel the solidarity with their peers abroad! I’m just trying to make the transition as smooth and as useful as possible for the students who want to keep moving ahead. A lot of mine are using schoolwork as therapy it seems.

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