Catherine Pearson writes at Huffington Post that children are depressed and miserable because of distance learning. The fun of remote learning is gone.
They miss their friends and activities.
In the past month, my 5-year-old has gone from being excited about video calls for school and virtual “play dates” to basically hating it all. Sometimes he’s into it — like yesterday, when he was totally engrossed in a 30-minute math class with his teacher and six friends. More often, he whines and mopes beforehand, then immediately after slips into a funk. That goes for official school meetings and for more casual digital hangouts with family and friends.
Zoom fatigue (or whatever your preferred video call platform) is a real issue for both adults and kids, which is, of course, a problem. Millions of children across America are doing the bulk of their schooling online right now, a scenario that could well continue into the next academic year. But lots of them are feeling, just, meh about the whole thing.
Are your kids completely over Zoom? Here’s what that is all about — and what you can do to help them through it.
Pearson has advice for parents about talking to their children and helping them get through this trying experience.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Hoping Governor Cuomo reads this and sees that a “reimagined” NY education should not be heavy on technology, and that walls and bricks and mortar are good things, despite what philanthropists say ….
Agree in the long term. In the meantime, we need investment in technology, including internet access and devices for every student. We need teacher training in live remote instruction, so we can ensure that every student is receiving an education that is more than just doing assigned homework. K-12 needs to be 100% online until there is a covid-19 vaccine. Any return to physical classrooms before a vaccine is a guarantee that teachers, and maybe students, will die. So this could take years.
No, we should ride it out with a paid extended break.
Got DRAMA, Flerp?
I don’t get your comment. How is online teaching a “paid extended break”?
I hope the one positive to come out of this is that now that parents have experienced the computer based education being touted first hand, it is being roundly rejected. Politicians like Cuomo may try to sell it to them because his donors will benefit, but don’t think it is going to be a very popular idea.
I’ve been wrong about A LOT of things.
Not on this one,
I left my classroom on Friday, March 13 thinking, nope, this distance learning sure ain’t gonna work. And, it hasn’t.
What can I put online that can reach students and adults who are scared, sad, lonely, and disappointed, maybe even deathly ill, God forbid? Or, didn’t want to listen to me to begin with. Not much. Meanwhile,day after day I’m competing with the constant blare of YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and an entire planet of high def digital CONTENT?
But I don’t know what else we could’ve done?
I am trying to cut our public schools slack. I mean for a while the entire country seemed to be attacking teachers so, yeah….we are doing our best amidst a global calamity.
Sure, there are probably schools and teachers who have made this distance learning thing work better than I have. No doubt.
But the phony, pretend stuff has got to stop. I certainly don’t want to hear it.
If I did, I’d just start listening to Betsy DeVos.
Hi, John. What kind of stuff are you putting out there, & how do you know it’s a flop? I feel like I’m working in a complete vacuum. Different work than yours: I’m a free-lance Spanish teacher for PreK students. I get my work thro a teeny agency, finishing the term for clients who’d already paid for the session. Trying to do stuff parents/ kids enjoy, so they [or schools] will sign on again in Fall: even if PreK’s reopen “Phase 1 (or 2)”, visiting teachers will be excluded… but get zero feedback. I can’t just ask: communications w/parents have always gone thro my boss &/or PreK directors. They’re tiptoeing, just trying to finish the year w/no refunds. A few do live videoconference, but I suspect kid reactions per the posted article are only grasped by parents.
Thanks for asking, Bethree.
Wow, you’re a ‘free-lance Spanish teacher for PreK students’…
That’s a very specific position.
Even though you and I have different jobs, your comment about feeling like “working in a complete vacuum” hits home. Absolutely.
I guess part of that feeling comes from the nature of the internet itself.
And, of course, by now lots of time has drifted by; 10 weeks of missed classroom instruction. In summer, by the end of 10 weeks, I’d be getting ready for new classes in September. When I was a kid, summer lasted forever. So, what’s it been like for these kids, especially now that they are probably scared and maybe even seeing adults around them who have been scared, too?
I’ve seriously lost track of what it’s like to be a child… circa my earliest years in the 1960s. And, for these kids who are growing up in the 21st century and NOW….. Where do I begin to really understand their young lives….?
Part of the problem where I teach is hardware. It’s a rural area and sometimes students either don’t have internet or they have a crappy connection that is expensive and moves glacially.
In a weird coincidence, I threw together my own survey about internet accessibility for my students back in January. I’m certainly not patting myself on the back because it had been on my list for a long, long time to do something about this question. For YEARS it’s been bugging me.
The interesting thing I found is that the accessibility to the internet wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be for my 12th graders. Of course, one student not having a computer amidst this pandemic is a big problem. But it wasn’t like half my classes couldn’t get online at home.
No, what surprised me was how often the students said they preferred using paper and pencil to working on computers. I had some extra space on the back of my homemade survey so I threw some questions on that I was just curious about…and an open space for kids to make suggestions about how we should use computers at school. Now THAT was interesting.
I took the comments in and we talked them over in class and, bang, six weeks later we’re all set adrift on this open ocean of boundless communication….aka ‘distance learning’.
Right from the start of being out of school I tried to put very clear and basic lessons on the school’s internet learning platform, each and every Monday morning. I don’t use textbooks but I have a pile of them in my classroom. As things in the world started to go sideways back in early March, I had each student sign out a text and told them take it home…we might need them. “Simple is safe”. There’s just way too much clutter already online. Some kids and parents can’t even FIND what their schools want them to do when they look online.
And, I’ve attempted to keep some semblance of the weekly classroom schedule we had pre-covid. That’s important. For example, on Fridays at the end of class we almost always played Jeopardy. So, I’ve been attempting to play Jeopardy on Facebook with students, alumnae even some faculty members who join in. First we had to do it manually, typing in the questions and answers since the camera on my computer wasn’t working. Talk about painstaking. Then, when my new webcam finally arrived from China after 5 weeks (yes, ironic, isn’t it) I moved my weekly Jeopardy game onto Facebook live. And this week I offered some prizes.
And, still the drift apart continues. Fewer and fewer students….that “vacuum” that you so aptly wrote about.
I don’t take it personally, Bethree. I realize I’m not Alex Trebek, I’m not Tom Hanks, Justin Bieber or whoever is big right now. But that’s who I’m competing with online.
And, WAS already competing with pre-covid because so many students were already bringing in their phones and using them in my classroom for purposes that have nothing to do with learning about government and economics. Hell, adults do it all day long, too.
No, whatever I have to offer my classes does not translate well over the internet -especially after 10 weeks.
Meanwhile, I feel terrible for these class of 2020 members because they DO want the real, physical, tangible world. The sitting together in the hot gym, the cap and gown,the moving the tassel thing when their graduation finally becomes official, family members crowding around them.
I’ve been attending online meetings about trying to salvage graduation next month and the students are asking for the real world.
It’s just that what we have to give them these days is not. And, what we have to offer online just can’t compete with all the fake, glitzy, high def, digital stuff (good and bad) that is already out there, hitting them 24/7 like a tsunami.
Well, I’ve got to go to town and get the real life, hard copy of the NY Times. They have that incredible edition today with all the names of people who have died from covid.
I want to hold that newspaper in my hands. It’s one I will hang onto for a long, long time.
Take care and be well!
Meanwhile, the district in which I work is going to more and more digital “learning,” even after we return. This includes a bunch of junior highs and high schools going to the “wonderful” Summit Learning. Sigh.
For my kindergartners distance-learning was never fun. And Lord knows for me it is not just a challenge but truly sad. How do you connect with five and six-year-olds through a computer screen? And the parents are losing it. I give them a lot of credit!
Of course I am trying to make the best of this for my students, but gone is the essence of teaching and learning in kindergarten: The human touch, the facial expressions, the spontaneous moments, the joy – reading and singing and dancing and yoga and Simon Says and Thumbs Up at the end of the day. And Discovery Centers (my code word for play centers)- teamwork and problem-solving and using one’s imagination and learning basic social skills like taking turns and sharing. There is great satisfaction (and joy!) in learning and practicing these skills and working together as a team. It is how friendships are planted and take root over the weeks and months of working and playing and learning together. Deep feelings of security and acceptance come from belonging to a community. A REAL community, not a screen.
So no, this was never fun and it is an untenable way to teach kindergarten and I imagine pretty much every grade.
Because at the end of the day, it is all about that beautiful community that is established. That’s the essence of successful teaching and learning in kindergarten.
We’re going to have a lot more obese kids after they’ve been sitting in front of screens all day. Not to mention obese teachers.
Obese everyone. I’ve been cooking up a storm these past two months. Now I’m paying for it. I’ll start to address it tomorrow…which never seems to arrive.
obese and socially stunted
Let us name these on-line programs properly. They are instructional delivery systems with formulaic content and no guarantee of learning, none. They are not formats for “personalized learning.” They are designed to deliver instruction on the internet in a graphic format that fit a computer screen. The computer screen often looks like an “arty” version of a paper worksheet or page in a workbook. Some programs have a ‘click here” function that takes you to a moving picture, such as a YouTube demonstration. These function as surrogates for teachers and some have same instructional value as watching TV or a movie.
The major purpose of most online instructional systems from commercial companies, including companies that provide internet access (e.g., Google) is data gathering for product enhancement and targeted advertising, often solicited for a fee from third parties.
If you cannot understand the terms of service and privacy statements in these systems, that is because they are written by lawyers who are protecting the interests of the provider of the service and this includes the many “non-profits” pushing their products.
The newest versions are mobile-friendly and are acivated by biometric and other profiling techniques that document time-on-task by specific students.
Pearson is now SAVVAS Learning.
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-10-29-former-pearson-k-12-courseware-business-rebrands-as-savvas-learning
Can it get any worse? https://www.radiolabour.net/hogan-140519.html?fbclid=IwAR3nWluM4O_RJ7npyvYiGoOmYUAIaQrygNZUKRM-VMtZvYzkvl_Mfk6lqck
Why are parents choosing to continue with these ineffective online learning options? Parents can and should vote with their feet and leave, especially if Covid requires schools to continue online learning in the fall. If the model kids are using doesn’t work and is making them miserable, pull them out. Empower yourselves and empower your kids.
I would assume homeschooling will boom in the fall.
Might be a fad for some but vast majority want nothing to do with any of it. Kids will stay home and take a nothingburger break until schools reopen. What’s the state going to do? Coming into homes and force them onto digital devices? Remove them from homes during a pandemic?
FLERP, what’s your business?
My oldest will start college classes this August–hopefully–and I’m not sure how it’s going to go. My youngest will be in 10th grade. If he as distance “learning”, he will get a comprehensive reading list from me and spend at least 3 1/2 hours a day reading a variety of books and we’re going to discuss stuff every evening. That was pretty much my education growing up when I wasn’t in school and I loved it. Libraries were my favorite place to be. I’m not pessimistic for him, but I am for my older son and many other children I know.
If this happens, DeVos will be delighted, especially if parents order materials from the Pensacola Christian College with their newly minted voucher.
Just in. Not for the faint in heart. This is from Audrey Watters, brilliant essayist with a forthcoming book on tech. It is about death. https://hewn.substack.com/p/hewn-no-348
Thank you for sharing. A real gut punch in every way. I can relate to so many things she writes. These days, I am constantly swaying dramatically between hope and despair.
It’s a stop gap but only a stop gap. Kids need to interact in school and in the community to make learning real
It’s not a mere stop gap if it has to go on until a vaccine exists. You can’t tell kids that years of their education are just a stop gap.
I’m with Flerp on this one. Even if/when schools reopen on a phased basis, we’ve read the CDC guidelines. One no-brainer is, kids will be attending just 1-2 days/wk. And even that minimum may not get underway until well into Fall, or later, depending on covid stats in your region. So, lots more online/ at-home learning going forward. OBVIOUSLY it’s inferior to IRL teaching in brick&mortar schools, but is the alternative really… nothing? It’s time to figure out how to make the best of it.
I has become a drag for everyone involved, parents, teachers, students…it is not feasible to do in the long run. If you want to home school you kids and are able to really teach them, go for it, but in the long run kids need school, teachers need students to be present physically, parents need a break. It is a public good and the sooner it is safely to do so, we should. And yes, I’m an older teacher with health issues…but I’ll go back if the fall if possible with a brave face (and mask).
It will not be safe to reopen schools until a vaccine exists. Certainly not by fall. Maybe not in 2021 at all. Maybe not for a long time.
I have mixed feelings about the posted article. On the one hand, it brings up very real & probably universal feelings of youngsters suddenly islolated, deprived of social relationship and all the learning that derives from it. On the other… this is a society-wide, global issue that can only be addressed in a very small way by our schools during the pandemic.
Is the author really saying, don’t use zoom-type medium because it just exacerbates feelings of isolation? Or maybe her point is simply, online is a poor alternative to IRL brick&mortar. Probably good input for the general public w/o K12 kids, but not particularly helpful to teachers at the moment.
Still, this article points up a big issue, parenting-wise. I’d like to read interviews w/parents who are addressing it. I’m starting to hear of “covid bubbles,” which I gather is some kind of safe playgroup, perhaps among relatives &/or neighbors. How do you even do that? Testing? Masks/ distancing?
My barn having burned to the ground, I can now see the moon.
-Masahide
At this point in the year, if I were a grade school parent (I have a HS senior), I think I would just encourage my child to read as much variety as possible (local libraries in my area are now allowing for pickup of pre requested books), work on some math skills, play outside(luckily we live in a rural area–our nearest neighbors are cows and sheep) and forget the rest. Everything else can wait.
Cities are starting to realize that schools cannot reopen in any way until we have a vaccine.
Schools will find ways to reopen before there is a vaccine. Reopening requires smaller classes, constant health checks, more nurses, creative and science-based strategies. Other nations are doing it. Are we willing to pay the price?
If schools reopen before a vaccine, it is a guarantee that teachers will die.
Other nations are starting to reopen. We should learn from them about safety and risks.
If people fly commercially without a vaccine, they are playing lotto:
https://theconversation.com/should-you-fly-yet-an-epidemiologist-and-an-exposure-scientist-walk-you-through-the-decision-process-138782
If school open in the fall, here are the steps I will take to protect myself regardless of what I am told by administrators.
1. I will open all my windows (even in the dead of winter if I have to).
2. I will not collect papers from students. I will not circulate around the room to see how students are doing. I will try to grade on oral participation.
3. I will not spend more than 1 minute in the faculty room (which has no windows) – just pick up my mail and go. I will stay out of the halls. I won’t do hall duty.
4. I will wear a mask although I don’t think it will protect me or students to the extent needed.
5. I will spray my room with Lysol after every class.
6. I will NOT supervise kids who are assigned to eat lunch in my classroom. They will not be wearing masks and they will be talking loudly which will spread their germs even more.
7. I will send students who are visibly ill to the nurse and not allow then to reenter my classroom. I have had kids who are sick and come to school tell me that their parents made them come in. That will have to end.
8. I will continue to diffuse my essential oil blends many of which are antiviral.
9. I will not touch doorknobs, community tables, light switches, etc. without covering my hands.
10. I will push students’ desk as far from me as possible and not allow students to come within 8 feet of my desk.
11. I will not spend more time in the school building than is required. I will no longer come in early and leave late.
12. I will not count on others to make decisions in my best interest, and I will do what I feel protects me and others.
These are just some of my ideas. I’m working on more.