So yesterday I tweeted my frustration at online learning, asking if any of you had suggestions for online tutoring. Here’s a bit of an explanation of what’s going on. /1

We're now in week 3 of online learning with the Toronto District School Board ( @TDSB), and my daughter is in Grade 3. There is no "teaching" going on in my daughter's Grade 3 online classroom. /2

There are assignments and marking, but absolutely ZERO synchronous communication between her and the teacher. There's no way a 9-year-old can work independently on a computer, reading an assignment, completing it, and submitting it. That's not school. That's homework. /3

Who does my daughter turn to when she has a question? When she's not sure what she's supposed to do? When she needs someone to encourage her to push a little harder and strive to achieve more? There is no teacher available to her in those moments. /4

So instead, she turns to me... someone who is not trained to teach third grade. I do teach adults in my professional job, but teaching adults is very very different from teaching primary school age children. /5

And, because we have our own mother-child dynamic, she talks back to me and stubbornly refuses to do work in a way that she wouldn't with a teacher. Which then frustrates me, so I become short with her, and then we both end up in tears. It is AWFUL. /6

Yesterday afternoon I called the principal of the school so he could hear my feedback and frustrations. What we need most from the teachers right now isn't more curriculum and assignments. /7

We don't need them to spend their time creating assignments. Those already exist out in the world - just use what's there. Our children need connection with their teachers. A phone call. A video or chat or DM. The technology isn’t the issue. /8

My friend @nfreidus has written about this and proposed 5 ways teachers can make our kids feel heard. I encourage you to read it, and if you have suggestions for what else could be done, please comment on her piece. /9 https://medium.com/@cnarrations/the-tech-is-the-easy-part-five-ways-teachers-can-make-our-kids-feel-heard-ee8cb6eddc88

As for my situation - we’re going to try to keep up with the TDSB online learning until the frustration becomes too much and we abandon it completely and seek out a private solution, like tutoring. Because we can afford to. /10

I know this is what causes inequity in our public school system. The whole thing is exhausting. But I pinky-swore with my daughter that we weren’t going to fight about school any more. Our mental health is more important than struggling over online learning. /11 (end)