Parents of school-aged children and teens, I see you, and I hear you.

You and your kids are being expected to do impossible things, and it feels like everything is too much.

You're right. It is too much.

I see your hope that "normal" school might make a difference.

I see you hoping that if your kids only had the same routine from 8:30-3:30, you could do your paid work in peace, or care for younger children or older relatives.

I see this hope, and I see your frustration and overwhelm, that feeling that you aren't getting what you need.

It's really hard to access empathy & compassion when we're in survival mode.

When we're so overwhelmed, it's incredibly hard to remember that most other people are also so overwhelmed.

Your children's teachers are doing the absolute best we can under impossible circumstances.

You parents who've been demanding live video classes, I get it.

Without greater context, I absolutely understand why you think this would be best for YOUR child(ren).

I need you to imagine, with compassion, the impact of that demand on families that don't look like yours.

I need you to imagine, with compassion, the impact of that demand on education workers who have families that don't look like yours.

Because many teachers are also parents, trying to balance it all, and doing the best we can with limited tech resources and too much stress.

There are lots of ways that we can offer "synchronous" learning opportunities. Jumping to live video classes as the only option is the least equitable path that leaves out the most students.

I & many other teachers do this synchronous learning:
* shared access Google Doc that's open all day for chat
* real-time responses to questions received through Google Classroom private comments
* real-time marking and feedback on submitted tasks
* Google Meet office hours

My Google Meet office hours option is the one used least by my students, for the record.

I'm hearing reports from all over that children of all ages are avoiding live video meetings because they're just too sad & overwhelmed by feelings of loss and separation.

Friday, Ontario's Minister of Education essentially told education workers from across the province that we're not doing enough, and we're not doing it right, that we need to keep doing more and more, with no additional resources.

We're expected to host live video classes every day, without being asked what kind of internet service we have.

We're expected to reach out and call students to do 1:1 teaching, without being asked what kind of phone plan we have.

We're expected to host live synchronous video classes every day, without being asked what our childcare and eldercare situations look like.

We're expected to do all of this without being asked if everyone in our households has individual or shared access to tech.

We are being maligned for doing our best, because the Minister says he's hearing from parents that we're not doing enough to support their kids.

And I know some parents believe we aren't doing enough.

Maybe you're among them.

If you are, I'm interested in hearing about the solutions you think will work for your family, that you're not currently seeing happen.

Before you share, though, I'd like you to consider whether your demands support most students' learning, or centre your own child(ren).

It's absolutely okay for you to want the best for your children! We ALL want what's best for our kids.

But, we're not in a time or place where "best" is even part of the conversation.

The goal is getting us through this time with the least amount of long-term harm.

And the reality is that if you're a parent demanding live video classes, your kids are going to get through this time more or less okay.

You're already doing better than many of your kids' peers' families.

That doesn't mean it's not hard.

But they (and you!) will be okay.