I think we can all agree that remote school, particularly for elementary grades, was a nightmare.
First, kids aren't great at focusing on a computer. They get bored. They open a new tab and go play Fornite or watch YouTube videos. But the nightmare was worse than just that.
For some of us parents, the process and setup was simply exhausting. I'm generally good with technology, and was very persistent in monitoring and managing to keep my kids on track. But the way the Piscataway Schools managed the process was... well... here's what I posted on 2/26/21 about the living hell I was experiencing.
I would periodically reach out to the teachers, freaking out when I realized my kids had missed an assignment. The teachers each time assured me that my kids were WAY ahead of most students, many of whom were not turning in any work at all... and re-reading this, I can see why. This system was impossible for a child to navigate, and I guarantee most parents probably just gave up. And I can't blame them.
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I'm going to start by saying that teachers do an amazing job, and this year has certainly been challenging and exhausting and frustrating for them. This is NOT a rant about teachers.
Here's how our school system is set up.
Each child has a Schoology login.
Within Schoology there is a link for each subjet.
Within each subject, the teachers set up individual folders. A folder could contain all materials and assignments for one week, or just one document. You don't know what's inside until you click on the folder. (WHAT'S INSIDE THE BOX?!?!?!?!) Folders also come in various (random?) colors and are typically sorted with the oldest on top, so you have the joy of scrolling through two semesters of old folders before you get to the current work. No, there's not an option to sort them differently.
There are a bunch of icons that are NOT intuitive. There's a little calendar icon (which isn't for an appointment), there's something that looks like a puzzle piece (which I think means a quiz), there's something that looks like a desktop (no freakin' clue what this category is).
Want to check if your child submitted their homework? Go find the course, then find the right folder, then click on the right icon, then look for "SUBMISSION" and see if there's anything there.
If you follow up with any given teacher about your student, they tell you that "everything is right there on Schoology" which is the educational equivalent of telling me to find a hummingbird "in the Amazon". Grab your bug spray, and godspeed. Good luck.
I'm generally pretty tech-savvy, so I can only imagine how hard this must be for parents who aren't used to working on a computer. Or for the KIDS who are expected to navigate this as their educational system.
I know everyone is doing what they can, but I'm at the end of my rope.
Would it really be so hard to set up a system where there's an up-front dashboard? The student (or parent, or teacher) could see all assignments that are due (or past due) in ONE PLACE?
I've had enough. I'm throwing in the towel.
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