In the interests of full disclosure: I unpublished and republished this diary. This was a rush job, and I posted it before it was ready. It was below the very high standards I put on myself. I hope this second version is much better.
This diary series has been a privilege to write. I love that no one has thrown any pie yet, and the education world is full of pie. Here’s a reminder of what I think of PIE.
Part 1 covered in-school instruction. The proven model is the best, but not the safest.
Part 2 covered a virtual zoom classroom. No proven model, is the safest, but not the best.
Remember that my takes can be painful and hot sometimes. Remember that this is the original intent, everyone!
Do know that every teacher is trying to make lemonade out of chicken shit this year, to mix metaphors. If you are frustrated with the educational experience this year, do know that you are seeing each teacher at their WORST. You get to watch the educational sausage being made fresh over virtual education Zoom if you are at home frequently, and you are appalled. You are frustrated by a lack of mask mandate/forced mask mandate at the school board/local/state level for in person school. You are enraged by the open school to closure to virtual to open school hamster wheel and want to get off that damn ride. You see your child falling behind, stressed out, or getting disinterested. You think the hybrid model (hey, we get to CHOOSE!) is the way out.
This part will be written from two perspectives and then the reality — that of a parent and that of a teacher. It will expose why a hybrid of the two models could be an answer OR the death of every teacher. Sophie’s Choice Door #3 called the ‘hybrid model’ gets exposed today.
Why Parents Generally LOVE ‘Choice’
“Choice” is a GOOD thing in parent educational world. It boils down to the fact that parents ask ‘Why can’t I have what is best for my child?’ and ‘Why can’t I have what is best for what works for me?’
This is a primer for the debate. And yes, it is a HUGE debate in education world. Here’s the arguments they use. Some are absolutely CRINGE considering who causes them.
- The local school isn’t meeting the needs of your student; it is “Failing” standardized testing wise. (let’s cut funding again!)
- YOU use YOUR taxpayer dollars to fund education; why not have a choice of what to fund? (this one is their best one)
- I don’t like what public schools teach my kids (this happens with both liberals and conservatives). (culture wars)
- You don’t have the funding and corporations DO. Let the market decide what school should look like (McTeachers here we come!)
- Schools aren’t safe — between school shootings and bullying you are better shopping schools or homeschooling (AND WHO DOES NOTHING ABOUT IT?)
- We catch the students likely to fall through the cracks in the public school system (LIE).
- We hold public schools accountable (LAUGH).
What parents never see is that this is a self-perpetuating circle. Because corporate charters and the reform movement know how to market themselves and sell their bill of goods, they flourish. Public schools (80% of kids in America) do NOT do this as well, so they suffer.
Why Teachers Generally DETEST ‘Choice’
When public teachers hear the word ‘choice’, they stick out their arm and prepare for another amputation. “Choice” means PAIN for the public school teacher.
- Less students means less funding. Which means worse schools, which means more push for ‘choice’ in the death spiral. To the public school teacher, a corporate charter is a parasite trying to kill the host.
- Corporate charters usually are cheaper because they cut corners, mainly by skimping on teacher salary and benefits and cherry picking the best students. They are meant to bust teacher unions AND take away the students who are most compliant and could perform best. They often kick out students who don’t ‘fit the mold’ and dump them on the public school. The PUBLIC SCHOOL HAS TO TAKE THEM.
- Corporate charters are usually very lightly regulated because they donate to political campaigns on both sides of the aisle. Public schools are a cesspit of regulations that are usually contradictory and byzantine.
- Fly by night corporate charters are grift centers that ruin the lives of children every time they shut down without warning. That happened to the charter down the road from the school I taught at — we got the worst level of students from there.
What is Happening with Hybrid This Year
So, when teacher heard that hybrid was a ‘choice’ for students and parents, they KNEW they were about to be put in a private hell. I know that this is hyperbole, but as soon as I saw this coming down the pike I secretly became GLAD I was no longer a teacher. As someone who dedicates every waking minute to things I care about (no employment boundaries), “Hybrid on Covid" would have ended me by burning the candle from both ends.
This isn’t what was intended. Hybrid was never meant to interact with a fully virtual education via Zoom. It was meant to be a flexible online and hands on instructional model WITHIN THE BOUNDS OF A CLASSROOM. I’ve taught hybrid lessons (Webquests and Escape Rooms shine here) and they are amongst my BEST lessons. Please don’t throw out hybrid education because it morphed into this total chimaera because of Covid-19. It is a model that WORKS. This “Hybrid on Covid” model has NOT worked yet.
This year is twice the work, without more pay. Hybrid lessons take plenty of planning and thought to execute. I usually did one or two a MONTH. Now, with "Hybrid on Covid” we have to cater to online (think homework, worksheets, and online assignments) AND in person lessons. You have to write two lesson plans for each lesson now. That is without any more time in the day or any extra prep. Oh, and your prep usually is spent contacting parents on Zoom or trying to figure out how to fix your Zoom problems.
“Hybrid on Covid” is likely WORSE than both other options. Teachers have so many balls up in the air that they are going to drop some. Something has to give, and usually it is the Zoom kids. They are doing 3/4ths of their learning on their own without any constant support from the teacher. The gaps will form. It doesn't solve the dilemma of working class parents needing their children to be in school full time in order to be able to work. We have a HUGE child care crisis in this nation.
Let’s look at some anecdotes of what teachers say about “Hybrid on Covid”.
Exhaustion: Here AND Here
Burnout: Here, Here, Here, and Here.
Logistical Nightmares: Here AND Here
and why not? Ravitch is Here. She writes about the extreme level of burnout during the pandemic too.
Why is it a failing model? It combines the problems of both models of education this year. It is the WORST of both worlds. Teachers usually have about 5,374 browser tabs open in their minds at once. With hybrid, that’s more like 23,923. Too much to do when you are doing in person (socially distanced and correct) AND learning Zoom. It’s just impossible! And it is, without RADICAL changes in what you do. To do it right requires yet another thing! Most teachers are drowning and cannot adapt to this. Here is what I could find to help those in hybrid HELL.
If you are a parent, please read these articles to best help. Accept that this was a mistake without training or planning, and a lost year. Because tomorrow, I drop the nuclear bomb on the previous three articles. We won’t soon have these choices more likely than not.