Working out of the home/school is remote

scoutie

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 31, 2012
My kids’ school district had originally implemented a hybrid plan for kids returning to school, and I signed my kids up for that option. The superintendent just announced that all schools would be remote. Two weeks ago I had accepted a teaching position at a private school, and they are going in person 100%. I am finding myself in a really bad position. I have a 15-year-old a 13-year-old and a nine-year-old. In the spring the 15-year-old actually did the worst job with e-learning and I was home. My husband works as an hour away and he cannot stay home...and we have no family in the area.I’m really stressed out about what to do. Anybody else in this situation? Curious to see what others are doing.
 
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My kids’ school district had originally implemented a hybrid plan for kids returning to school, and I signed my kids up for that option. The superintendent just announced that all schools would be remote. Two weeks ago I had accepted a teaching position at a private school, and they are going in person 100%. I am finding myself in a really bad position. I have a 15-year-old a 13-year-old and a nine-year-old. In the spring the 15-year-old actually did the worst job with e-learning and I was home. My husband works as an hour away and he cannot stay home...and we have no family in the area.I’m really stressed out about what to do. Anybody else in this situation? Curious to see what others are doing.
How married are you to the new position at the private school? Has your old position (in a public school I’m assuming) been filled yet? I teach at a small Catholic school. My kids are college age and above right now, so I don’t have to worry about them, but I really feel for you. As I see it, you have three options:
1) give up the new job and go back to teaching at public school until the virus in no longer an issue, so you can stay on the same schedule as your kids.
2) keep your new private school job and enroll your kids in private school, so you can stay on the same schedule as your kids. This is a costly option though unless you get a major tuition break as a teacher.
3) keep your new private school job and wait it out. Your school will probably move to virtual learning once the virus starts ripping through the building. I don’t think this will take very long.

All the teachers at my private school are very upset with our administration’s insisting on face to face learning in the middle of a pandemic. Several teachers have already quit over it. I am on medical leave for the first 6 weeks of school for double knee replacement. I’m hoping they will come to their senses and move to distance learning by the time I return.

Lastly, congratulations on the new job and good luck with whatever you decide.
 


1) give up the new job and go back to teaching at public school until the virus in no longer an issue, so you can stay on the same schedule as your kids
My last job in the public school killed my mental health and I can't go back there. I had things thrown at me, was called profane names on a regular basis and it was just a really toxic environment. It came to the point where my husband and friends were really worried about me because I became a completely different person due to the stress. My position has been filled, but thank you for the suggestion, though! My son is adamant about not wanting to go to my new school, but that may have to be an (expensive) option. Thank you for weighing in! Good luck to you this year. There are really no good solutions, are there?

I'll probably have to look into hiring somebody to come help. This new job comes with a $20,000 pay cut, so it will be tight, but it looks like that's my only option.
 
have you looked into on-line teaching for yourself? not sure what state you are in but some have on-line 'academies' that have been an option for public education for several years. with parents getting frustrated about the foreseeable future of education there has been an uptick in enrollment in some areas (including mine) resulting in the need for more staff. i know some former traditional teachers who opted into it a few years back when they were in between jobs and they decided after a year of doing it they would never return to a classroom (same reasons you speak of). the curriculum and delivery model is already set up when they hire on and they are provided with training on implementation.
 
Maybe reach out on Facebook., local library, Etc. to see if there are any college students majoring in Education who would be willing to help out a few days a week.
It is truly an impossible situation. Wishing you all the best.
 


See if anyone in your neighborhood is willing to start a ”pod”. Families are doing that with similar aged kids in our neighborhood. Another option might be hiring a college student who is doing remote study for the semester to proctor for you (several college kids in our neighborhood have posted that they are available).
 
One options is to join a learning pod, which was mentioned above. I've seen several posts in our neighborhood group from people who are forming small groups of same-aged kids to do their remote learning together. The groups would either be supervised by an available parent or a hired tutor. Other people are trying to hire a tutor/college student/retired teacher or someone else who could supervise their kids during all or part of the school day. The kids would still be online with their teachers. The tutor would be there to monitor them and help with logistics and homework. Another option would be to let the kids try it on their own and see how they do. Perhaps set them up with schedules of exactly when they need to be online with each teacher or class. Help them schedule in breaks and meal times. Then follow up with them when you get home to check progress and assignments.

The teacher I work with (I'm an instructional assistant) might be in a similar situation. Her kids will be on remote learning and we have been told we might have to be in class at least part of the time. She has no idea how she will manage having her kids at home while she is teaching an hour away. It's a tough situation.
 
It's more work for you, but what about working with your 15 year old every night on an expectation list. What were his issues with e-learning? Remember, it's hopefully going to be better this year, but if you can help manage him, he might be better at managing himself.

What about the other 2 kids? Did they do all right?
 
My son is adamant about not wanting to go to my new school, but that may have to be an (expensive) option.
I have a couple of friends who moved from public school teaching to private and took their kids with them, but those schools waived tuition for the children of staff.
 
I have seen some small groups forming on my neighborhood Facebook group of families helping each other out with virtual learning. Is anyone in your area doing something like that?
 
I have a couple of friends who moved from public school teaching to private and took their kids with them, but those schools waived tuition for the children of staff.
I will get a discount, but it’s still pricey especially with my pay cut. This private school is more “nontraditional“ and I don’t know how well my son would do. He’s kind of a mainstream kid.


It's more work for you, but what about working with your 15 year old every night on an expectation list. What were his issues with e-learning? Remember, it's hopefully going to be better this year, but if you can help manage him, he might be better at managing himself.

What about the other 2 kids? Did they do all right?
He’s a very intelligent kid who is in mostly AP classes, but it was a motivation issue and confusion as to which classes were meeting live and which were being done online. I’ll be more on top of it this time. The nine-year-old did great but that was because I was right there with him logging him on, and making sure he was doing the work. The 13-year-old had zero issues (gymnast who is self motivated). I guess the main issue is I just don’t want all three of them home alone all day in charge of their own learning. The learning pads idea that many you had mentioned might be a really good option. I started a Facebook post reaching out so we will see if anyone bites! I have been actively looking for all sorts of positions since this started. Leave it to me to look for jobs during a pandemic.Teaching online is an option but I really really don’t enjoy teaching this way, and I’m hesitant to break my contract, but it’s also a solution. This is such new territory for me that I don’t really know what’s best. I appreciate everybody weighing in with ideas!
 
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Hugs. The private school where I teach is going in person and everyone else is online. I’m stressed about it and looking for online positions. Online charter schools are still hiring because their enrollment is up.

Good luck!
 
You’ve mentioned a $20,000 pay cut to go from the public school to the private school. If the neighborhood learning pods don’t work out, have you thought about tightening the budget and taking a year sabbatical to manage your kids’ online learning. Or maybe your working neighbors would hire you to take on one of the learning pods full time next year. You wouldn’t be teaching all the classes; you’d be managing/supporting all the various grade learners doing virtual learning in your pod.

This year is going to be weird. If I still had little kids, I think I’d quit my traditional teaching job for the year and homeschool them. And this is coming from someone who doesn’t really like homeschooling. Or I’d have them do their virtual learning in a pod and manage the pod for pay.
 
I feel for you, OP. I teach at a university. I am thankful I can work from home. I will teach live classes while my kids are in virtual classes. One is starting middle and one is starting high school. They are independent but they will have three hours of live classes plus homework while I teach three hour classes and have office hours, then grade and plan. It will be interesting since they are in GT/AP classes. I am really hoping we can take breaks in the day to get our kayaks out on the water and take the dog for hikes. I am anxious about the amount of time they will spend on screens. I also have to keep an eye out so they are not sneaking video games during class. It's not ideal but I would rather try to work through this than send them to school in person right now based on our state's numbers.
 
In your position, I think I would incentivize the 15 and 13 year olds to work together to oversee the 9 year old while getting their own work done. At least by paying your own kids, the money is staying in the family. They’ll likely use much of it to buy things you would have paid for anyway.

Nothing about this is ideal but many people hire teen sitters so that’s what I would do.
 
I'm in a similar position. I work as a teacher's aide in a special ed classroom and we have been told we will be going back full time. My kids are staying home, they are 17 and 9. It sucks, but I'm my oldest is going to have to be responsible for his sister while I am at work, then I will help them with school work when I get home. Both of my kids have special situations that make learning challenging so I am not looking forward to this and I'm honestly hoping that school (my school) gets cancelled or goes remote sooner rather than later, even if that means I get laid off.
 

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