Technical Difficulties

One day this past week, I asked my husband to fill in for me for a couple hours while I ran a few errands. He had taken the week off of work to do some odds and ends around the house. I said, "Could you just help him review his multiplication tables?" The picture to the left is what I found them working on when I came home. I guess he figured why cover them all individually when you can put them into one massive problem?

JT's first virtual class was set up for this week. It was supposed to be held Wednesday from 2pm-3pm. The day before, I checked if we had it listed in his "courses". It wasn't there, so I contacted his IS (Instructional Supervisor) and she assured me he was registered. Wednesday at 1:45 pm I attempted to get things set up. The class wasn't showing up. I started worrying that I was doing something wrong. I had used the software once for a parent forum, so I figured we were probably good to go.

2:00, I really start to panic. I send an email to our IS and the gifted education coordinator. I also call and put in a tech ticket. Around 2:15, JT says, "Is it ready yet?" Then I get the email. Don't worry, you are all signed up. It's a virtual classroom tech issue. It will be ready next week.

I'm not feeling very impressed with the technical know-how here. This is a "CYBER" school...right? The tech guy called me today, nearly 24 hours later. I said, "Never mind."

This was also the first week that I was sick. I have a nasty bit of congestion going on. Unfortunately, there was no substitute available. So, we had a very lame day on Wednesday. We covered Math, Composition, and a little Science. Then I said, "Let's watch a video for History today." I slept on the couch while he watched Liberty! The American Revolution. It's a PBS series that is very well done. I had watched the first volume with him when I wasn't sick. I felt a little guilty dumping him like that, but considering the fact that we are already on lesson 81 in math...and there are 160 in the year, I think we can afford a day of slacking off.

I am still struggling to find a way to make the Science curriculum fit our situation. The third grade material is too simplistic and the sixth grade material isn't quite right either. I guess I'll really have to work to find an acceptable substitute while still covering enough of the curriculum specific terms in the Calvert material to have him pass the tests.

I also need to complain about math....WHY do these kids need to be able to explain how they answered a math question? Why can't the state just be happy that they know the right answer? I struggle to teach my child how to answer these questions. When I was complaining to a friend of mine about this problem she said, "Yes, I also hate needing to explain math with language instead of math. It is like playing baseball using your feet. Why? Why not just use your hands?"

Amen to that!