Comments on: “Make School by Phone, Not Zoom!”

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 18 May 2020 20:11:30 +0000

I think we should give feedback to the zoom company and tell them that they should disable going on anything else besides for the class, only if the host lets you. That way, nobody can go on any other app and focus on the lesson. As a student, I know that it is much more easier to be able to see people; your teacher, friends etc. Before Pesach on the phone, I was very distracted and it was quite difficult.

By: Shay Miller

Shay Miller — Sun, 17 May 2020 20:00:57 +0000

I’m not sure why this was published here. It seems like someone impulsively wrote this and rushed to send it; even the grammar looks very rushed. That being said, if the writer finds that Zoom is not working for her family, perhaps she should work it out with her children’s teacher or school. Why make it a big deal and try to change everyone?

By: Moshe

Moshe — Sun, 17 May 2020 03:32:59 +0000

In reply to Anonymous. I know from experience that you put the phone down and walk off And it is very hard to pay attention when you can't see the teacher and the teacher can't see you

By: Dini

Dini — Sun, 17 May 2020 02:33:33 +0000

one of my kids used phone calls at the beginning of this, before pesach and let’s say he had five classes a day he showed up to maybe 1 or 2 (on a good day!) I am not saying there is no problem with zoom but it definitely is a LOT easier to focus as my son now shows up from 9 until 330 which is a drastic improvement

By: Zalman

Zalman — Sun, 17 May 2020 02:18:41 +0000

Why would such an article be published on a public forum?
It’s inaccurate, and hurtful to some.
Do we have to hear everyone’s boych svaras? Do better.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 15 May 2020 23:42:08 +0000

אינו דומה ראיה לשמיעה

By: E

Fri, 15 May 2020 23:25:04 +0000

In reply to Mendy. It’s a parents responsibility to make sure all devices are filtered!!!

By: M

Fri, 15 May 2020 21:51:09 +0000

As a student I can tell you that I experienced both phone classes and zoom classes and it’s a thousand times easier to concentrate in a zoom class. Yes I do sometimes spend half the class scrolling through the list of participants or doing work from other classes but those are in the classes that I would be spacing out in or ditching if we were in a regular setting. A phone class may not have as many buttons but it also leaves the student having to learn only through hearing and being distracted by everything they see around them.Most people need to have their eyes engaged in the subject matter in order to concentrate

By: Mendy

Mendy — Fri, 15 May 2020 21:25:33 +0000

My kids did better before Pesach on the phone.

Also now I saw him watching some YouTube videos on the tablet that we gave him.

By: MZ

MZ — Fri, 15 May 2020 19:16:37 +0000

In reply to Chaya Mushka. Couldn't have said it better. Thanks.

By: Shmuel Wagner

Shmuel Wagner — Fri, 15 May 2020 19:15:07 +0000

Many families have more children in classes than phone lines… especially if you insist that it shouldn’t be a smartphone.
Not to say that the issues you raise are not issues, but not always is escaping the solution.

By: Mendel

Mendel — Fri, 15 May 2020 18:05:39 +0000

My kids’ school used phone calls before Pesach and switched to Zoom after and let me tell you, it was for a reason.

If you think your kid is a hard time focusing on Zoom how will they stay focused on a phone call when there is nothing visual to hold their attention?

These are weird times, everyone is adjusting, the kids, the teachers, the parents, this is hard for everyone. The best we can do is take advantage of all the tools Hashem provided for us!

Chazal say the world wasn’t worthy of gold and Hashem only created it for the Beis Hamikdash. Similarly, who knows if the world would have been worthy of a tool like the internet if it wasn’t necessary for allowing Jewish children to learn Torah?

By: Levi

Levi — Fri, 15 May 2020 17:49:11 +0000

If you think that your child is not focusing on Zoom, he will have a much more difficult time on phone.

By: Rivky Simon

Rivky Simon — Fri, 15 May 2020 17:48:13 +0000

In my family we have a 4 year old, a 7 year old and a 10 year old all learning by zoom and it is working wonderfully. They are fully immersed in the learning and are involved in what is going on. They are excited to go on every day. I really hope this petition does not gain momentum because that will be so bad for my family.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 15 May 2020 17:47:39 +0000

You can always call into zoom.

By: Chaya Mushka

Chaya Mushka — Fri, 15 May 2020 17:47:02 +0000

There are many concepts that cannot be properly taught to young children without visual aids. As well, there is an important social emotional benefit to seeing classmates and teacher live on the screen. Phones are much less engaging in keeping attention spans and so much easier for children to miss a word and misunderstand what’s going on without any of the visual cues to help him.
A child who is flipping through screens and participants is probably the same child that in class is staring out the window or doodling. As long as they are following along its not a problem and if they are not following along then zoom is not the issue.
It’s true that looking at screens for too long makes kids edgy and impatient. As a parent there are things you can do about it:
1. Give your child something to do like roll coins in playdough or cut papers with a scissors either during class or for a substantial amount of time after.
2. Make sure he has gross motor exercise between classes or at least once a day for 15 minutes. (The more the better).
3. Limit the amount of time he attends school by having him daven with you and not his class.
4. If you really feel that nothing else will help your child then have him call in by phone. It’s not the child that feels excluded, it’s the parent that feels excluded and it’s not fair to make the entire class lose out on valuable visual teaching unless all the parents in your child’s class agree.
Now is a perfect time to see how our children really learn in school- what their strengths and weaknesses are- and tailor their education the way a teacher of a big class cannot do.

By: ZK

ZK — Fri, 15 May 2020 17:46:09 +0000

Hard to see how listening to a phone would hold the child’s attention more than a visual / audio medium.