Distance Learning for students at WDW

[Betty Rohrer]

on

Could hand their assignment in early. They’re only missing 4 days.

only if teacher wanted to but was not a sure thing as most did not want to help

 

[Goldilocks07]

our district does not allow for make up work for Disney trips. some teachers will help but if assignment is missed it is a zero/F for it. with older kids like OP I would be trying to do work at WDW

what district is THIS? I just moved to Florida, specifically Miami. YIKES

 

[gharter]

I agree WiFi on grounds is not reliable for facetime and online learning.
We took our kids out of school for Disney trips up to Jr High. Once they got to where grades count, we quit.
Just as I don't want to be doing work on a vacation, the kids don't want to be doing school work. Maybe your kids are different.
we had friends who continued to take their kids out of school and they found the teachers would not let the kids make up the material they missed because of a vacation.

 

[SteveH]

@silver236 I recall that the Swan/Dolphin rooms still had Ethernet ports in the rooms, so that might be helpful but I'd call the local # and talk with somebody there to make sure my memory is correct. Good luck!

 

[DisneyOma]

Looking for some feedback from families that have actually done this. We are looking at possibly doing a 9 night trip in January with only four days of school scheduled. How has it gone for students (one 8th grader and on 10th grader) doing their school work at WDW? What worked well and what didn't? Both of us parents are also teachers, so if anyone has taught their classes at WDW, that would be some great feedback too. Thanks!

Yes. That's why we're a little worried about the wifi.

You want to spend $$$ on a Disney trip and have to spend 6+ hours of peak park time in your hotel room 4 of those days teaching? Plus having to schlep all the stuff you need to teach well (whiteboard, computers, curriculum) and also do the correcting, online stuff too? And can you both teach out of the same room, with the kids in there trying to do their classes as well, or are you planning on renting a house? Do you have enough data to make a hotspot on each phone so everyone can stay connected? If you can't, I don't think it's worth the risk of getting in trouble with your district.

 

[GoofyDad_4427]

We took our kids out of school for Disney trips up to Jr High. Once they got to where grades count, we quit.

Same philosophy here. Up to 8th grade we took the kids out without thinking twice. My oldest is a freshman this year, and we go out of our way to not miss school. The grades actually count now, so not sure why anyone would want to have their kids miss multiple days in a row.

 

[DisneyMommy77]

My kids did 3 days of virtual school at the Grand Floridian recently. All 3 did their zooms at the same time using Disney WiFi In the room. They didn’t have any problems.
Have fun!

 

[Aimeedyan]

The internet is not good. You'd need to bring a hotspot to support that many devices. We recently stayed at SSR and I couldn't even get my phone to stay connected for very long and I was just surfing Facebook...

I have attended quite a few Zoom meetings while in the Orlando area but the only time I was able to use the WiFi at the hotel was when I was staying off property.

IF you really want to do it, I'd put some real consideration into renting something off-site with tons more space and better WiFi. You could basically recreate your home environment with each person having their own workspace.

Or book the Four Seasons schoolcation program! https://www.fourseasons.com/orlando/services-and-amenities/schoolcations/

 

[dez1978]

And that is a horrible thing to do to the kids. It's not like they have a choice in what their parents decide to do. Why punish the kids for something out of their control? The parents in the school district where we live would never put up with that. Some people have no choice but to go during the school year or not go at all. My husband has not been on a vacation with us for almost 9 years because his work gets busy in the summer. Your school administrators should be ashamed of themselves.

I agree with that. And I 100% will not allow a school to tell me what I can do with my children. So far, my kids teachers have been great when we've gone

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

Your kids might be ok and able to make up but what does your superintendent have to say about your teaching remotely and possible bad WiFi. Is it fair to the students you and spouse are to be teaching not be able to learn because their teacher is on vacation? I can’t imagine a school district allowing teachers to do this with WiFi issues possible.

I teach high school science and during the times that we had to switch to full remote learning, teachers were told that they could only teach from home if they have reliable internet. No teaching from public spaces like coffee houses, etc.

I can't imagine teaching while on vacation. Teaching as in zoom/live instruction. Isn't the whole point of vacation to relax and get away from work?

 

[Leigh L]

Following this thread to see others' experiences . We're currently planning on going in January and DD will be in school 2.5 days that week.

We used to take DD out of school on "short weeks" (we have one in November that's not Thanksgiving and another in January) all the time. One year I asked (6th grade?) if we could take work with us and was told new school policy made it so teachers are not allowed to give work to bring on vacation (only if out of medical or other 'legal' reasons). So she had to miss and catch up when we got back.

Now in the upper grades, we avoid missing school for the most part but since DD is still remote this year, we decided to go for it after the Visa discount dropped. It worked out so she has two weeks to quarantine before she's (tentatively) scheduled to go in-person.

At her age, she can't miss a week (and she actually would be mad if we made her, she said she'd rather not go ).

 

[Rory607]

our district does not allow for make up work for Disney trips. some teachers will help but if assignment is missed it is a zero/F for it. with older kids like OP I would be trying to do work at WDW

Is this specific just to Disney trips or any destination? That seems so odd to me.

Our district does not allow work to be sent home or completed early, but they can make it up when they get back. They really try to discourage us from taking kids out for vacation, but I’ve never had my kids’ individual teachers give us a hard time. Our oldest will be in middle school next year, so we’re probably done doing it anyway.

 

[cjlong88]

Not completely on topic, but this conversation reminded me of when I taught in Georgia. We had a modified schedule where we would have only an 8-week summer break as opposed to a typical 12-week summer break. The 4 weeks we "lost" from our summer break were sprinkled throughout the school year. Everyone seemed to love it. Parents could take their kids on vacation for an entire week in mid-February, early April, all of June and July, late September, late November, or late December. That's a lot of vacation options! None of my students were ever pulled out because parents had so many choices for vacationing outside of a typical spring break, winter break, or summer break.

I also found that students had better retention when their summer break was 4 weeks shorter. I miss that schedule, and I wish more districts and states would consider moving toward an academic year that has a shorter summer break with more frequent week-long breaks.

The only real advice I can think of is to have a hotspot so you don't have to rely on potentially terrible wifi. Good luck figuring everything out!

 

[mjkacmom]

I agree with that. And I 100% will not allow a school to tell me what I can do with my children. So far, my kids teachers have been great when we've gone

I don‘t think the schools can forbid you taking your kids out of school for a vacation, but they don’t have to excuse the absence or allow work to be made up.

 

[marinejjh]

A perspective from both sides. I could care less if people take their kids out of school for a trip. I am one that typically can't get vacation time when my kids are out of school so we have went at odd times quite often. The school has always worked with us. Now on the other hand it you are a teacher and taking time off during the school year and have issues with wifi or something else that prevents what is expected from doing your job, then I have a problem with it. Plus they have many other opportunities to go when kids are out of school where it isn't a problem.

 

[Lilsia]

I don‘t think the schools can forbid you taking your kids out of school for a vacation, but they don’t have to excuse the absence or allow work to be made up.

And how petty is that. I thought that the schools "cared" about our children. What they are doing is punishing the child for their parent's decision. So they pitting the child against their parents. Our school district does all it can to help the kids succeed. If you are gone a week, they give you a week after you get back to make up all of the work. The principle will even have you in their office to make up tests if the teachers can't fit it in. They realize that there is more to learn in life then you can learn in school. Having a happy family helps kids learn. And if it comes down to going on vacation during the school year or not at all, they much rather the kids get a few vacations in during their childhood then resent school for not "letting" them go. Big picture here people.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Is this specific just to Disney trips or any destination? That seems so odd to me.

Our district does not allow work to be sent home or completed early, but they can make it up when they get back. They really try to discourage us from taking kids out for vacation, but I’ve never had my kids’ individual teachers give us a hard time. Our oldest will be in middle school next year, so we’re probably done doing it anyway.

mainly Disney but appears to be any vacation

 

[Betty Rohrer]

what district is THIS? I just moved to Florida, specifically Miami. YIKES

nonFlorida in Pa

 

[sponica]

It probably depends on who needs to do what and when. Is it asynchronous learning or synchronous? I wouldn't trust the wifi if it was synchronous for one person, let alone an 8th and 10th grader + two teachers.

I also think logistically/psychologically it might backfire. Park hours are soooooooo reduced you'd be spending prime time (and dollars) at work/school instead of relaxing.

But I'll do me and you do you.

 

[Blondie58]

To each his own but my opinion: School is the "work" of a student. Can one's best work be done while in vacation mode??? I had a boss that always said: "You dress like you are going to the beach then you will act like you are at the beach. You dress professionally then you will act professionally". I know expectations get more and more lax but I believe the latter still has merit. As a taxpayer I would question my child's teacher being on vacation and getting paid??? I am just old fashioned that way. In transparency: I am a recently retired teacher/administrator of 40 years.