I have four kids in school here in Twin Falls. They range from 5th to 10th grade at three different schools around town and three of them are really struggling with the online portion of their learning. I'm pretty involved in their schoolwork since I'm working from home for now. So I can't guarantee the work is right but I can guarantee that they at least do it. Yet, each week I get messages from teachers about my kids missing assignments. Most of these messages take me by surprise as they are assignments I have personally helped my kids with. Other messages from their teachers prove to me that my family is not the only one with this struggle, and I think I can pinpoint the main reason. There isn't a central or common location for kids to find their homework and upload it when done. This is due to teachers using different programs like Schoology and Google Classroom depending on their preference.

I have to give praise to all the teachers for basically working two jobs during this pandemic plus learning and implementing new teaching tactics. These teachers are rock stars. I recently had a meeting with the teachers for one of my kids and we realized that all the classes he is struggling in are using the Schoology program to track work and grades. My daughter is in a similar situation with a few of her classes where the students think they have finished an assignment and turned it in, but they didn't turn it in the right way. Google Classroom seems to be much more user friendly so my kids aren't having the additional software issue and obstacle vs the Schoology classes.

Many parents have received emails recently informing us that, in certain classes and subjects, the majority of students have failing grades. Schools are now offering in-school help on Mondays and in some cases after school tutoring is available for the kids in need.

I don't know everything and I don't have a guaranteed fix for the issue, but it seems to me that having the teachers use the same program for tracking and assigning work would be a huge relief to the students. Get rid of that variable and then see if the need for Monday classes and after school tutoring is still a necessity. Obviously there are kids that are struggling just because school is hard or they don't want to try. But for the kids with failing grades who are trying their best each day, I think choosing either only Schoology or only Google Classroom would be a huge help.

My choice would be Google Classroom because it is really easy to use. I understand though, that some teachers might prefer using Schoology because it is a product of PowerSchool, and the Powerschool app is how we all check our students grades and due homework. Schoology may even be a better product, but right now it is just confusing the kids. Take the poll below and let us know what you think.

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