Covid and School

[thealmighty]

I have 33 years teaching Math and Psychology.That is not to say I know everything, but to point out that I should be one of the teachers who are to damn old to learn new technology. In Dallas, we went on Spring Break... and never went back. We were online for the last 10 weeks or so.



In that time, I taught myself how to use Zoom, Google Classroom, Khan Academy, Remind, Google Sheets, Google Docs, Google Slides, Google Hangout, Google Forms, Quizizz, Pollmaker, Edpuzzle, Slack, Flipgrid and other stuff to boot. If I got stuck, I asked around. I have taught Pre-AP Precalculus (as an example from last school year) for years. I can do it blindfolded. However, my students needed me to get them where they need to be for their next math class (AP Calculus, for many), so I stepped-up, as I expect them to do- put in time at tutoring, etc.... I figured out ways to get things done, things I've never even thought about doing before. I haven't spent so much time on lessons in my life.



IMO, any teacher who actually gives a shit about their students should be able get on YouTube or ask some young whippersnapper- or just google it- and find what they need... JUST DO IT, nike. It's what you get paid for (not much, but you knew that coming-in. My two oldest daughters are nurses. They both make more than I EVER have in my life already. The oldest makes almost twice as much and the other makes more after one year.).


If your admin sucks (and many do), do it yourself. It'll make you feel good at the end of the day.



In my class and on my varsity girls soccer teams, we say "Excuses are for losers."

[tarcone]

Its a shit show in my district. We are going 5 days a week. And they gave us direction. But the next step us full shut down, regardless of what they say.
I was google certified and I know Google. Love it, in fact.

But this is a shit show. There should be direction rrom the feds in cisiderstion of funding as well as the state. I have b

een asking for things to make my class succesful and the answer I get is that the district has not given us a budget.

DSo I have to sttruggle. Or buy my own shot.

YES! Ediucation is underfunded. And screw you guys that think open enrollment or privaitization is better. You are wrong. The best educators in these States are in public education


PAY THEM!

[Edward64]

Wife sent a pic of the below posted at her school.

Warning

Under Georgia law, there is no liability for
an injury or death of an individual entering
these premises if such injury or death
results from the inherent risks of contracting
COVID-19. You are assuming this risk by
entering these premises.

I don't think this precludes a lawsuit if there is negligence?

[PilotMan]

My son just found out that his good friend tested positive this week. They spent time together 10 days ago before they left for school. He's been feeling alright, his friend started feeling sick a week ago. Of course, he's home with us this weekend from his first week of college, and just had lunch with my mom. Awesome.

{edit: As we're working though this conversation we found out that he saw him longer than 48 hours prior to first symptoms. The contact tracer didn't ask about anything prior to that time, so we think there's no exposure. This is sort of a relief, but still stressful.}

[larrymcg421]

It's very interesting how differently the districts are doing things. The district I teach in, we're trying to simulate as close to a normal class atmosphere as possible, meaning the kids have a standard schedule, teachers are going in and teaching from their classroom, and instruction happens 5 days a week. I have a friend in a neighboring district where they are only doing synchronous instruction twice a week, but posting assignments, hosting individual office hours, etc. the other 3 days.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

It's very interesting how differently the districts are doing things. The district I teach in, we're trying to simulate as close to a normal class atmosphere as possible, meaning the kids have a standard schedule, teachers are going in and teaching from their classroom, and instruction happens 5 days a week. I have a friend in a neighboring district where they are only doing synchronous instruction twice a week, but posting assignments, hosting individual office hours, etc. the other 3 days.

My wife’s school is doing live teaching 5 days a week (from home), but in kind of like blocks. So she teaches for 30 minutes and the students do ‘schoolwork’ for the other part of their class time online, which she can look at while they are doing it. Now, she teaches elementary school (art) so it may be different for high schools.

I know some counties are doing the teachers need to go into school to teach, but I think Dekalb was thinking the county is already very badly off financially, why spend more on electricity and materials (video cameras for every room would have to be purchased) when we don’t have to (and that makes a lot of sense to me as well)

[21C]

When I started teaching Math from home during our initial shutdown in late March, I kept the timing of my lessons in line with the bell times of the period. I set the work for the class at the start of the period (say 9:45) and was available for questions and follow-ups until the end of the period (say 10:30). This turned out to be fairly stressful for me as I was often battling to post work for the next period while I was still addressing problems from the previous period. I would often get conscientious students posting on Teams asking me where was the day's work at 9:46 if it wasn't up at 9:45 for the start of their period. It was also difficult for students with less structure who didn't get themselves organized between 9:45 and 10:30 and posted questions to me later in the day.

What worked out best for me (and for many of the better students) was that I starting posting the day's work early in the morning. I would post my period 1 work at around 8:00, my period 2 work at around 8:15 and so on. I would have the day's lessons posted by 9:00 (our school day runs from 9:00 until 3:00). The students would get to it when they got to it and I would be available all day to answer their questions at any time.

Personally I did not use video conferencing (Zoom/Teams) for any of my classes but I think that I was the exception to this rule. I have been using OneNote extensively for my classes for the past few years (most of my colleagues are still chalk-and-talk) so all of my work lives there. Once in a while, I would do a screen recording of me narrating a demo on Microsoft Whiteboard and post that on Teams if the static notes in OneNote were not enough. I would use Whiteboard and then do a screen clip and post this to Teams for students who had problems with questions.

When we returned to the classroom, many of the more able students said that they actually like the WFH model. They could plan their day as they saw fit and allocated their time accordingly. They liked the less rigid nature of being their own boss. I actually tested this with a top Year 8 class when we were back at school. I posted the entire chapter of notes in OneNote (usually I dripfeed the work day by day) on a topic that didn't require too much explanation from me (Geometry) and then gave them targets of where they had to be up to by a certain date. I initially used an open classroom environment (the library) where they could sit and work as they wished but this led to distractions with some students so we returned to the classroom but continued the self-directed work.

It was also important for me to switch off at certain times. I closed all of my screens (computer/phone) for at least 30 minutes for lunch as well as at the end of the day (for school stuff). There were several stories of teachers still working until 10:30pm which was crazy.

What was hugely beneficial to me was that our school (in line with our entire diocesan school system) relaxed our scope and sequence. We didn't have to keep up with our structure of completing a topic/chapter in 3 or 4 weeks. We also stopped our summative testing, even since our return to the classroom, and have focused on our own formative testing. This has reduced the anxiety levels of students, parents and teachers. Our mid-year student reports were still issued, albeit slightly later, but they were more comment-driven rather than grade based (no grades were given).

I can't get over how much the difference in testing has made. In the past, we would test after every two chapters. We needed to post the dates of the tests in an assessment handbook for parents at the start of the year and issue test notifications to students two weeks in advance. The tests would be common printed tests used across an entire cohort and there would often be anxious parents contacting the school once the results were handed back either wringing their hands in anguish (often calling for the dismissal of the incompetent teacher that caused this calamity) or complaining that their child should get extra marks. Now I usually tell a class that we are about to finish a chapter tomorrow, have a revision lesson the following day and then do the test on the subsequent day. If we do a topic that doesn't require any working out then I often use an online Maths site that is self-marking. The student gets their result instantly instead of several days later for the paper version where different teachers mark a different section across the entire cohort.

TL-DR working from home started out stressfully for me but eventually I fould a sweet spot for me and the students.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by 21C

What was hugely beneficial to me was that our school (in line with our entire diocesan school system) relaxed our scope and sequence. We didn't have to keep up with our structure of completing a topic/chapter in 3 or 4 weeks. We also stopped our summative testing, even since our return to the classroom, and have focused on our own formative testing. This has reduced the anxiety levels of students, parents and teachers. Our mid-year student reports were still issued, albeit slightly later, but they were more comment-driven rather than grade based (no grades were given).

I can't get over how much the difference in testing has made. In the past, we would test after every two chapters. We needed to post the dates of the tests in an assessment handbook for parents at the start of the year and issue test notifications to students two weeks in advance. The tests would be common printed tests used across an entire cohort and there would often be anxious parents contacting the school once the results were handed back either wringing their hands in anguish (often calling for the dismissal of the incompetent teacher that caused this calamity) or complaining that their child should get extra marks. Now I usually tell a class that we are about to finish a chapter tomorrow, have a revision lesson the following day and then do the test on the subsequent day. If we do a topic that doesn't require any working out then I often use an online Maths site that is self-marking. The student gets their result instantly instead of several days later for the paper version where different teachers mark a different section across the entire cohort.

TL-DR working from home started out stressfully for me but eventually I fould a sweet spot for me and the students.

Thanks for sharing. These last two paragraphs really speak to what I saw both as a parent who talks with other parents and as the spouse of a teacher who talks with other teachers.

[spleen1015]

Our district is having K-4 go back to school the Tuesday after Labor Day even though the city raised the risk level from yellow to orange the day before this was announced.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

Our district is having K-4 go back to school the Tuesday after Labor Day even though the city raised the risk level from yellow to orange the day before this was announced.

Thats when we go back also, but things here are pretty under control. Only about 400 cases statewide reported yesterday.

That being said people in my town are ready to revolt as communication has been so poor. We go back the 8th, but a calendar has leaked on facebook showing the 14th and now there are rumors about them pushing it back, etc...

[tarcone]

We neighbor St. Louis county and the largest district in the state. They went to virtual only for all grades. So people in that district are renting trailers in our town and sending their kids to our district. Renting a trailer is cheaper than paying out of district tuition. We had 25 new students enroll in our 5-6 building alone.

I cant imaging this 5 day a week thing will last long. Kids have to stay apart and wear masks. No bathrooms during passing time. No congregating. But in PE and recess if they are being physically active they do not have to wear masks.

And our Principal got sick and was tested for the virus. He missed the last 3 days of meetings. No word yet on if he is positive or not.

[Ben E Lou]

Our 6th grader is in a small (540 total TK-12, 38 6th graders) private school; 2nd grader is in public. 2nd grader started Monday. 6th graded started partially on Monday, fully on Wednesday. (They start Latin in 3rd grade and this is her first year there, so she had to go to "Latin Boot Camp" 2 hours a day along with all other new students starting on Monday.)

Public is remote for at least 9 weeks, which was a local school system decision. Our governor has consistently said "here are the state-wide guidelines that everyone must adhere to, but if city/county governments feel the need to be more strict, they can." In this case, there were guidelines around desk distancing, students per square foot, etc. Things started off on a terrible foot on Monday with Canvas crashing like 10 minutes before the remote schoolday was supposed to start. That said, since then remote is working quite well so far for her. She's engaged, has learned how to navigate the system basically on her own in a week, and has at times asked us to leave because "I know how to do it myself!" Typical younger child stuff. She'll be fine, but I'm hearing lots of reports of some big struggles, primarily either in the area of technological challenges or "I can't work and do this at the same time." For the first 3 weeks, the kids have a 30-minute morning classroom-wide check-in with the teacher, and then the lessons for the day are all pre-recorded (at the county level) videos. The teachers are available to help with emergencies, logins, etc. during the day, but mostly they're in training for what happens after the first 3 weeks are up--live online instruction for several hours a day. Bumps and bruises aside, kudos to the county school district for creating a system whereby kids would "meet" their teachers and classmates, see them briefly every day, but that the teachers would have time to get intensively trained on the technology and methodology of online instruction before diving in full-bore.


The private school is clearly taking it very seriously, but feels like they have enough space and can institute protocols to make it work in person. Masks are required, with outdoor "mask breaks" every 90ish minutes. Parents have to certify via a health app every morning that the child doesn't have a fever, hasn't to our knowledge been in contact with anyone who has tested positive, etc. Those who haven't done that get a temperature and health screening before they can go in the main building. My daughter says that the only times kids take their masks off inside are briefly to ask/answer a question, or to take a sip from the water bottle, and that some of the boys (of course it's just the boys) have gotten in trouble for "forgetting" to put their masks back on after one of the above activities. (Point being, though, that the school isn't giving just lip service to it; they're actually enforcing it.) They've got several covered spaces outside, and they've converted all of those into outdoor classrooms that are used in the mornings and will be used all day when temperatures allow. All that said, though, high school kids are high school kids. On Friday when my wife was in carpool line, she said there were several groups of 5-10 kids in close proximity to one another in the high school parking lot, not wearing masks, boys wrestling with one another, loud yelling, etc. Thankfully, they're not in my kid's building, and there aren't that many of them, so MAYBE the numbers are small enough that they'll not spread it, but if any group is going to mess it up there, it seems like that will be the one.

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Thats when we go back also, but things here are pretty under control. Only about 400 cases statewide reported yesterday.

That being said people in my town are ready to revolt as communication has been so poor. We go back the 8th, but a calendar has leaked on facebook showing the 14th and now there are rumors about them pushing it back, etc...

To be clear, we went back 3 weeks ago, all students virtually. They are just moving elementary back to 'in school'.

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

My wife’s school is doing live teaching 5 days a week (from home), but in kind of like blocks. So she teaches for 30 minutes and the students do ‘schoolwork’ for the other part of their class time online, which she can look at while they are doing it. Now, she teaches elementary school (art) so it may be different for high schools.

Yeah, this is how we're doing it, too. We're expected to stay on for the full class period, but synchronous instruction should be limited to 25-30 minutes. It's not that different from how I would conduct a normal classroom, where I'd spend half the class teaching it and giving them the other half to apply it.

I know some counties are doing the teachers need to go into school to teach, but I think Dekalb was thinking the county is already very badly off financially, why spend more on electricity and materials (video cameras for every room would have to be purchased) when we don’t have to (and that makes a lot of sense to me as well)

I think Fulton wants the teachers in place so they can reopen as quickly as possible.

[spleen1015]

Our teachers have been in school from the beginning, while kids are virtual.

[tarcone]

If we close our district, teachers will go into school and teach from there. Students expected to show up for class and get instruction through zoom. The students wont necessarily have to stay the entire class, but must check in.

The problem with this is that our district is pretty rural. The number of people without internet is 50%. How that will work is beyond me. But the district wants paper packets again.

This is just not how school works. Kids need to be in school. The lack of leadership from the top has caused this problem. This virus should have been controlled by now. Yet we have not even seen the 2nd wave, we are still riding the 1st wave. At this rate we will be dealing with this for 2 more years.

[Izulde]

So I had all my desks properly socially distanced, able to accommodate 9 students. I thought this would be all good given we're split in cohorts.

Nope. I have a couple sections that are 13 students one cohort. I'm like, "(Expletive). Now what do I do?" There's no physical way to socially distance 13 desks.

[JPhillips]

For the first time in my career I was happy some students dropped over the weekend so that I can fit the whole class in under the room cap.

[miami_fan]

First day of school and other than a 5-10 minute of Canvas downtime, everything is going pretty smoothly so far. I have actually be able to get a bit of work done while listening in on the class. School is operating on the regular bell schedule. Mostly just intro stuff and Covid protection today but students and teachers seemed to be taking to things pretty smoothly. I have some good news for this thread finally!

[miked]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

My wife’s school is doing live teaching 5 days a week (from home), but in kind of like blocks. So she teaches for 30 minutes and the students do ‘schoolwork’ for the other part of their class time online, which she can look at while they are doing it. Now, she teaches elementary school (art) so it may be different for high schools.

I know some counties are doing the teachers need to go into school to teach, but I think Dekalb was thinking the county is already very badly off financially, why spend more on electricity and materials (video cameras for every room would have to be purchased) when we don’t have to (and that makes a lot of sense to me as well)

Dekalb is not terribly off financially, they got big grants for digital work. The problem is that they did not require teachers to learn anything over the summer, and the majority did not take upon themselves to do so because the county took forever to declare it virtual (like a week before school). Now any normal person could have seen this coming, but the teachers are not paid for summer work and many just blew it off.

We have chromebooks and programs for everyone, but nobody prepped digital plans. It is going slightly better today, but also the teachers lack fast internet.

[bob]

Originally Posted by miked

the teachers lack fast internet.

This is part of the reason that teachers are required to teach from the schools in Fulton. Other part is the perception that some teachers were not doing much teaching and that was more difficult to monitor when everyone is at home.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by miked

Dekalb is not terribly off financially, they got big grants for digital work. The problem is that they did not require teachers to learn anything over the summer, and the majority did not take upon themselves to do so because the county took forever to declare it virtual (like a week before school). Now any normal person could have seen this coming, but the teachers are not paid for summer work and many just blew it off.

We have chromebooks and programs for everyone, but nobody prepped digital plans. It is going slightly better today, but also the teachers lack fast internet.

If Dekalb was flush with cash, they wouldn't have been discussing furlough days. Which they ultimately decided on 5. They got some money to mitigate 4 of those furlough days - allowing for training, but it was an average hourly rate not what teachers actually make (because they were still technically furlough days - which allows the county to not pay into teachers retirement for those 5 days.

IIRC, Dekalb County was one of the first school districts in GA to go fully virtual - maybe Atlanta did it a day earlier. They literally announced it on July 13, wellll before even the original week before school was supposed to start (Aug 3). And at the time announced they would push school start back to Aug 17.

DeKalb County Schools releases more details about ‘virtual learning’ plans | Decaturish - Locally sourced news

Not to mention, why in the Hell would teachers so training without getting paid? I wouldn't in my job. And each county is using a different platform: some are using Zoom, some Teams, some Google Classroom. They didn't know which one they would use until the planning week.

[JPhillips]

I don't have a problem with doing the summer work necessary to teach on-line, my complaint is with the idea that I should be ready to take over one of my coleague's classes if they fall ill.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Izulde

So I had all my desks properly socially distanced, able to accommodate 9 students. I thought this would be all good given we're split in cohorts.

Nope. I have a couple sections that are 13 students one cohort. I'm like, "(Expletive). Now what do I do?" There's no physical way to socially distance 13 desks.

are any of them siblings that can be closer?

[Lathum]

dola-- my nieces in England do pods of 4 kids that they stay with the whole day. Seems to work OK. Wonder if something like that would work here when it came to setting up classrooms that parents could opt in. for example, my daughter has been at a friends all day. Zero chance they haven't been all over each other. If we could agree to have the two of them share a table or whatever could make things easier.

[tarcone]

1st day was a shit show overall. But the kids were compliant. They did what was asked of them. They all wore their masks. They stayed apart as much as they could.

Otherwise, admin dropped the ball on a lot of things. They are putting AC in the gym and tripped the fire alarm. It was just a shitty day.

Im having a Makers Mark as I type this. It was probably the worst 1st day of my career.

[21C]

The effect of all of the Covid stuff takes me back to my first couple of years of teaching where you learned on the fly. After doing it for 35 years, you get in a groove and could almost do it with your eyes closed. With the changes caused by working from home, Zoom or just dealing with a million other little flow-on effects, the stress generated is just like being thrown into a classroom for the first time. The only difference is that everyone else is in the exact same position.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by 21C

The effect of all of the Covid stuff takes me back to my first couple of years of teaching where you learned on the fly. After doing it for 35 years, you get in a groove and could almost do it with your eyes closed. With the changes caused by working from home, Zoom or just dealing with a million other little flow-on effects, the stress generated is just like being thrown into a classroom for the first time. The only difference is that everyone else is in the exact same position.

Yep, exactly what I told my classes. This is the first day of everyones career from Admin to custodians and lunch ladies. I told the kids this was like their kindergarten year. You are learning how to go to school.

This is way more stressful than I had hoped. But I do not want ot go virtual.

Find a damn cure or vaccine ASAP

[miked]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

If Dekalb was flush with cash, they wouldn't have been discussing furlough days. Which they ultimately decided on 5. They got some money to mitigate 4 of those furlough days - allowing for training, but it was an average hourly rate not what teachers actually make (because they were still technically furlough days - which allows the county to not pay into teachers retirement for those 5 days.

IIRC, Dekalb County was one of the first school districts in GA to go fully virtual - maybe Atlanta did it a day earlier. They literally announced it on July 13, wellll before even the original week before school was supposed to start (Aug 3). And at the time announced they would push school start back to Aug 17.

DeKalb County Schools releases more details about ‘virtual learning’ plans | Decaturish - Locally sourced news

Not to mention, why in the Hell would teachers so training without getting paid? I wouldn't in my job. And each county is using a different platform: some are using Zoom, some Teams, some Google Classroom. They didn't know which one they would use until the planning week.

I care about my job mostly, so I take the time to prep outside as well. If I had to go virtual in March and here we are in August and I still have no idea what I'm doing, that's on me. I'm not sure we'll agree, but I get paid to teach in a given semester by the University. I do not wait until the week before classes when my chair tells me what I'm supposed to be doing to train myself on what I need to do.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by miked

If I had to go virtual in March and here we are in August and I still have no idea what I'm doing, that's on me.

I don't know of any school district in the metro Atlanta region that is doing the same thing now that they did in March. The vast majority aren't even using the same software and, as I said, didn't know what software they would be using until informed. Hell, some schools are switching software going into week 2 because the initial software did not work as well as was hoped with students.

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by 21C

The effect of all of the Covid stuff takes me back to my first couple of years of teaching where you learned on the fly. After doing it for 35 years, you get in a groove and could almost do it with your eyes closed. With the changes caused by working from home, Zoom or just dealing with a million other little flow-on effects, the stress generated is just like being thrown into a classroom for the first time. The only difference is that everyone else is in the exact same position.

Imagine what it's like to be a first year teacher THIS year. Usually you get lots of support, but pretty much everyone is a new teacher and trying to figure out their own stuff. It's been a crazy way to start my teaching career.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Not to mention, why in the Hell would teachers so training without getting paid? I wouldn't in my job.

I've never had a job where I failed to take the responsibility to remain a viable employee.

It's a different world now apparently.

[Neon_Chaos]

All schools are closed over here in the Philippines until a vaccine comes out. Online classes only for both public and private schools.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Imagine what it's like to be a first year teacher THIS year. Usually you get lots of support, but pretty much everyone is a new teacher and trying to figure out their own stuff. It's been a crazy way to start my teaching career.

Yep. (Although in my case, it's somewhat different due to prior academia teaching experience) That said, people have been really supportive here, even as I pepper them with questions when I'm not clear on something.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Lathum

are any of them siblings that can be closer?

Great suggestion. Fortunately, I was able to completely rearrange things to fit 13 socially distanced desks in. Took two days and countless measurements, but I did it.

[Edward64]

Wife got their PPE equipment in anticipation of some kids coming back to school next week. She took a pic of herself with it on ... it looks ridiculous. In addition to her mask she already wears, face shield, and some sort of cover for body.

But better safe than sorry I guess.

[dawgfan]

Seattle Public Schools start tomorrow. All kids have been provided with devices for remote learning, and the schools are intending to follow a roughly normal daytime schedule with a mix of online class meetings and a variety of online learning platforms.

The after-school program my kids have used since they started school (they're in a different school now but still go to their original after-school care as it's closer to our house) provided day-camp this summer (which they normally do) but following all local social distancing protocols. They are continuing that through the school year with the intention of supporting the remote learning curriculum.

We'll see how it goes. I sent the kids in today to the day camp with their laptops so they can ask the counselors to help them get connected to the school WiFi - yes, they're attending "virtual" school inside a school building - but they'll also need to be able to be set up such that they can plug in their computers because these things have a battery life of around 4 hours which won't cut it for an 8:30AM-3PM schedule. They're also going to have to haul in and haul out all their school supplies each day as the after-school program is currently saying they can't store stuff for the kids overnight, but I wonder if they'll have to adjust on that one.

Just such a fucked-up situation. I'm sure between the parents, the kids, the teachers and admins and the after-school program folks we'll all figure out a way to navigate this mess, but I anticipate some bumps in the road. My 5th grader was very proactive about getting his work done last spring but can get anxious and likes a routine. My 3rd grader is much less proactive about learning but she's a bit more willing to go with the flow. This will probably put some stress on the counselors at the after-school program to help these kids through the ups and downs.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Edward64

... In addition to her mask she already wears, face shield, and some sort of cover for body.

No marital disrespect intended but ... I absolutely 100% first read that as "for booty"

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

No marital disrespect intended but ... I absolutely 100% first read that as "for booty"

TBH that was pre-kids

[tarcone]

Most stressful start to a school year ever. We had one teacher in an elementary test positive and several students quarantined. 1st in our district.

My SILs school had a kid test positive and 42 students are wuarantined as well as several teachers.

The students are super compliant though. It has been a nice start to the year in that aspect.

[miami_fan]

We are going through our first actual week of learning for my 7th grader. It has been pretty smooth on the online side. I know we had some discussion about what the teachers were or were not doing to prepare for the online environment. So far so good as far as I am concerned. The teachers are actually engaging with the students in a more natural way compared to the spring. It is funny to hear the teacher yelling not because they are all verbally talking at the same time during the Zoom sessions but because they are using the chat function to chit chat. The next generation of talking in class. The kids in each of his classes seem to be in an environment that is conducive to online learning which makes sense as there is also an option to go to the brick and mortar. As a parent, I am absolutely loving Canvas. I don't know if it is just because of e-learning but I am provided much more information about what is going on in the classroom that I had this time last year and in a quicker fashion. The one downer of the week, one of the teachers asked why one of the students did not log on to class on Monday. He said that he and his family were moving to his grandma's house because they were evicted. The way he said it in a very normal voice and pragmatic tone was a bit unnerving to me.

[Izulde]

Canvas is the best online learning platform ever, so you lucked out there.

[spleen1015]

K-4 in our district are scheduled to convert from virtual to on-site learning next Tuesday.

The school board elected today to have 5-12 begin on-site learning at 50% percent capacity starting Sept 17.

Can't say I'm happy about it.

[tarcone]

We use goofgle classroom in K-6, which I love.

7-12 uses Canvas and they love that. Im not sure if Im ready to be under trained on more technology yet.

[miami_fan]

I don't what the specific conversations were going on over the weekend but I have heard three "My dad said..." asshole comments from the kids in the first two periods of the day.

[Drake]

My university released these stats yesterday:

Mitigation testing for the week of August 31 expanded to all of our campuses. Students, faculty, and staff were tested at each. We additionally focused on students living in residence halls and communal housing (Greek houses) in order to quickly identify and isolate positive cases to prevent spread to others. We also sampled additional off-campus students in Bloomington.

At IU Bloomington, the rate of positive results within Greek houses is concerning; the rate in our residence halls is an increase from last week, although similar to what other universities with robust testing programs have seen.

The week of August 31:

The positivity rate among communal living (Greek houses) was 24.56% of 1,421 test results.
The positivity rate among residence halls was 3.64% of 4,201 test results.
The positivity rate among Greek-affiliated students who don't live in their organizations' houses was 13.7% of 540 test results.
The positivity rate for all other off-campus students was 4.66% of 1,395 test results.

At IUPUI the week of August 31*:

There were no positive cases among the 185 test results from the residence halls.
The positivity rate for off-campus students was 0.95% of 739 test results.

Among all 1,056 faculty and staff test results across all campuses, there was a 0.48% positivity rate.*

Source:
Dashboards: Fall 2020 Operations: Indiana University

NB: All of the greek houses have been under full quarantine since like the 3rd day of classes.

[tarcone]

We have had one Elementary teacher test positive and now one HS student. We mandate everyone wears masks.

To the West of us the districts have made masks optional Same county.

Our football game with one of those schools was postponed because of Covid outbreaks. As has another. There are entire teams being quaratined. And many students and teachers, in fact, 5 of 7 of the football coaches we play in 2 weeks.

Its pretty obvious mandatory masks are the answer if you want 5 day a week school.

[CraigSca]

About half the kids in my daughter's 2nd grade class opted for online learning. My daughter has been attending for 4 weeks now, in-person, with no problems. Yes, they all wear masks.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

The private school is clearly taking it very seriously, but feels like they have enough space and can institute protocols to make it work in person. Masks are required, with outdoor "mask breaks" every 90ish minutes. Parents have to certify via a health app every morning that the child doesn't have a fever, hasn't to our knowledge been in contact with anyone who has tested positive, etc.

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

If you were gonna shut down over sniffles, why’d you even bother opening in the first place???

Heh. So my 11-year-old woke up with a minor sore throat this morning. Question 3 of the health app is "does your child have any new onset or worsening of the following symptoms: cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose/congestion, loss of taste/smell?" All 6 other questions were "no," but that one "yes" triggered the "please keep your student home today and notify the school" response from the app.

But where it gets interesting is this preface to the entire "quarantine" section of the school's re-opening guide: {emphasis mine}

If a student has a temperature or reports any signs of COVID-19 or other illness,

From there, it's a bit unclear what the exact protocol is. Depending on how you read this document, it could be as simple "she can go to school tomorrow if she gets a doctor's note saying she's low-risk" to as severe as "she can't come back for 10 days, the parents of every kid who was in a class with her this week must be notified, and every room she was in must be sanitized." We've emailed her principal and are awaiting a reply for clarification, but what's worth noting here is that this is a 3rd-party health app (Magnus,) and that while my child has a sore throat, per question 3, whatever the results are, this entire protocol could be triggered by a simple runny nose.

[Ksyrup]

It took about 3 weeks and Labor day weekend, but several of Caitlin's teammates are not feeling well and getting tested. Likely she's going to have to quarantine. And she's supposed to begin in-school observations for her education classes next week, too. So much fun.