This is code for “we’re going all online the semester, but we don’t want to admit it yet”.
Our public schools are starting a week late so that the teachers can be trained during the first week of school. Teacher’s unions have figured out that they will always win because school boards don’t have the stomach to fight them and risk re-election, and parents are too busy with their careers to see the level of education being delivered.
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Curious if any of the school districts offered to pay the teachers to be trained in the summer? That’s what we did with our unionized faculty and the response to our offerings was overwhelming (we’ve had wait lists for each session we offered).
D’s college’s help desk just informed students that there is currently a Zoom outage! That’s a new snafu!
I was wondering why schools in New England moved out the start date for a week- 2 weeks… numbers are so good - I assumed they were waiting for them to turn bad so they could end up online anyway. I guess it was because they were not allowed to prep by their unions. American labor at its finest, taking one for the team and always thinking of the kids.
I totally agree if these professors /teachers have the funds and capability. But it’s my guess that they actually have a clue what will work best for their situation.
My sons a senior in college but as a freshman in high school, many of his teachers were something like “certified Google educators”. They got a certificate from going to educational trainings to use their products. As a parent in a 15 minutes open house one teacher showed us how the technology was used. Man, it was cool, exciting and engaging. All the parents were like “wish we had that when we were in school”.
I hope the educators can engage these students with the platforms they have available to them. So it’s not just a teacher at a blackboard per se. Using the computer now should open up to technology to really draw the students in. But first the educators need to get through the first few days making sure everything works and their students are staying online. A friend of mine teaches in Arizona and he can tell through software when a student has disengaged with the class. An email goes out to the student and parent and he tries to talk with them that day. That’s just one kid. There must be tons of “behind” the scene things like that, that most of us can’t appreciate. Plus now the educators have to be their own IT department on the fly when something doesn’t work…
In college, one of the best features was that each class was recorded. This helped my son since he could re-watch certain segments or the whole thing to get a better understanding of the subject matter. This was actually a plus not a minus then he could email, canvas, or zoom or call the professor and ask questions if needed.
Northeastern University in Boston is increasing testing frequency even more. As of Friday, Aug. 20, the university had completed 6,573 tests, with 6,572 negative results and one positive result.
"In a move designed to promote safety on the Boston campus and in the surrounding communities, Northeastern University will begin testing students for COVID-19 every three days, and faculty, staff, and contract workers twice a week, in order to more quickly catch and isolate any positive cases before the coronavirus that causes the disease can spread. The new testing cadence is a step up from the current schedule for people who work and learn on the Boston campus.
“Right now, the campus is in a very good posture; during the first week of testing, we tested circa 6,000 people and had one positive case,” says David Luzzi, senior vice provost for research and vice president of Northeastern’s Innovation Campus, and head of the university’s testing operation.
The new testing cadence will coincide with the launch of an automatic test scheduling tool at the end of August that reminds users of their next testing day.
“The simple fact is, the more frequently we test, the better we’re able to maintain control of the situation on campus, and this is a situation where we would rather test more aggressively and be safe,” Luzzi says."
@suzyQ7 that’s great news from Northeastern. I wonder at what point testing so often opens things up a bit for a college? More in person classes where kids don’t have to sit so far apart? Dining rooms and gyms open more? Intramural sports being played? Music and dance performances?
Maybe I’m feeling greedy too quickly but, if everyone is tested three times a week, cases are going to be caught. They should have no asymptomatic cases walking around campus.
Anyone know if NEU is planning on in-person classes?
Yes, they are. Most classes are available in person, but all have an online option.
@homerdog that is my secret hope also and I think the goal of many colleges and students. But then I was thinking, say it goes well this semester. Kids go home, return in January. Even if everything is in place, testing three days a week etc., will they be starting all over again from scratch?
My D is third grade teacher. Our district will start online until disease numbers hit “medium” then a two week transition to f2f for elementary kids. The teachers were required to take training over summer to improve use of tech - since this was outside contract, they were paid. This week is teacher workdays. Last week were evaluation days, optional for teachers (again, outside contract) and students. D had only a few students a day but she was so excited to meet a few potential students and to try out some websites for online and procedures for when they return f2f. When online they can teach from home or from their classrooms, which is helpful for teachers that may need the tech support or need a quiet space to work from.
During the summer she was feeling stressed out and very last minute as well. Her admins told them first day back that nothing much had been communicated because everything changed daily and they didn’t want teachers to spend time on something only to be told a day later it wasn’t necessary. Optimism in May came to screeeching halt in June in our state and things like f2f summer reading camps went out the window in most cases. An advisory group did great work looking at it from every angle and state superintendent seemed on board, then governor threw a wrench in the plans (after our district had submitted their plans). So there was a back to square one feeling at end of July.
Anyway D is setting up her class today since there will not be a teacher workday to do this when change to f2f which if numbers continue to trend down may be by first of October. The wildcard is how they count UofSC student cases since they could be included in our county numbers.
Yes
I suppose so. Maybe the states with the 14 day quarantines won’t have those by Jan/Feb of next year so that hurdle could be gone. Then kids would test before leaving home and then on arrival and just stay in their rooms until they get one (or maybe two?) negative tests within a few days.
Even if the six feet part could go away, that would be really helpful. Keep the masks on but let kids go to class as normal, go to concerts, go to the gym and have a decently sized cohort in their dorms (maybe a floor or a quad of friends) who can socialize without masks in their space. I’d like to hope for even more - spring sports outside with no masks (I mean we were doing that in Illinois all summer), outside concerts without masks, etc. I’m not saying it would be time for weekend parties with 50+ kids but other things could change to bring a little more normalcy to the semester.
A few thoughts about K-12 from somebody who lives it:
My district provided an outstanding remote education. I, for one, worked beyond my contracted hours for 4 months and provided services at 5:00 (our contracted day ends at 3:00). Remote learning requires more planning and time than in person. I was often working at 8 pm.
Our district changed the school calendar and provided PD once we realized this would continue beyond the 2 weeks …and then 2 weeks again…that we were initially told.
Our district is providing more PD…we begin school a week earlier than the students.
It has been determined that teachers are “essential workers.” Ok…why should teachers work without pay? Would nurses do that? No. Would MTA workers? No. Respect is important.
My teacher friends at school are already going above and beyond…working 10-15 hour days. One of my friends gets up at 4 am, does school work for an hour, gets herself and her kids up and to school…and she never leaves before 5:00 pm. That’s a 10 hour work day …not including weekends.
I devote all day Sunday to school work. My coworker just told me she spends at least $1000 each year of her own money…for school supplies.
Teachers are fighting “tooth and nail” for online school because of safety issues. There is no PPE, there is inadequate social distancing, etc.
Teachers unions do not always win. There are many parents and school boards who are on the same “team,” and not on the teacher’s side.
I am not being snooty. It is very easy to criticize teachers for not agreeing to a week of unpaid training over the summer (what do they do with their kids?). What many people do not see …are the extra hours…and hours …that they put in throughout the entire school year. All they want is a safe working environment.
DS just missed his first college class of the year due to zoom currently having a widespread (apparently nationwide) partial outage. And this is before there would be much demand outside the eastern time zone. Having much of the educational system nationwide relying on zoom seems to be working great!
Disturbing news out of Penn State. A second fraternity has been suspended. This one , Pi Kappa Alpha had a party with over 70 people at the frat house.
What is unbelievable is that when conduct monitors arrived, their access was blocked by frat leaders. They have been suspended - in my view they should be expelled.
My friend works in a high school office. She said they struggle to get hand sanitizer from the custodial staff. What’s going to happen once school is in session?
The economy (schools used as childcare) is more important than teacher and student safety. That’s why schools are opening in many areas instead of remaining virtual.
More and more questions are being raised about covid-19 safety. It is better to err on the side of safety, and districts (including my own) don’t seem to want to do so.
Here’s an interesting article on covid-19 spread. School bathrooms are going to be an issue, especially the boys bathrooms.
The Zoom outage happening this morning is a good reason for professors to use multiple platforms (i.e. not just rely on Zoom to duplicate in-person meetings). Like @garland, I am meeting with my students once per week on Zoom but I’m also using discussion boards, short recorded lectures, etc. so the entire experience does not depend on one platform.
The system my employer uses, Brightspace/D2L, has a “Virtual Classroom” feature but it’s very clunky compared to Zoom. However, it could be a backup.
It takes 3 days for the soap in our school bathroom to be refilled. Our school did not increase the hours for the custodians, yet they now have more work. I guess staff will be bringing in their own soap.
If schools are used for childcare, with no regard for safety, they will close again in 2 weeks. And really…who is going to enter the field of teaching if teachers are considered babysitters?
It’s time to give educators the respect they deserve. It is time to provide adequate PPE etc.