First, sorry so long, and I won't feel bad if you choose not to read this post. 
Hmmm. I'm at a loss right now with what we can do to have face-to-face interactions with a majority of my 150 or so 6th grade students in the fall.
Our district sent out a survey to parents. 61% said they would be comfortable sending their children to school. The survey did not include preferences regarding how many mitigation strategies the campus should employ. So, of the 61%, how many parents support business as usual instruction?
The overwhelming majority of parents support a M,W schedule for one group and a T, R schedule for the other. All students will participate in distance learning on Fridays. When students are at home on off days, they will complete assignments digitally.
Faculty and staff completed a survey yesterday. We were able to voice our concerns about instruction and safety as well as our preferred schedule. We were also instructed to rate safety protocols on a 1 - 4 scale. My wife, who also teaches at the same campus, wants to have 100% online instruction. I wholeheartedly disagreed and want traditional face-to-face instruction. Until we are able to provide the necessary supports for at risk, special needs, and poorer students in an online format, we are doing a major disservice to them. This is a major disservice to all students! This caused a bit of tension in my house yesterday. I also rated mask wearing for students low. I cannot imagine the daily redirection that will potentially occur. Mask wearing is so polarizing and political. How many students will say, "My parents said I don't have to wear a mask." How much support will campus admin provide? More tension in my house!
I have several other concerns. If a faculty member is exposed or sick, will the teacher have to use their sick and personal days. Once they exhaust their days, will they be docked pay? I have quite a bit of days saved, but my wife does not. Would we both be in quarantine for 14 days and if sick need to test negative twice in order to return? We have a four year old and a 11 month old; what if our district daycare is closed? What if our four year old, who will be in PreK, is on a rotating schedule?
I don't know how any of this will work. I cannot imagine many parents wanting their children to attend classes with little or no mitigation strategies in place. Students and teachers are going to contract the virus regardless of trying to prevent the spread.
In addition, If we want to keep secondary students in the same classroom all day, (I know this would be awful) perhaps we would have to consider tracking students as on-level or AP, eliminate electives in a face to face setting, and only teach core subjects. The state would have to change graduation requirements.
I hate this so much!
Hmmm. I'm at a loss right now with what we can do to have face-to-face interactions with a majority of my 150 or so 6th grade students in the fall.
Our district sent out a survey to parents. 61% said they would be comfortable sending their children to school. The survey did not include preferences regarding how many mitigation strategies the campus should employ. So, of the 61%, how many parents support business as usual instruction?
The overwhelming majority of parents support a M,W schedule for one group and a T, R schedule for the other. All students will participate in distance learning on Fridays. When students are at home on off days, they will complete assignments digitally.
Faculty and staff completed a survey yesterday. We were able to voice our concerns about instruction and safety as well as our preferred schedule. We were also instructed to rate safety protocols on a 1 - 4 scale. My wife, who also teaches at the same campus, wants to have 100% online instruction. I wholeheartedly disagreed and want traditional face-to-face instruction. Until we are able to provide the necessary supports for at risk, special needs, and poorer students in an online format, we are doing a major disservice to them. This is a major disservice to all students! This caused a bit of tension in my house yesterday. I also rated mask wearing for students low. I cannot imagine the daily redirection that will potentially occur. Mask wearing is so polarizing and political. How many students will say, "My parents said I don't have to wear a mask." How much support will campus admin provide? More tension in my house!
I have several other concerns. If a faculty member is exposed or sick, will the teacher have to use their sick and personal days. Once they exhaust their days, will they be docked pay? I have quite a bit of days saved, but my wife does not. Would we both be in quarantine for 14 days and if sick need to test negative twice in order to return? We have a four year old and a 11 month old; what if our district daycare is closed? What if our four year old, who will be in PreK, is on a rotating schedule?
I don't know how any of this will work. I cannot imagine many parents wanting their children to attend classes with little or no mitigation strategies in place. Students and teachers are going to contract the virus regardless of trying to prevent the spread.
In addition, If we want to keep secondary students in the same classroom all day, (I know this would be awful) perhaps we would have to consider tracking students as on-level or AP, eliminate electives in a face to face setting, and only teach core subjects. The state would have to change graduation requirements.
I hate this so much!
