When I had covid in May, I cooperated fully with the contact tracing. To the best of my knowledge, nobody was ordered to quarantine because the contacts were not long enough and close enough to meet the contact tracing rules. And to my knowledge, nobody got covid from me.c-jags said:Capitol Ag said:Agree. Which is why they went to loosening the rules a bit regarding quarantining. Still, if there still is quarantining, there is still a major road block to being able to properly educate these kids. Online education just doesn't work. These kids need to stay in school if at all possible, even at the risk of health to others if we value the education that they should receive and the mental health of the children. Just my opinion.ChoppinDs40 said:big surge in PISD in the last 2 weeks. One Elementary has 14 teachers out.Capitol Ag said:
Haven't heard anything at Prosper where I work. We plan, as of now, to be back T plus 4 until Christmas break Dec 21.
Sure hope we don't see schools go back to at home. There is no need.
1 tested positive the day after 10 of them were at a HH together.
Contact tracing is what's killing the schools right now.
My wife, a teacher, has missed 3 weeks, and my kids, 2 weeks, due to 2 separate contact tracing incidents.
Both of the positive cases, with symptoms that they were traced to got to go back to school before my wife and kids who had 0 symptoms. Even if they had a negative test they couldn't come back.
This is why I never wanted contact tracing. I want safety and to be wise and care for others but it's screwed my family up pretty badly.
Some schools going virtual after Thanksgiving?
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Last: 5 yr ago by JBenn06
My daughter teaches at a charter and they were notified today that they are back to all virtual..had been hybrid..until December 14.
Our school in ETX is fairing much better compared to the posts in this thread. No discussion of shutting anything down.
That's awful. I'm sorry, Eric. Your community is really going through it.
Further, anyone I know that was "quarantined" due to contact tracing didn't just go home and lock themselves in the back of the house for 2 weeks. They were out, running errands and doing their other things that needed to get done. For instance, if their spouse worked full time, the quarantined half was the person in charge of dropping off and picking up kiddos, getting groceries etc. It just wasn't realistic for them to have the whole family stay home and bunker down when they weren't sick. Sure, that might be what they are supposed to do, but the fact is it isn't realistic. It almost would have been better to let them stay at school or work with a mask as it didn't stop them from going out. Nor should it...eric76 said:When I had covid in May, I cooperated fully with the contact tracing. To the best of my knowledge, nobody was ordered to quarantine because the contacts were not long enough and close enough to meet the contact tracing rules. And to my knowledge, nobody got covid from me.c-jags said:Capitol Ag said:Agree. Which is why they went to loosening the rules a bit regarding quarantining. Still, if there still is quarantining, there is still a major road block to being able to properly educate these kids. Online education just doesn't work. These kids need to stay in school if at all possible, even at the risk of health to others if we value the education that they should receive and the mental health of the children. Just my opinion.ChoppinDs40 said:big surge in PISD in the last 2 weeks. One Elementary has 14 teachers out.Capitol Ag said:
Haven't heard anything at Prosper where I work. We plan, as of now, to be back T plus 4 until Christmas break Dec 21.
Sure hope we don't see schools go back to at home. There is no need.
1 tested positive the day after 10 of them were at a HH together.
Contact tracing is what's killing the schools right now.
My wife, a teacher, has missed 3 weeks, and my kids, 2 weeks, due to 2 separate contact tracing incidents.
Both of the positive cases, with symptoms that they were traced to got to go back to school before my wife and kids who had 0 symptoms. Even if they had a negative test they couldn't come back.
This is why I never wanted contact tracing. I want safety and to be wise and care for others but it's screwed my family up pretty badly.
not the case for us, sadly. i was the only one that left the apartment (we're remodeling our house and living in a single bedroom garage apartment.) the worst part of that is my sons' primary contact was from the son of the family we're staying with. i ran errands for both families, i was the only one that was in the clear for the better part of a week.Capitol Ag said:Further, anyone I know that was "quarantined" due to contact tracing didn't just go home and lock themselves in the back of the house for 2 weeks. They were out, running errands and doing their other things that needed to get done. For instance, if their spouse worked full time, the quarantined half was the person in charge of dropping off and picking up kiddos, getting groceries etc. It just wasn't realistic for them to have the whole family stay home and bunker down when they weren't sick. Sure, that might be what they are supposed to do, but the fact is it isn't realistic. It almost would have been better to let them stay at school or work with a mask as it didn't stop them from going out. Nor should it...eric76 said:When I had covid in May, I cooperated fully with the contact tracing. To the best of my knowledge, nobody was ordered to quarantine because the contacts were not long enough and close enough to meet the contact tracing rules. And to my knowledge, nobody got covid from me.c-jags said:Capitol Ag said:Agree. Which is why they went to loosening the rules a bit regarding quarantining. Still, if there still is quarantining, there is still a major road block to being able to properly educate these kids. Online education just doesn't work. These kids need to stay in school if at all possible, even at the risk of health to others if we value the education that they should receive and the mental health of the children. Just my opinion.ChoppinDs40 said:big surge in PISD in the last 2 weeks. One Elementary has 14 teachers out.Capitol Ag said:
Haven't heard anything at Prosper where I work. We plan, as of now, to be back T plus 4 until Christmas break Dec 21.
Sure hope we don't see schools go back to at home. There is no need.
1 tested positive the day after 10 of them were at a HH together.
Contact tracing is what's killing the schools right now.
My wife, a teacher, has missed 3 weeks, and my kids, 2 weeks, due to 2 separate contact tracing incidents.
Both of the positive cases, with symptoms that they were traced to got to go back to school before my wife and kids who had 0 symptoms. Even if they had a negative test they couldn't come back.
This is why I never wanted contact tracing. I want safety and to be wise and care for others but it's screwed my family up pretty badly.
my son did have to miss his last school soccer game, so i took him and we sat off by ourselves and he watched and cheered from afar, but that was really his only venturing from the apartment.
between that, lots of delays on the remodel, the contact tracing quarantine has been pretty brutal for morale.
i'm sure that your sentiment is true, people aren't really quarantining. i'm anti-mask and i think contact tracing that results in our situation is stupid, but i am going to do my best to protect others.
We know very different people. The vast majority of the people I know who have been contact traced stayed home, ordered groceries, had restaurant food delivered, etc. This includes my very conservative parents and adults that represent a cross-section of political views.
OTOH, my friends who teach secondary students have reported that their quarantined teenage students are all hanging out together.
OTOH, my friends who teach secondary students have reported that their quarantined teenage students are all hanging out together.
The custodian from our school passed away from COVID last week. Our elementary school has only had 4 reported cases, but more staff/students out due to contact tracing. (About 450 or so in person) One of the other elementary schools in the district had 26 staff members out yesterday. Staff from the Admin Building, including the Area Superintendent, had to cover classes as there were no subs.
A friend of mine posted this on facebook and I wanted to past since I felt it's relevant to this topic:
"The last time the school gave me my kids for a week, they wouldn't take them back until months later. I'm afraid of the same thing after Thanksgiving."
"The last time the school gave me my kids for a week, they wouldn't take them back until months later. I'm afraid of the same thing after Thanksgiving."
To 1,000,000 touchdowns ...and beyond
My kids remote the week after Thanksgiving. Will be fun.
Many schools are having the problem I expected....no subs....and teachers out with Covid, with Covid quarantine, with kids who are quarantined, added to the fact teacher always have had to take personal days, what used to be called sick days, because they or their children are sick, the car will not start, a pipe has broken and they have to wait for a plumber and countless other reasons. It was hard to cover classes BEFORE covid. It is even more so now. Schools all over the state need subsitutute teachers. We always have and now it is a crisis. Poor pay, poor working conditions since subs normaly do not get any type of conference all day long, and while teachers love them, the kids are always worse for subs.
Some districts are running out of options. Our auditorium solution only works up to a point, then we have so many kids without teachers that they can no longer social distance them.
Some districts are running out of options. Our auditorium solution only works up to a point, then we have so many kids without teachers that they can no longer social distance them.
Not totally, as my circles are not indicative of what others are doing. I do think it's more of a personal thing. The risk to others when one is a contact traced individual is less, much less in certain cases, than if the individual is obviously tested positive. There are many who will assess such a risk and make their conclusion that the odds are slim that they have Covid and even slimmer that they would spread it while wearing a mask running errands in places where it would be very hard to spread a virus in the first place (grocery stores, Cost Co etc). Others will feel that if there's even the most remote chance that they could possibly spread the virus, they lock down.cc_ag92 said:
We know very different people. The vast majority of the people I know who have been contact traced stayed home, ordered groceries, had restaurant food delivered, etc. This includes my very conservative parents and adults that represent a cross-section of political views.
OTOH, my friends who teach secondary students have reported that their quarantined teenage students are all hanging out together.
Keep in mind, pretty much everyone in my circle at least inform others of there situation and leave it up to friends and family whether they want to get together. I've had 2 friends inform me that their children were contact traced and in quarantine. One had plans with me and his daughter to go to 6 Flags, the other was my training partner. I told both I had zero concerns and went ahead and got together with them. My choice. I'm the one who i on the immunosuppressant but again I have done my part to take enough action to try to ensure that has been offset, plus it's healthier to live life.
While I want schools to stay open, this is a fact. A lot of subs aren't subbing b/c of the virus, plus it was always an issue to begin with. Add to that some districts continue to have very ridged contact tracing policies, and there are going to be issues no doubt.3rd Generation Ag said:
Many schools are having the problem I expected....no subs....and teachers out with Covid, with Covid quarantine, with kids who are quarantined, added to the fact teacher always have had to take personal days, what used to be called sick days, because they or their children are sick, the car will not start, a pipe has broken and they have to wait for a plumber and countless other reasons. It was hard to cover classes BEFORE covid. It is even more so now. Schools all over the state need subsitutute teachers. We always have and now it is a crisis. Poor pay, poor working conditions since subs normaly do not get any type of conference all day long, and while teachers love them, the kids are always worse for subs.
Some districts are running out of options. Our auditorium solution only works up to a point, then we have so many kids without teachers that they can no longer social distance them.
3rd Generation Ag said:
Many schools are having the problem I expected....no subs....and teachers out with Covid, with Covid quarantine, with kids who are quarantined, added to the fact teacher always have had to take personal days, what used to be called sick days, because they or their children are sick, the car will not start, a pipe has broken and they have to wait for a plumber and countless other reasons. It was hard to cover classes BEFORE covid. It is even more so now. Schools all over the state need subsitutute teachers. We always have and now it is a crisis. Poor pay, poor working conditions since subs normaly do not get any type of conference all day long, and while teachers love them, the kids are always worse for subs.
Some districts are running out of options. Our auditorium solution only works up to a point, then we have so many kids without teachers that they can no longer social distance them.
I work near Austin and they just bumped their sub pay to $210 per day in some cases. Meanwhile we are paying our subs something like $90 a day. Hmm... I wonder where all the subs will go?
I'm down to about 2 kids per class in person. The kids who've been out due to contract tracing just haven't come back. Some have told me it's not worth coming back if they want to travel. Might as well just keep quarantining at this point.
We are hybrid. My room is small and at max could only hold 14 with social distancing. I have up to 31 per class. Most are opting to stay home and for those who come to school I have between 11 and 2 depending on the day and the class. Actually it is costing so much money to run the busses and all the utilities when a school of 2500 has 200 or so a day some days. Most of our parents have opted for virtual. We are a high school. Even if we did not have hybrid, it would be 400 kids a day or so in a huge building that costs money to run. TEA says we have to stay open for in person learning, but with quarantines and parent choice, this is how few face to face kids we may have. About 800 opted for in person, but since the kids still get counted present if they come the the Teams meetings or go do work in Canvas, on some days the count is really low. I don't know how the lunch ladies prepare at all since there can be so much difference on a given day.
And just saying, it is unbelievably hard to teach right now and takes WAY more time than pre covid. Most of us in my department are working 60 to 70 hours a week. Lesson design is what takes the most time. Creating interactive, challenging, scaffolded, and engaging lessons for classes that have 11 kids on the computers in the class room and 15 more showing up at home, and taking time to try to call in all the no shows...it takes a toll. We are required to be paperless and offer the same virtual classes for in person and at home. We are having to reinvent everything we do. I try to stay in contact with parents, but I have 180 or more students. I do stay in contact with the students because by 17 they really should be taking responsiblity for their own academics.
We are working hard to build social emotional support into all our classes because the kids are hurting..they tell English teachers so much in their writing. They feel like they are being robbed of so many valuable teenage experiences and they are right. They come to Teams meetings in tears because they buried their grandmother last week..who died in their room at the house and now they don't even want to go into their own room. People still die without Covid. A few are so depressed that at parent request teachers are to do an even more specific mental health check in daily. We try to detect those that are highly at risk and notify the intervention people on our staff. But we are NOT trained mental health workers. And when we try to sleep, the kids and their issues make it really tough
I am 72 and thanks to God have not missed a day since we started back. I wear my mask and a face shield over on the rare times I can't also social distance.
But don't slam schools if some go all virtual. It really is a struggle to try to meet the needs of our students. Our love and caring can only do so much.
And just saying, it is unbelievably hard to teach right now and takes WAY more time than pre covid. Most of us in my department are working 60 to 70 hours a week. Lesson design is what takes the most time. Creating interactive, challenging, scaffolded, and engaging lessons for classes that have 11 kids on the computers in the class room and 15 more showing up at home, and taking time to try to call in all the no shows...it takes a toll. We are required to be paperless and offer the same virtual classes for in person and at home. We are having to reinvent everything we do. I try to stay in contact with parents, but I have 180 or more students. I do stay in contact with the students because by 17 they really should be taking responsiblity for their own academics.
We are working hard to build social emotional support into all our classes because the kids are hurting..they tell English teachers so much in their writing. They feel like they are being robbed of so many valuable teenage experiences and they are right. They come to Teams meetings in tears because they buried their grandmother last week..who died in their room at the house and now they don't even want to go into their own room. People still die without Covid. A few are so depressed that at parent request teachers are to do an even more specific mental health check in daily. We try to detect those that are highly at risk and notify the intervention people on our staff. But we are NOT trained mental health workers. And when we try to sleep, the kids and their issues make it really tough
I am 72 and thanks to God have not missed a day since we started back. I wear my mask and a face shield over on the rare times I can't also social distance.
But don't slam schools if some go all virtual. It really is a struggle to try to meet the needs of our students. Our love and caring can only do so much.
Thank you. That's not enough, but thank you.
We are pretty much all working this hard. Nothing special, but appreciate your thanks.
I know. Every person I know in education is doing what you're doing. I'm afraid y'all mostly hear the negatives from people but there are definitely those of us who appreciate you and I want you to know that.
I ask this of you as you have experience in education and can bring light to this as good as anyone here. How would you handle this? Would you stay hybrid, go online until the vaccine or would you bring most if not all students back to school? What is, in your opinion, the best way to proceed forward?3rd Generation Ag said:
We are hybrid. My room is small and at max could only hold 14 with social distancing. I have up to 31 per class. Most are opting to stay home and for those who come to school I have between 11 and 2 depending on the day and the class. Actually it is costing so much money to run the busses and all the utilities when a school of 2500 has 200 or so a day some days. Most of our parents have opted for virtual. We are a high school. Even if we did not have hybrid, it would be 400 kids a day or so in a huge building that costs money to run. TEA says we have to stay open for in person learning, but with quarantines and parent choice, this is how few face to face kids we may have. About 800 opted for in person, but since the kids still get counted present if they come the the Teams meetings or go do work in Canvas, on some days the count is really low. I don't know how the lunch ladies prepare at all since there can be so much difference on a given day.
And just saying, it is unbelievably hard to teach right now and takes WAY more time than pre covid. Most of us in my department are working 60 to 70 hours a week. Lesson design is what takes the most time. Creating interactive, challenging, scaffolded, and engaging lessons for classes that have 11 kids on the computers in the class room and 15 more showing up at home, and taking time to try to call in all the no shows...it takes a toll. We are required to be paperless and offer the same virtual classes for in person and at home. We are having to reinvent everything we do. I try to stay in contact with parents, but I have 180 or more students. I do stay in contact with the students because by 17 they really should be taking responsiblity for their own academics.
We are working hard to build social emotional support into all our classes because the kids are hurting..they tell English teachers so much in their writing. They feel like they are being robbed of so many valuable teenage experiences and they are right. They come to Teams meetings in tears because they buried their grandmother last week..who died in their room at the house and now they don't even want to go into their own room. People still die without Covid. A few are so depressed that at parent request teachers are to do an even more specific mental health check in daily. We try to detect those that are highly at risk and notify the intervention people on our staff. But we are NOT trained mental health workers. And when we try to sleep, the kids and their issues make it really tough
I am 72 and thanks to God have not missed a day since we started back. I wear my mask and a face shield over on the rare times I can't also social distance.
But don't slam schools if some go all virtual. It really is a struggle to try to meet the needs of our students. Our love and caring can only do so much.
I have thought of this at length. Early childhood really needs to be face to face.
If I could redesign the system....pk through third grade would be face to face every day. With masks from k on. My five year old granddaughter is doing just that. I also would open pk 4 to everyone, not just certain demographics and make it all day..they can nap after lunch. To keep social distancing, I would put 4th through 6th or 5th..where ever the district breaks elementary hybrid..one week at school, the next virtual. And allow fully virtual for families that want this. I know that is hard for families, but it frees classrooms to have distancing for the early grades that really need face to face. I would provide ppe for teachers and the state's claim that they did it, is a joke. We got two bottles of spray disinfectant, a roll of the brown paper towels that go in restroom dispensers, and a bottle of hand sanitzer. No masks, no face shields, no plexiglass for the teacher's desks, although our school board meets in plexiglass bubbles. I would priortize these schools and grades for subs, and set the pay at at least 200 a day during the pandemic. I would make full effort to keep this age group with maximum face to face time.
After that, middle school and high school kids tend to be highly capable of learning online if and when they want to. They all managed to learn how to play Among Us well with little to no instruction. I know that is not calculus but.... I would make all of them hybrid with the buidling of virtual learning platforms that allow seamless transitions to all virtual on a campus or district level. I think Arlington has done an exceptional job of creating this framework. Yes, we have kids failing, but we have that when we are face to face. They are the ones we stand over in class and pretty much nag them to get to work. Most of our kids are learning well, and the rigor is there. We might have slowed the pace to allow for the different learning method that the kids have had to learn as well as the concepts. By this age..middle and high school, most of the kids are able to stay at home and take care of basic needs..they do so in the summers. By staying hybrid, except for our sped, ell, and 504 kids who have the option of coming every day if the parents wish, we get that face to face time for the ones we have to encourage (nag) to catch up on their work. Hybrid lets us NOT have 2500 kids so crowded in the halls we can't even see who is or is not wearing a mask. For older grades hybrid would be two days on, two days off, on a simple rotation.
TEA needs to allow local school boards to switch a campus to all virtual if that is the recommendation of the local health authorities. Every county and every district is facing unique challenges. And TEA needs to allow full funding..their last update was a small step in the right direction.. if the local health authorities recommmend all virtual. But the 14 day if staffing issues is a step in the right direction. On a campus by campus basis, these older grade schools can switch back and forth as needed. We also really need to not have mandated testing this year. I am talking about STARR in December with requires students to be in school. And Telpas. Without being in language rich, full English inclusion classrooms for at least most of the year, it is unrealistic to expect our language students to advance up the TELPAS ladder. We will be doing great work to just maintain.
Also, really quit worrying so much about Covid regressions. First, 11th and 12 graders have junior and senioritis normally. Almost everything they really need to learn is learned by 10th grade. Government is the one exception. They will be fine as they exit to adulthood. And give teachers some credit. We do a great job of meeting kids where they are and pushing them to where they should be. There may be more that need that push after covid, but in three years and maybe two, they will be back where they belong.
I think we might be ready to go back to all face to face wisely..when we are not in the middle of an outbreak. My guess is January. Virtual option should be open to parents until the shots are widely available to the general public. I am hoping that is by spring break.
If I could redesign the system....pk through third grade would be face to face every day. With masks from k on. My five year old granddaughter is doing just that. I also would open pk 4 to everyone, not just certain demographics and make it all day..they can nap after lunch. To keep social distancing, I would put 4th through 6th or 5th..where ever the district breaks elementary hybrid..one week at school, the next virtual. And allow fully virtual for families that want this. I know that is hard for families, but it frees classrooms to have distancing for the early grades that really need face to face. I would provide ppe for teachers and the state's claim that they did it, is a joke. We got two bottles of spray disinfectant, a roll of the brown paper towels that go in restroom dispensers, and a bottle of hand sanitzer. No masks, no face shields, no plexiglass for the teacher's desks, although our school board meets in plexiglass bubbles. I would priortize these schools and grades for subs, and set the pay at at least 200 a day during the pandemic. I would make full effort to keep this age group with maximum face to face time.
After that, middle school and high school kids tend to be highly capable of learning online if and when they want to. They all managed to learn how to play Among Us well with little to no instruction. I know that is not calculus but.... I would make all of them hybrid with the buidling of virtual learning platforms that allow seamless transitions to all virtual on a campus or district level. I think Arlington has done an exceptional job of creating this framework. Yes, we have kids failing, but we have that when we are face to face. They are the ones we stand over in class and pretty much nag them to get to work. Most of our kids are learning well, and the rigor is there. We might have slowed the pace to allow for the different learning method that the kids have had to learn as well as the concepts. By this age..middle and high school, most of the kids are able to stay at home and take care of basic needs..they do so in the summers. By staying hybrid, except for our sped, ell, and 504 kids who have the option of coming every day if the parents wish, we get that face to face time for the ones we have to encourage (nag) to catch up on their work. Hybrid lets us NOT have 2500 kids so crowded in the halls we can't even see who is or is not wearing a mask. For older grades hybrid would be two days on, two days off, on a simple rotation.
TEA needs to allow local school boards to switch a campus to all virtual if that is the recommendation of the local health authorities. Every county and every district is facing unique challenges. And TEA needs to allow full funding..their last update was a small step in the right direction.. if the local health authorities recommmend all virtual. But the 14 day if staffing issues is a step in the right direction. On a campus by campus basis, these older grade schools can switch back and forth as needed. We also really need to not have mandated testing this year. I am talking about STARR in December with requires students to be in school. And Telpas. Without being in language rich, full English inclusion classrooms for at least most of the year, it is unrealistic to expect our language students to advance up the TELPAS ladder. We will be doing great work to just maintain.
Also, really quit worrying so much about Covid regressions. First, 11th and 12 graders have junior and senioritis normally. Almost everything they really need to learn is learned by 10th grade. Government is the one exception. They will be fine as they exit to adulthood. And give teachers some credit. We do a great job of meeting kids where they are and pushing them to where they should be. There may be more that need that push after covid, but in three years and maybe two, they will be back where they belong.
I think we might be ready to go back to all face to face wisely..when we are not in the middle of an outbreak. My guess is January. Virtual option should be open to parents until the shots are widely available to the general public. I am hoping that is by spring break.
Your idea is very similar to what we were doing up here in Minnetonka, MN
K-3 in person everyday at their respective elementary (we have six)
4 & 5 (mine is a 4th grader) MTRF in person at the HS (we have one HS), W online at home
Middle School (we have two) are split in two groups, and they alternate 2 days in person, 3 days online
HS is all online, with W being their day to go in for labs and specials while the 4/5 are at home
It's been working great but cases are sky high here and the staffing stresses finally caught up to us, so the rest of this semester is online for everyone with the hope to go back to this plan in January
K-3 in person everyday at their respective elementary (we have six)
4 & 5 (mine is a 4th grader) MTRF in person at the HS (we have one HS), W online at home
Middle School (we have two) are split in two groups, and they alternate 2 days in person, 3 days online
HS is all online, with W being their day to go in for labs and specials while the 4/5 are at home
It's been working great but cases are sky high here and the staffing stresses finally caught up to us, so the rest of this semester is online for everyone with the hope to go back to this plan in January
They better have full in person by August because if not they're going to lose a lot of teachers if they maintain this hybrid nonsense in elementary
My wife is at her wits end with it.
My wife is at her wits end with it.
I'm a teacher in high school at a small low-SES minority district (one high school) in Harris County. I just looked it up, as of Friday we have 2 active cases among students, 10 among staff (predominantly at the high school - 4 - and at the district office). We got the generic call-out from the Super Friday evening telling us to be safe & we'll be back on Monday the 30th as planned. We are still hybrid.
As for the educational aspect... it's not that my kids are BEHIND, or that they need more opportunity to master a standard, it's that they don't try in the first place. Kids who make an attempt, whether in person or virtual, are passing and have a basic understanding of the topics. Just gave a test this week (albeit easy & obviously it's open note open google) and kids who consistently participate score 80+, while those kids you never see made 20s. Simply taking notes is a grade (easy 100)... and shockingly when they pay attention (again, in class or virtual) for notes, they have a better understanding of the material. We are encouraged to be paperless, but my in-person kids let me know it's the manipulating on the computer that's frustrating and they want paper, so i give them papers. Then they take a picture of the assignment & upload it for me to see. They're a lot less likely to copy & paste when they're actually writing.
Parents of at-home kids complain that we aren't teaching. I don't understand this. I'm live on meet for 20 minutes to an hour after the "lesson" for kids who need additional help or want to ask a question about a particular problem. If they're paying attention, they log off immediately. If they went back to sleep or are playing playstation, they don't hear me call them and I eventually just leave the meeting. I record each meeting lesson & upload the video to YouTube and link it in Classroom for their perusal. I'm available after school in-person or virtual for assistance, or virtually in the evenings at home. "Miss, I wasn't there that day." Umm, you're still responsible for the material, kid. I can lead a horse to water...
We use Google Classroom (thank god) and kids "turn in" their assignments to show their parents "look I turned it in" but there's no work attached. Trying to explain this to a parent is difficult, they either don't understand what I mean by "work" or little Johnny wouldn't do such a thing.
Some kids are thriving virtually. Some of my pre-AP kids will play hooky some days & stay home & attend virtually. Fine by me, because they're still doing their work & contacting me if they're having trouble.
I think the rest of the country is starting to see the education system the way we've known it to be for years.
As for the educational aspect... it's not that my kids are BEHIND, or that they need more opportunity to master a standard, it's that they don't try in the first place. Kids who make an attempt, whether in person or virtual, are passing and have a basic understanding of the topics. Just gave a test this week (albeit easy & obviously it's open note open google) and kids who consistently participate score 80+, while those kids you never see made 20s. Simply taking notes is a grade (easy 100)... and shockingly when they pay attention (again, in class or virtual) for notes, they have a better understanding of the material. We are encouraged to be paperless, but my in-person kids let me know it's the manipulating on the computer that's frustrating and they want paper, so i give them papers. Then they take a picture of the assignment & upload it for me to see. They're a lot less likely to copy & paste when they're actually writing.
Parents of at-home kids complain that we aren't teaching. I don't understand this. I'm live on meet for 20 minutes to an hour after the "lesson" for kids who need additional help or want to ask a question about a particular problem. If they're paying attention, they log off immediately. If they went back to sleep or are playing playstation, they don't hear me call them and I eventually just leave the meeting. I record each meeting lesson & upload the video to YouTube and link it in Classroom for their perusal. I'm available after school in-person or virtual for assistance, or virtually in the evenings at home. "Miss, I wasn't there that day." Umm, you're still responsible for the material, kid. I can lead a horse to water...
We use Google Classroom (thank god) and kids "turn in" their assignments to show their parents "look I turned it in" but there's no work attached. Trying to explain this to a parent is difficult, they either don't understand what I mean by "work" or little Johnny wouldn't do such a thing.
Some kids are thriving virtually. Some of my pre-AP kids will play hooky some days & stay home & attend virtually. Fine by me, because they're still doing their work & contacting me if they're having trouble.
I think the rest of the country is starting to see the education system the way we've known it to be for years.
We are a highly diverse high school in Arlington. Almost equal split African American, Hispanic, Asian, with about 20 percent of our students immigrants from all over the world. I love the mix. We have AB schedule, 100 minute classes. Students are to be async for 50 minutes, followed by a 50 minute Microsoft Teams live session. We use Canvas and it has great analytics. Parent will say student is online doing work, then we present the page that shows they have actually logging into Canvas 8 times since school started and actually submitted work only on three days. Focus goes back on the child.
That's the one great thing about all this... I have a digital paper trail for *everything*
Our schedule is jacked up to say the least.
Alternating A/B days
Online kids go 9:00 - 2:30, 60 minute classes, an hour for lunch.
Face-to-face kids go 7:30-2:45, 90 minute classes, 30 minutes for lunch.
I have two F2F classes and five online, all the same course.
One F2F class (1st class on A day) has 3 kids enrolled in it, the other one (last class on B day, 8th period) has 2...that is correct, TWO.
This presents an unexpected issue, that of a class being too small. It basically feels like tutorials, not a true class. Combine that with masks and distancing and it's just not much fun. My food activities are a no-no this year, and those are the ones the kids and I look forward to.
It's not like I can teach more to them because I have more time during a class period, because I'm limited by the time I have with my online students (60 minute period).
The other 171 are online, and I feel like I know a few of them, but I'm just racing through AP course material at this point during synchronous class. Our second semester calendar got revised and I'm losing 6 more days of instruction prior to AP exams...bleah. This is on top of losing 40% of my usual instruction time every week, so if I manage to finish the course, it'll be a minor miracle.
I feel very much like an independent contractor this year. I am a team of one, and don't see many people during the day (holed up in a room that is empty while I do online classes)...at least 4 people in our department are work-from-home, and with the staggered schedules, we don't have the same lunch.
A depressing scene, pretty much. Pretty much any co-worker I know that can retire is retiring this year, and some are bailing at semester.
Alternating A/B days
Online kids go 9:00 - 2:30, 60 minute classes, an hour for lunch.
Face-to-face kids go 7:30-2:45, 90 minute classes, 30 minutes for lunch.
I have two F2F classes and five online, all the same course.
One F2F class (1st class on A day) has 3 kids enrolled in it, the other one (last class on B day, 8th period) has 2...that is correct, TWO.
This presents an unexpected issue, that of a class being too small. It basically feels like tutorials, not a true class. Combine that with masks and distancing and it's just not much fun. My food activities are a no-no this year, and those are the ones the kids and I look forward to.
It's not like I can teach more to them because I have more time during a class period, because I'm limited by the time I have with my online students (60 minute period).
The other 171 are online, and I feel like I know a few of them, but I'm just racing through AP course material at this point during synchronous class. Our second semester calendar got revised and I'm losing 6 more days of instruction prior to AP exams...bleah. This is on top of losing 40% of my usual instruction time every week, so if I manage to finish the course, it'll be a minor miracle.
I feel very much like an independent contractor this year. I am a team of one, and don't see many people during the day (holed up in a room that is empty while I do online classes)...at least 4 people in our department are work-from-home, and with the staggered schedules, we don't have the same lunch.
A depressing scene, pretty much. Pretty much any co-worker I know that can retire is retiring this year, and some are bailing at semester.
We are to have ALL instruction online and through Canvas lessons, even if the students are in class. We can use screencastomtice to record us teaching and put the video into Canvas. We have in class and online students at the same time. You should hear my online kids complain if I have to walk away from the computer to help someone in class. That is about the only time they WILL talk.
I am actually getting really good at using Nearpod as an instructional tool. It gives me great formative checks if we are in live mode. If a student is truly absent, then they can do the same lesson student paced. We are ab 100 minutes, first fifty to be async and on computer and second fifty for Teams meetings..supposedly we can also pull small groups at this time, but honestly no one has figured out how to do that AND monitor the kids in the big session at the same time. If the cat goes away, the mice will be playing Among Us. Even in my coteach class it is hard since we have terrible feedback if more than one computer has mike and speakers on. So kids have to wear earbuds to listen to the class. And it is really exhausting.
I am actually getting really good at using Nearpod as an instructional tool. It gives me great formative checks if we are in live mode. If a student is truly absent, then they can do the same lesson student paced. We are ab 100 minutes, first fifty to be async and on computer and second fifty for Teams meetings..supposedly we can also pull small groups at this time, but honestly no one has figured out how to do that AND monitor the kids in the big session at the same time. If the cat goes away, the mice will be playing Among Us. Even in my coteach class it is hard since we have terrible feedback if more than one computer has mike and speakers on. So kids have to wear earbuds to listen to the class. And it is really exhausting.
We have our normal AB schedule, 7-235, 90 minute classes. Every period is hybrid. We have Gsuite for Education so I use Google Meet to record my lessons - my face & doc cam & projector or me at the whiteboard. In that regard it's not much different. I'm enjoying "smaller" class sizes. We may even be progressing thru the curriculum faster because I'm not having to reteach a zillion times. District policy does not require students to log in synchronously, so if I don't see them, I can't reteach. I'm extremely grateful to my district for implementing "as normal as possible" approaches. I still enjoy my job, even though I am putting in a lot of extra hours creating digital activities. I am going to put some of them on teacherspayteachers, though. I am very tech savvy so other teachers come to me for advice/help implementing and I am shining this year, so I have no intention of leaving any time soon.
Our district has actively planned to NOT have hybrid classes. Our online kids are supposed to be logged in with cameras on at all times...since I'm presenting full screen most of the time, I can't tell if their cameras are on or not, and I mainly just look to see if they are in the current meeting.
3 board members got trounced in this month's election, and our superintendent has announced his resignation, so it's a season of change in the ivory tower, too.
3 board members got trounced in this month's election, and our superintendent has announced his resignation, so it's a season of change in the ivory tower, too.
Since we are mandated to teach everyone at the same time, and use distance learning for the in class kids, I am really finding nearpod useful for everything except writing assignments..how we evaluate in our English department. We are not giving tests or quizzes that the at home kids can cheat on at will. That is in equity. Our only exam as such will be the semester exam and it will be open notes for everyone.
Nearpod lets me put in small formative checks as we go through the lesson, lets me have my Teams meeting open rather than go to screen share, so I can see and hear all the kids. It lets me add in a quick reteach if I see that student are not getting the concept, and the date is excellent. It also keeps the kids more engaged than a screen share. Don't judge. Here is a link to the lesson that was to lead UP to reading a scene and writing a paragraph analysis (part of a longer paper). We only have time to do snippets of literature in our curriculum..not my choice but how it goes. Quick intro to Raisin
I run this through teacher paced, and since I don't have to go into screen share, I do split screen and can see my kids bubbles with initials (our district forbids requiring student to turn on cameras and as equity and privacy issue). I can add explanations and answer questions. It is really helping with student engagement, rather than have them passive during our required 50 minute live sessions. Absent kids get to the student paced version that I linked above as a Canvas assignment. We are told that in the works will be writing tools for English teachers. Right now writing still comes in through Canvas as Google cloud assignments, but I am amazed how many Juniors still forget to hit Submit. "Miss, why to I have and M on my annotated bibliography. I did it the day it is assigned. I can show you in my google drive." Me, Did you remember to hit submit. Student: Yes, Maam. I am sure. Me: ok, let me make your a presenter and show me your Canvas page. Let's see if the system has an issue. Student shows screen. Submit button has not been touched. Student: So sorry. Me; Just hit submits, but you will need to wait till I turn through speed grader again on this assignment to see a grade change. The other issue is that they fill forget to reset share to anyone with the link can view. So I get nothing when I try to check assignments. I think this one might be on purpose.
Pre covid students would have been tasked with exploring this on their own with collaboration and gallery walks and for my SPED kids, a scavenger hunt activity where they seek the ansHawers from charts made by my on level classes and then make their own mini posters. However we tried converting many of these things to a virtual seeing early in the year, and they just did not work with our kids. We used to take each question from the "Harlem" poem and have groups convert it to a visual image, find a historical example from the poet's perspective, find a current event example (in the last five years), and then evaluate the degree or amount of progress we have made as a society. For example a feature article today talked about the shortage of banks south of I 30 in Dallas, and one yesterday talke about the food deserts in east of 35 in Fort Worth. We then had Socratic seminars that explored solutions for equity issues. This year we have a new curriculum that does not allow for these in depth exportations AND the Covid thing going on. So I am doing the best that I can..which is not the best I can be. I had planned for this to be the last year. It is so hard to call quits to your life work. However, unless second semester returns to normal..I don't want THIS to be the exclaimation point on my calling and mission. So now I am considering one more year.
Nearpod lets me put in small formative checks as we go through the lesson, lets me have my Teams meeting open rather than go to screen share, so I can see and hear all the kids. It lets me add in a quick reteach if I see that student are not getting the concept, and the date is excellent. It also keeps the kids more engaged than a screen share. Don't judge. Here is a link to the lesson that was to lead UP to reading a scene and writing a paragraph analysis (part of a longer paper). We only have time to do snippets of literature in our curriculum..not my choice but how it goes. Quick intro to Raisin
I run this through teacher paced, and since I don't have to go into screen share, I do split screen and can see my kids bubbles with initials (our district forbids requiring student to turn on cameras and as equity and privacy issue). I can add explanations and answer questions. It is really helping with student engagement, rather than have them passive during our required 50 minute live sessions. Absent kids get to the student paced version that I linked above as a Canvas assignment. We are told that in the works will be writing tools for English teachers. Right now writing still comes in through Canvas as Google cloud assignments, but I am amazed how many Juniors still forget to hit Submit. "Miss, why to I have and M on my annotated bibliography. I did it the day it is assigned. I can show you in my google drive." Me, Did you remember to hit submit. Student: Yes, Maam. I am sure. Me: ok, let me make your a presenter and show me your Canvas page. Let's see if the system has an issue. Student shows screen. Submit button has not been touched. Student: So sorry. Me; Just hit submits, but you will need to wait till I turn through speed grader again on this assignment to see a grade change. The other issue is that they fill forget to reset share to anyone with the link can view. So I get nothing when I try to check assignments. I think this one might be on purpose.
Pre covid students would have been tasked with exploring this on their own with collaboration and gallery walks and for my SPED kids, a scavenger hunt activity where they seek the ansHawers from charts made by my on level classes and then make their own mini posters. However we tried converting many of these things to a virtual seeing early in the year, and they just did not work with our kids. We used to take each question from the "Harlem" poem and have groups convert it to a visual image, find a historical example from the poet's perspective, find a current event example (in the last five years), and then evaluate the degree or amount of progress we have made as a society. For example a feature article today talked about the shortage of banks south of I 30 in Dallas, and one yesterday talke about the food deserts in east of 35 in Fort Worth. We then had Socratic seminars that explored solutions for equity issues. This year we have a new curriculum that does not allow for these in depth exportations AND the Covid thing going on. So I am doing the best that I can..which is not the best I can be. I had planned for this to be the last year. It is so hard to call quits to your life work. However, unless second semester returns to normal..I don't want THIS to be the exclaimation point on my calling and mission. So now I am considering one more year.
Grading requirements haven't changed on our end...still have to have 3 major every nine weeks. At least the number of daily grades has been lowered from 9 to 6.
Most of my assessments have been asynchronous. Live time is too valuable to watch them take a test that they may or may not be cheating on while I'm watching, anyway. The ironic part is that some of them are very poor cheaters and my multiple versions catch enough of them to ensure that the ones who know what they're doing still separate out at least a little bit.
Students have an advisory period on B days that is devoted to social/emotional things, but it is 8th period and many seniors just didn't bother showing up when it was online. Our B days are 5th-8th period, and seniors that have 6th and 7th off just didn't bother to come back for an 8th period advisory that had no consequences for not attending, since there were no grades. Can't really blame them...if your only academic class is from 9-10, coming back online for a non-credit "class" three and a half hours later isn't all that compelling.
For the F2F advisories that are 90 minutes, I think those are mostly study halls from what I've gathered.
Most of my assessments have been asynchronous. Live time is too valuable to watch them take a test that they may or may not be cheating on while I'm watching, anyway. The ironic part is that some of them are very poor cheaters and my multiple versions catch enough of them to ensure that the ones who know what they're doing still separate out at least a little bit.
Students have an advisory period on B days that is devoted to social/emotional things, but it is 8th period and many seniors just didn't bother showing up when it was online. Our B days are 5th-8th period, and seniors that have 6th and 7th off just didn't bother to come back for an 8th period advisory that had no consequences for not attending, since there were no grades. Can't really blame them...if your only academic class is from 9-10, coming back online for a non-credit "class" three and a half hours later isn't all that compelling.
For the F2F advisories that are 90 minutes, I think those are mostly study halls from what I've gathered.
We are to spend a part of the 50 minute live class on SEL, and have a way to post it in Sync time for kids who are absent. Quite a challenge.
And we have 8 per six weeks grading requirement as a minimium, but as I said our major grade assessments in our new curriculum are all writing products. Right now the target is to write a literary analysis essay that links three works from three different genre with a common theme. Only time for excerpts from drama and fiction. Poems are short by nature. Students are to have choice, but this is hard since our new textbook is useless and most don't have home access to finding literature..so....we have three choices we selected (our PLC plans totally together, taking turns leading the lesson creation) for poems, three scene choices from the play, and three works of short fiction we selected. So math people could figure out the number of combinations. I just know it gives them some choice in a way that works in a virtual setting. Even so, we have a few that tried to submit shared work for the body paragraphs we are rough drafting as we move through the genre. Cheaters are going to cheat.
What is really a waste of time are the CA's for English I and II. They are from central office, and identical for all high schools in the district. The at home kids just get on their phones and collaborate. Scores are worthless as real intervention tools and teacher lose three instructional days to giving these.
And we have 8 per six weeks grading requirement as a minimium, but as I said our major grade assessments in our new curriculum are all writing products. Right now the target is to write a literary analysis essay that links three works from three different genre with a common theme. Only time for excerpts from drama and fiction. Poems are short by nature. Students are to have choice, but this is hard since our new textbook is useless and most don't have home access to finding literature..so....we have three choices we selected (our PLC plans totally together, taking turns leading the lesson creation) for poems, three scene choices from the play, and three works of short fiction we selected. So math people could figure out the number of combinations. I just know it gives them some choice in a way that works in a virtual setting. Even so, we have a few that tried to submit shared work for the body paragraphs we are rough drafting as we move through the genre. Cheaters are going to cheat.
What is really a waste of time are the CA's for English I and II. They are from central office, and identical for all high schools in the district. The at home kids just get on their phones and collaborate. Scores are worthless as real intervention tools and teacher lose three instructional days to giving these.
Local ISD is going to full time after Thanksgiving.
No more half days.
Roughly 8 to 3:30.
If you are failing you cannot choose remote, and if you want to remain remote you are being encouraged to choose homeschooling.
Principal with a backbone wrecking hell with a liberal superintendent.
Love it.
Remote education is proving to be government sanctioned child abuse.
No more half days.
Roughly 8 to 3:30.
If you are failing you cannot choose remote, and if you want to remain remote you are being encouraged to choose homeschooling.
Principal with a backbone wrecking hell with a liberal superintendent.
Love it.
Remote education is proving to be government sanctioned child abuse.
Our large private school has be full-time in-person since day 1 and will continue to be after Thanksgiving.
Same at my kid's private school. Ours is medium size with about 500 kids in grades K-8. We have had 1 student case and 2 staff cases since August 15th when we went back to in person learning. We are in Harris County though so they are just itching to shut down the public schools again over here. It's worth every penny the money we are spending to send them to private school. They are very motivated to keep the school open as they have increased enrollment this year due to the public schools being virtual in our area. Parents are more inclined to homeschool themselves than pay for a virtual private school education.
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