Our district just sent an email out really urging students to come back to campus in Q2 and now I know why. I think I'm going to be angry about how education was such an afterthought in our nation forever.
abs mine are technically doing well on their academics virtually - our school is 100% virtual and they are also completely synchronous with their class/teacher. We have been having tests this week and they have both got good grades on them (similar to the grades that they were getting last year). However, it is the side things that are dropping - so DS1 (8) has always had bad handwriting and problems with messy work. It has got worse and is basically illegible now.
jamaicam, yeah DD's handwriting may never recover. It was never great but improved a lot last year in 3rd grade. Now they do most things on the computer which is great in some ways but terrible for writing and fine motor skills. She is back in person though. There have been very cases in the elementary schools. It's definitely encouraging and I hope it continues.
Post by Velar Fricative on Oct 23, 2020 11:55:22 GMT -5
abs - it's still early for us since DD1's first day wasn't until 9/21. She goes into the school building 1-2 days per week and virtual for the rest. She's in second grade.
She did very well in the spring, surprisingly independent for a first grader. But I feel like starting a year out like this is so much harder. I suspect teachers and administrators are so stretched thin having to do both hybrid and virtual teaching, but I also don't believe we needed to all go 100% virtual again because of our low case rates. So far, DD1 just does not seem to be grasping concepts, some of which are basically what she did in the spring. I feel like we let go way too much this summer and we probably should have kept her going with enrichment activities so the summer slide wouldn't be so dramatic. She just had a serious crying moment when she couldn't figure out some math problems and this is totally out of the ordinary for her, so I'm concerned.
Basically, if President Fuckface and his awful friends weren't so adamant about no local/state aid, we might have had the resources to pull off everyone going to school 5 days a week as long as we could hire more teachers and get creative with leasing empty spaces elsewhere to convert them as classrooms so everyone could remain distanced. But nope, politics won and our kids and educators have lost.
Our district just sent an email out really urging students to come back to campus in Q2 and now I know why. I think I'm going to be angry about how education was such an afterthought in our nation forever.
We’re grudgingly sending our kids into the building starting next week. My 6th grader is failing every class after always being a solid student. Our district has been open about putting the needs of the kids in the classroom first because less than 5% of the district is fully remote.
Post by formerlyak on Oct 23, 2020 12:06:29 GMT -5
abs my kids end Q1 next Friday. We are 100% virtual and have live Zoom instruction in the mornings until about noon and then after lunch the kids do "independent work" (basically homework). From the chatter I hear, it is likely that we will not go back until the start of Semester 2.
The first grader is sick of the screen and wants real school, but academically he is doing fine. He has become very independent, to the point that the teacher has complimented him in front of the class for doing it on his own and not relying on his parent or tutor sitting next to him to get his papers and do his work. She is trying to remind them that when we get to go back, they will have to be independent so they need to practice that now. Sometimes he has questions about the math, but has become great at raising his hand on Zoom and asking the teacher. If she doesn't get to him, he will ask me after class on the homework. The biggest issue with him is he is a very energetic child and without recess and all the other at school running around time, he kind of explodes some afternoons. I don't know if this will affect academics as the year progresses.
My high schooler currently has straight As, surprisingly even in the honors bio class that serves as a "weeder" for honors science and each year only 5-10% of the kids in it get an A. He has always been a very good student, and is in mostly honors classes, so the kids in his classes also tend to have self-selected into that track and put effort into class. It's his first year in high school, and he's done a good job of participating in some of the virtual extra curriculars offered as well. I think that helps motivate him, as he knows if his grades drop, the school will not allow him to participate.
Post by gretchenindisguise on Oct 23, 2020 12:49:40 GMT -5
We are doing hybrid and are doing well. Academically my eldest (in 6th) was doing fine, but she's doing better in person. My youngest wasn't doing well (in K). He's thriving now that he's in person 2 days a week and also doing school care the other 3 days. We are parents not teachers.
We’re grudgingly sending our kids into the building starting next week.
I also have a 6th grader and this is a terrible year to have all this transition. Here the jump between 5th and 6th is massive. Add in remote learning (our school is hybrid but kids go in less than 50% of the time) and it is has been very challenging. Going from one teacher to 7 is hard. Several subjects are also much more emphasized this year. If it was all or nothing I would send my kid too.
We’re grudgingly sending our kids into the building starting next week.
I also have a 6th grader and this is a terrible year to have all this transition. Here the jump between 5th and 6th is massive. Add in remote learning (our school is hybrid but kids go in less than 50% of the time) and it is has been very challenging. Going from one teacher to 7 is hard. Several subjects are also much more emphasized this year. If it was all or nothing I would send my kid too.
That’s exactly it. It’s not as huge a transition year for us because our kids move to the middle school building in 5th so she at least knows the specials teachers, but it’s still a big transition. And being one of the very few remote was awful because the focus has been on in building kids since the beginning. I’m furious and know it’s our new superintendent (who I can’t stand as a person or as an administrator, there’s bad history there) who is a terrible leader and doing what the parents demand rather than necessarily what’s best practice, and most of our town (I suspect him included) thinks the virus is overblown.
Our district just sent an email out really urging students to come back to campus in Q2 and now I know why. I think I'm going to be angry about how education was such an afterthought in our nation forever.
I'm a unique case, I think, because I teach high school English, we are completely synchronous virtual, and we've been doing blended learning for three or four years.
I've been surprised that my rate of failure and absences is pretty much the same as previous years. I checked their records and the kids who are failing my class were failing English last year at first quarter, although a few are doing better (there are a few who genuinely prefer remote). The amount by which they are failing is more stark; in person, you can stand next to a kid and kind of force them to turn in something and get *some* credit, whereas that doesn't happen if they don't respond to emails/one on one conferences.
I was surprised that in two of my 3 junior classes, like 20/25 kids submitted their essay drafts. The other class was more much in line with my experience (13/23). Since we have afternoon remediation, I've been able to do more one on one conferences, so their drafts are much better, also.
I'll be interested to see how/if this changes with hybrid next week. However, we've been told we'll be teaching completely synchronously via Meets and our in-person kids will just be doing the same work in school, so maybe not much will change.
ETA: I definitely see my students with special needs or who receive accommodations struggling with the remote platform much more than my general ed kids. I have two amazing ICS teachers this year, and they're doing everything they can, but I can see how hard this is for those kids. Weirdly, most of them are opting to remain virtual, so IDK if anything will change.
We too, are in the 5% of our district that are staying home. It's really, really hard. My DS is also in sixth and it has been a big work/academic adjustment for him. My fourth grader just misses her friends.
DS said that his math teacher told the rest of the in-person class they could take their masks off, as long as they had their plexi blockade up. They are only 3 ft from each other! That's not how it works!!
Every single day is a struggle wondering if we are doing the right thing. We've said we will reassess at Christmas, but it seems so far away.
Well, local schools are going to hybrid, and my daycare is tightening up on their temp checking policies. Staff used to take the temperatures, now parents are doing it. From the email:
1. Glove up 2. Use thermometer probe wipes- to wipe down the thermometer. Please do before and after EVERY use. 3. Take your child’s/ children temp. Show management the temp. Needs to be under 100.4. 4. Write down your child/children temp on the temp tracker. 5. If your child has no symptoms a staff member walks your child/children back to their classroom.
I'm sure they're doing this because the county's cases have shot up.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
Post by Velar Fricative on Oct 23, 2020 15:00:34 GMT -5
A bunch of Trump supporters here are suddenly believing "liberal rags" mentioning how schools haven't been superspreader places. Obviously this is good news, but it seems like they haven't been because we're still distancing. Or maybe not? I'm curious what it's like in places that might have gone back like normal and whether transmission is happening there. OTOH, with uncontrolled outbreaks in a lot of states, it may be unclear if school is a main cause of transmission. Very few cases here, but 1) very few cases in general, and 2) kids are masked up and distanced.
A bunch of Trump supporters here are suddenly believing "liberal rags" mentioning how schools haven't been superspreader places. Obviously this is good news, but it seems like they haven't been because we're still distancing. Or maybe not? I'm curious what it's like in places that might have gone back like normal and whether transmission is happening there. OTOH, with uncontrolled outbreaks in a lot of states, it may be unclear if school is a main cause of transmission. Very few cases here, but 1) very few cases in general, and 2) kids are masked up and distanced.
You’d never know there was a pandemic going on in Texas. Maskless sports, maskless parties, etc. Masks are required in all businesses and in schools 100% of the time otherwise it’s business as usual though. Elementary and junior highs have done well regardless. High schools have had issues with sports breakouts otherwise they are ok, too. It’s all interesting. I’m glad schools appear to be relatively safe. It shows that masks work. Even with the maskless events though our positivity rate is still fairly low after an awful summer. I don’t know if that makes a difference.
A bunch of Trump supporters here are suddenly believing "liberal rags" mentioning how schools haven't been superspreader places. Obviously this is good news, but it seems like they haven't been because we're still distancing. Or maybe not? I'm curious what it's like in places that might have gone back like normal and whether transmission is happening there. OTOH, with uncontrolled outbreaks in a lot of states, it may be unclear if school is a main cause of transmission. Very few cases here, but 1) very few cases in general, and 2) kids are masked up and distanced.
You’d never know there was a pandemic going on in Texas. Maskless sports, maskless parties, etc. Masks are required in all businesses and in schools 100% of the time otherwise it’s business as usual though. Elementary and junior highs have done well regardless. High schools have had issues with sports breakouts otherwise they are ok, too. It’s all interesting. I’m glad schools appear to be relatively safe. It shows that masks work. Even with the maskless events though our positivity rate is still fairly low after an awful summer. I don’t know if that makes a difference.
I bet doing things outdoors helps. I really think maskless indoor events are the worst in terms of risk. Is there distancing in schools or just the masks?
You’d never know there was a pandemic going on in Texas. Maskless sports, maskless parties, etc. Masks are required in all businesses and in schools 100% of the time otherwise it’s business as usual though. Elementary and junior highs have done well regardless. High schools have had issues with sports breakouts otherwise they are ok, too. It’s all interesting. I’m glad schools appear to be relatively safe. It shows that masks work. Even with the maskless events though our positivity rate is still fairly low after an awful summer. I don’t know if that makes a difference.
I bet doing things outdoors helps. I really think maskless indoor events are the worst in terms of risk. Is there distancing in schools or just the masks?
I agree with you. There is distancing at schools but not 6 feet at all times. Lunch time, yes. Kids eat all through the school to make it happen.
abs We’re just finishing our first quarter of virtual. Our district offers 100% in person or 100% virtual for PK-8. HS has been hybrid. Virtual has gone really, really well for our family, but we check almost every box as far as privileges that increase the chance of success. I’d actually go so far as to say my kids are thriving. When I asked if they wanted to go back next quarter or stay virtual, neither skipped a beat and said virtual. That said, there is one neighbor family who also WFH 100% and kids are virtual, so the kids play together outside for hours a day. I’m sure winter will change things.
I’m seeing growth in confidence, independence, work ethic, technical skills, and desire to learn and it has given us a chance to encourage them to learn more about things that they want to learn about. School is about 2.5 hours in the afternoon with some work outside of that for them to do. I’m debating purchasing a bunch handwriting pages to help them keep up with that skill. They’re on the same lesson +/- 1 compared to the in-person kids in math and reading. They’re adding science in next quarter.
All that said, virtual school is an absolute nightmare for many, many families. My friend is a virtual teacher, and she already had to involve administration and CPS for kids...one even in the first week. Our schools have had cases, but no outbreaks that I’m aware of, even after our governor switched the definition of “close contacts”. They seem to be doing a great job. I’m not sure how things will change as more kids go back to the classroom.
lilac05, I am so happy your kids are doing so well! I know some kids are thriving with virtual. DD has some friends that will probably elect to do some sort of virtual school forever because it works for their personalities. Others are not though. I am just so worried about the kids at home that aren't logging in, aren't learning, and are getting lost. They are the ones that need in person instruction the most and aren't getting it. I'm afraid once all the state testing kicks in the divide will be even bigger. There are no good answers though. None. I hate it.
We've had to do virtual a few days due to hurricanes and tropical storms. It's gone terribly. The teachers have been amazing it's just so lonely and isolating. Ours is a full school day though so virtual students are expected to be logged on for 8 hours a day. 2.5 hours seems more realistic. Do you think your kids are learning what they would in a full day of school? DD is thriving being in person but I know her teachers are not.
lilac05 , I am so happy your kids are doing so well! I know some kids are thriving with virtual. DD has some friends that will probably elect to do some sort of virtual school forever because it works for their personalities. Others are not though. I am just so worried about the kids at home that aren't logging in, aren't learning, and are getting lost. They are the ones that need in person instruction the most and aren't getting it. I'm afraid once all the state testing kicks in the divide will be even bigger. There are no good answers though. None. I hate it.
We've had to do virtual a few days due to hurricanes and tropical storms. It's gone terribly. The teachers have been amazing it's just so lonely and isolating. Ours is a full school day though so virtual students are expected to be logged on for 8 hours a day. 2.5 hours seems more realistic. Do you think your kids are learning what they would in a full day of school? DD is thriving being in person but I know her teachers are not.
I agree 100% about being worried about the kids who are getting lost in the shuffle. I'm really glad that our district has a 100% in person option available. I know my friend is planning to talk to some families to try and gently encourage them to consider going back to in-person because the virtual option isn't working for their student and/or their child needs services that are available in person.
I can't imaging how difficult it is to do hybrid or to even just switch for a few days to virtual. My kids spent the entire first week just learning how to use all of the different apps and programs and work out a bunch of technology issues. It's an entirely different system than being in person. And spending 8 hours a day sounds absolutely miserable for EVERYONE. There's nowhere near that much instruction during in person days.
From what I'm hearing from teacher friends, both in person and virtual only teachers are actually doing very well. It's the High School hybrid teachers who are struggling (they have kids in person and virtually at the same time). I can't imagine all they're having to juggle.
As far as how much they're learning, they don't currently have science from the school. So...they're not getting that or guidance. My 4th grader did have something science related today, and supposedly the district is putting something together for next quarter. I'll be honest and say that I generally find our science curriculum severely lacking, so they're not missing much. We love documentaries and doing science experiments at home pre-COVID, so nothing different for us now. We haven't been doing their PE lessons because they're getting tons of activity by playing outside. They have a recorded Art and Music lesson each week, and those are going well, but it's dependent on which teacher is teaching that week. (I also know that a lot of kids are skipping those.) Some are great and others just did the minimum. I think the teachers are covering all of the same information and my kids are fortunate to be quick learners, so they're keeping up. I know both teachers have time in their schedules daily where they meet with kids who need additional help. The 4th grade teacher also has office hours where the kids are encouraged to ask her about anything. She's available via Zoom or chat which makes her more available for more kids. I feel confident that they're keeping up with peers, but I do think that's a combination of having absolutely phenomenal teachers, naturally gifted learners, and a mom who enjoys being a part of the process. It's certainly not that way for everyone, which is why I'm glad we have the option to choose...teachers included! (We actually had to ask more teachers to be virtual teachers. When given a choice, most chose to go back in person. The ones who were asked to be virtual will be the first to go back to teaching in-person when the numbers change. Those with medical reasons for staying home will most likely be home all year.)
This is how we end up with people being COVID is fake. 😫😭😭😭😭
My kid’s science teachers have to teach general Ed classes because of shortages so she doesn’t get science either. I’m looking for options to supplement so she gets science because I agree with you.
This is how we end up with people being COVID is fake. 😫😭😭😭😭
I agree. This is elementary only. First quarter only. (So far. I'm optimistic that the school is coming out with something for us to do the next 9 weeks. Supposedly there are kits coming. And my 4th grader did have something science-related about the environment today, but it was the first time that something came from school.) We don't typically get it every quarter anyway. I believe that grades 5/6 get it and know 100% that 7th grade and up have science. My 1st grader's teacher has several science pages linked on Schoology, so it's all there and available and encouraged for the kids to learn, it's just not being taught at the moment.
Funny enough, we just listed to the Brains On! podcast this week about vaccines and they were talking about COVID, too.
I'm trying to show grace. They've been working their butts off and have produced something that I feel is on par or better than any other virtual option out there, balancing screen time, whole-child health, teacher's needs and abilities, etc. I'm glad that the teachers were given time to get their feet underneath them, and now I'm waiting to see how the next quarter will go.
Velar Fricative, the Brains On podcast is a great science podcast for kids. We've also done some lessons from Mystery Science. I didn't do a paid subscription, but shared it on FB and I guess enough of my friends signed up that it opened more lessons for us for free.
This is how we end up with people being COVID is fake. 😫😭😭😭😭
My kid’s science teachers have to teach general Ed classes because of shortages so she doesn’t get science either. I’m looking for options to supplement so she gets science because I agree with you.
Have her watch some Mark Rober videos on YouTube. He does a great job of both explaining science, and making it fun. We love his stuff.
Post by irishbride2 on Oct 23, 2020 19:40:44 GMT -5
Our school is still doing great. We have had two cases total since August....the second of which happened today. Unfortunately it was my 7 year old’s class so virtual for two weeks it is . Ugh.
Post by susquehanna on Oct 24, 2020 19:49:30 GMT -5
At one of the high schools in my area, a bunch of parents got together and planned their own, non-school-sanctioned homecoming dance. They rented a ballroom in a hotel. The normal occupancy is 440, and under state low, they are allowed to have 220 occupants under Covid restrictions. So, they sold 150 tickets for the thing. They made attendees sign a liability waiver. The "homecoming dance" is tonight.
This is the list from our district website of our COVID + student/employee numbers (only lists people who were on campus/school property, so no remote or virtual kids). We have roughly 62K students this year. Most of our high schools have been listed weekly since we opened, elementary hasn't been hit as hard (DD's elementary has had zero recorded cases). It starts with the week of August 31st, and ends with this past week (our 8th week fully open with remote and virtual options, too).