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Coronavirus
- Sagrilarus
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Sagrilarus wrote: ... local school districts are keeping their cards hidden on how they're thinking of proceeding. I'm happy to see ideas thrown out there, especially since I have no qualifications in the topic.
The local schools have no cards. Atleast here they don’t. The cards are all in the hands of the state. The most recent dictates here are that face masks will be worn, class size must be reduced to 50%, so that they can social distance in the classroom, and students can only come in contact with the students In their class and one adult (ie their teacher). The logistics of this is left up to the individual school system. They are still trying to figure it out.
Several districts have announced that they are going to 4 day weeks with students attending on alternating days. The state has also provided money to the towns for more remote learning and services - like purchasing subscriptions for online programs - so on the days students aren’t in school they can use those.
They are still trying to figure out how to meet the the requirements for special needs students. Like what about students that require an aide, that would mean that that there would be two adults or more in the classroom. Or students that receive multiple services like OT and speech therapy. The law requires that students who are recommended for evaluation be tested, which means yet another adult over the one adult limit that needs to meet with them f2f. And of course there are all kinds of issues with transportation and buses.
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For schools, if I remained here in the USA the local school sent everyone a survey asking if our children wanted to do 2 days in person 3 distance learning or full distance learning. Frankly there isn't an ideal solution amidst this backdrop. When we go back the kids will be in the classroom every day but the teachers (who aren't allowed entry by the Chinese) will be zooming in each day with the class run by local TAs.
The thing that is the most infuriating about this whole situation is that if 100% of people wore masks 100% of the time outside their house, stopped going to bars/worship/stadiums, kept social distance, sanitized hands after every shop, and showered upon getting home for the day we would lick this thing to the point of only needing contact tracing.
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mtagge wrote: I'm not thrilled to be going back, but it is better safety wise.
Sure is.
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Imagine if three months ago, the president had addressed the country to say that being able to safely open schools in September is our primary goal. We're going to spend the summer months doing everything we can -- making plans, making contingency plans, hiring staff, distributing resources -- to this one goal. And then he describes what we as citizens and consumers can do to make that goal a reality (social distancing, wash hands, wear masks in public). Make opening schools into a Kennedy-esque "put a man on the moon by the end of decade" type national goal, then never stop talking about it for the entire summer. Force Congress to pass spending bills to support schools in their efforts. Force manufacturers to shift production to whatever materials are needed -- disinfectant, desks, masks, etc. Make it a focused, nationwide, all-hands-on-deck effort.
Then imagine all the positive side effects. It removes the INSANE politicization of mask wearing. Someone who doesn't wear a mask is basically saying, "to hell with children and their education," and no one would say that (I hope). The economy improves slowly and steadily as people get used to taking the necessary precautions in their everyday life. And workers aren't faced with the impossible choice that's looming over all of us come September -- quit my job to babysit my kids who are stuck at home doing online learning, or continue working knowing that my kids are safe at school.
But unfortunately that kind of inspirational leadership is gone. Instead we've spent three months treading water, and in some cases, going backwards.
I think the best-case scenario is some sort of hybrid model where kids are in school on a rotating schedule. It's going to be a nightmare, and it was all predictable and preventable.
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ubarose wrote:
Sagrilarus wrote: ... local school districts are keeping their cards hidden on how they're thinking of proceeding. I'm happy to see ideas thrown out there, especially since I have no qualifications in the topic.
The local schools have no cards. Atleast here they don’t. The cards are all in the hands of the state. The most recent dictates here are that face masks will be worn, class size must be reduced to 50%, so that they can social distance in the classroom, and students can only come in contact with the students In their class and one adult (ie their teacher). The logistics of this is left up to the individual school system. They are still trying to figure it out.
Several districts have announced that they are going to 4 day weeks with students attending on alternating days. The state has also provided money to the towns for more remote learning and services - like purchasing subscriptions for online programs - so on the days students aren’t in school they can use those.
They are still trying to figure out how to meet the the requirements for special needs students. Like what about students that require an aide, that would mean that that there would be two adults or more in the classroom. Or students that receive multiple services like OT and speech therapy. The law requires that students who are recommended for evaluation be tested, which means yet another adult over the one adult limit that needs to meet with them f2f. And of course there are all kinds of issues with transportation and buses.
At my daughter's school (University of Cincinnati), they're planning on reopening. Some classes have been moved to online-only, but all of my daughter's classes are in-person. While the academic calendar is still the same as it was, the kids will be chased out of the dorms on the week of Thanksgiving. Some dorm rooms are reducing the number of students per room, but hers is not because it's already 1 bed/room and 2 roommates/bathroom. Dining halls will still be open, with social distancing and enhanced sanitation in place, etc.
Given the increasing current number of cases, UC's plans look more like wishful thinking than plans. This could be my pessimism about the whole thing, but I suspect that (assuming that Hamilton Co. doesn't get locked down by the state of Ohio by the end of August) it'll all blow up by the end of September. My tinfoil hat says that UC (and a lot of other colleges) are using these plans as fig leaves to get kids back to school to pay in-person rates for a semester of online courses. If the number of cases recedes or stays the same, great. If not, they send everyone back home and refund part of their costs.
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- hotseatgames
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Joebot wrote: I sometimes like to play a depressing game of "Imagine If We Had a Competent Functioning Federal Government."
Or we could have a president who likes to tweet about television ratings.
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hotseatgames wrote:
Joebot wrote: I sometimes like to play a depressing game of "Imagine If We Had a Competent Functioning Federal Government."
Or we could have a president who likes to tweet about television ratings.
The irony of it is that if that piece of fucking garbage had just blown the dust off the pandemic response plan that was left for him to follow, given it to his underlings, and said, "Do this," he'd be cruising to a reelection. Now his efforts to wish and ignore all this away, while simultaneously wetting his beak in whatever two-bit scheme his crooked-ass minions could concoct, is going to cost him the Presidency. Not that I'm complaining.
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This paragraph is so difficult to read. Not in an understanding sense, but in a sense that if this happened during any other presidency we would be out of the woods already.Joebot wrote: Imagine if three months ago, the president had addressed the country to say that being able to safely open schools in September is our primary goal. We're going to spend the summer months doing everything we can -- making plans, making contingency plans, hiring staff, distributing resources -- to this one goal. And then he describes what we as citizens and consumers can do to make that goal a reality (social distancing, wash hands, wear masks in public). Make opening schools into a Kennedy-esque "put a man on the moon by the end of decade" type national goal, then never stop talking about it for the entire summer. Force Congress to pass spending bills to support schools in their efforts. Force manufacturers to shift production to whatever materials are needed -- disinfectant, desks, masks, etc. Make it a focused, nationwide, all-hands-on-deck effort.
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I am strongly considering doing my will stuff which I have never gotten around to (no dependents so I let it slide for a long time) and making sure we have our do not resuscitate instructions in good order. University starts in less than a month. I am supposed to have 20 students in my classes in person at a time, rotating through.
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The broad outlines seem to be in-person school as normal, full distance learning, or a "hybrid" approach with classes separated into A and B groups who attend on alternating days. I'm really curious to see further details on this hybrid plan, because it doesn't seem to hold up to even 30 seconds of mild scrutiny in my head before collapsing due to all manner of impracticalities. My wife is absolutely DREADING it, as it clearly amounts to at least double the workload. On the other hand, distance learning has been an unmitigated disaster and the statistics seem to have borne it out.
Minnesota started out on a decent trajectory but we're tipping back into madness lately, currently missing the mark on 3 of the 5 metrics the administration set for reopening.
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- Sagrilarus
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Buses would be one kid per row, siblings could share.
Rooms require six feet separation, which he essentially said is unworkable.
I'm half expecting to see a circus tent go up on the baseball field.
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We started doing CDC recommended 6 feet of separation, but it became clear to admin that it wouldn't be "feasible" and would require a lot of manpower to measure and mark anyway. So now they've just said the classes will be split in half and it's up to instructors to organize the classroom. So no health logic to our in person arrangement. Honestly fuck off. Like a lot of people, if my job wasn't almost impossible to find again ever I'd refuse to do this. Instead, I'm fucked.
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Gary Sax wrote: You could do worse than the circus tent.
We started doing CDC recommended 6 feet of separation, but it became clear to admin that it wouldn't be "feasible" and would require a lot of manpower to measure and mark anyway. So now they've just said the classes will be split in half and it's up to instructors to organize the classroom. So no health logic to our in person arrangement. Honestly fuck off. Like a lot of people, if my job wasn't almost impossible to find again ever I'd refuse to do this. Instead, I'm fucked.
Maybe if you make it as easy as possible for your students to stay home and not attend class, this will mitigate this awful situation. For example, you could record your lectures/seminars, put them on a website, make attendance in person totally optional, and make one-on-one zoom or phone remote "check ins" with you part of the grade. In other words, you can do everything in your power to make it as easy as possible for your students to stay home even though classes are technically on.
I am teaching remotely this term for the first time and it is a terribly alienating experience, but I am grateful.
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