My daughter is a teacher here in Massachusetts. She just received word that the state has just released guidelines for the fall. What will be required are social distancing of six feet at all times (desks 6 ft. Apart, 6ft apart entering and exiting or moving through the buildings, face masks at all times, one teacher with same kids all day, certain protocols for sick kids, etc.., smaller class sizes and reduced staff to student ratios, etc..
This is official for Massachusetts? Wow. I literally don't have the space in my classroom to make this happen.
We don't have any official news about what we're doing next fall, but I'm expecting something similar to what you've said -- but with some type of an A Day /B Day thing so that we'll split the student body in half. We only have so many classrooms and so many teachers. Will this happen? Time will tell.
My county is opening an online high school next fall. I understand over 300 students are already registered for it -- and it's only been "out there" a month or so. I get the appeal, and I get the appeal of knowing NOW. It's kind of like offering parents an option to homeschool ... without having to do the curriculum yourself. And since the kids will officially be in public school, it'd be easy to transfer right back into the classroom year after next (when hopefully we have a vaccine).
How would the same teacher all day work in a middle or a high school where kids change classes and teachers are specialized for different subjects?
I suspect the poster was thinking about elementary students. This wouldn't work in high school --
maybe it would work in middle school IF the teachers changed classrooms instead of the students.
I can only speak for my district, but our classrooms just aren’t big enough for six-foot social distancing with the amount of students we have. Additionally, it’s pretty unrealistic to expect children to constantly be aware of staying 6 feet apart from one another throughout the day - there is only one teacher, and they can’t always be watching/correcting everyone or they wouldn’t get any teaching done.
Exactly. My classroom is the size it is. I literally cannot space desks 6' apart -- not unless I have fewer students, or unless they alternate days.
Additionally, we have the problem of students being closer than 6' on the bus, in the hallway, in the bathrooms. We can have lunches delivered to the classrooms, but that creates new challenges /extra work for the cafeteria ladies and the custodians -- those are the "invisible extras" that come with a change in schedule, but they must be "thought through".
Look, the whole point of the shut down was to slow the spread so the hospitals are not overwhelmed. As things open up the hospitals are not being overwhelmed - at least not where I am.
My RN daughter says, Loosening social distancing doesn't mean it's safe to go out -- it means that if you get sick, we have a spot for you in the ICU. That's not a rousing endorsement for reopening society.
As a teacher, I can tell you that from what I've read, these plans are not sustainable.
Agree. I hear those who are saying "give parents a voice", but those of us on the front lines see more clearly the potential pitfalls of these plans. The truth: No GOOD plan exists.
It's a pandemic. Yes, we might have to consider approaches we wouldn't under normal circumstances.
Right. I'll say it again, we're not going to find a GOOD plan.
I’m in Michigan and sports practices are starting up with limitations.
Yes, our fall sports are practicing -- but with restrictions so severe that they're really just doing jumping jacks and running.
A couple of things about sports that aren't necessarily evident at first glance: We need football and basketball "to happen". Those two sports bring in big bucks and essentially "carry" the rest of the sports programs -- skipping just football would seriously injure the sports program for the whole school; it could mean that golf and tennis can't fund a coach, for example. Also, lots of students hope for sport scholarships; not playing their senior year would be a personal disaster for them.
Are you speaking for everyone? In my family of 7, it hasn’t been ideal, but certainly not a disaster.
I could say the same thing -- I'd love to go out and get a haircut and a pedicure, but those are wants /not needs.
My family's doing fine. However, I am very conscious that we haven't lost income, our kids are out of school, and we live in a comfortable house with a yard, reliable internet and plenty of food.
Would it be so hard to just livestream every class, so that kids who can't go to school or who choose not to can at least feel like they are there? This seems like a really simple solution.
No, this isn't nearly as good as "being in school". Most kids -- over half -- NEED the structure of the classroom. Even if home has a quiet place and parents who say, "Have you done your lessons today?", the vast majority of our kids NEED the teacher to walk them through things, to anticipate potential problems, and to mentor them.
When we went home in March, we were told to give our students 1/3 the work we would have given in the classroom. Not a single one of my students did ALL the work I assigned. Most of them did about half of the work assigned. About 10% attempted literally no work after March. This is in spite of daily messages to all students, individual messages to students who were falling behind, and twice-weekly calls to parents.
It's not as simple as just changing the delivery method. A schedule, a structure and a real-life teacher in the same room works better. But we're not allowed better right now.
School is a shared experience we all go through as children but what you experienced as a child is vastly different then the reality of working there.
Yup, things look different on this side of the desk.
Thankfully I no longer have kids in the public schools but I do have grandchildren.
Yes, my family is in a good position too: my kids are out of school, and I don't yet have grandchildren.
What??? No dining halls? How are they supposed to eat? Yes, send me the link to the other thread - I am very interested in reading your other thread.
I read somewhere that cafeterias will be open for take-out only.
That’s kind of funny... I have three SIL’s who teach in Worcester and the impression they had is they will be in school a few weeks and then move online till after Christmas. It’s going to be interesting. Like I said before I’m glad we decided against sending our oldest to preschool this coming year.
No one has said so yet, but I think this is a definite possibility for our area. I could see our high schoolers coming in (on a staggered schedule so we only have a handful of students on any one day) for a couple days /let the teacher get to know them a bit /go over expectations /send home a big packet of worksheets to accompany future online assignments ... and then stay home 'til the end of the semester.
OR maybe students would come in once a week (10 on Mondays, 10 on Tuesdsays ...) so as to have SOME interaction with the teacher /go home each week with a packet of work. That's a much stronger choice than months-and-months of online learning.
