Are you sending your kids to school next month?

[quandrea]

Mine is feeling that way now. It's going to be a loooonnggg year.

Have you considered pulling your child? My daughter just finished her first week of independent online high school. She’s as happy as a clam. Covered tons of content, got to have pool time, worked part time. Her year will be unaffected by Covid. I’m in Canada, where we have an independent learning centre. Surely the states has something similar, removed from this synchronous/asynchronous remote learning model offered by the boards of education?

You mentioned that summer vacation assignment was pre calculus. My dd is in her final year this year. There is just too much, important curriculum to waste time.

 

[Southernmiss]

Our doctor did not "sign off" on self administer until my kids were in HS, age 15 (even though both my ds's started HS at 14). It was his policy, he did it by age not ability and it was across the board for all his patients. Then I went to my kid's pediatrician to get them to do it but because my kids were under the care of another doctor they wouldn't.
So yes I took it upon myself to let my boys carry their inhalers and my one ds his epi-pen because I as their parent knew they knew when and how to use them. And if the school ever gave me any issue I would have hired an attorney and do what I needed to to make sure my children were never at risk.
That is me doing "my" work.

As far as school this year- my ds started his all online classes this past week.
I have the pleasure of listening in and wish I couldn't hear TBH. One of his first assignments was to send the teacher a picture of something you did over the summer and next class you can discuss it.
My ds is a Senior, and this was either in his pre-calc class, or his dual enrollment college English class, I'm assuming the latter.
The online classes are 20 minutes shorter than they would be in-person, and almost 10 minutes of that is ending up with the teacher taking attendance, because students can't be seen, or heard or participating through chat instead of video. So that leaves 15, maybe 20 minutes of instruction 4 days a week since one day a week is left for asynchronous learning. And we've got a teacher wanting to hear what 16/17 year olds did during their summer vacation, which will take 5 days to go through the whole class

And in my above post about our daughter in 2019, our doctor DID sign off and asked the school to make accomodations. To which, even at the district level, they refused.

That's when the Doctor was furious and demanded that dd start homebound instruction immediately that day.

There are some places where there is too much power and not enough compassion.

 

[DisneyOma]

A heads up to all parents with kids on IEPs: While it seems most teachers are staying the course, the paraprofessionals are playing the doctor's note game and there will be fewer paras in with the kids. Check to make sure your child has the coverage needed, with appropriate staff. I'm an academic tutor, and got pulled out of classes yesterday because 4 of our 9 paras are refusing to come in the building, but want to stay on the payroll. I will be with the substantially separate population (I love them, and am happy to be with them) with my bachelor's degree in multiple sciences (bio, chem, physics) and math. The kids in science and math who have support in their IEPs are now getting online paras who do not know the subject at all. Good luck to all those kids, and those paras better not come to me for help. They're the ones that refused to come in, but made it into the building to stick their noses into the scheduling. It's incredibly frustrating.

 

[Hikergirl]

Have you considered pulling your child? My daughter just finished her first week of independent online high school. She’s as happy as a clam. Covered tons of content, got to have pool time, worked part time. Her year will be unaffected by Covid. I’m in Canada, where we have an independent learning centre. Surely the states has something similar, removed from this synchronous/asynchronous remote learning model offered by the boards of education?

You mentioned that summer vacation assignment was pre calculus. My dd is in her final year this year. There is just too much, important curriculum to waste time.

He is in his last year, and if all goes well he will be returning to in-person classes at the end of October. He is also taking 5 of his college courses through the HS so he'll have one semester done when he starts next year, I'm not sure he can do that independently.
We'll just stick it out but if this was his first year in HS I'd be pulling him.

 

[quandrea]

He is in his last year, and if all goes well he will be returning to in-person classes at the end of October. He is also taking 5 of his college courses through the HS so he'll have one semester done when he starts next year, I'm not sure he can do that independently.
We'll just stick it out but if this was his first year in HS I'd be pulling him.

Good luck with it all. Not easy, for sure.

 

[monsterkitty]

And in my above post about our daughter in 2019, our doctor DID sign off and asked the school to make accomodations. To which, even at the district level, they refused.

That's when the Doctor was furious and demanded that dd start homebound instruction immediately that day.

There are some places where there is too much power and not enough compassion.

That school was breaking the law that was passed by a previous administration.

For the record, I am that kid who carried her inhaler without permission from the school so I do get it. But as a teacher I've also seen the consequences of students using someone else's medication.

 

[mjkacmom]

A heads up to all parents with kids on IEPs: While it seems most teachers are staying the course, the paraprofessionals are playing the doctor's note game and there will be fewer paras in with the kids. Check to make sure your child has the coverage needed, with appropriate staff. I'm an academic tutor, and got pulled out of classes yesterday because 4 of our 9 paras are refusing to come in the building, but want to stay on the payroll. I will be with the substantially separate population (I love them, and am happy to be with them) with my bachelor's degree in multiple sciences (bio, chem, physics) and math. The kids in science and math who have support in their IEPs are now getting online paras who do not know the subject at all. Good luck to all those kids, and those paras better not come to me for help. They're the ones that refused to come in, but made it into the building to stick their noses into the scheduling. It's incredibly frustrating.

Do aids even get paid more than minimum? I wouldn’t be thrilled having to work in very close proximity to students with low pay.

 

[mom2rtk]

If i had school aged children, I would be sending them. No if's and's or butts.

Same.

Local district has now quietly completed 3 weeks of in person classes (high school has a split schedule, other grades in person except for the 20% who opted 100% virtual).

 

[DisneyOma]

Do aids even get paid more than minimum? I wouldn’t be thrilled having to work in very close proximity to students with low pay.

Our just-hired aides start off at $13.50 or so with just a HS diploma or GED. The highest hourly wage right now is around $28.00 an hour. So some of the most academically prepared aides have been pulled from the academic classes and placed in the life skills classes. They'll do that job well, but the aides without the experience and background in the academic classes will have to do a lot of studying on their own time to be able to help the students in the academic classes. At least that's what I've witnessed in our school. And I won't be helping them as my hands will be full with learning a new curriculum as well, plus I've had at least one academic class added to my workload. I do have a few kids on my caseload who can reach out to me for extra help if their assigned aide can't help them, but that will be documented and I'll be compensated for the extra work, maybe? Probably not, actually, but I won't let the kids struggle.

 

[goodeats]

Our district finally announced, depending on if the county still meet the governor's criteria, we will go back hybrid 9/29 (9/28 is a Jewish holiday that we always get off). I feel very confident in our district's plan. The plexiglass has been in place for weeks and the kids are only on campus for 2 1/2 hours. I mean if you can go to a movie and wear a mask, you can go to school!

If I lived in LA county I would be very upset right now.

 

[sk!mom]

It's federal law that requires schools to allow students with proper documentation to carry life-saving medical treatment. The law requires that students who need inhalers, EPI pens, or other medication to be carried on them that parents and doctors complete the necessary paper work. So your child can carry their inhaler if you return the proper paper work to the school. This is on the parent to do their work as well.

Our doctor did not "sign off" on self administer until my kids were in HS, age 15 (even though both my ds's started HS at 14). It was his policy, he did it by age not ability and it was across the board for all his patients. Then I went to my kid's pediatrician to get them to do it but because my kids were under the care of another doctor they wouldn't.
So yes I took it upon myself to let my boys carry their inhalers and my one ds his epi-pen because I as their parent knew they knew when and how to use them. And if the school ever gave me any issue I would have hired an attorney and do what I needed to to make sure my children were never at risk.
That is me doing "my" work.

As far as school this year- my ds started his all online classes this past week.
I have the pleasure of listening in and wish I couldn't hear TBH. One of his first assignments was to send the teacher a picture of something you did over the summer and next class you can discuss it.
My ds is a Senior, and this was either in his pre-calc class, or his dual enrollment college English class, I'm assuming the latter.
The online classes are 20 minutes shorter than they would be in-person, and almost 10 minutes of that is ending up with the teacher taking attendance, because students can't be seen, or heard or participating through chat instead of video. So that leaves 15, maybe 20 minutes of instruction 4 days a week since one day a week is left for asynchronous learning. And we've got a teacher wanting to hear what 16/17 year olds did during their summer vacation, which will take 5 days to go through the whole class

My nephew has been self carry of an epipen since age 10. He is highly allergic to many things and the epipen always had to be with him- In the the classroom, handed off to the PE teacher, handed off to someone in the cafeteria. The nurse’s office was too far away, and the risk of him not getting to the pen in time was too great. His school was relieved when his doctor declared him mature enough to carry it on his person and self administer if necessary. They no longer had the responsibility of making sure the pen was in whatever room he was in with an adult trained to use it.

On another note, this is a super tough time to be a teacher. We are the point of delivery so we are judged for every decision, hiccup, or lack of planning. But, in my district, at least, we are completely removed from any decision making and have received 1 hour of training in Schoology which our district switched to for those choosing in person instruction. And zero training in virtual, so if that happens many will be no better than last spring. My district instructed us to spend the first two weeks on Social emotional. Buying into this idea that every kids is stressed and needed to ease back in. My team of 3 have over 20 years of experience each so we spent the first 3 days doing that along with our typical “getting to know you” stuff as well as practicing Schoology use in case we should end up back at home. On the first Monday, we dove into full academics. The 60% who chose in person were ready. They don’t want to waste time and neither do their parents.

 

[Renarr]

As far as school this year- my ds started his all online classes this past week.
I have the pleasure of listening in and wish I couldn't hear TBH. One of his first assignments was to send the teacher a picture of something you did over the summer and next class you can discuss it.
My ds is a Senior, and this was either in his pre-calc class, or his dual enrollment college English class, I'm assuming the latter.
The online classes are 20 minutes shorter than they would be in-person, and almost 10 minutes of that is ending up with the teacher taking attendance, because students can't be seen, or heard or participating through chat instead of video. So that leaves 15, maybe 20 minutes of instruction 4 days a week since one day a week is left for asynchronous learning. And we've got a teacher wanting to hear what 16/17 year olds did during their summer vacation, which will take 5 days to go through the whole class

You mentioned that summer vacation assignment was pre calculus. My dd is in her final year this year. There is just too much, important curriculum to waste time.

Just sharing this tidbit from the educator side: there's been a huge push (at least in my district) to do lots of Social Emotional Learning pieces, and in some of our buildings, mandates to not cover any new material until all students are seated (which hasn't yet happened here at the end of week 2!).

There are definitely some educators much more strongly on-board with this than others. I'd consider myself in the boat of "towing the company line in my classroom," but not really thrilled about it. (And yes, I've met the teachers who would do Social Emotional Learning all year long if they could; they annoy me, too.) I recognize the importance of Social Emotional Learning, but we only have 40% of our normal amount of teaching time, so some things have to give. My district's answer is content, but that's hard when you're trying to teach AP...

 

[quandrea]

Just sharing this tidbit from the educator side: there's been a huge push (at least in my district) to do lots of Social Emotional Learning pieces, and in some of our buildings, mandates to not cover any new material until all students are seated (which hasn't yet happened here at the end of week 2!).

There are definitely some educators much more strongly on-board with this than others. I'd consider myself in the boat of "towing the company line in my classroom," but not really thrilled about it. (And yes, I've met the teachers who would do Social Emotional Learning all year long if they could; they annoy me, too.) I recognize the importance of Social Emotional Learning, but we only have 40% of our normal amount of teaching time, so some things have to give. My district's answer is content, but that's hard when you're trying to teach AP...

You see, hearing this bothers me. I handle the social emotional needs of my kids. I want a school to cover content. I homeschool now, but I’m also a teacher. I’m keenly aware of instructional days and I’ve got content to cover! Felt this way when I was in the classroom as well. There is so much to get done and so much to learn. I never want to waste a minute.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

As far as school this year- my ds started his all online classes this past week.
I have the pleasure of listening in and wish I couldn't hear TBH. One of his first assignments was to send the teacher a picture of something you did over the summer and next class you can discuss it.
My ds is a Senior, and this was either in his pre-calc class, or his dual enrollment college English class, I'm assuming the latter.
The online classes are 20 minutes shorter than they would be in-person, and almost 10 minutes of that is ending up with the teacher taking attendance, because students can't be seen, or heard or participating through chat instead of video. So that leaves 15, maybe 20 minutes of instruction 4 days a week since one day a week is left for asynchronous learning. And we've got a teacher wanting to hear what 16/17 year olds did during their summer vacation, which will take 5 days to go through the whole class

My district instructed us to spend the first two weeks on Social emotional. Buying into this idea that every kids is stressed and needed to ease back in. My team of 3 have over 20 years of experience each so we spent the first 3 days doing that along with our typical “getting to know you” stuff as well as practicing Schoology use in case we should end up back at home. On the first Monday, we dove into full academics. The 60% who chose in person were ready. They don’t want to waste time and neither do their parents.

Just sharing this tidbit from the educator side: there's been a huge push (at least in my district) to do lots of Social Emotional Learning pieces, and in some of our buildings, mandates to not cover any new material until all students are seated (which hasn't yet happened here at the end of week 2!).

There are definitely some educators much more strongly on-board with this than others. I'd consider myself in the boat of "towing the company line in my classroom," but not really thrilled about it. (And yes, I've met the teachers who would do Social Emotional Learning all year long if they could; they annoy me, too.) I recognize the importance of Social Emotional Learning, but we only have 40% of our normal amount of teaching time, so some things have to give. My district's answer is content, but that's hard when you're trying to teach AP...

My school has told teachers the same thing. We cannot just teach the curriculum; we have to also address the social-emotional needs of our students and create a bond with each of them. It’s all a little much if you ask me. But no one asked me. We just have to do what we are told.

 

[SamFaniam]

You see, hearing this bothers me. I handle the social emotional needs of my kids. I want a school to cover content. I homeschool now, but I’m also a teacher. I’m keenly aware of instructional days and I’ve got content to cover! Felt this way when I was in the classroom as well. There is so much to get done and so much to learn. I never want to waste a minute.

I think one of the challenges today is that students are coming from a wide variety of home experiences. Some kids have been able to safely stay home this whole time, as have their parents. Other students may be very concerned because their parents were essential workers and we’re not able to stay home. Kids are nervous about wearing masks, and not wearing masks. Kids are worried about social distancing and not social distancing. Kids may be worried about being an online student, but kids may also be concerned about going to school in person. A number of families may be having financial difficulties due to jobs being lost. School may be the first piece of normality that students have had since March. So, it’s great that you handle the social emotional needs for your kids, but that isn’t necessarily true for all the students. Schools, and individual teachers, do you need to think about all of their students.

 

[quandrea]

I think one of the challenges today is that students are coming from a wide variety of home experiences. Some kids have been able to safely stay home this whole time, as have their parents. Other students may be very concerned because their parents were essential workers and we’re not able to stay home. Kids are nervous about wearing masks, and not wearing masks. Kids are worried about social distancing and not social distancing. Kids may be worried about being an online student, but kids may also be concerned about going to school in person. A number of families may be having financial difficulties due to jobs being lost. School may be the first piece of normality that students have had since March. So, it’s great that you handle the social emotional needs for your kids, but that isn’t necessarily true for all the students. Schools, and individual teachers, do you need to think about all of their students.

Yeah, not buying it. If this is the first dose of normality since March, let’s keep it normal by getting to work. By covering curriculum in a safe, nurturing environment, a teacher builds the bond. We don’t need to afford special, set aside time for social emotional temperature taking. Get on with the math, science, reading and writing in an engaging way and have high expectations. Succeeding academically can do wonders for a child’s mood.

 

[monsterkitty]

Yeah, not buying it. If this is the first dose of normality since March, let’s keep it normal by getting to work. By covering curriculum in a safe, nurturing environment, a teacher builds the bond. We don’t need to afford special, set aside time for social emotional temperature taking. Get on with the math, science, reading and writing in an engaging way and have high expectations. Succeeding academically can do wonders for a child’s mood.

My district is 90% free and reduced lunch. We went remote March 13. Since March 13, they have served over 800,000 meals to the community. We started by just feeding the kids but parents and guardians started asking if they could get food as well.

Our kids can't learn if they don't have food. They don't learn if they're worried about where they are going to sleep that night, if they're going to be evicted, or if their parents are going to come home safe. Until COVID hit, we opened the locker rooms in the morning for kids to shower because some don't have running water because their parents can't pay the bills. Some kids were embarrassed to come to school because they didn't have clean clothes so we added more washer and dryers.

Surviving day to day often takes precedence over learning. We have to do the social emotional because our kids need it. Having a safe person to talk to, realizing you're not the only one who is homeless, has no electricity, or water, or that other students have lost a parent allows for a child to feel safer and not like they're on their own little island.

Our students have an 8 hour school day. The first 30 minutes of each day is breakfast and social emotional in the academic enrichment class. We've been doing this for about 5 years now and our test scores have steadily increased each year and we are now a performance school.

Social emotional education works.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

A heads up to all parents with kids on IEPs: While it seems most teachers are staying the course, the paraprofessionals are playing the doctor's note game and there will be fewer paras in with the kids.

Do you know each person's individual medical history and reasons for not being able to work in-person? I would be careful about saying they're "playing the doctor's note game" without knowing their exact situations. I would tend to trust that they have an actual reason to stay away from groups of kids. This is a deadly virus with documented effects on people with certain underlying conditions. If a doctor says their patient is at higher risk of a bad outcome if they contract Covid, I would not judge them.

 

[quandrea]

My district is 90% free and reduced lunch. We went remote March 13. Since March 13, they have served over 800,000 meals to the community. We started by just feeding the kids but parents and guardians started asking if they could get food as well.

Our kids can't learn if they don't have food. They don't learn if they're worried about where they are going to sleep that night, if they're going to be evicted, or if their parents are going to come home safe. Until COVID hit, we opened the locker rooms in the morning for kids to shower because some don't have running water because their parents can't pay the bills. Some kids were embarrassed to come to school because they didn't have clean clothes so we added more washer and dryers.

Surviving day to day often takes precedence over learning. We have to do the social emotional because our kids need it. Having a safe person to talk to, realizing you're not the only one who is homeless, has no electricity, or water, or that other students have lost a parent allows for a child to feel safer and not like they're on their own little island.

Our students have an 8 hour school day. The first 30 minutes of each day is breakfast and social emotional in the academic enrichment class. We've been doing this for about 5 years now and our test scores have steadily increased each year and we are now a performance school.

Social emotional education works.

Fair enough. Well put.

Your description of your school reminds me of the final elementary school my daughter attended. Those kids absolutely needed all those services, but my daughter did not. She found the pace of the day glacial because all these other services were being provided. We decided to pull her so she could get the academics she needed.

I always taught in privileged socio economic areas where the social and emotional needs were probably less.

 

[Summer2018]

My DD is attending her NYC fashion school virtually.

If I could teach remotely from home, I would. My school has 2 cases that I know of, and we’ve only been open for 4 days.