What do you think school will be like in the fall? UPDATE page 29 for Mass.

[Lumpy1106]

But then the student graduates with an unfamiliar class. It's a difficult choice. Give up the bonds the student had with his old class? My son is a senior this year and trust me it sucks but one of the things he does have is another layer of bonding with the class he grew up with. They're all experiencing this from a very similar perspective. It will be a very unique bond as the years go by because nobody else can understand it quite the same way they will.

Oh, no doubt and that has certainly entered the discussion. The class of 2020 will be unique because of this and more power to them. It's one thing if schools are shut down nation-wide, quite another if CA is going it alone - we'll see. If I wanted to home school my kids though, I would have done it from the start. I can't give them the social benefits they get from going to school though so it was never an option. That really hasn't changed.

 

[MrsBooch]

I'm definitely going to catch heat for this but I dont care anymore.
I'm hoping for regular school back to normal in the Fall. I was under the impression that we stayed home locked in to lessen the burden on an otherwise unprepared medical system. Our hospitals are better prepared now, they have the equipment they need and people are stacked up in the hallways without beds. We didn't stay home because the virus goes away if it can't find us in a mall. We stayed home to flatten the curve, it's happening. We didn't stay home to prevent all deaths.
The goal was unburdening the hospitals when we had no resources to help patients. The goal was never to stay home until there was no virus.

That's borderline absurd in my opinion given the timeline of typical viral treatment and vaccine development. The lock down was a bridge to get to manageable spot in terms of resource availability. Not a permanent solution until vaccine development. My child needs the developmental benefits of in person education. Period. I'm not talking about, lets open up so I can get a haircut. I'm talking about the very real benefit to social and emotional development found in an in person school setting.
If my kids school opens in the fall I'm 100% dropping him off on day one. They'll wash their hands, they'll Purell. I'm not keeping him in this house for an entire academic year or more. He's been home exactly 2 months today. We have another month of online school left for this year and that's totally fine and manageable. His teachers have been absolutely amazing with everything. But he is only hanging out with me, and his dad, and the dog (who has unwillingly become his emotional support animal).
He needs to GTFO of this house. He needs to have three dimensional learning.

 

[gotomu212]

My kids are in a private school preK-12th so they have a lot of flexibility, it’s also a school that provides electronics for everyone and has been utilizing online learning for snow days and online electives for years. They didn’t have the same hurdles for starting and it’s gone pretty well, but that’s not the common experience.

They told us last week that initially plans are to go back in August, but they already know there are some kids that can’t attend because they are medically vulnerable or have family that are and they are preparing to conduct all classes to allow virtual kids to fully participate and will be ready to go full online if needed day 1.

I do think they’ll have to be an uptick in homeschooling or school assisted home learning for vulnerable populations because there are a lot of kids out there with compromised immunity or living with parents that do need to continue to shelter.

 

[1GoldenSun]

I teach at a university where we went to virtual learning practically overnight, and were informed soon after that we would need to convert our summer classes to an online platform as well. I use our online platform extensively and am certified to teach online classes so this is no big deal for me but it's a big adjustment for many instructors. But you would not believe the level of support we have received and the amount of resources that have been made available to us. It may be a lot of work but I don't think anyone is going to struggle too much with this--there is just so much help if you need it; they're not letting anyone fall between the cracks. I'm sure it varies greatly from location to location and school to school across the U.S. but I'm not sure elementary through high school teachers are getting this level of support. Some may not need it, and I'm sure that many that do need it are getting it, but I'm also very sure that some teachers that could greatly use some help are just not getting it.

 

[Dole_whip_doll]

I know Khan academy is a great TOOL. Heck, every time my kids say they don't understand something, the first thing I say is, "did you check Khan academy?". But there is a HUGE difference between preparing and presenting your own lesson plan and just saying , meh, go watch this video on Khan academy. What you are doing may be more complex than this (and to that BRAVO!), but that is what we are experiencing. Oh, and BTW, the challenge teachers face is no different than the challenge presented, and met, by Engineers, Architects, etc. We were tossed in the deep end too. It's different, sure, but I have presented, and answered comments from groups numbering in the dozens, modifying the presentation on the fly. It can be done, and yes, other teachers are doing it too.

Clearly as someone who does a presentation you feel like an expert on teaching, because to you, they are the same thing.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Clearly as someone who does a presentation you feel like an expert on teaching, because to you, they are the same thing.

Oh stop it - not what I said. If you are succeeding, then kudos. It's not what we are seeing. There's nothing more to it.

Edit to add;
My point was it's just all the more reason why kids need to be back in school. Do you really want to continue virtual classrooms? I think we are on the same page here.

 

[1GoldenSun]

I have to say that I'm glad you understand how hard it can be for families with some learning difficulties. Both my kids have special education needs (my son is diagnosed with Asperger's and my daughter is diagnosed with ADHD) and school has been absolute HE*L for us most days! I've got 2 kiddos with a large age gap (my son is a junior in high school, my daughter is in elementary) who need very different educational support and I feel like I need to clone myself! I literally can't be there providing what each kid needs at the same time. When I'm helping my son with something I can't also be standing over my daughter and keeping her focussed, and vice-versa. Since I have to help one and then the other there are some days we don't finish school until 8:00 PM!!!!! Back before schools closed I worked in a classroom for low-functioning kids with autism. I am highly trained to help kiddos like mine but in order to provide the proper level of assistance that my kids need I am running myself ragged most days and there's no way any of the kids I normally work with at school are getting this level of assistance and education that I am fortunate to be able to provide to my own children, which makes me very sad for them and their parents. I am feeling mentally exhausted and beat down right now (and my kids are feeling pretty bad most days too, what with the stress of changing routines and not seeing their friends and teachers) and one of us breaks down in tears every single day (I don't cry around my kids though, I do my best to maintain the facade that everything is awesome and happy fun times, but I have had to excuse myself to let out the tears and stress at times) and I will be so happy when this school year finally ends!!! I'm praying for a miracle for next school year, that there will be some incredible scientific breakthrough over the summer that allows us all to go back to normal life. Or that our school district will lower expectations for kids with special needs for the next school year, so that I don't have to be so stressed about distance learning!

Awww...hang in there, @MrsCobraBubbles; you're doing great!

You are who I think of (not specifically of course) when I get a little bit frustrated about having my kids home all the time when I'm trying to get my own work done. I need to remind myself that I'm lucky that my kids' teachers have been pretty good about supplying lessons/work that are informative and clear, that my kids have been able to get the work done with minimal oversight from me, that they both have laptops and other necessary supplies, and that my work is very flexible so I do have time to spend with them when I think it's necessary or we just all need a break. And we have not been financially impacted, and are in an almost perfect living situation for quarantining, and I don't even know anyone who is sick. When I get frustrated I think of people living in small apartments in crowded buildings, with no yards or places to walk, people who have economic worries, people who are trying to work from home and keep small children occupied simultaneously, and people like you, who through no fault of your own are in such a stressful situation.

So even though the online learning has been working well for my family, for your sake and for the sake of many other families like yours, I really hope things are back to normal by fall.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

It's too early to tell at this point. The teachers at my son's school have been told to prepare plans A(everyone back at school), B(complete online learning) AND C(some hybrid of the 2). That way they can handle whatever the fall looks like. I think it will be some sort of plan C.


Hopefully with the entire summer to do so, they can come back with a much more cohesive plan than what we had the last few weeks.

 

[HeatherC]

I know Khan academy is a great TOOL. Heck, every time my kids say they don't understand something, the first thing I say is, "did you check Khan academy?". But there is a HUGE difference between preparing and presenting your own lesson plan and just saying , meh, go watch this video on Khan academy. What you are doing may be more complex than this (and to that BRAVO!), but that is what we are experiencing. Oh, and BTW, the challenge teachers face is no different than the challenge presented, and met, by Engineers, Architects, etc. We were tossed in the deep end too. It's different, sure, but I have presented, and answered comments from groups numbering in the dozens, modifying the presentation on the fly. It can be done, and yes, other teachers are doing it too.

I understand where you are coming from regarding having to do things after being tossed in the deep end. But in this instance, many many teachers have literally not been provided with literally ANYTHING to help them get this underway. They have to use their own laptops or phones even which may not have the technical capabilities required to be successful. They also don’t have any supplies in some cases because they weren’t even allowed to go back to their classrooms to get any resources. Plus, they are all paying for their own internet connections...some of which the speeds may not even be capable of making this all work the right way.
I have teacher friends all over the country who are now working many many more hours than they ever were. They are stressed to the max and are truly trying to do their absolute best for their students. Please let’s not blame the teachers.

 

[HeatherC]

Here is how school started back in China.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1254590781446410240

Luckily, we are not China.

 

[AP1209]

I think school will be back to normal for the most part. I wouldn't be surprised if they did temperature checks at the beginning of the school day and sending kids with fevers home. I also think they are working on plan b incase school has to be shut down for the second wave. If we have to shut down again it should go much smoother. Took us about 3 weeks to get into a good rhythm.

 

[lifesavacation]

I understand where you are coming from regarding having to do things after being tossed in the deep end. But in this instance, many many teachers have literally not been provided with literally ANYTHING to help them get this underway. They have to use their own laptops or phones even which may not have the technical capabilities required to be successful. They also don’t have any supplies in some cases because they weren’t even allowed to go back to their classrooms to get any resources. Plus, they are all paying for their own internet connections...some of which the speeds may not even be capable of making this all work the right way.
I have teacher friends all over the country who are now working many many more hours than they ever were. They are stressed to the max and are truly trying to do their absolute best for their students. Please let’s not blame the teachers.

I would think that teachers will be able to deduct portions of mortgages and rent and utilities on their taxes next year. This is no different than having a home business. It doesn’t help them today, but they should get tax relief down the road.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

Luckily, we are not China.

Am I the only one thinking that preschool and kindergarten teachers would love these? No more battles over "hands and feet to yourselves," or "we don't lick our friends," etc etc etc

 

[HeatherC]

I'm definitely going to catch heat for this but I dont care anymore.
I'm hoping for regular school back to normal in the Fall. I was under the impression that we stayed home locked in to lessen the burden on an otherwise unprepared medical system. Our hospitals are better prepared now, they have the equipment they need and people are stacked up in the hallways without beds. We didn't stay home because the virus goes away if it can't find us in a mall. We stayed home to flatten the curve, it's happening. We didn't stay home to prevent all deaths.
The goal was unburdening the hospitals when we had no resources to help patients. The goal was never to stay home until there was no virus.

That's borderline absurd in my opinion given the timeline of typical viral treatment and vaccine development. The lock down was a bridge to get to manageable spot in terms of resource availability. Not a permanent solution until vaccine development. My child needs the developmental benefits of in person education. Period. I'm not talking about, lets open up so I can get a haircut. I'm talking about the very real benefit to social and emotional development found in an in person school setting.
If my kids school opens in the fall I'm 100% dropping him off on day one. They'll wash their hands, they'll Purell. I'm not keeping him in this house for an entire academic year or more. He's been home exactly 2 months today. We have another month of online school left for this year and that's totally fine and manageable. His teachers have been absolutely amazing with everything. But he is only hanging out with me, and his dad, and the dog (who has unwillingly become his emotional support animal).
He needs to GTFO of this house. He needs to have three dimensional learning.

I agree with this actually. I’m just not sure what is actually going to happen if cases are still rising when September rolls around. I do think parts of the country won’t begin to see what NY has until the fall.

 

[TLSnell1981]

You are scared and that's okay.

I really think now the news needs to start reporting ALL of the statistics, not just deaths and new cases.

If people can actually see the numbers of positives that did not need hospitalization, the number of positives vs the number of tests, the number of those hospitalized that were discharged - then people wouldn't be as scared anymore.

Every new virus has a surge of deaths in the beginning. Not to say we shouldn't have done what we did, still wear masks, still social distance be looking for vaccines, treatments etc., but it's also time to start looking to open up life again. And not waiting for a vaccine or successful treatment.

#FlattenTheFear

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

I understand where you are coming from regarding having to do things after being tossed in the deep end. But in this instance, many many teachers have literally not been provided with literally ANYTHING to help them get this underway. They have to use their own laptops or phones even which may not have the technical capabilities required to be successful. They also don’t have any supplies in some cases because they weren’t even allowed to go back to their classrooms to get any resources. Plus, they are all paying for their own internet connections...some of which the speeds may not even be capable of making this all work the right way.
I have teacher friends all over the country who are now working many many more hours than they ever were. They are stressed to the max and are truly trying to do their absolute best for their students. Please let’s not blame the teachers.

Exactly, it's so easy as parents to get frustrated with what the teachers are or are not doing, but we need to remember that most of them had a very very short window of time to switch to online learning. Not to mention that a lot of them had to do this while overseeing their own children and making sure their schoolwork got done, too. My youngest's poor teacher had a baby in late February. I got frustrated with her on multiple occasions but kept it to myself because she was doing all this plus caring for a newborn. She was supposed to be on maternity leave through all this, but apparently her substitute abandoned her because we never heard a single word from her again.

Now, hopefully once this school year is over schools can put some time and resources into putting a plan together so that if we have to do this again it won't be so stressful for teachers or parents.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Sorry for the off-topic, but I need to voice my thoughts and should be free to the same as everyone else was.


Death happens daily regardless, whether or not you see it or the death toll gets posted on the nightly news.


People die alone all the time. They're found dead in their kitchen floor after having a heart attack when no one was home to save them. They die before family can get in to see them. They die on the operating table with only doctors and nurses around them. None of this is new, and all of it will continue to happen for the rest of human existence.

My dad died March 4th, only 67 years old, long before his time. I am grieving a loved one who has died. But death comes for everyone. Every one of us will die, and so will every person we love. Maybe fifty years from now. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe from old age. But also maybe from an accident, or cancer, or the flu, or COVID. That isn't changing.

And as upsetting as my dad's death was, you know what else is upsetting? Watching my husband's business, that he poured his heart and soul into for years, that he sold every personal belonging he had to fund, crumble. Worrying about whether or not we will be able to pay rent next month. Listening to our friend who is likely going to have to file bankruptcy because his business is sunk. Buying groceries for a friend after he confessed that he, his wife, and his two children had each been eating half a peanut butter sandwich a day for several weeks because neither he nor his wife have worked since the beginning of March, they got whatever they could from the food pantry, and their two children aren't school-going age so the programs to still give kids school lunch wasn't extended to them. Having a friend institutionalized on suicide watch after she lost everything from months of not working. You have your concerns, I have mine.

I have an autoimmune disease. My mom is in her 70s. My best friend is immunocompromised. And yet we are all in agreement that life cannot continue this way. We can't go months with tens of millions of people unable to provide for themselves.

No malice meant here and I hope everyone stays safe and well.

And back on the subject of school: virtual school is definitely not ideal. I worry about the development of children staring at computer screens. I worry about kids going without human interaction outside of their families. I worry about the intellectual divides that are inevitable, because not all parents are cut out to teach their kids, and not all have the resources to do so effectively. I worry about children with special needs. The purpose of public school was to give kids as level a playing field as possible, and that has now been totally upended. That's very bad.

 

[mom2rtk]

#FlattenTheFear

People are more compliant when they are more fearful.

 

[Kittyblue]

They sent home chromebooks in DDs district with any kids that wanted/needed one. There's been discussion of doing an am/pm schedule. My guess is maybe 1/2 days or alternating days with in person instruction from teachers and chromebook work at home.

Whatever they do, it's more of a show of effort than actual effectiveness. Putting 15 kids in a classroom together isn't much better than 30 if one of them is sick and exposes everyone. Trying to keeps kids from being in close contact with each other is going to be impossible, too.

 

[TLSnell1981]

People are more compliant when they are more fearful.

This may be true for some...and it's not healthy.