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School Talk

BiffTannen said:
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It’s pretty amazing how different universities are handling this. If we want to teach online we can. It’s as simple as that.
 
wakephan09 said:
Some schools were doing that last semester too. This is going to be a disaster
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My wife is an admin at a Fulton County, GA high school. I sat with her in our home office during the web meeting when the the Fulton County Board of Ed outlined their plans for opening schools this fall. At one point, someone asked what is different now then when the schools were closed in March. No one had an answer.
 
BiffTannen said:
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The Dean explicitly recommended we do this back in March:

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Also known as taking on an unreasonable amount of unpaid labor, doubling your workload, learning somebody else's syllabus mid-semester, and potentially exposing yourself to the same group of students that got your colleague sick.
 
I've twice taken over a colleague's course mid-semester and it is an absolute nightmare for everyone. I told the chair that I would completely remake the syllabus from scratch and that the department needed to buy the students all new books.
 
Re-run of the Spring semester seems almost inevitable. My oldest daughter goes to App. No complaint or better suggestions about any of their planning but I can't imagine it will be effective. Four free face masks for every student. Face mask mandate in Boone. Condensed bus line to limit close contacts. Condensed semester that will end at fall break. But that planning breaks down once students in the dorms and apartments start to get sick. So after the first couple party weekends. I support the school and I won't complain about tuition when it happens. Just not optimistic.

High schools seem even worse because most cannot effectively pivot to on-line learning. The gap between private high schools and public high schools that I never wanted to believe in or accept now becomes a chasm.

Seems inevitable that we will all get it over the next 18 months. We obviously need to keep the curve in check but I am wondering if we just need to get it over with. I had test results come in an hour ago (negative). But the number of people I am connected with (family, friends and work contacts) that have already been sick (and it is BAD in some cases) has been growing exponentially these last few weeks.
 
Just was watching We were soldiers, this line is basically what schools are saying.

You learn the job of the man above you, and you teach your job to the man below you in rank. That goes for every man in this outfit. Understood?
We'll be landing under fire, gentlemen. Men will die.
 
That’s a good thread. The idea about essentially gamifying contact tracing is interesting.
 
I wrote this on the Devos thread, but it seems appropriate to share here to. This is my perspective, as well as that of my wife. Both of us teach in a relatively impoverished rural area just outside of Appalachia.

The problem is, and this is speaking solely from my own personal experience, that the vast majority of kids aren’t learning in an online and distance education setting. I’m sure that’s not the case for most children of Wake alumni, but most students aren’t children of Wake alumni. It’s hard to understand how many children rely on the support system that the physical environment of school provides, but if we’re not back in school in August, I have grave concerns about this generation of students. Look at the percentage of kids in NC on free lunch; a lot of students get one decent meal a day when school is in session. Then the emotional support that is provided by the school, as well as the often necessary sense of comfort that comes from routine. Teachers are used to making individual sacrifices for the well-being of their students, and this is no different, albeit a larger sacrifice in the grand scheme of things. I’m no better than someone that works in a grocery store. Why should they be expected to put themselves in harm’s way but not me? Personally, I’m willing to risk the sickness for myself and my family to do what I consider an integral job in the way that I know it needs to be done, and the teachers I work with feel the same. Fuck Trump and his re-election motivation, and fuck Devos and her lack of any awareness of the situation, but at the end of the day I need to be there for my kids that need me, and I can’t do that with any real sort of efficacy from behind a computer screen.
 
AMCDeac said:
Re-run of the Spring semester seems almost inevitable. My oldest daughter goes to App. No complaint or better suggestions about any of their planning but I can't imagine it will be effective. Four free face masks for every student. Face mask mandate in Boone. Condensed bus line to limit close contacts. Condensed semester that will end at fall break. But that planning breaks down once students in the dorms and apartments start to get sick. So after the first couple party weekends. I support the school and I won't complain about tuition when it happens. Just not optimistic.

High schools seem even worse because most cannot effectively pivot to on-line learning. The gap between private high schools and public high schools that I never wanted to believe in or accept now becomes a chasm.

Seems inevitable that we will all get it over the next 18 months. We obviously need to keep the curve in check but I am wondering if we just need to get it over with. I had test results come in an hour ago (negative). But the number of people I am connected with (family, friends and work contacts) that have already been sick (and it is BAD in some cases) has been growing exponentially these last few weeks.
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The problem with this thinking is that there is some data emerging that antibodies decline rapidly and you could be subject to reinfection. Short of a vaccine, it's not obvious that we can achieve any sort of natural herd immunity if people can be reinfected multiple times.
 
In our district, half of parents voted and half of them voted to return to school. So about 75% will be face to face.

Our school board member is pushing a plan to go e-learning for the first 9 weeks and reconsider. She also wants to make accommodations for low income families to send their kids to do e-learning at school.
 
I think I posted a chart a month ago showing why waning antibodies wasn't a concern to anyone that understand immunology. Its really a disservice that anyone that wants to be an alarmist can find a platform especially within the media. Its also a problem because most plain MDs are not good when it comes to the specific details and that's even if you are an ID specialist let alone those two blow hards that worked at an urgent care.
 
Louis Gossett Jr said:
I think I posted a chart a month ago showing why waning antibodies wasn't a concern to anyone that understand immunology. Its really a disservice that anyone that wants to be an alarmist can find a platform especially within the media. Its also a problem because most plain MDs are not good when it comes to the specific details and that's even if you are an ID specialist let alone those two blow hards that worked at an urgent care.
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Word, I missed that post/chart, but yeah.. kinda blows my mind how much misinformation is out there in general and gets spread.
 
cookoutdeac said:
Word, I missed that post/chart, but yeah.. kinda blows my mind how much misinformation is out there in general and gets spread.
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Like a virus.
 
Virginia high schools going with Spring football, first games no earlier than March 1. Basketball to start season after December 28. Traditional Spring sports to start in April. I'm not sure if private schools such Oak Hill and Hargrave will follow suit.
 
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