Back to the Zoom mine

"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
10/21/2020 at 08:10 • Filed to: teacherlopnik

Anybody want to buy a rusty Ford Loooooongboi? Oppo discount available.

My district has had its hand forced. While the infection rate in the town I teach has been over the threshold where we’re supposed to switch to remote learning for weeks now, it finally topped that number in the county last week. The district’s lawyers have shut us down (yeah, they aren’t concerned about safety, they’re concerned about being sued).

Today we begin a “Two week adaptive pause” to in-person instruction. What that means is, the district is crossing its fingers and hoping the numbers go down enough to satisfy the lawyers. I’m not optimistic. Things are getting much worse here. Friday a two-week ban on inside dinning begins in my region.

As a result, instead of being able to plan a complete quarter, teachers are left flapping in the breeze not knowing where, when, or how we’ll be teaching.

I hate teaching remotely, but I’d much rather be able to plan long-t erm, than be in a constant state of limbo and uncertainty. This sucks.

The district my daughters attend, which was set to resume in-person instruction on November 4th, has pushed that back to January 19th. That sucks too, but at least their t eachers can plan long-term. Their teachers have been doing an excellent job.

Ugh.

DISCUSSION (36)

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > shop-teacher
10/21/2020 at 08:25

What I find most frustrating about this is that politicians and lawyers are letting the infection rate of the municipality or county or state dictate what schools should do, not the infection rate of the individual school. Broad sweeping decrees were necessary in March when we didn’t know what we were dealing with, but now it should be on a much smaller scale. Many counties (most?) are large and what happens in one corner is not indicative of the whole county.

pip bip - choose Corrour > shop-teacher
10/21/2020 at 08:35

stay safe.

Just Jeepin' > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
10/21/2020 at 08:38

I think a more granular impact assessment would be great if we were actually testing enough people. Given the silent spread of this disease and the abysmal contact tracing/testing infrastructure, we’re pretty well stuck with overly-broad responses.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > shop-teacher
10/21/2020 at 09:07

The University I am a grad student at has their own internal Covid guidelines. For most of the pandemic (at least since August, when the undergrads moved back in to campus residence) the school has seen higher test positivity than the rest of the county. The semester started with the campus jumping to level 4 (out of 5, 5 being mandatory move out) before classes even started (I saw a lot of partying on campus and little mask use, so no surprise there). It’s currently down to level 2, localized outbreaks (various floors of dorms and houses are under quarantine) so some classes are meeting in person and most are blended, with few being online entirely. I’ve avoided campus since in-person classes started. The school also made it a priority that students not leave campus and bring Covid-19 back with them- as such, all students were required to have negative tests prior to move in, all breaks in the semester are split into mid-week one or two day breaks, and after Thanksgiving, students are not moving back onto campus until January, and I think they are required to retest negative for Covid.

For a residential campus, this makes a ton of sense, and is far from the standard, to my knowledge. I have a few friends from when I was an undergrad who are new teachers in K-12, and seeing them post 2am Thursday night snapchat stories from the bar then posting photos from their desk for in-person class the next day at 8am is... concerning.

facw > shop-teacher
10/21/2020 at 09:10

yeah, they aren’t concerned about safety, they’re concerned about being sued

And now you see why the GOP has demanded liability protections be part of any further stimulus bill (they also don’t care about safety)

WRXforScience > shop-teacher
10/21/2020 at 09:29

The high school I teach at had to cancel our last football game due to cases on the team, no word yet on the next game or if the season will continue. One of the big factors that originally motivated parents to push for in-person classes was sports; however, they now realize that if their student tests positive or shows symptoms they have to be quarantined and end up missing games. Virtual attendance counts, so the athletes have mostly shifted to virtual school and only come to campus for sports.

There’s been no word or update on any future plans, looks like we’re sticking with our plan of parents choosing if their kids go to school in person or not and classes being taught in-person and online simultaneously. The district doesn’t require or supply testing, everything is on the honor system and if you need testing you’re on your own. There aren’t any plans or contingencies for if/when teachers get sick, really the district and principals are just hoping that too many teachers don’t stay home at the same time.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > shop-teacher
10/21/2020 at 09:50

Will you still be Zooming from your classroom, or from home?

Did we foretell this eventuality?

It’s totally unsurprising that there would be a chunk of our society that would be put out by coronavirus and be grumpy about it and want to ignore it and go about their business. What bothers me is Presidentucho Trump co-opting that and making the ignoring be about him .

Mercedes Streeter > shop-teacher
10/21/2020 at 10:06

Our schools are going through the same yours is. I feel bad for everyone all the way to the top of the school organizations . Nobody knows what to do or how to do it while the State just makes things up as it goes. I’ve never seen these people this stressed out before.

“ I hate teaching remotely, but I’d much rather be able to plan long-term, than be in a constant state of limbo and uncertainty. This sucks.”

This was a large motivating factor in my choosing of a different career. Few weeks or so ago I received an email stating that department Q3 furloughs have been cancelled. I wasn’t even aware that I was going to be furloughed this month! Sure enough, I found an email buried in between company spam stating when everyone will be furloughed. You’d think news that important would be communicated more seriously. And from what I can tell, nothing is set in stone. Q4 furloughs are still on and should Illinois go back into some form of lockdown again they’ll likely clear out the department again like they did in April.

To make matters weirder, we get daily emails about positive COVID cases in the building that occurred *two weeks ago*, so too late to do anything about. That means someone tests positive in the building on the daily. Granted, I think all of those cases have been the warehouse workers, but still.

But yeah, the lack of certainty wa s killing me. Feels like at any moment I could be right back to laid off.

MiniGTI - now with XJ6 > shop-teacher
10/21/2020 at 10:14

Yep, our district opened for special and early childhood a couple weeks ago. It’s really great, my 3yo son was finally pretty settled into the routine, even eager to get on the bus.

And now because of people who refuse to do their little part we have to go back home. His mother is not pleased.

MiniGTI - now with XJ6 > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
10/21/2020 at 10:16

Surprisingly our governor yesterday said he was going to leave it to the school districts to decide but I’m pretty sure they’ll fall in line with county trends anyway.

Kiltedpadre > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
10/21/2020 at 10:57

My nephew goes to Ohio Northern, and they’re following similar guidelines. His classes are mostly hybrid or online, they are going straight through till Thanksgiving and not going back till after MLK day, and have special dorms for those that need to quarantine. I don’t know if he’ll need a negative test to return in January or not. It’s a much smaller school than UD though so controls should be easier to follow, emphasis on should.

shop-teacher > MiniGTI - now with XJ6
10/21/2020 at 11:43

That is a huge bummer. It was hard enough telling our 5 and 7 year old that the back to school date got pushed back. I’d much rather that, than go back and forth. The continual changing of routine is really not good for kids.

shop-teacher > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
10/21/2020 at 11:45

I’ll put a different spin on that. We really should have gone full remote weeks ago, because the rate in our town was so high. Our district chose to ignore that until the county rate got too high. The county has not mandated anything, they changed their recommendation. It’s the lawy ers who said we have to go remote now that the county is recommending full remote.

shop-teacher > Mercedes Streeter
10/21/2020 at 11:48

Monday I had a student in my first period class get sent home with symptoms. They came to spray my room down with the disinfectant fogger half way during my last period. No notification of any kind since then. And if I wasn’t in my room teaching when they came to fog it down, I wouldn’t have even known what I know.

shop-teacher > WRXforScience
10/21/2020 at 11:50

That’s more or less how things are going down here. We don’t have football right now specifically, but athletics have been an issue for the high school in our district. I teach at one of the middle schools, so I don’t have any contact with that specifically. We have three permanent subs, no testing, and no plan.

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/21/2020 at 11:51

This time around I have the option to be at school or at home. Today I am at school. Planning to be home tomorrow and Friday. I’ll probably bounce back and forth. There are maybe 15 cars in the parking lot.

shop-teacher > facw
10/21/2020 at 11:51

Yup.

shop-teacher > pip bip - choose Corrour
10/21/2020 at 11:52

Thanks. I am in school today. I now have the option to be home. I imagine I’ll do some of both. There are maybe 15 cars in the parking lot today.

WRXforScience > shop-teacher
10/21/2020 at 11:59

I’ve been surprised that we haven’t had more issues. I took my first ever (in 12 years of teaching) sick day this year and had to spend another 3 days teaching from home before I got a negative test results.

At least there’s not an upcoming season where illnesses tend to increase and more people will experience symptoms associated with the pandemic...

shop-teacher > WRXforScience
10/21/2020 at 12:06

I have been surprised as well. We’re walking one hell of a tightrope.

WRXforScience > shop-teacher
10/21/2020 at 12:14

Well, they’ve tried nothing at all and they’re completely out of ideas, so we’ll just have to deal with whatever new hell we find ourselves in and our best outcome is that the “leadership” doesn’t make our jobs any harder than they already will be.

foghat1981 > shop-teacher
10/21/2020 at 12:18

Our district is in sh!tshow mode right now: You could pick 100% online, taught by a 3rd party or possibly some actual teachers, depending on grade. Or you could go all-in (5 days) in August . We started the all-in under a Hybrid (every other day) schedule. They said as things improve we go to all-in. Instead as we’re going backwards (county raised to red from orange) they have caved to parent pressure to go all-in! So now, right when cases going up, we doing all-in with 3ft spacing! Already one lawsuit saying this isn’t what the district told us they would do so now kids/parents stuck. You can’t switch to 100% online until semester changes.

My 5th grader got sent home for a 2 week quarantine right during this transition b/c somebody sent their kid in with a pending COVID test! it came back positive, so all kids closer than 6ft sent home. They told us that we think your daughter was 6ft away, but can’t be sure her desk was measured right, so you get to quarantine. No appeals or anything. Ludicrous. Her online learning right now is laughable since they’re focusing energy on the all-in kids! The parent who sent her kid with a pending COVID test is nobody’s favorite right now....

/sorry to vent and rant. just ludicrous

shop-teacher > WRXforScience
10/21/2020 at 15:11

That sounds mighty familiar.

shop-teacher > foghat1981
10/21/2020 at 15:20

No need to be sorry, your vent/rant is on-topic.

It’s interesting to hear that you have to wait until the semester break to go remote. We’re the exact opposite. You can go full remote at any time, but if you want to return to in-person instruction you have to wait until the semester break.

Speaking of parent pressure, there was a parent protest at the district office today.

foghat1981 > shop-teacher
10/21/2020 at 16:17

Further confusing things: 9-12 is hybrid since those kids move classes so much. K-5 is all-in since they don’t interact with as many kids. But 6-8, which also moves classrooms, is following K-5 not 9-12 model.
The angry parents are getting their way and logic seems to be on hold. The last thing we want is to go back in and then endless 2 week quarantines, ESPECIALLY when the rest of kids are all in. The kids on quarantine get f-all attention/lessons then. My kid in accelerated math gets a 10 minute zoom and worksheets. How is that sufficient?!

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > shop-teacher
10/21/2020 at 16:18

As it should be. And you got to this point without becoming infected. I’d score it as a win .

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/21/2020 at 21:30

Unless I’m asymptomatic ... who knows!?

Tomorrow night we have parent-teacher conferences from 4-8:30, and again Friday from 8-3. We were going to have to stay in the building for all of that, so it will be nice be at home for those.

shop-teacher > foghat1981
10/21/2020 at 21:34

The model of having teachers try to simultaneously teach online and remote kids, is a total shit-show. It completely sucks. The remote students should have dedicated teachers with remote assignments attached to them. It would be safer for the teachers with medical issues to be assigned those, and the students working from home would have a far superior experience. We had over 170 teachers in our district with conditions that should have precluded them from being in the building with students, basically get told to screw off. They had the choice of coming in anyways, taking leave, or quitting.

To say that opportunities were missed, would be a massive understatement.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > shop-teacher
10/22/2020 at 00:10

Zoom is a far superior way to conduct a PT conference. Far. Superior.

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/22/2020 at 07:45

I’ll miss the ability to have the shop do the talking for me. So many of the parents just want to see the tools.

I will not miss being at school for 13 hours.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > shop-teacher
10/22/2020 at 12:55

Our first quarter ends this week and there’s a bit of a sag. But we’re trucking forward.

I’m sure it’s different for an industrial arts class, but for my class, I remain unconvinced that this arrangement will be measurably worse for my students and I am sure it will be much better for some.

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/22/2020 at 14:39

It is most definitely measurably worse for any lab class.

For a class like yours, I can see how the effect would be minimal. One thing I have noticed, there are some students who simply do nothing at home. They're great in the building face to face, but at home they're ghosts.

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/22/2020 at 23:52

You’re right . PTC via zoom was excellent.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > WRXforScience
10/23/2020 at 09:14

Is that a Texas thing? I expect they'd be lessez faire about pretty much everything and coronavirus would be no different.

WRXforScience > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/23/2020 at 10:22

Yeah, the people in charge here in Texas were some of the loudest voices against shutting things down. The Lt. Gov. made a ruling at the beginning of August that county health departments couldn’t preemptively shutdown schools, so many school districts opened up even though the county health departments told them not to or advised against it.

To keep the numbers low, Texas also made sure to keep from doing too many tests. Because they decided the problem was posi tive tests and not the disease. We’re also one of the states that refused to expand medicare.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > WRXforScience
10/23/2020 at 11:43

I can certainly understand that we would have factions of reasonable people in this country who would disagree on how to handle the pandemic. But what I cannot understand is a POTUS seizing upon the issue and making it 100% political while also scooping up 100% of the whackos and getting them all on board. And many less unreasonable people as well. I won’t miss that guy when he’s gone.

Have you had any other pushback or grief about your impertinent remark over Zoom?