First day of virtual school year

"HoustonRunner" (houstonrunner) 09/08/2020 at 09:21 • Filed to: None

2

34

I have 4 kids - 8th grade, 6th grade, and twin 4th graders. Today is the first day of virtual school. This is what it sounds like to me right now....and we are just getting started.

I’ll be honest, I’m fortunate. My wife and I are both still employed and able to work from home. We also have my mother in law here this week to help out. But this first six weeks remote is going to be interesting....

ttyymmnn > HoustonRunner 09/08/2020 at 09:29

2

We’re already a couple of weeks in. It’s going relatively smoothly. My oldest, a senior, is managing well. The freshman twins are still more interested in gaming than school, and require a bit of refocusing. They’re also not as good at managing assignments. But I think they’re all learning. It still takes a fair bit of monitoring and helping on our part. I can’t imagine what it’s like for the kids who don’t have a parent at home.

Schools in Round Rock open today for in-person learning with the Special Ed kids. In-person for whoever else wants to come starts next week. We’re staying home, but I hope the boys can go for after school band.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > HoustonRunner 09/08/2020 at 09:37

1

Similar situation here. My 9 year old twins started virtual school today also, which I hope goes smoother than the end of last year’s classes. Wife and I work from home and my mother lives with us so she’s helpful too. If the schoolwork isn’t challenging then it’s an effort to keep them focused. Buena suerte, amigo. 

HoustonRunner > ttyymmnn 09/08/2020 at 09:40

0

Right now the issue is waiting - waiting for pages and meetings to load. Clearly the HISD system is overwhelmed right now.

At the moment 3 of the 4 kids are in classes, one is looking at a loading screen...

AkursedX > HoustonRunner 09/08/2020 at 09:42

1

First day for my kids as well (5th and 3rd). We opted to keep our kids home til Feb 1 at a minimum. It seems like its going well so far and I’ll have more free time in the morning as they have more live work than they did last year.

I work 4-Midnight and my wife only works two days a week so we're able to help and teach without it disrupting our life that much.

ttyymmnn > HoustonRunner 09/08/2020 at 09:43

0

We had a few hiccups on the first couple of days. Mostly of the sort you describe. It has since been ironed out. The biggest problem is teachers with poor connections.

HoustonRunner > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 09/08/2020 at 09:45

1

It will certainly get better, the first day will always be a bit of a challenge. Hopefully we will be able to concentrate on keeping the boys (4th grade) focused, and the girls (6th and 8th) will be ok.

Honestly, this morning so far the challenge has been patience - yes, you clicked on that, just ****ing wait for it to load!

Ssfancyfresh > HoustonRunner 09/08/2020 at 09:46

1

My house is a virtual school farm. The Other side of the street lost power. We did not. All the neighbor kids are here doing zoom.

My own kids are pre-school age and don’t start till next week.

Anyway. Can relate. We got 4 kids here in 2 rooms at 3 different grade levels. 

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > HoustonRunner 09/08/2020 at 09:49

0

My boys just started 4th grade too. We should compare notes as the year progresses. (you know, share the misery?) Now with four people in the house on laptops our bandwidth is a bit stretched... 

HoustonRunner > Ssfancyfresh 09/08/2020 at 09:49

1

AHHHHHHHH!!!!!  Good on you for helping out, but I would need headphones over ear plugs to get by.

ttyymmnn > HoustonRunner 09/08/2020 at 09:53

2

HoustonRunner > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 09/08/2020 at 09:59

6

Yeah, we have 4 kids on virtual meetings and my wife and I as well. Again, we are fortunate to have fiber to the house, so I think we will be ok on bandwidth most of the time.

Our little secret - my computer is the only one hard wired in, the rest are on wifi. [evil laugh]

Long_Voyager94 > Ssfancyfresh 09/08/2020 at 10:20

1

Seems kinda pointless to go virtual then let other kids in your house to do it together........

Good on you for helping out your neighbors regardless.

Long_Voyager94 > HoustonRunner 09/08/2020 at 10:21

0

Happy our schools opened as usual.

HoustonRunner > Long_Voyager94 09/08/2020 at 10:26

0

That is good news, glad part of the country is getting back to normal. Other districts nearby opened last week in person, I’m hoping the next few weeks go well so Houston will open in person in late October.

ttyymmnn > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 09/08/2020 at 10:30

0

Can you use a wired connection off the router?

arl > HoustonRunner 09/08/2020 at 10:31

1

Same with my wired connection . AH HA HA! More evil laughing.

Ssfancyfresh > Long_Voyager94 09/08/2020 at 11:09

0

I don’t see much risk for us or them. We’ve been, more or less, working through this whole mess together.

Ssfancyfresh > HoustonRunner 09/08/2020 at 11:10

0

Yeah. Hopefully it’s a short term solution. The power company is usually pretty good about getting everyone back online in short order. 

Chariotoflove > HoustonRunner 09/08/2020 at 11:26

0

We've been virtual for a couple weeks now, but this week is the first of in person classes. They are alternating though, and today is still at home with streaming. Spanish is going on right now.

subexpression > HoustonRunner 09/08/2020 at 11:53

0

I work with people who are juggling distance learning with working from home. It’s pretty rough. Some have hired nannies, some have other family helping out , some have altered their work schedules to carve out extra kid time during school hours .

Some public schools in the area are open and don’t even have a distance learning option. I think a guy at work has a child in one of those schools and he made other arrangements instead because this area just isn’t ready to safely fill a classroom with little kids .

shop-teacher > HoustonRunner 09/08/2020 at 11:54

0

If they don’t have headp hones with microphones already, definitely get them. It helps a lot.

f86sabre > HoustonRunner 09/08/2020 at 11:56

0

Be strong and be patient. Stock up on whiskey for later.

We’ve been digital learning  since early August. My only pro tip is to run Ethernet to your kid’s workstations if you can. Makes the zoom meetings go better. That and the whiskey. 

HoustonRunner > f86sabre 09/08/2020 at 12:11

0

If needed I can run ethernet to the kids’ computers, but so far the Google Wifi mesh system is holding well.

HoustonRunner > shop-teacher 09/08/2020 at 12:11

0

Yep, we got them all over the ear headphones with mics last week.  And I have backup earbuds if those fail.

Long_Voyager94 > Ssfancyfresh 09/08/2020 at 12:12

0

I’ve been working as normal throughout.

I value my kid’s development and well being, so I much prefer they go to school as normal.

Long_Voyager94 > HoustonRunner 09/08/2020 at 12:14

0

I value my kid’s social well being and development, so IMO them getting back to school was highly important.

shop-teacher > HoustonRunner 09/08/2020 at 12:31

0

Very good!

Textured Soy Protein > Long_Voyager94 09/08/2020 at 12:48

0

What is your particular locality’s covid caseload at the moment?

Long_Voyager94 > Textured Soy Protein 09/08/2020 at 12:56

0

Cases mean nothing to me especially when people continue getting testing until they get a negative result.

How many are hospitalized, how many are positive with little to no symptoms, how many are in intensive care, etc are far more important metrics to me.

In general, our “caseload” has been on a steady decline since July despite what the local media has been pounding into people.

Textured Soy Protein > Long_Voyager94 09/08/2020 at 12:59

0

I used “caseload” as a catch-all term regardless of any specific metrics that indicate some further degree of granularity. In other words, “what’s the covid situation round your way?” 

Ssfancyfresh > Long_Voyager94 09/08/2020 at 13:02

0

Same. My wife and I both work. Both our kids will go to school, but not everyone here has that choice.

Long_Voyager94 > Textured Soy Protein 09/08/2020 at 13:05

0

That all depends where you get your info.

If I watch the news, they’re on the rise, spiking weekly.

If I go check the DHS Covid tracking, they’ve been on a steady decline since early July.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > ttyymmnn 09/08/2020 at 13:10

1

Unfortunately no. It’s not in a convenient place for that. 

AdamB > HoustonRunner 09/08/2020 at 13:42

0

My high school is supposed to alternate between in person and virtual. In person orientation is next week though I have to go this week to pick up my laptop and get saliva pool tested, so hopefully that goes well. I’m so glad I’m not a part of NYC’s terrible public school system, they still haven’t figured it out yet.