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Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,722 posts, read 58,067,115 times
Reputation: 46190
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BLDSoon
An entire education system cannot be built around your own children's preferences. Your suggestion all but removes Teachers from the equation and would absolutely not work for younger kids and others that are dependent on teacher instruction.
....
A Teacher perhaps ??
PacificaViews
Lots of great ideas! thx.
Not perfect for all, but vastly more than we have heard so far!
Typically... "That ain't gonna work, than That's THAT!" period . (Not too helpful considering we have a vast resource of educational professionals in the USA, busy at home 'thinking' / wondering about future education and employment (and pensions) )
Maybe time to remake USA EDU, before it falls to global outsourcing as did the auto industry.
Outsourcing EDU would be a very possible and practical solution for USA, considering many countries have succeeded in EDU and Covid control and 'back to school' (Denmark in March 2020). Outsourcing USA EDU certainly would be less expensive and with higher EDU academic results, and a world competitive skillset.
Funny that reducing "screen time" was so important, and now schools are proposing 100% on-line learning. So we are not practicing what we just preached. My kids are left confused by this, and say prefer books and in-person learning. But for now it's not safe. We are going to propose weekly curbside pickup and drop-off of materials, books, and handouts.
What I am going to propose to our school district (our situation applies to HS only, but could be used MS and elementary too) is:
a weekly drive-thru (with masks) for drop-off and pick up of school materials. Materials could be placed in large ziplock type bags. Three people could handle the distribution, maybe parent volunteers. Start of school year I think kids should get their text books, and supporting materials.
Zoom classes could be held bi-weekly or weekly, with the remainder done via self-study materials. Testing could be done via on-line monitoring system like used by on-line universities. I think maybe for the foreign language classes -since 30 kids are too many, perhaps the teacher could have less classes via Zoom, but in smaller groups like 2x per week. Science classes and experiments could have the teacher record videos posted on Youtube videos or a dedicated teacher's website with the videos, so kids could follow and do those experiments at home (with their materials picked up at weekly drive thru). Bulletin board posts by students could be required for some classes, just like in college on-line classes and counted toward grade - given discussion topic given - students post their comments or opinions, and are required to reply to two other comments on that given topic.
So the input I am getting from my kids is a solution that allows them to keep using the traditional paper and hand-out materials, so not 100% of their learning involves screen time, so old-fashioned books, instead of the 100% virtual. My son wants to learn Spanish with live class instruction, and does not care for Duolingo. A creative solution is needed for this, like Youtube videos made by the teachers. All teachers should be provided a Zoom Pro account, all teachers and students provided a YouTube ad-free account, and all teachers and students a Quizlet ad-free premium account - as well as iPads and computers for all kids.
But with so much studying and reading that is required, my kids say they still prefer actual books and handouts instead, over reading large amounts of content on a screen in order to reduce some of the "screen time" on their computers. Option to print pdf's of handouts at home instead of drive-thru pick up could also be given as option as well. Everyone should understand that social distancing within a school environment is absolutely impossible.
These are some great ideas. I teach French and participated in an online AP workshop this summer where we were on a Zoom meeting for a large part of the day. We used breakout sessions to do small group work. The participants shared their work on their screens. All went extremely well, despite a few initial issues with the technology. It gave me great confidence that I will be able to teach online.
I've had a website for over a decade now, where students could find the daily notes, important documents such as the workbooks that I've compiled and expanded over the years that can be used as a self-study course, links to online resources and videos, and more. I spent all day yesterday adding videos to a new page for virtual lessons so that students without the ability to join live classes can still see and hear me teach lessons from the workbook. If they can get to a hot-spot, they can download the videos to watch them later. I plan to break the class time into blocks for whole group, small group, and individual instruction using the breakout rooms. Then we will come back together to re-engage before class ends and they go to their next Zoom class.
Our district provides a wide range of resources, so I have chosen Canvas, a good thing because later we were told that it would be required. I spent about 80 hours at the beginning of the summer setting up my classes on Canvas and integrating my Google Classroom resources. I also have set up a home classroom with a whiteboard and teleconference-quality webcam. That was a find, because they had been sold out for months.
The district is also planning to provide students and teachers with devices, but they are also on back-order, so workarounds will have to be done. My biggest concern is getting students copies of the workbooks so that they can do their lessons with paper and pen. I had just handed out the copies for fourth term when school shut down. The district provided very low quality printed materials that had little to do with learning the lessons that I had planned to teach, and there was no help in getting my workbooks distributed. Hopefully, the office will let me mail them to students like they did the packets in the spring.
The biggest difference I think will be that the instruction now will be required for all courses. In the spring, students who were passing were exempt from work and many quit doing anything. I was surprised by the number who did stay engaged. Then, the students just had to complete the work, not necessarily correctly, and they would receive a 100 for the course. I stayed on my students about how that would affect their GPA, and so a large percentage of my students did complete the work. I provided lots of feedback and assistance, despite having only a tower computer at home with no webcam. I did two hours on online chat tutorial that was lightly attended, but a few students would just come on to chat every day. I thought it was sweet but rather sad that they wanted to spend time with me rather than with their friends, but I often chatted with them long past the time that the tutorial was supposed to end. There were teachers all over the country who did the same and more to help ensure that our students' needs were met.
I'm actually eager for school to start so that I can see my students again. Everyone in French I passed, so there will be a sizable percentage of them who won't really remember much when they find themselves in French II. I'm hoping to be able to reach out to them once I have my rosters. It will harder with the new French I students who only know me by reputation. Hopefully I will have taught lots of their parents. It makes it easier to get them to buy into learning French, which is a challenge in our inner-city school.
I do think that online schooling has its challenges, ranging from basic equipment and connectivity to lack of teacher/student/parent buy-in, to the impossible nature of teaching subjects like special education and career/technical classes. The whole world is in a pandemic that shows no signs of easing and every sign of exploiting the inconsistencies in human behavior. Expecting normal to resume on a timetable is like stepping into the eye of the hurricane and thinking that the storm is over. We need to prepare everyone the best we can and move forward into the unknown, keeping each person as safe as possible, not practical, the weasel word that slipped into school reopening guidelines.
In the meantime, let's follow the data. Schools are always talking about being data-driven, except with the pandemic, apparently.
So far in my general area one HS band member has tested positive, and one HS student has been tested positive this is after 5 days of being back in the class room. How many other students and staff did those students have contact with in that week? How many more cases will be found in the next 2 weeks?
Being back in school is not as important as my childs health or possible his life.
My great-grandson is doing virtual Kindergarten this year. My granddaughter and husband decided it's pointless to get him into the routine of school when it will be shutdown sooner rather than later.
My two kid grandsons are doing Zoom and virtual school.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,722 posts, read 58,067,115 times
Reputation: 46190
Rural schools (some) could do 'outdoor school' as in Kashmir. (Will get chilly in upper midwest pretty soon), but we stayed with a teacher for troubled youth in WI. They lived in TENTS on a frozen lake in winter. Students got their own tents, and didn't run off (Sometimes teachers had to take the students shoes).
Interesting stories as radio programs have been interviewing students in different schools / situations from around the world.
Most say they like remote learning because they don't have to wear uniforms and shoes. And can complete all day school work in a very short amount of time and do other things more useful to their families.
Opening schools is important, but it is not going to happen because Americans don't prioritize education enough to stop adults from gathering in groups and spreading the virus, so that kids can go to school safely.
Schools that open in areas with uncontrolled community spread (almost everywhere) will soon shut down due to a massive surge in cases. Schools that shuttered will stay closed.
The burden of this virus is going to fall on the elderly (because we're letting ourselves infect and kill them) and the young (because we're essentially preventing them from going to their "work" and play so that the adults can continue to work and play).
Opening schools is important, but it is not going to happen because Americans don't prioritize education enough to stop adults from gathering in groups and spreading the virus, so that kids can go to school safely ...
...because ... the young ... we're essentially preventing them from going to their "work" and play so that the adults can continue to work and play.
This, repeated a thousand times.
In my county, we were down to around 100 reported cases per day when the authorities decided to ease the lock down and begin phase 1 of reopening. Mind you, there were computer pages and pages and pages and pages of "guidelines" for every conceivable sector.
However, unconscionably, bars and restaurants were included in phase 1. On top of that, people held mass gatherings over the Memorial Day weekend.
Two weeks later to present, the county has become an epicenter of daily new infections, and, despite previously thinking we could begin the school year normally, almost all schools are going online only for at least the first month or quarter, while a few reckless ones are attempting some cockamamie hybrid schemes as an option.
Schools are an important part of the infrastructure of our communities, as they provide safe, supportive learning environments for students, employ teachers and other staff, and enable parents, guardians, and caregivers to work. Schools also provide critical services that help meet the needs of children and families, especially those who are disadvantaged, through supporting the development of social and emotional skills, creating a safe environment for learning, identifying and addressing neglect and abuse, fulfilling nutritional needs, and facilitating physical activity. School closure disrupts the delivery of in-person instruction and critical services to children and families, which has negative individual and societal ramifications. The best available evidence from countries that have opened schools indicates that COVID-19 poses low risks to school-aged children, at least in areas with low community transmission, and suggests that children are unlikely to be major drivers of the spread of the virus. Reopening schools creates opportunity to invest in the education, well-being, and future of one of America’s greatest assets—our children—while taking every precaution to protect students, teachers, staff and all their families.
How about the risk of COVID-19 to those these children come in contact with after a school day or people exposed through family members? Mom & Dad? Mom & Dad's coworkers? Grandma & Grandpa? Aunt's & Uncles? Schools should stay online until c-19 stops. Why should I be exposed so that children can experience some B.S. "educational experience"? Wake up; "school" is just taxpayer funded babysitting.
How about the risk of COVID-19 to those these children come in contact with after a school day or people exposed through family members? Mom & Dad? Mom & Dad's coworkers? Grandma & Grandpa? Aunt's & Uncles? Schools should stay online until c-19 stops. Why should I be exposed so that children can experience some B.S. "educational experience"? Wake up; "school" is just taxpayer funded babysitting.
You should stay home and not have any contact with anyone outside your household unless you are an essential worker: Police. Utility worker. Firefighter. Soldier. Doctor. Teacher.
Not demand that schools close so you can go eat out, get someone to cut your hair, or shop for a new TV.
I don't see how kids are going to learn in-person at this stage. Young children having to wear a mask all day? Kids that normally don't speak up much, or are shy, will be even quieter. How will they understand the teacher who is wearing a mask?
Will they actually stay 6 feet apart? They can't go near their teacher or each other. And once they do that for a few weeks and someone tests positive they all go home for a few weeks and transition to remote only and then back again.
Forget about flu. What happens when kids start getting their normal fall/winter illness? I would be shocked if kids learn anything this year while in school.
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