Fic Talk > General Discussion
Quarantine check in
RokofAges75:
Well, the school districts have started releasing their plans for fall. My district is doing a blended learning model. Half the students will come to school on Monday, Wednesday, and every other Friday. The other half will come Tuesday, Thursday, and opposite Fridays. The days they're not at school, they'll learn at home. The school day will also be shortened by half an hour to allow extra time for cleaning and planning. The district is going to reassess the situation every 9 weeks, and families also have the option to have their child do full online learning from home if they choose to.
I feel okay about this plan as of right now. Only having half the class at a time will make it a lot easier to social distance, and I'm actually looking forward to having such a small class size for once! I'm used to having 26-27 kids in a class, and now it will only be 13 or so at a time. I'm happy to be able to start the year off with some face-to-face interaction and be able to see my kids in person at least a couple times a week. It will also make it easier to transition to either all remote learning if things get worse or full, five-day in person learning when things get better.
On the flip side, my head is spinning thinking about all the new procedures there will be to teach, enforce, and build in time for, like frequent handwashing breaks, sanitizing hands every time we come into the classroom, disinfecting everything in the room, and so on. The kids won't be able to share supplies at all, so I'll have to put away the extras I usually keep out for them to borrow as needed. I'll probably have to get rid of the comfy pillows I keep in my reading corner so they're not spreading germs that way. I'll have to come up with a plan to quarantine books from the classroom library between uses. Bathroom breaks will need to be coordinated with the other classrooms in my hallway so we're not all trying to go at the same time. I still have to figure out how I'm going to arrange the desks so the kids are sitting 6 feet apart. Actual teaching and learning will come second to all these safety considerations .
I also feel for parents who work full time and are now trying to figure out what they'll do with their kids who are going to be home 2-3 days a week. Hopefully most employers will be flexible with schedules, considering the circumstances, because not every job can be done from home. Of course, I already saw lots of complaints from parents who would prefer the kids come back five days a week for their convenience, but their health and safety should come first. I feel safer knowing they'll be able to spread out more and cut the number of other kids they come into contact with in half.
I'm just glad I live in an area where the virus is somewhat contained. We do have cases, but not many cases compared to a lot of other areas. If I lived in a state like Florida or Texas, I would be freaking out at the thought of going back to work. But I feel like my district really does have the staff and students' best interests at heart and has come up with the best plan possible under these circumstances.
Anyone else know what their local school districts are doing?
RokofAges75:
Wow, no one has posted in this thread since summer. As it's now the one-year anniversary of our "last normal week," I just had to come in and say something. My school district went back to full, in-person instruction five days a week yesterday. I have mixed feelings about it, but the first two days went well. It has been nice to see both halves of the class that I've been teaching on different days all year finally together as one. We still have every safety guideline in place except six feet of social distance, which just isn't physically possible with twenty-five kids in a classroom. But at least it's another sign that things are starting to go back to normal. Also, I finally get my first dose of the vaccine on Thursday!
I hope everyone else is doing okay! Hang in there!
nicksgal:
Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of me getting a "weird unexplainable fever," then going to the doctor the next day, then going to a drive through testing site, then waiting a million years for results, and entering the ghost town of a world a week and a half later. I'm looking forward to celebrating it. ;) Thursday is my second dose.
I'm glad all your kids are back, but I'd be a little wary of sending them all back before all the teachers are vaccinated. That being said, in-person is so much better for them! I'm glad the first two days have gone well. I hope you're in good spirits through the transition and glad that you get your first dose on Thursday!
I wasn't here for the initial check-in, but I hope everyone is doing okay and hanging in there too.
mare:
I’m glad things are starting to get back to normal somewhat although, it must be weird for the kids to finally be back together all day everyday for two months and then summer. I feel like they should’ve just left it as is until the end of the year. It’s too soon to have that many kids at one place from isolation. Almost a sensory overload!
I’m glad you guys are getting vaccinated. There are no appointments open by me. The closest is Syracuse and that’s a no lol
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on March 09, 2021, 08:01:41 PM ---Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of me getting a "weird unexplainable fever," then going to the doctor the next day, then going to a drive through testing site, then waiting a million years for results, and entering the ghost town of a world a week and a half later. I'm looking forward to celebrating it. ;) Thursday is my second dose.
I'm glad all your kids are back, but I'd be a little wary of sending them all back before all the teachers are vaccinated. That being said, in-person is so much better for them! I'm glad the first two days have gone well. I hope you're in good spirits through the transition and glad that you get your first dose on Thursday!
I wasn't here for the initial check-in, but I hope everyone is doing okay and hanging in there too.
--- End quote ---
Wow, so you had it early! I never got it, as far as I know. If I did, I didn't have any symptoms. Hopefully I can keep the streak going for the next month until I'm fully vaccinated. *knocks on wood* Congrats on getting your second dose soon!
Yeah, that was my thought too. I would have rather just waited until the start of next school year instead of changing the routine the kids have gotten into, but of course most parents wanted them to go back to five days a week, and apparently a majority of the teachers in our union were in favor of it too. The cases in my area have been trending downward for awhile, and many of the other school districts have been in person five days a week without any major outbreaks, so hopefully it'll be okay.
I have a student teacher this year, and I'm happy for her that she will get a couple months of a more normal teaching experience. There were so few behavior problems with only a dozen kids at a time that I was worried she wouldn't get enough practice with that aspect of classroom management. I think she'll have more opportunities now that we have a normal class size LOL.
Hang in there, Mare. I was frustrated by the lack of appointments and general lack of organization in my area, but I think it will get better as more people get vaccinated and the demand goes down. It seems like the problem is not enough people to give the vaccine, rather than a shortage of doses.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version