Yeah, it's definitely different.  The only perk so far is the low class size; other than that, I look forward to the day when things can go back to normal.  Everyone is thinking we'll be forced to go full remote at some point, but hopefully not for a while.

It's not just PA being stupid.  It's everywhere in this country.  That's why we haven't been able to flatten the curve.  I just wish that everyone would understand things won't go back to normal until they suck it up and start following the rules, like it or not.  But that won't happen when such a large percentage of the population values their "freedom" over human life.

I'm trying!  I wasn't sure how it was going to go with the kids wearing masks, especially when some of their parents are probably anti-maskers, but both groups did great with it!  They wore them correctly without complaint.  I'm so proud of them and grateful to their parents for helping prepare them.

You stay safe too!  I don't envy any of you retail workers, having to deal with adult idiots who are acting way more immature and volatile than my 9-year-old students.

Glad they both went well! Schools here in Buffalo are all starting online only since our numbers are once again starting to go up a little. The schools where I used to teach are all starting full week in person classes. Well one of the schools. The other one closed at the end of last school year. Seems I got out of there just in time.

I didn’t realize how stupid the majority of Pa is being about this virus. People are being shamed for going into grocery stores for wearing masks. They seem to all be under the impression that the governor is under some kind of demonic spell, trying to keep them home from the mall or something. Idiots!

I have mixed feelings about the whole partial opening thing. It only takes one day to infect someone. It will be nice for you to enjoy smaller class sizes and more One on one attention with each student. The downside is the constant repetition. I hated having to teach the same lessons over and over since there were multiple classes for each grade. When it came to my musical units and I had to pick shows to watch, I always had to make sure I picked ones I wouldn’t mind watching a thousand times lol

The catholic schools here are doing partial opening. Mon and Tuesday group one goes. Wednesday the school is closed and cleaned then Thursday and Friday the second group shows up.

It’s such a learning curve for everyone.

Please be safe! I say that literally as the hugest germaphobe now thanks to 2020. It's such a struggle wprking with the public when 20% think it's not serious. I literally refuse to help people who don't wear a mask.

Second day was pretty good!  All the kids that were flagged as behavior problems came today, so the dynamic was a little different.  Nothing bad, just a lot of blurting out, whereas the first group was timid and quiet.  We are doing blended learning, so I have half the class each day while the other half learns at home, and then they switch.  It's awesome because I only have 10-11 kids per day, which is a huge change from my usual classes of 26-27.  It'll be interesting to compare day to day with two different groups of kids.

I told my new student teacher that while this may not be a "normal" year, it will prepare her for anything and everything!  (Except teaching 27 kids at the same time, apparently LOL.)  If you can teach during a pandemic, you can teach through anything.

I also hope we can stay in-person and not go full remote.  It's crazy how differently every district is doing it in my area.  Some schools went to full remote before school even started as a precaution.  Others are pretending there's not a pandemic happening and started normally, but with masks.  The town I live in currently has 10 cases at the high school and like 100 people quarantined, but they're still proceeding with full, five-day, in-person learning as if that's not problematic. *facepalm*  I think my district (in a different town) has a good balance and has put a lot of measures in place to keep everyone as safe as possible.  We're able to to maintain social distance because of the low class sizes, masks are mandated for everyone, we're checking everyone's temps, and we have sanitizing stations everywhere.  We'll see how it goes.

Yikes! I’m glad your first day went well. Hopefully your second fist day goes just as well. I don’t envy you or anyone else who has to deal with this new way of life. I just hope it stays successful with not everyone ending up back in quarantine where we first started.

Can you imagine student teaching during this weird time? If I was in college during this pandemic I’d be so stressed out!

I'm doing okay. Today was the first day of school with kids (in person), and it went so well! Things went smoothly with all the new procedures we have in place, and the kids wore their masks without complaint.  I was so proud of them!  So that makes me feel better about things. It has been very stressful leading up to this day though.  My administrators have been nothing but supportive and reassuring, but there have been so many unknowns and uncertainties, it's been hard to plan ahead.  I got a student teacher pawned off on me at the last minute yesterday after her neurotic cooperating teacher freaked out at the thought of being exposed to Covid by a college student and said she couldn't mentor her.  I also got a new student added to my roster at the end of the day, which messed up my perfectly, six-foot spaced rows of desks.  At one point, I was standing in the middle of my classroom with my tape measure literally sobbing yesterday as I moved desks around for at least the fourth time, trying to find a way to get them to all fit within the guidelines.  But I feel much better after meeting half the class today and seeing how things went.  It was so nice being back in my classroom with kids, even though I was exhausted by the end of the day.  My feet are killing me, and I'm hoarse from projecting my voice through a mask all day.  Gotta get back into teacher shape after 5 months of not being on my feet talking all day! LOL

I haven't listened to the podcast yet. I did download Apple Music, not realizing you have to pay for a subscription?? One more reason to hate Apple. It's not unreasonable, but it pisses me off when most other music services - Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio - are free with ads. Also, I hate Apple LOL. I've been super busy this week anyway, so I may wait until they have several episodes up to start a free trial. Glad to hear it's good though!

Chapter 10 is up!  One more to go on Heroic Measures.

Nope, but it’s great that they are doing a podcast.