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?
