Today

[Boss_Tweedy]

Today's the five-year anniversary of the death of one of my good college friends. He had been treated for melanoma after college, and it returned in an advanced stage. There's been far too much death in my life in recent years. 

[uncool2pillow]

Today I am online at church awaiting the end of my daughter's choir rehearsal. I am wondering if any of the bot topics on this forum are setting off any alarm bells.

[Heart full of holes]

Today my 82-year old dad called to tell me about his trip to Atlanta.  At the airport, he saw a bunch of musicians with their guitar cases.  He walked up to them and asked, "Are you Wilco?"  One of them replied, "No, but I wish to hell we were!"

 

Good ol' Dad.    

[fif1435]

Today my 82-year old dad called to tell me about his trip to Atlanta.  At the airport, he saw a bunch of musicians with their guitar cases.  He walked up to them and asked, "Are you Wilco?"  One of them replied, "No, but I wish to hell we were!"

 

Good ol' Dad.    

 

Ha ha!!!  I love that!

[Beltmann]

Good ol' Dad.    

 

That's fantastic!

[kidsmoke]

Today my 82-year old dad called to tell me about his trip to Atlanta.  At the airport, he saw a bunch of musicians with their guitar cases.  He walked up to them and asked, "Are you Wilco?"  One of them replied, "No, but I wish to hell we were!"

 

Good ol' Dad.    

 

That"s adorable. He's just trying to understand his daughter's fascination with them. I'm sure he'll go on questioning musicians until he finds the right ones.

[TCP]

Today my 82-year old dad called to tell me about his trip to Atlanta.  At the airport, he saw a bunch of musicians with their guitar cases.  He walked up to them and asked, "Are you Wilco?"  One of them replied, "No, but I wish to hell we were!"

 

Good ol' Dad.    

 

That warmed my heart!

[uncool2pillow]

Today, I am anxiously awaiting my neighborhood caucus.

 

Tomorrow, a day off and all the flights in Des Moines will be departures.

[calvino]

Today, I am anxiously awaiting my neighborhood caucus.

 

Tomorrow, a day off and all the flights in Des Moines will be departures.

 

Think at least some of the folks will be sticking around today. 

How was your caucus? The cable news were beside themselves last night.

[uncool2pillow]

Ours was fairly efficient. Once the results left the precinct??

 

I think we will rightfully lose our first in the nation status. Sorry, everybody.

[remphish1]

Bad day. Wife’s company she works filing for bankruptcy due to extra pressure from virus and my 22 year concert streak ends

[Chez]

Bad day. Wife’s company she works filing for bankruptcy due to extra pressure from virus and my 22 year concert streak ends

 

Brutal. Sorry x 2.

[remphish1]

Brutal. Sorry x 2.

Thanks trying to take things one day at a time but both items are a big part of our identity. My wife has been there for 12 years and there are so many unknowns. The waiting and uncertainty are very tough!

[kidsmoke]

Bad day. Wife’s company she works filing for bankruptcy due to extra pressure from virus and my 22 year concert streak ends

 

I'm really sorry to hear this, Craig. I'm sure she will re-find her footing in the end, but stories like this are all over the country. So many lives being devastated and reordered right now! But soon trump will be gone, and then things can only improve.

[remphish1]

I'm really sorry to hear this, Craig. I'm sure she will re-find her footing in the end, but stories like this are all over the country. So many lives being devastated and reordered right now! But soon trump will be gone, and then things can only improve.

I sure hope so!

[chuckrh]

RIP Don Shula. Coached only undefeated season in the 100 year history of the NFL. He also had the most wins all time.

[The Inside of Outside]

I lived south of Miami from 69-74. We had 2 season tickets for our family of 7 - each of us 5 kids got to go with my dad to one game a year. Don Shula was a god down there then. RIP.

[foolnrain97]

So, like, what's up and stuff?

[uncool2pillow]

Today, I am freaking out about returning to my teaching position. Both because of what my governor (Kim Reynolds, Iowa) has done and how my local district is shaping things. I feel like I'm going to be spending 40-50 hours/week in a huge fucking petri dish. I just hope I'm one of the lucky 50 year olds who has a mild reaction.

[brownie]

Today, I am freaking out about returning to my teaching position. Both because of what my governor (Kim Reynolds, Iowa) has done and how my local district is shaping things. I feel like I'm going to be spending 40-50 hours/week in a huge fucking petri dish. I just hope I'm one of the lucky 50 year olds who has a mild reaction.

I am in a similar position, and I have almost 10 years on you.  I am still not sure what I’m going to do, but going back and hoping I get only a mild case is not one of the options I am considering.

 

Hang in there.  

[calvino]

Today, I am freaking out about returning to my teaching position. Both because of what my governor (Kim Reynolds, Iowa) has done and how my local district is shaping things. I feel like I'm going to be spending 40-50 hours/week in a huge fucking petri dish. I just hope I'm one of the lucky 50 year olds who has a mild reaction.

 

 

I am in a similar position, and I have almost 10 years on you.  I am still not sure what I’m going to do, but going back and hoping I get only a mild case is not one of the options I am considering.

 

Hang in there.  

 

Ugh -- my kids are doing full remote with live instruction, at least for the 1st quarter. 

 

Our options were hybrid  ( 2 days in school / 2 days independent study / 1 day remote with teacher) or full remote. The teachers in our district  have the an option to teach fully remote or in a classroom.

 

We had a school board meeting yesterday and it appears that community is pretty much 50/50 on remote and the hybrid. One of my kids has allergies and asthma -- during the fall, she pretty much appears to have all the symptoms of Covid-19 every morning - it would be impossible to sign her off every morning, stating that she is completely healthy and shows no signs - something we would have to do every morning, in order to send her to school. 

 

I greatly appreciate both of you, as well as all teachers.  

[sonicshoulder]

Today, I am freaking out about returning to my teaching position. Both because of what my governor (Kim Reynolds, Iowa) has done and how my local district is shaping things. I feel like I'm going to be spending 40-50 hours/week in a huge fucking petri dish. I just hope I'm one of the lucky 50 year olds who has a mild reaction.

So I am curious because I am on the school board here in our district and while it isn't our responsibility to create the model for this school year we do have to approve it. I have been talking to a lot of parents and teachers....I also have three kids in the district and while there are obviously tons of concerns being voiced there are very few if not any solutions or even recommendations  being offered. We did do a district wide survey around a month ago with about an 80% response rate which I thought was pretty good. Roughly 75% of that 80% both parents and staff were in favor of coming back to in person instruction with safety standards in place(masks, temp checks, sanitization etc). I believe if they did this survey today those numbers would be less in favor of in person instruction. It is obviously a very fluid situation but unfortunately these superintendents need to make a call now and give teachers, students and staff as much time to prepare as possible for increased child care or informing  their employer among other variables.  As a teacher do you think there is a happy medium between a quality education(keeping in mind the primary grades) and a safe environment? Btw I am totally not trolling here. I think our decision makers are struggling to get honest feedback from teachers because they don't want to be the squeaky wheel. 

[uncool2pillow]

So I am curious because I am on the school board here in our district and while it isn't our responsibility to create the model for this school year we do have to approve it. I have been talking to a lot of parents and teachers....I also have three kids in the district and while there are obviously tons of concerns being voiced there are very few if not any solutions or even recommendations  being offered. We did do a district wide survey around a month ago with about an 80% response rate which I thought was pretty good. Roughly 75% of that 80% both parents and staff were in favor of coming back to in person instruction with safety standards in place(masks, temp checks, sanitization etc). I believe if they did this survey today those numbers would be less in favor of in person instruction. It is obviously a very fluid situation but unfortunately these superintendents need to make a call now and give teachers, students and staff as much time to prepare as possible for increased child care or informing  their employer among other variables.  As a teacher do you think there is a happy medium between a quality education(keeping in mind the primary grades) and a safe environment? Btw I am totally not trolling here. I think our decision makers are struggling to get honest feedback from teachers because they don't want to be the squeaky wheel. 

 

No trolling assumed. I think in many cases teachers are afraid to speak out. A few years ago, a colleague and I were admonished for contacting school board members who were also parents of students of ours at the time for not following the proper chain of command protocols. Unfortunately, many superintendents treat school boards as rubber stamps for their initiatives rather than the elected reprsentatives they are.

 

There are no easy decision here, so good luck! I know that many parents, including me, have depended upon school to provide daycare. We can't deny the economic reality that many parents depend upon that. Our district surveys showed that being 100% back in the building was the least popular choice among staff, but that's about where we are. We will have a number of families opt for virtual learning, but based on survey results, I think it will end up being less than 20%.

 

Ideally, we would do some sort of every other day rotation, but our governor has all but eliminated that. My biggest concern is my specific project-based learning program. I co-teach a hybrid social studies/language arts class. We're double-blocked so typically have about 60 students in a double classroom.  My co-teacher and love this program, but not during a pandemic. We'll have 60 kids and us sharing the same air for 90 minutes at a time. Further, kids are ALWAYS in groups. Small tables of 4 facing each other about about 2-3'. Granted, coverings will be required, but hard to enforce. The district could, with the flip of a switch a mimial expenditure put our program on hold for a year, put a curtain where a wall used to be to give us 2 separate classrooms, and allow us to NOT group students constantly. There are so many other concerns: Absences are hard when always doing collaborative learning, switching to virtual and trying to mainaint project-based, collaborative learning, worrying about increased online bullying and harassment and decreased engagement in this virtual collaborative environment. And I'm just scratching the surface.

 

I've said enough. I truly applaud you serving on a school board. Please listen intently to the voices of the teachers. Seek them out if you feel like you're not hearing them through official channels. 

[remphish1]

I am in a similar position, and I have almost 10 years on you. I am still not sure what I’m going to do, but going back and hoping I get only a mild case is not one of the options I am considering.

 

Hang in there.

Thinking of you and all the teachers out there what hard decisions for everyone involved

[sonicshoulder]

No trolling assumed. I think in many cases teachers are afraid to speak out. A few years ago, a colleague and I were admonished for contacting school board members who were also parents of students of ours at the time for not following the proper chain of command protocols. Unfortunately, many superintendents treat school boards as rubber stamps for their initiatives rather than the elected reprsentatives they are.

 

There are no easy decision here, so good luck! I know that many parents, including me, have depended upon school to provide daycare. We can't deny the economic reality that many parents depend upon that. Our district surveys showed that being 100% back in the building was the least popular choice among staff, but that's about where we are. We will have a number of families opt for virtual learning, but based on survey results, I think it will end up being less than 20%.

 

Ideally, we would do some sort of every other day rotation, but our governor has all but eliminated that. My biggest concern is my specific project-based learning program. I co-teach a hybrid social studies/language arts class. We're double-blocked so typically have about 60 students in a double classroom.  My co-teacher and love this program, but not during a pandemic. We'll have 60 kids and us sharing the same air for 90 minutes at a time. Further, kids are ALWAYS in groups. Small tables of 4 facing each other about about 2-3'. Granted, coverings will be required, but hard to enforce. The district could, with the flip of a switch a mimial expenditure put our program on hold for a year, put a curtain where a wall used to be to give us 2 separate classrooms, and allow us to NOT group students constantly. There are so many other concerns: Absences are hard when always doing collaborative learning, switching to virtual and trying to mainaint project-based, collaborative learning, worrying about increased online bullying and harassment and decreased engagement in this virtual collaborative environment. And I'm just scratching the surface.

 

I've said enough. I truly applaud you serving on a school board. Please listen intently to the voices of the teachers. Seek them out if you feel like you're not hearing them through official channels. 

We are a smaller independent district in an urban neighborhood.   Approx 800 students K-12, essentially one connected  building taking up about a city block,  no bus service...very, very close knit community. Working class community where if there are two parents they are both working most likely. We pushed our start date out to August 26 and the superintendent rightfully so imo felt it important to establish a baseline plan early and get it to the families and then modify it accordingly in mid-August if necessary. Desks are 6' apart, lunch is to be served and eaten in the class rooms, masks are required, water fountains turned off etc.  That plan is to have Mon-Thur 1/2 day on campus 1/2 day virtual. Friday is 100% virtual for all students. This gives us 72 hours each week for sanitization and the buildings sit empty Fri-Sun. It also brings each student into the school four days a week which is the safest and most structured environment for many of our students. Families are given the option of mornings or afternoons and students from the same family are all automatically put into the same time slot to ease logistics on the parents. Each student will be given a meal at school and one to take home. We are trying to work out some auxiliary spaces for primary students who would be going home to an empty house. It is a horrible situation. Teachers and students need to be safe...parents need to work...employers need their employees on site. There is no silver bullet and unfortunately we live in the era of constant social media scrutiny so no decision will appease everyone.  Another interesting angle is the students that are cancelling or going virtual are losing student and students equal money for schools. Many of the parochial schools feel obligated to open because their parents are paying thousand of dollars for that education and paying that money to do the teaching yourself at your house isn't going over well.