Read on Twitter
“If we are wasting time, energy, and resources on a plan that is unfruitful at best and jeopardizes people’s live at worst, we are missing an opportunity to have a better school year despite the pandemic.” Yup. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/31/metro/boston-teachers-overwhelmingly-prefer-remote-only-instruction/
We definitely need to consider tech/accessibility issues, but there is nothing magic about being inside the school building. I wish districts would focus on how to make LEARNING effective, rather than trying to recreate an in-person school experience that’s no longer possible.
Instead of just doing the regular in-classroom activities online, how could virtual lessons teach these topics/skills differently? And how can we make sure all students have access to those lessons? Getting everyone into the building doesn’t magically fix anything.
Assume everyone (kids, schools) follow every guideline perfectly and there is no virus spread. Even so, how much learning—both academic and social—is possible when you can’t be near or work with or play with others, see each other’s faces, or move around?
On top of that, school is already incredibly stressful for kids at the best of times. Following rules, negotiating social situations—yes, that’s part of what we want them to learn, but if these had been the conditions when I was in school, my anxiety would have been paralyzing.
I feel like districts are wasting a lot of time on hybrid plans that are impossible and that few people actually want, instead of focusing on ways to make virtual learning work better for as many students as possible. (It’s not like we don’t have work to do there!)
Why not at least plan to start digital, which everyone agrees will be part (if not all) of the learning experience for the next year to two years, and get that working as smoothly as possible? Then, if conditions improve, you can add in the in-person elements?
This is true of many things: pandemic-era meetings, conferences, schools, etc. are less effective when we try to port in-person experiences to virtual platforms. A better solution would be making lemonade: what does this virtual platform let us do & how can we use that?
We interrupt this rant to go and exercise
Saved by the attempt to maintain some modicum of cardiovascular health
I don’t mean to suggest any of this is easy! But planning for in-person school seems like magical thinking, and meanwhile the actual EDUCATION part is left by the wayside. And when (not if) schools need to shut for quarrantine, the digital plans will be half-baked too.
Yes, many families have access issues and many kids depend on schools for meals. But given the current uncontrolled spread in many areas, we’re going to have to solve those problems *within* a social distancing context.
Schools have long been asked to serve many needs (nutrition, social services, technology access) that should really be taken care of by a social safety net. Right now schools ARE the safety net for so many and we’re seeing what happens when they fray.
Of course, add “child care” to the list above. (It’s interesting how many conservatives are suddenly very concerned about low-income kids getting fed now when they were all for school lunch bills, before.)
"There is no replacing the pre-pandemic classroom’s daily intimacies. But even with an online-only model, we can give kids meaningful experiences with content, regular interaction with peers free from COVID-related hypervigilance, and engagement." https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2020/07/10/reopening-schools-covid-19-karen-harris
