just got off a staff information session zoom. i want to quit.

what they’re doing to us and to the kids. it’s nothing short of criminal.

how do we expect children to learn in this environment? masks. shields. no physical interactions. no recess. water fountains shut off. all day in a chair.

the fact that we can’t come up with a healthy age appropriate alternative to this prison-like environment should tell us we are fighting a losing battle.

i think our leadership is in full denial mode.

you can’t talk about culturally responsive pedagogy, then announce shutting water fountains & demand kids buy their own water.

you can’t say you want what’s best for the kids but take away their ability to play.

you can’t be antiracist & acquiese to the DOE’s every whim.

the children (and their parents) are completely depending on us to keep them safe. how can we in good conscience stay silent, knowing what we are agreeing to?

Superintendents, you can say, “No. I won’t ask my principals to pay for that.”

Principals, you can say, “No. I won’t ask my teachers to do that.”

Teachers, you can say, “No. I won’t do that to my kids.”

We actually can say no. Collectively and individually.

Why are we agreeing to punish our students with an entirely restrictive learning environment where the learning will almost definitely take second place to protocol, procedures, and bodily control?

Is this really worth it all?

Remote learning is THE WORST.

But despite everything; tech issues, disastrous attendance, long days with computers on, sleepless nights planning, missing them all so much, I knew my kids were safe at home.

Instructional lunch. Eating lunch in the classroom. While they have more assignments.
They wear masks for instruction and take them off to eat— then put them back on again. Continue sitting in the same room for the rest of the day.

3K and PreK babies take naps in the classroom. It was suggested that they wear masks during their naps.

Speaking of the youngest students: What happens when they have toilet accidents? Who’s going to change them?
Who will wipe their noses when they sneeze into their masks?
How will we comfort them when they’re scared and crying?

It’s really not clear to me how we will build relationships with our students without physical proximity. We can’t separate the relationship with the teacher from the learning process. If students are uneasy they’re not going to take risks, retain, process, create, or produce.

Children, especially young ones still acclimating to school procedures, will now associate school with rigidity and fear. Teachers will be made to control and restrict them. Their bathroom experiences will be monitored. Walking, touching, moving, turning, all will be policed.

Desks in rows. Facing front. Masks and shields. All day long.

We don’t know if we’re allowed to give out books. If paper is safe to use- how will we collect it, give feedback or grade it? Can we use any of our supplies? Who should buy supplies for the kids if they need their own

Desks in rows.
How will classrooms look, now they the kids won’t have mobility. No more carpet? No more circle time. No more touching the smartboard. No more small groups. No hand games. No tag, no sports, no sharing, no hugs...

Facing forward. Masks and shields. All day long.

These are the details teachers know about. The details nobody asked about.

Nobody asked teachers about anything.

We are having the wrong conversation. Why are we fixated on returning to, preserving and perpetuating a system that wasn’t even working?

Instead of trying to go back to “normal” we need to deal in the here and now. What do we want education to look like?

Remote learning is not going to be a permanent solution. But in this pandemic, it’s what we have to work with, it’s what will keep us safe. Denial will only prevent us from investing time and energy into making remote as effective as possible.

Despite what @DOEChancellor said, teachers haven’t been trained in delivering instruction online. We closed schools March 16 and reopened March 17 remote. NYC kids have some of the most amazing and resilient teachers bc to this day I still don’t know how we pulled that off.