Community Chat

[patbz]

Read an interesting article in Washington Post about what schools may look like in the Fall (combo distance learning/ classroom, extended year, "  make up proms/ graduations at Thanksgiving, etc and maybe bringing seniors and "learning to read" groups back first).  What are your thoughts?

[BeautyLver]

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@patbz wrote:

Read an interesting article in Washington Post about what schools may look like in the Fall (combo distance learning/ classroom, extended year, "  make up proms/ graduations at Thanksgiving, etc and maybe bringing seniors and "learning to read" groups back first).  What are your thoughts?

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This is April.  How can anyone predict what anything will be like in the fall?  Anywhere. 

[Meowingkitty]

Not that far away. School starts in early August in Arizona. 

[BeautyLver]

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@Meowingkitty wrote:

Not that far away. School starts in early August in Arizona. 

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With what the world is going through, so many things can change a million times over before then.

[Peaches McPhee]

Not schools, but the workplace.  Many people are proving that that they can work from home - I predict alot more will continue to do so, at least several days a week.  Cuts down on traffic, time, even office space rent.  

[patbz]

Now is the time that schools are making contingency plans; regardless of what they decide, they're going to need to do additional hiring, classroom/equipment modifications, etc.  California also starts in early August as does AZ and many other states.

[millieshops]

I know administrators and parents need to begin to talk about what to do, but I doubt anyone can actually plan in many areas with the knowledge that we have now.

I heard Bill Gates speak on this very topic a few days ago -  he spoke of the need to find a way to make elementary level education open because teaching and learning at that level is less successful than it is with the older kids.  

Assuming we still need social distancing, just figuring out how to provide that is a major challenge-  starting with how to get everyone to school safely let alone have enough classroom space to separate kids.

On the upper level where some buildings have a couple thousand kids in the halls every 45 minutes - how do we make that safe?   I remember buildings with UP stairs and DOWN stairs but 6 feet of separation?    Lots of luck with that.

[jeanlake]

As of today - will change if needed - 2020 high school grads in my city will hold grad ceremonies in mid July with fewer guest invitations. I'm wondering about teachers. Will they be playing 'catch up' with many returning students? Other students may return more focused and serious. I'm wondering how many families will switch to home schooling? In the office, as someone said, will people now have opportunities to work from home, at least partially? Will there be less business travel as Zoom conferences are encouraged? 

I'm confident of one thing -- regardless of station in life, we'd all benefit from staying familiar with computer trends / skills and completing routine tasks online.

My work campus is scheduled to open for essential personnel June first. Maybe July first. Students not allowed back on campus until August 1st. All online summer classes. Fall F2F or face-2-face classes will have lower student numbers to accommodate distancing. All fall classes need to be planned for switch to all online if the need arises. Over the years I've heard many faculty proudly declare they'd never teach online classes..... I do understand many part-time or adjunct faculty decided not to return in the fall. 

Almost everything and almost everyone is impacted. Hubs took over paying his parents bills online. They're thrilled he's doing that. This will continue until their passing.      

[Oostende]

Personally, I hope more parents choose to homeschool.  

I read an article once that said if you were trying to start a pandemic, housing all the kids in one place, and then sending them back home every night, would be the ideal way to do it.  Kids don't care too much about social distancing and hygiene.

There are some wonderful curriculums to choose from.  You can learn French from a native speaker at the Sorbonne or study Impressionism from a docent at the Orsay.  

The internet has revolutionized the way we work.  Sooner or later it will revolutionize the way we educate our children.  I would prefer sooner to later.