An idea to address in person teaching

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the logistical side, they'd have to swap out the toilets for smaller ones (and for the younger kids there wouldn't be bathrooms in the classrooms)

Do you guys all have dual toilets at home? Have you heard of stools? I mean honestly, have we lost our minds? (I know this is a losing battle but I would just like to see some acknowledgement that we’ve just completely folded without even trying.

If your child falls off the stool into the toilet in your home it’s not a huge deal. It it happens in school you’re going to need to fill out forms and deal with lawsuit threats from the parents. And then they don’t allow stools in the bathroom anymore and you spend bathroom break lifting children on and off the toilet, and you need another adult to be in the bathroom with you to make sure there’s no funny business.

Before you blame schools and teachers for not trying you need to understand the reason why where you see solutions we see problems. Litigious parents are why bees, sun, poor air quality, and heat are reasons why we can’t have class outside. Why stools in the bathroom are a no go. For every good out of the box solution there is a crazy person out there that will find a problem with it.

I’m sorry. I agree that our litigious society is a major problem, but again please just acknowledge that your argument that we can’t send our children to school in a pandemic is that they might fall into the toilets. We have some serious work to do as a nation.

I’m not saying we can’t or we shouldn’t. There are many great ideas I’ve seen out there for how to get kids into a school building safely. But they’re shot down for what seem like crazy reasons that come back to safety. What we need to do is start trying these solutions even after we’re back in person. We need to assume that this isn’t the last time this will happen and try to figure it out. A school can try one outdoor classroom and address the safety issues when we’re not under pressure, so we’re ready. Or what do we need to do to make sure little kids are safe in a high school building. Or what ever the proposal is. But schools aren’t great at this, they are always trying to address the immediate problem in front of them. That’s where I’d put the time and money if I could.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hiring more teachers is likely a bigger hurdle than you imagine. Where will these teachers come from?

Also, are there enough buildings with classrooms that have adequate ventilation? And what about meals, when kids have to remove their masks? Will the schools have to buy new classroom furniture, because chairs and tables sized for teenagers are too big for first graders?

I’m the disappointed poster above. I agree hiring is a major challenge but seriously do you think it’s acceptable that our schools are run by people who can’t figure out the other questions. I mean seriously.

Of course it's not acceptable, but DCPS is a dysfunctional system and has been for awhile. So why are you expecting them to suddenly do a great job?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS is going to be stretched too thin to organize something like this. It simply is not realistic. what you describe is complex and misses staffing. Custodians assigned to Wilson don't want to work to clean up after 4 year olds nor does that custodial staff want another school's custodial staff to come into their school. What you describe will not happen.

If I were a custodian staff, I’d rather clean up after 4 year olds than high schoolers.

[Anonymous]

The issue is indoor air quality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think most agree that DL doesn't work for younger kids. What if DCPS looked into utilizing high schools to create more opportunity for the younger kids to socially distance and use that as a way for in-person teaching?

Obviously more teachers would have to be hired, but if you can poll families to see who would return to in person school, it's not likely to be 100%

Maybe that's a way to keep class sizes smaller and the opportunity for more distancing - at least get the younger kids in front of a teacher. Just a thought....

A BOE member in MCPS suggested DL for MS and HS, allowing K-5 to use the empty buildings. She might as well have said that lizard people should come and teach the kids. That's how well it was received. Districts don't want to bother, and don't really have the bandwidth anyway, for these types of solutions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think most agree that DL doesn't work for younger kids. What if DCPS looked into utilizing high schools to create more opportunity for the younger kids to socially distance and use that as a way for in-person teaching?

Obviously more teachers would have to be hired, but if you can poll families to see who would return to in person school, it's not likely to be 100%

Maybe that's a way to keep class sizes smaller and the opportunity for more distancing - at least get the younger kids in front of a teacher. Just a thought....

A BOE member in MCPS suggested DL for MS and HS, allowing K-5 to use the empty buildings. She might as well have said that lizard people should come and teach the kids. That's how well it was received. Districts don't want to bother, and don't really have the bandwidth anyway, for these types of solutions.

That's actually a pretty good idea, at least on the space side. Finding enough teachers for smaller classes at this point would be really tough, much less how to pay them.

It wouldn't really work well here until mid-September and then need to stop in probably mid-November, but I can't believe how few districts in places like California are considering outdoor classes.

“There was no proposal for outdoor learning that I recall. It was not part of the conversation in board meetings,” Maureen Magee, the communications director for the San Diego Unified School District, told me."

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/07/outdoor-schools-coronavirus/614680/