How do teachers feel about the red situation?

[Anonymous]

I shouldn't speak for my friend, but she teaches HS at an affluent school and lives in a WC neighborhood where she sends her kids.

She did not want to go back to work this week and felt she was throwing herself and kids and their classmates to the COVID wolves, but she had no other choice.

She hates virtual, but supports it during THIS TIME because she understands what a mess it will (and is) causing to have in-person school while so many people are positive and/or staff out. Just a nightmare.

Her experience in the classroom with kids on phones and poor mask-wearing (in the affluent school) mirrors what a PP said. She does report better mask usage this week than before the break.

The school where she teaches is red, her kid's school is green-- but of course, if you look at the green schools, you can see what they have in common, and it's not a population that is especially unlikely to have COVID, so none of it means anything. (Except that there's high and increasing spread everywhere, compared to pre-omicron times.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I shouldn't speak for my friend, but she teaches HS at an affluent school and lives in a WC neighborhood where she sends her kids.

She did not want to go back to work this week and felt she was throwing herself and kids and their classmates to the COVID wolves, but she had no other choice.

She hates virtual, but supports it during THIS TIME because she understands what a mess it will (and is) causing to have in-person school while so many people are positive and/or staff out. Just a nightmare.

Her experience in the classroom with kids on phones and poor mask-wearing (in the affluent school) mirrors what a PP said. She does report better mask usage this week than before the break.

The school where she teaches is red, her kid's school is green-- but of course, if you look at the green schools, you can see what they have in common, and it's not a population that is especially unlikely to have COVID, so none of it means anything. (Except that there's high and increasing spread everywhere, compared to pre-omicron times.)

WC = Working Class, not Winston Churchill

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The demands of this year do not bother me as I am very prepared for both virtual and in-person. I took virtual learning courses before the pandemic ironically and used all of my skills to be as effective as I could. I favor in-person learning 100%. We follow Covid-protocol, and I clean my own classroom every single day and have the lowest covid count in the school, 0. I read about covid-19, learned how to prevent it and followed the instructions from the CDC. My entire family has been just fine.

I AM concerned about lapses in social skills, language development and lack of number sense in my kids. We work around the clock in my classroom even practicing letter sounds, blends and sight words during bathroom breaks and we practice math facts on the way to specials, lunch and recess. We use every single minute of our day working on skills that these children need to be successful and I am seeing progress. When we do our daily writing, I expect every single kid to produce something and now I am having kids writing 2 pages and using proper punctuation, capitalization and spelling sight words correctly.

What I do not need: closures. This will inhibit our progress and the stability in which I have built in my classroom. We have a very good routine, follow procedures and regulate our emotions through zen breaks and mindfulness. I LOVE my class right now and believe we can move most of my class from red and orange into yellow and green, be emotionally ready for 2nd grade and recover as much as we can from the damage of the pandemic.

You know "cleaning your classroom.every day" has negligible to nil effect on the spread of COVID, right?

You do know that MCPS janitors, at least at my school, reuse trash bags, do not clean sinks, door knobs, floors, or carpets right? They vacuum once every two weeks and a child had a spill and we waited 3 hours and moved to a different area of the room until it was cleaned. They gave two swishes with the mop and it was sticky and gross until I cleaned it that evening. There is no soap in the bathrooms, nor paper towels, and the bathrooms are insanely gross. So, thanks for your snide comment. I am intelligent enough to know that while it does not help combat covid-19, part of fighting any illness is cleanliness. My parents appreciate my efforts and send cleaning supplies for our class.

What's the deal with "MCPS janitors" and the system's upper management of this dept.? Our local elementary school is a dump, especially outside, and has been for years. Why are cleaning and maintenance standards so low in MCPS? I have worked at a dozen schools in my career (not MCPS) and never seen trash and poorly cleaned areas like those seen in MCPS schools. Upper mgmt. really needs to overhaul standards in this crucial, basic school building dept.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I shouldn't speak for my friend, but she teaches HS at an affluent school and lives in a WC neighborhood where she sends her kids.

She did not want to go back to work this week and felt she was throwing herself and kids and their classmates to the COVID wolves, but she had no other choice.

She hates virtual, but supports it during THIS TIME because she understands what a mess it will (and is) causing to have in-person school while so many people are positive and/or staff out. Just a nightmare.

Her experience in the classroom with kids on phones and poor mask-wearing (in the affluent school) mirrors what a PP said. She does report better mask usage this week than before the break.

The school where she teaches is red, her kid's school is green-- but of course, if you look at the green schools, you can see what they have in common, and it's not a population that is especially unlikely to have COVID, so none of it means anything. (Except that there's high and increasing spread everywhere, compared to pre-omicron times.)

I’m just gonna put it out there that some schools in WC neighborhoods may be lower covid rate because.. they are. It may be that those families have been getting exposure constantly through their jobs and that their families have had covid several times or that the kids had it a month ago and caught the early wave. So wealthier schools may be actually be getting more covid right now because they were more likely to travel over break, yes, and are more likely to test,yes, but perhaps also because they have more work from home families and are a couple weeks behind a wave that hit lower income elementary schools with a more active immunity already.
Just a theory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The demands of this year do not bother me as I am very prepared for both virtual and in-person. I took virtual learning courses before the pandemic ironically and used all of my skills to be as effective as I could. I favor in-person learning 100%. We follow Covid-protocol, and I clean my own classroom every single day and have the lowest covid count in the school, 0. I read about covid-19, learned how to prevent it and followed the instructions from the CDC. My entire family has been just fine.

I AM concerned about lapses in social skills, language development and lack of number sense in my kids. We work around the clock in my classroom even practicing letter sounds, blends and sight words during bathroom breaks and we practice math facts on the way to specials, lunch and recess. We use every single minute of our day working on skills that these children need to be successful and I am seeing progress. When we do our daily writing, I expect every single kid to produce something and now I am having kids writing 2 pages and using proper punctuation, capitalization and spelling sight words correctly.

What I do not need: closures. This will inhibit our progress and the stability in which I have built in my classroom. We have a very good routine, follow procedures and regulate our emotions through zen breaks and mindfulness. I LOVE my class right now and believe we can move most of my class from red and orange into yellow and green, be emotionally ready for 2nd grade and recover as much as we can from the damage of the pandemic.

You know "cleaning your classroom.every day" has negligible to nil effect on the spread of COVID, right?

You do know that MCPS janitors, at least at my school, reuse trash bags, do not clean sinks, door knobs, floors, or carpets right? They vacuum once every two weeks and a child had a spill and we waited 3 hours and moved to a different area of the room until it was cleaned. They gave two swishes with the mop and it was sticky and gross until I cleaned it that evening. There is no soap in the bathrooms, nor paper towels, and the bathrooms are insanely gross. So, thanks for your snide comment. I am intelligent enough to know that while it does not help combat covid-19, part of fighting any illness is cleanliness. My parents appreciate my efforts and send cleaning supplies for our class.

What's the deal with "MCPS janitors" and the system's upper management of this dept.? Our local elementary school is a dump, especially outside, and has been for years. Why are cleaning and maintenance standards so low in MCPS? I have worked at a dozen schools in my career (not MCPS) and never seen trash and poorly cleaned areas like those seen in MCPS schools. Upper mgmt. really needs to overhaul standards in this crucial, basic school building dept.

Our school is clean, both inside and out. The Building Services Manager of each individual school sets the expectations for his/her building services staff. The building services team is responsive and provides needed things when requested. They are truly an inclusive part of our staff. Our students will greet them by name when they see them throughout the day (“Good Morning Mr. Pineda!”). If your school is the way it is, the fault lies with your Building Services Manager (and I suppose your admin for allowing low standards). I love that our school is clean, bright, and welcoming. Our Building Services Manager is amazing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The demands of this year do not bother me as I am very prepared for both virtual and in-person. I took virtual learning courses before the pandemic ironically and used all of my skills to be as effective as I could. I favor in-person learning 100%. We follow Covid-protocol, and I clean my own classroom every single day and have the lowest covid count in the school, 0. I read about covid-19, learned how to prevent it and followed the instructions from the CDC. My entire family has been just fine.

I AM concerned about lapses in social skills, language development and lack of number sense in my kids. We work around the clock in my classroom even practicing letter sounds, blends and sight words during bathroom breaks and we practice math facts on the way to specials, lunch and recess. We use every single minute of our day working on skills that these children need to be successful and I am seeing progress. When we do our daily writing, I expect every single kid to produce something and now I am having kids writing 2 pages and using proper punctuation, capitalization and spelling sight words correctly.

What I do not need: closures. This will inhibit our progress and the stability in which I have built in my classroom. We have a very good routine, follow procedures and regulate our emotions through zen breaks and mindfulness. I LOVE my class right now and believe we can move most of my class from red and orange into yellow and green, be emotionally ready for 2nd grade and recover as much as we can from the damage of the pandemic.

You know "cleaning your classroom.every day" has negligible to nil effect on the spread of COVID, right?

You do know that MCPS janitors, at least at my school, reuse trash bags, do not clean sinks, door knobs, floors, or carpets right? They vacuum once every two weeks and a child had a spill and we waited 3 hours and moved to a different area of the room until it was cleaned. They gave two swishes with the mop and it was sticky and gross until I cleaned it that evening. There is no soap in the bathrooms, nor paper towels, and the bathrooms are insanely gross. So, thanks for your snide comment. I am intelligent enough to know that while it does not help combat covid-19, part of fighting any illness is cleanliness. My parents appreciate my efforts and send cleaning supplies for our class.

What's the deal with "MCPS janitors" and the system's upper management of this dept.? Our local elementary school is a dump, especially outside, and has been for years. Why are cleaning and maintenance standards so low in MCPS? I have worked at a dozen schools in my career (not MCPS) and never seen trash and poorly cleaned areas like those seen in MCPS schools. Upper mgmt. really needs to overhaul standards in this crucial, basic school building dept.

Our school is clean, both inside and out. The Building Services Manager of each individual school sets the expectations for his/her building services staff. The building services team is responsive and provides needed things when requested. They are truly an inclusive part of our staff. Our students will greet them by name when they see them throughout the day (“Good Morning Mr. Pineda!”). If your school is the way it is, the fault lies with your Building Services Manager (and I suppose your admin for allowing low standards). I love that our school is clean, bright, and welcoming. Our Building Services Manager is amazing!

My school has an incredible hardworking building service manager but unfortunately we have just been so short staffed. This week we only had one full time person and one part-time person working everybody else was out sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love teaching. Always have and always will. I’m vaccinated and boostered but right now, am nervous about bringing covid home to my 6 month old. I live a very cautious lifestyle and will until my son can get vaccinated, so hearing how my students traveled, went to Disney, over winter break is a bit nerve wrecking. Should schools have closed for a few weeks? Absolutely. Will the children be ok going virtual temporarily? Definitely. Regardless, I show up to work and give it my all every day and hope for the best.

Amen.

Also, thank you for all you do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The demands of this year do not bother me as I am very prepared for both virtual and in-person. I took virtual learning courses before the pandemic ironically and used all of my skills to be as effective as I could. I favor in-person learning 100%. We follow Covid-protocol, and I clean my own classroom every single day and have the lowest covid count in the school, 0. I read about covid-19, learned how to prevent it and followed the instructions from the CDC. My entire family has been just fine.

I AM concerned about lapses in social skills, language development and lack of number sense in my kids. We work around the clock in my classroom even practicing letter sounds, blends and sight words during bathroom breaks and we practice math facts on the way to specials, lunch and recess. We use every single minute of our day working on skills that these children need to be successful and I am seeing progress. When we do our daily writing, I expect every single kid to produce something and now I am having kids writing 2 pages and using proper punctuation, capitalization and spelling sight words correctly.

What I do not need: closures. This will inhibit our progress and the stability in which I have built in my classroom. We have a very good routine, follow procedures and regulate our emotions through zen breaks and mindfulness. I LOVE my class right now and believe we can move most of my class from red and orange into yellow and green, be emotionally ready for 2nd grade and recover as much as we can from the damage of the pandemic.

red and orange into yellow and green

What are you talking about? This post was about the COVID-19 status. There is no orange.

She is referring to data. In MCPS, or at least my school and apparently hers, we color code the student's scores, grades and other data. Our SLO's are tied to it.

[Anonymous]

Another kuddos to the OP, I wish all my teachers were as dedicated as you! You sound incredible, keep it up! The kids are lucky to have you!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The demands of this year do not bother me as I am very prepared for both virtual and in-person. I took virtual learning courses before the pandemic ironically and used all of my skills to be as effective as I could. I favor in-person learning 100%. We follow Covid-protocol, and I clean my own classroom every single day and have the lowest covid count in the school, 0. I read about covid-19, learned how to prevent it and followed the instructions from the CDC. My entire family has been just fine.

I AM concerned about lapses in social skills, language development and lack of number sense in my kids. We work around the clock in my classroom even practicing letter sounds, blends and sight words during bathroom breaks and we practice math facts on the way to specials, lunch and recess. We use every single minute of our day working on skills that these children need to be successful and I am seeing progress. When we do our daily writing, I expect every single kid to produce something and now I am having kids writing 2 pages and using proper punctuation, capitalization and spelling sight words correctly.

What I do not need: closures. This will inhibit our progress and the stability in which I have built in my classroom. We have a very good routine, follow procedures and regulate our emotions through zen breaks and mindfulness. I LOVE my class right now and believe we can move most of my class from red and orange into yellow and green, be emotionally ready for 2nd grade and recover as much as we can from the damage of the pandemic.

You know "cleaning your classroom.every day" has negligible to nil effect on the spread of COVID, right?

NP but I 2nd this. Our Building services staff is wonderful. They are warm, do a good job in keeping things generally clean, participate in fundraisers with the kids,and just generally are seen as a part of the school community.

You do know that MCPS janitors, at least at my school, reuse trash bags, do not clean sinks, door knobs, floors, or carpets right? They vacuum once every two weeks and a child had a spill and we waited 3 hours and moved to a different area of the room until it was cleaned. They gave two swishes with the mop and it was sticky and gross until I cleaned it that evening. There is no soap in the bathrooms, nor paper towels, and the bathrooms are insanely gross. So, thanks for your snide comment. I am intelligent enough to know that while it does not help combat covid-19, part of fighting any illness is cleanliness. My parents appreciate my efforts and send cleaning supplies for our class.

What's the deal with "MCPS janitors" and the system's upper management of this dept.? Our local elementary school is a dump, especially outside, and has been for years. Why are cleaning and maintenance standards so low in MCPS? I have worked at a dozen schools in my career (not MCPS) and never seen trash and poorly cleaned areas like those seen in MCPS schools. Upper mgmt. really needs to overhaul standards in this crucial, basic school building dept.

Our school is clean, both inside and out. The Building Services Manager of each individual school sets the expectations for his/her building services staff. The building services team is responsive and provides needed things when requested. They are truly an inclusive part of our staff. Our students will greet them by name when they see them throughout the day (“Good Morning Mr. Pineda!”). If your school is the way it is, the fault lies with your Building Services Manager (and I suppose your admin for allowing low standards). I love that our school is clean, bright, and welcoming. Our Building Services Manager is amazing!

My school has an incredible hardworking building service manager but unfortunately we have just been so short staffed. This week we only had one full time person and one part-time person working everybody else was out sick.