Has Duran gone mad? (APS)

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Very sorry PP. so angry that APS is doing this to teachers for what amounts to DL in school. It is not a magically better instructional option. All it brings is risk. I am keeping my kids home to protect them and teachers. But I know that doesn’t help you. We’re at one of the crazy high hybrid middle schools.

What do you mean it amounts to DL in school? Privates in the area are certainly providing a much better in-person education that the DL garbage we get. (And yes teachers are working very hard, but it doesn't matter how hard you work if it isn't translating to learning. Sure, parents with fancy jobs that can work from home or SAHPs can make DL work. Congrats for you! The vast majority are flailing.) The keep APS closed crowd has not been able to point to any science or research to support their position. They are the anti-science crowd.

Chill. Maybe you are an elementary parent, in that case then DL and hybrid will be different. But for middle and high, the concurrent plan is DL in school. That is very clear. It’s not a debate. Our APS principal made that clear. Privates may do it differently but our principal said in APS the only way they can do concurrent is everyone on devices with headphones. I am a MS parent who was talking to a HS teacher. For 6-12, it will be DL at school.

DP. Even if that’s what it looks like, many secondary students would benefit from being in a classroom with an aide who will make sure students stay on task.

Aide?? In high school?? Lololol.

If kids come in, I expect them to work. I will tell them to stay on task. If they don’t, i’m too busy teaching the online kids to bother. It’s their choice if they come in and do nothing.

If you are physically in the classroom, then it will not be the same as distance learning.

Your kid won’t magically pay attention. It’s just you won’t be the witness any longer.

I’ve laid out for my middle schooler the parade of horribles on what hybrid might be like, and he still really wants to go back. When asked why, he said that even with everyone being in separate rooms with doors closed, he still sometimes hears his sister’s lesson in the next room (especially when she has music or PE) and finds it really distracting in a way that kids on separate tasks in a classroom never was. He said he also finds his mind wanders and he gets off task far more easily sitting at a desk in our guest room (which has nothing but his school stuff in it) than he ever did in a classroom. Even seeing all of the worst case scenarios, he firmly believes he would learn more effectively in the school building than at home.

He also thinks he would manage his time better if his independent/asynchronous work times were in the building where the expectation is that he’d sit at his desk and work during those times than he does at home when there’s accountability during those periods so it’s easy to just take a break and push off the work until after the school day. If I see him downstairs during an asynchronous time, I’ll tell him to go back upstairs and do his schoolwork, but if I’m on a work call and can’t check on him, that doesn’t happen.

He wants to be in the building, even with everything you describe, because he believes he will still learn more effectively there, and he can point to concrete and specific reasons why. It’s hard to argue with that he’s wrong.

I have similar issues to your middle schooler. I thought about going in to work from the building, but I am in one of the zip codes with a high rate of cases, and received about 5 emails last month alerting me to positive cases and quarantines at the school. It sounds like you have taken the right steps setting up a designated workspace for him. Perhaps you need to make it a bit cozier and more comfortable so that it isn’t too spartan? Could you get him fish or a pet lizard or hamster for the room? Colorful cushions? Or maybe you need to make it more office like with a nice office chair and a whiteboard and calendar? Definitely try noise canceling headphones, ear plugs, or classical music if he is noise sensitive.

DP. He clearly wants the structure that a school building provides. The same way that many people prefer going into the office building to delineate home and work. A pet lizard isn't going to help with that. Or maybe it will. Maybe schools should start handing out lizards with the laptops...

Jesus. Never mind, then. I was just trying to be helpful in the event that he doesn’t get to go back in the building in January!

I am the poster to whom you originally responded with suggestions. I understand that you were trying to be helpful, I really do. But it is also tiresome, because underlying your suggestions is an assumption that I'm some lazy, disengaged, etc., parent who just isn't trying hard enough to help her child learn effectively. That I'm just screaming for schools to open because I don't want to parent my kid.

I have engaged. I have thrown everything I have into this, plus time and money I don't, to try to make distance learning work for him because I appreciate that if we could make distance learning effective for everyone, it would solve this whole issue because we would simply continue with distance learning until the pandemic is over. But distance learning isn't working for him. In some ways, I'd rather see APS punt on this whole school year, just cancel it and repeat the year next year, because I'm deeply worried that my child is getting left behind and that no one in the schools is going to take responsibility for making up what he didn't learn this year.

I'm also worried about the toll this is taking on him mentally. He is now in teletherapy (that I'm running up credit card debt to pay for) because the effects of the isolation became so bad that I was worried he was going to hurt himself. He is in sixth grade, in a bunch of classes with kids he doesn't know (because his school somehow managed to put him in classes with almost no one from his elementary school). His middle school has done virtually nothing to help the sixth graders integrate socially through this, so online learning has become a huge source of anxiety for him, always worried about whether his picture is showing on everyone else's screen (and afraid to speak up to ask a question because then he'll definitely be on everyone's screens, even after he's done talking) and a bunch of kids who barely know him will see him doing something embarrassing and that's how everyone at middle school will know him going forward. If I didn't have to work, I would withdraw him and homeschool because I am that worried about the toll this is taking on him, but becoming homeless would take an even worse toll.

So please, go ahead and keep assuming that I'm just some ignorant, disengaged parent who doesn't care about teachers, but also know that your assumptions are false and offensive. I care about the teachers, but I can't care about them more than I care about my own child.

PP - I feel for you and we are living a similar situation. But I STILL do not support opening school in January at the height of the surge.

APS needs to do a lot of things better. Better distance learning, better mental health supports. And a better plan for hybrid with real safety measures. I want to send my kid back but no matter how hard DL is there is no way he's going back in January given these numbers and APS's dismal safety plans still focused on cleaning.

[Anonymous]

DL sucks because they bailed on creating anything new or sustainable. It’s a 7 hour school day on the computer with all the same requirements. It’s ludicrous. It doesn’t mean send everyone in in January it means ACTUALLY LET TEACHERS DO DL THAT COULD WORK

[Anonymous]

I am the poster to whom you originally responded with suggestions. I understand that you were trying to be helpful, I really do. But it is also tiresome, because underlying your suggestions is an assumption that I'm some lazy, disengaged, etc., parent who just isn't trying hard enough to help her child learn effectively. That I'm just screaming for schools to open because I don't want to parent my kid.

I have engaged. I have thrown everything I have into this, plus time and money I don't, to try to make distance learning work for him because I appreciate that if we could make distance learning effective for everyone, it would solve this whole issue because we would simply continue with distance learning until the pandemic is over. But distance learning isn't working for him. In some ways, I'd rather see APS punt on this whole school year, just cancel it and repeat the year next year, because I'm deeply worried that my child is getting left behind and that no one in the schools is going to take responsibility for making up what he didn't learn this year.

I'm also worried about the toll this is taking on him mentally. He is now in teletherapy (that I'm running up credit card debt to pay for) because the effects of the isolation became so bad that I was worried he was going to hurt himself. He is in sixth grade, in a bunch of classes with kids he doesn't know (because his school somehow managed to put him in classes with almost no one from his elementary school). His middle school has done virtually nothing to help the sixth graders integrate socially through this, so online learning has become a huge source of anxiety for him, always worried about whether his picture is showing on everyone else's screen (and afraid to speak up to ask a question because then he'll definitely be on everyone's screens, even after he's done talking) and a bunch of kids who barely know him will see him doing something embarrassing and that's how everyone at middle school will know him going forward. If I didn't have to work, I would withdraw him and homeschool because I am that worried about the toll this is taking on him, but becoming homeless would take an even worse toll.

So please, go ahead and keep assuming that I'm just some ignorant, disengaged parent who doesn't care about teachers, but also know that your assumptions are false and offensive. I care about the teachers, but I can't care about them more than I care about my own child.

To the parent who wrote this: I am so, so sorry to hear this. Have you reached out to the school? Because if one of my students’ parents told me this, I would be bending over backward to get them support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very sorry PP. so angry that APS is doing this to teachers for what amounts to DL in school. It is not a magically better instructional option. All it brings is risk. I am keeping my kids home to protect them and teachers. But I know that doesn’t help you. We’re at one of the crazy high hybrid middle schools.

What do you mean it amounts to DL in school? Privates in the area are certainly providing a much better in-person education that the DL garbage we get. (And yes teachers are working very hard, but it doesn't matter how hard you work if it isn't translating to learning. Sure, parents with fancy jobs that can work from home or SAHPs can make DL work. Congrats for you! The vast majority are flailing.) The keep APS closed crowd has not been able to point to any science or research to support their position. They are the anti-science crowd.

Chill. Maybe you are an elementary parent, in that case then DL and hybrid will be different. But for middle and high, the concurrent plan is DL in school. That is very clear. It’s not a debate. Our APS principal made that clear. Privates may do it differently but our principal said in APS the only way they can do concurrent is everyone on devices with headphones. I am a MS parent who was talking to a HS teacher. For 6-12, it will be DL at school.

DP. Even if that’s what it looks like, many secondary students would benefit from being in a classroom with an aide who will make sure students stay on task.

Aide?? In high school?? Lololol.

If kids come in, I expect them to work. I will tell them to stay on task. If they don’t, i’m too busy teaching the online kids to bother. It’s their choice if they come in and do nothing.

If you are physically in the classroom, then it will not be the same as distance learning.

Your kid won’t magically pay attention. It’s just you won’t be the witness any longer.

I’ve laid out for my middle schooler the parade of horribles on what hybrid might be like, and he still really wants to go back. When asked why, he said that even with everyone being in separate rooms with doors closed, he still sometimes hears his sister’s lesson in the next room (especially when she has music or PE) and finds it really distracting in a way that kids on separate tasks in a classroom never was. He said he also finds his mind wanders and he gets off task far more easily sitting at a desk in our guest room (which has nothing but his school stuff in it) than he ever did in a classroom. Even seeing all of the worst case scenarios, he firmly believes he would learn more effectively in the school building than at home.

He also thinks he would manage his time better if his independent/asynchronous work times were in the building where the expectation is that he’d sit at his desk and work during those times than he does at home when there’s accountability during those periods so it’s easy to just take a break and push off the work until after the school day. If I see him downstairs during an asynchronous time, I’ll tell him to go back upstairs and do his schoolwork, but if I’m on a work call and can’t check on him, that doesn’t happen.

He wants to be in the building, even with everything you describe, because he believes he will still learn more effectively there, and he can point to concrete and specific reasons why. It’s hard to argue with that he’s wrong.

I have similar issues to your middle schooler. I thought about going in to work from the building, but I am in one of the zip codes with a high rate of cases, and received about 5 emails last month alerting me to positive cases and quarantines at the school. It sounds like you have taken the right steps setting up a designated workspace for him. Perhaps you need to make it a bit cozier and more comfortable so that it isn’t too spartan? Could you get him fish or a pet lizard or hamster for the room? Colorful cushions? Or maybe you need to make it more office like with a nice office chair and a whiteboard and calendar? Definitely try noise canceling headphones, ear plugs, or classical music if he is noise sensitive.

DP. He clearly wants the structure that a school building provides. The same way that many people prefer going into the office building to delineate home and work. A pet lizard isn't going to help with that. Or maybe it will. Maybe schools should start handing out lizards with the laptops...

Jesus. Never mind, then. I was just trying to be helpful in the event that he doesn’t get to go back in the building in January!

I am the poster to whom you originally responded with suggestions. I understand that you were trying to be helpful, I really do. But it is also tiresome, because underlying your suggestions is an assumption that I'm some lazy, disengaged, etc., parent who just isn't trying hard enough to help her child learn effectively. That I'm just screaming for schools to open because I don't want to parent my kid.

I have engaged. I have thrown everything I have into this, plus time and money I don't, to try to make distance learning work for him because I appreciate that if we could make distance learning effective for everyone, it would solve this whole issue because we would simply continue with distance learning until the pandemic is over. But distance learning isn't working for him. In some ways, I'd rather see APS punt on this whole school year, just cancel it and repeat the year next year, because I'm deeply worried that my child is getting left behind and that no one in the schools is going to take responsibility for making up what he didn't learn this year.

I'm also worried about the toll this is taking on him mentally. He is now in teletherapy (that I'm running up credit card debt to pay for) because the effects of the isolation became so bad that I was worried he was going to hurt himself. He is in sixth grade, in a bunch of classes with kids he doesn't know (because his school somehow managed to put him in classes with almost no one from his elementary school). His middle school has done virtually nothing to help the sixth graders integrate socially through this, so online learning has become a huge source of anxiety for him, always worried about whether his picture is showing on everyone else's screen (and afraid to speak up to ask a question because then he'll definitely be on everyone's screens, even after he's done talking) and a bunch of kids who barely know him will see him doing something embarrassing and that's how everyone at middle school will know him going forward. If I didn't have to work, I would withdraw him and homeschool because I am that worried about the toll this is taking on him, but becoming homeless would take an even worse toll.

So please, go ahead and keep assuming that I'm just some ignorant, disengaged parent who doesn't care about teachers, but also know that your assumptions are false and offensive. I care about the teachers, but I can't care about them more than I care about my own child.

What?! I don’t know where all these assumptions are coming from. You sound like a great parent. I was impressed you set up a designated workspace for him, and that you listened so carefully to his concerns and needs about returning to school. I responded out of sympathy for your child. I have about a 100 essays I need to grade and lessons to prepare and the last thing I want to do is sit at my computer by myself in MY designated workspace. My ideal scenario would be getting that damn vaccine — like this weekend if possible — and then going back to normal school and not this hybrid/ concurrent nonsense. I just don’t like to get my hopes up about any particular outcome because it absolutely crushes me when what I start hoping for and wanting very badly doesn’t come to pass.

You should get a pet hamster. Or maybe a lizard.

I already have both. They do help. Thank you for your concern.

I’m psychoanalyst but any idiot with an ounce of empathy can see that distressed parent is writing to herself and not to me. She just isn’t listening or being very patient or kind with herself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very sorry PP. so angry that APS is doing this to teachers for what amounts to DL in school. It is not a magically better instructional option. All it brings is risk. I am keeping my kids home to protect them and teachers. But I know that doesn’t help you. We’re at one of the crazy high hybrid middle schools.

What do you mean it amounts to DL in school? Privates in the area are certainly providing a much better in-person education that the DL garbage we get. (And yes teachers are working very hard, but it doesn't matter how hard you work if it isn't translating to learning. Sure, parents with fancy jobs that can work from home or SAHPs can make DL work. Congrats for you! The vast majority are flailing.) The keep APS closed crowd has not been able to point to any science or research to support their position. They are the anti-science crowd.

Chill. Maybe you are an elementary parent, in that case then DL and hybrid will be different. But for middle and high, the concurrent plan is DL in school. That is very clear. It’s not a debate. Our APS principal made that clear. Privates may do it differently but our principal said in APS the only way they can do concurrent is everyone on devices with headphones. I am a MS parent who was talking to a HS teacher. For 6-12, it will be DL at school.

DP. Even if that’s what it looks like, many secondary students would benefit from being in a classroom with an aide who will make sure students stay on task.

Aide?? In high school?? Lololol.

If kids come in, I expect them to work. I will tell them to stay on task. If they don’t, i’m too busy teaching the online kids to bother. It’s their choice if they come in and do nothing.

If you are physically in the classroom, then it will not be the same as distance learning.

Your kid won’t magically pay attention. It’s just you won’t be the witness any longer.

I’ve laid out for my middle schooler the parade of horribles on what hybrid might be like, and he still really wants to go back. When asked why, he said that even with everyone being in separate rooms with doors closed, he still sometimes hears his sister’s lesson in the next room (especially when she has music or PE) and finds it really distracting in a way that kids on separate tasks in a classroom never was. He said he also finds his mind wanders and he gets off task far more easily sitting at a desk in our guest room (which has nothing but his school stuff in it) than he ever did in a classroom. Even seeing all of the worst case scenarios, he firmly believes he would learn more effectively in the school building than at home.

He also thinks he would manage his time better if his independent/asynchronous work times were in the building where the expectation is that he’d sit at his desk and work during those times than he does at home when there’s accountability during those periods so it’s easy to just take a break and push off the work until after the school day. If I see him downstairs during an asynchronous time, I’ll tell him to go back upstairs and do his schoolwork, but if I’m on a work call and can’t check on him, that doesn’t happen.

He wants to be in the building, even with everything you describe, because he believes he will still learn more effectively there, and he can point to concrete and specific reasons why. It’s hard to argue with that he’s wrong.

I have similar issues to your middle schooler. I thought about going in to work from the building, but I am in one of the zip codes with a high rate of cases, and received about 5 emails last month alerting me to positive cases and quarantines at the school. It sounds like you have taken the right steps setting up a designated workspace for him. Perhaps you need to make it a bit cozier and more comfortable so that it isn’t too spartan? Could you get him fish or a pet lizard or hamster for the room? Colorful cushions? Or maybe you need to make it more office like with a nice office chair and a whiteboard and calendar? Definitely try noise canceling headphones, ear plugs, or classical music if he is noise sensitive.

DP. He clearly wants the structure that a school building provides. The same way that many people prefer going into the office building to delineate home and work. A pet lizard isn't going to help with that. Or maybe it will. Maybe schools should start handing out lizards with the laptops...

Jesus. Never mind, then. I was just trying to be helpful in the event that he doesn’t get to go back in the building in January!

I am the poster to whom you originally responded with suggestions. I understand that you were trying to be helpful, I really do. But it is also tiresome, because underlying your suggestions is an assumption that I'm some lazy, disengaged, etc., parent who just isn't trying hard enough to help her child learn effectively. That I'm just screaming for schools to open because I don't want to parent my kid.

I have engaged. I have thrown everything I have into this, plus time and money I don't, to try to make distance learning work for him because I appreciate that if we could make distance learning effective for everyone, it would solve this whole issue because we would simply continue with distance learning until the pandemic is over. But distance learning isn't working for him. In some ways, I'd rather see APS punt on this whole school year, just cancel it and repeat the year next year, because I'm deeply worried that my child is getting left behind and that no one in the schools is going to take responsibility for making up what he didn't learn this year.

I'm also worried about the toll this is taking on him mentally. He is now in teletherapy (that I'm running up credit card debt to pay for) because the effects of the isolation became so bad that I was worried he was going to hurt himself. He is in sixth grade, in a bunch of classes with kids he doesn't know (because his school somehow managed to put him in classes with almost no one from his elementary school). His middle school has done virtually nothing to help the sixth graders integrate socially through this, so online learning has become a huge source of anxiety for him, always worried about whether his picture is showing on everyone else's screen (and afraid to speak up to ask a question because then he'll definitely be on everyone's screens, even after he's done talking) and a bunch of kids who barely know him will see him doing something embarrassing and that's how everyone at middle school will know him going forward. If I didn't have to work, I would withdraw him and homeschool because I am that worried about the toll this is taking on him, but becoming homeless would take an even worse toll.

So please, go ahead and keep assuming that I'm just some ignorant, disengaged parent who doesn't care about teachers, but also know that your assumptions are false and offensive. I care about the teachers, but I can't care about them more than I care about my own child.

What?! I don’t know where all these assumptions are coming from. You sound like a great parent. I was impressed you set up a designated workspace for him, and that you listened so carefully to his concerns and needs about returning to school. I responded out of sympathy for your child. I have about a 100 essays I need to grade and lessons to prepare and the last thing I want to do is sit at my computer by myself in MY designated workspace. My ideal scenario would be getting that damn vaccine — like this weekend if possible — and then going back to normal school and not this hybrid/ concurrent nonsense. I just don’t like to get my hopes up about any particular outcome because it absolutely crushes me when what I start hoping for and wanting very badly doesn’t come to pass.

You should get a pet hamster. Or maybe a lizard.

I already have both. They do help. Thank you for your concern.

I’m psychoanalyst but any idiot with an ounce of empathy can see that distressed parent is writing to herself and not to me. She just isn’t listening or being very patient or kind with herself.

I meant to write I am NOT a psychoanalyst and I am not pretending to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very sorry PP. so angry that APS is doing this to teachers for what amounts to DL in school. It is not a magically better instructional option. All it brings is risk. I am keeping my kids home to protect them and teachers. But I know that doesn’t help you. We’re at one of the crazy high hybrid middle schools.

What do you mean it amounts to DL in school? Privates in the area are certainly providing a much better in-person education that the DL garbage we get. (And yes teachers are working very hard, but it doesn't matter how hard you work if it isn't translating to learning. Sure, parents with fancy jobs that can work from home or SAHPs can make DL work. Congrats for you! The vast majority are flailing.) The keep APS closed crowd has not been able to point to any science or research to support their position. They are the anti-science crowd.

Chill. Maybe you are an elementary parent, in that case then DL and hybrid will be different. But for middle and high, the concurrent plan is DL in school. That is very clear. It’s not a debate. Our APS principal made that clear. Privates may do it differently but our principal said in APS the only way they can do concurrent is everyone on devices with headphones. I am a MS parent who was talking to a HS teacher. For 6-12, it will be DL at school.

DP. Even if that’s what it looks like, many secondary students would benefit from being in a classroom with an aide who will make sure students stay on task.

Aide?? In high school?? Lololol.

If kids come in, I expect them to work. I will tell them to stay on task. If they don’t, i’m too busy teaching the online kids to bother. It’s their choice if they come in and do nothing.

If you are physically in the classroom, then it will not be the same as distance learning.

Your kid won’t magically pay attention. It’s just you won’t be the witness any longer.

I’ve laid out for my middle schooler the parade of horribles on what hybrid might be like, and he still really wants to go back. When asked why, he said that even with everyone being in separate rooms with doors closed, he still sometimes hears his sister’s lesson in the next room (especially when she has music or PE) and finds it really distracting in a way that kids on separate tasks in a classroom never was. He said he also finds his mind wanders and he gets off task far more easily sitting at a desk in our guest room (which has nothing but his school stuff in it) than he ever did in a classroom. Even seeing all of the worst case scenarios, he firmly believes he would learn more effectively in the school building than at home.

He also thinks he would manage his time better if his independent/asynchronous work times were in the building where the expectation is that he’d sit at his desk and work during those times than he does at home when there’s accountability during those periods so it’s easy to just take a break and push off the work until after the school day. If I see him downstairs during an asynchronous time, I’ll tell him to go back upstairs and do his schoolwork, but if I’m on a work call and can’t check on him, that doesn’t happen.

He wants to be in the building, even with everything you describe, because he believes he will still learn more effectively there, and he can point to concrete and specific reasons why. It’s hard to argue with that he’s wrong.

I have similar issues to your middle schooler. I thought about going in to work from the building, but I am in one of the zip codes with a high rate of cases, and received about 5 emails last month alerting me to positive cases and quarantines at the school. It sounds like you have taken the right steps setting up a designated workspace for him. Perhaps you need to make it a bit cozier and more comfortable so that it isn’t too spartan? Could you get him fish or a pet lizard or hamster for the room? Colorful cushions? Or maybe you need to make it more office like with a nice office chair and a whiteboard and calendar? Definitely try noise canceling headphones, ear plugs, or classical music if he is noise sensitive.

DP. He clearly wants the structure that a school building provides. The same way that many people prefer going into the office building to delineate home and work. A pet lizard isn't going to help with that. Or maybe it will. Maybe schools should start handing out lizards with the laptops...

Jesus. Never mind, then. I was just trying to be helpful in the event that he doesn’t get to go back in the building in January!

I am the poster to whom you originally responded with suggestions. I understand that you were trying to be helpful, I really do. But it is also tiresome, because underlying your suggestions is an assumption that I'm some lazy, disengaged, etc., parent who just isn't trying hard enough to help her child learn effectively. That I'm just screaming for schools to open because I don't want to parent my kid.

I have engaged. I have thrown everything I have into this, plus time and money I don't, to try to make distance learning work for him because I appreciate that if we could make distance learning effective for everyone, it would solve this whole issue because we would simply continue with distance learning until the pandemic is over. But distance learning isn't working for him. In some ways, I'd rather see APS punt on this whole school year, just cancel it and repeat the year next year, because I'm deeply worried that my child is getting left behind and that no one in the schools is going to take responsibility for making up what he didn't learn this year.

I'm also worried about the toll this is taking on him mentally. He is now in teletherapy (that I'm running up credit card debt to pay for) because the effects of the isolation became so bad that I was worried he was going to hurt himself. He is in sixth grade, in a bunch of classes with kids he doesn't know (because his school somehow managed to put him in classes with almost no one from his elementary school). His middle school has done virtually nothing to help the sixth graders integrate socially through this, so online learning has become a huge source of anxiety for him, always worried about whether his picture is showing on everyone else's screen (and afraid to speak up to ask a question because then he'll definitely be on everyone's screens, even after he's done talking) and a bunch of kids who barely know him will see him doing something embarrassing and that's how everyone at middle school will know him going forward. If I didn't have to work, I would withdraw him and homeschool because I am that worried about the toll this is taking on him, but becoming homeless would take an even worse toll.

So please, go ahead and keep assuming that I'm just some ignorant, disengaged parent who doesn't care about teachers, but also know that your assumptions are false and offensive. I care about the teachers, but I can't care about them more than I care about my own child.

What?! I don’t know where all these assumptions are coming from. You sound like a great parent. I was impressed you set up a designated workspace for him, and that you listened so carefully to his concerns and needs about returning to school. I responded out of sympathy for your child. I have about a 100 essays I need to grade and lessons to prepare and the last thing I want to do is sit at my computer by myself in MY designated workspace. My ideal scenario would be getting that damn vaccine — like this weekend if possible — and then going back to normal school and not this hybrid/ concurrent nonsense. I just don’t like to get my hopes up about any particular outcome because it absolutely crushes me when what I start hoping for and wanting very badly doesn’t come to pass.

You should get a pet hamster. Or maybe a lizard.

I already have both. They do help. Thank you for your concern.

I’m psychoanalyst but any idiot with an ounce of empathy can see that distressed parent is writing to herself and not to me. She just isn’t listening or being very patient or kind with herself.

That sounds very patronizing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very sorry PP. so angry that APS is doing this to teachers for what amounts to DL in school. It is not a magically better instructional option. All it brings is risk. I am keeping my kids home to protect them and teachers. But I know that doesn’t help you. We’re at one of the crazy high hybrid middle schools.

What do you mean it amounts to DL in school? Privates in the area are certainly providing a much better in-person education that the DL garbage we get. (And yes teachers are working very hard, but it doesn't matter how hard you work if it isn't translating to learning. Sure, parents with fancy jobs that can work from home or SAHPs can make DL work. Congrats for you! The vast majority are flailing.) The keep APS closed crowd has not been able to point to any science or research to support their position. They are the anti-science crowd.

Chill. Maybe you are an elementary parent, in that case then DL and hybrid will be different. But for middle and high, the concurrent plan is DL in school. That is very clear. It’s not a debate. Our APS principal made that clear. Privates may do it differently but our principal said in APS the only way they can do concurrent is everyone on devices with headphones. I am a MS parent who was talking to a HS teacher. For 6-12, it will be DL at school.

DP. Even if that’s what it looks like, many secondary students would benefit from being in a classroom with an aide who will make sure students stay on task.

Aide?? In high school?? Lololol.

If kids come in, I expect them to work. I will tell them to stay on task. If they don’t, i’m too busy teaching the online kids to bother. It’s their choice if they come in and do nothing.

If you are physically in the classroom, then it will not be the same as distance learning.

Your kid won’t magically pay attention. It’s just you won’t be the witness any longer.

I’ve laid out for my middle schooler the parade of horribles on what hybrid might be like, and he still really wants to go back. When asked why, he said that even with everyone being in separate rooms with doors closed, he still sometimes hears his sister’s lesson in the next room (especially when she has music or PE) and finds it really distracting in a way that kids on separate tasks in a classroom never was. He said he also finds his mind wanders and he gets off task far more easily sitting at a desk in our guest room (which has nothing but his school stuff in it) than he ever did in a classroom. Even seeing all of the worst case scenarios, he firmly believes he would learn more effectively in the school building than at home.

He also thinks he would manage his time better if his independent/asynchronous work times were in the building where the expectation is that he’d sit at his desk and work during those times than he does at home when there’s accountability during those periods so it’s easy to just take a break and push off the work until after the school day. If I see him downstairs during an asynchronous time, I’ll tell him to go back upstairs and do his schoolwork, but if I’m on a work call and can’t check on him, that doesn’t happen.

He wants to be in the building, even with everything you describe, because he believes he will still learn more effectively there, and he can point to concrete and specific reasons why. It’s hard to argue with that he’s wrong.

I have similar issues to your middle schooler. I thought about going in to work from the building, but I am in one of the zip codes with a high rate of cases, and received about 5 emails last month alerting me to positive cases and quarantines at the school. It sounds like you have taken the right steps setting up a designated workspace for him. Perhaps you need to make it a bit cozier and more comfortable so that it isn’t too spartan? Could you get him fish or a pet lizard or hamster for the room? Colorful cushions? Or maybe you need to make it more office like with a nice office chair and a whiteboard and calendar? Definitely try noise canceling headphones, ear plugs, or classical music if he is noise sensitive.

DP. He clearly wants the structure that a school building provides. The same way that many people prefer going into the office building to delineate home and work. A pet lizard isn't going to help with that. Or maybe it will. Maybe schools should start handing out lizards with the laptops...

Jesus. Never mind, then. I was just trying to be helpful in the event that he doesn’t get to go back in the building in January!

I am the poster to whom you originally responded with suggestions. I understand that you were trying to be helpful, I really do. But it is also tiresome, because underlying your suggestions is an assumption that I'm some lazy, disengaged, etc., parent who just isn't trying hard enough to help her child learn effectively. That I'm just screaming for schools to open because I don't want to parent my kid.

I have engaged. I have thrown everything I have into this, plus time and money I don't, to try to make distance learning work for him because I appreciate that if we could make distance learning effective for everyone, it would solve this whole issue because we would simply continue with distance learning until the pandemic is over. But distance learning isn't working for him. In some ways, I'd rather see APS punt on this whole school year, just cancel it and repeat the year next year, because I'm deeply worried that my child is getting left behind and that no one in the schools is going to take responsibility for making up what he didn't learn this year.

I'm also worried about the toll this is taking on him mentally. He is now in teletherapy (that I'm running up credit card debt to pay for) because the effects of the isolation became so bad that I was worried he was going to hurt himself. He is in sixth grade, in a bunch of classes with kids he doesn't know (because his school somehow managed to put him in classes with almost no one from his elementary school). His middle school has done virtually nothing to help the sixth graders integrate socially through this, so online learning has become a huge source of anxiety for him, always worried about whether his picture is showing on everyone else's screen (and afraid to speak up to ask a question because then he'll definitely be on everyone's screens, even after he's done talking) and a bunch of kids who barely know him will see him doing something embarrassing and that's how everyone at middle school will know him going forward. If I didn't have to work, I would withdraw him and homeschool because I am that worried about the toll this is taking on him, but becoming homeless would take an even worse toll.

So please, go ahead and keep assuming that I'm just some ignorant, disengaged parent who doesn't care about teachers, but also know that your assumptions are false and offensive. I care about the teachers, but I can't care about them more than I care about my own child.

What?! I don’t know where all these assumptions are coming from. You sound like a great parent. I was impressed you set up a designated workspace for him, and that you listened so carefully to his concerns and needs about returning to school. I responded out of sympathy for your child. I have about a 100 essays I need to grade and lessons to prepare and the last thing I want to do is sit at my computer by myself in MY designated workspace. My ideal scenario would be getting that damn vaccine — like this weekend if possible — and then going back to normal school and not this hybrid/ concurrent nonsense. I just don’t like to get my hopes up about any particular outcome because it absolutely crushes me when what I start hoping for and wanting very badly doesn’t come to pass.

You should get a pet hamster. Or maybe a lizard.

I already have both. They do help. Thank you for your concern.

I’m psychoanalyst but any idiot with an ounce of empathy can see that distressed parent is writing to herself and not to me. She just isn’t listening or being very patient or kind with herself.

That sounds very patronizing.

So does that.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very sorry PP. so angry that APS is doing this to teachers for what amounts to DL in school. It is not a magically better instructional option. All it brings is risk. I am keeping my kids home to protect them and teachers. But I know that doesn’t help you. We’re at one of the crazy high hybrid middle schools.

What do you mean it amounts to DL in school? Privates in the area are certainly providing a much better in-person education that the DL garbage we get. (And yes teachers are working very hard, but it doesn't matter how hard you work if it isn't translating to learning. Sure, parents with fancy jobs that can work from home or SAHPs can make DL work. Congrats for you! The vast majority are flailing.) The keep APS closed crowd has not been able to point to any science or research to support their position. They are the anti-science crowd.

Chill. Maybe you are an elementary parent, in that case then DL and hybrid will be different. But for middle and high, the concurrent plan is DL in school. That is very clear. It’s not a debate. Our APS principal made that clear. Privates may do it differently but our principal said in APS the only way they can do concurrent is everyone on devices with headphones. I am a MS parent who was talking to a HS teacher. For 6-12, it will be DL at school.

DP. Even if that’s what it looks like, many secondary students would benefit from being in a classroom with an aide who will make sure students stay on task.

Aide?? In high school?? Lololol.

If kids come in, I expect them to work. I will tell them to stay on task. If they don’t, i’m too busy teaching the online kids to bother. It’s their choice if they come in and do nothing.

If you are physically in the classroom, then it will not be the same as distance learning.

Your kid won’t magically pay attention. It’s just you won’t be the witness any longer.

I’ve laid out for my middle schooler the parade of horribles on what hybrid might be like, and he still really wants to go back. When asked why, he said that even with everyone being in separate rooms with doors closed, he still sometimes hears his sister’s lesson in the next room (especially when she has music or PE) and finds it really distracting in a way that kids on separate tasks in a classroom never was. He said he also finds his mind wanders and he gets off task far more easily sitting at a desk in our guest room (which has nothing but his school stuff in it) than he ever did in a classroom. Even seeing all of the worst case scenarios, he firmly believes he would learn more effectively in the school building than at home.

He also thinks he would manage his time better if his independent/asynchronous work times were in the building where the expectation is that he’d sit at his desk and work during those times than he does at home when there’s accountability during those periods so it’s easy to just take a break and push off the work until after the school day. If I see him downstairs during an asynchronous time, I’ll tell him to go back upstairs and do his schoolwork, but if I’m on a work call and can’t check on him, that doesn’t happen.

He wants to be in the building, even with everything you describe, because he believes he will still learn more effectively there, and he can point to concrete and specific reasons why. It’s hard to argue with that he’s wrong.

I have similar issues to your middle schooler. I thought about going in to work from the building, but I am in one of the zip codes with a high rate of cases, and received about 5 emails last month alerting me to positive cases and quarantines at the school. It sounds like you have taken the right steps setting up a designated workspace for him. Perhaps you need to make it a bit cozier and more comfortable so that it isn’t too spartan? Could you get him fish or a pet lizard or hamster for the room? Colorful cushions? Or maybe you need to make it more office like with a nice office chair and a whiteboard and calendar? Definitely try noise canceling headphones, ear plugs, or classical music if he is noise sensitive.

DP. He clearly wants the structure that a school building provides. The same way that many people prefer going into the office building to delineate home and work. A pet lizard isn't going to help with that. Or maybe it will. Maybe schools should start handing out lizards with the laptops...

Jesus. Never mind, then. I was just trying to be helpful in the event that he doesn’t get to go back in the building in January!

I am the poster to whom you originally responded with suggestions. I understand that you were trying to be helpful, I really do. But it is also tiresome, because underlying your suggestions is an assumption that I'm some lazy, disengaged, etc., parent who just isn't trying hard enough to help her child learn effectively. That I'm just screaming for schools to open because I don't want to parent my kid.

I have engaged. I have thrown everything I have into this, plus time and money I don't, to try to make distance learning work for him because I appreciate that if we could make distance learning effective for everyone, it would solve this whole issue because we would simply continue with distance learning until the pandemic is over. But distance learning isn't working for him. In some ways, I'd rather see APS punt on this whole school year, just cancel it and repeat the year next year, because I'm deeply worried that my child is getting left behind and that no one in the schools is going to take responsibility for making up what he didn't learn this year.

I'm also worried about the toll this is taking on him mentally. He is now in teletherapy (that I'm running up credit card debt to pay for) because the effects of the isolation became so bad that I was worried he was going to hurt himself. He is in sixth grade, in a bunch of classes with kids he doesn't know (because his school somehow managed to put him in classes with almost no one from his elementary school). His middle school has done virtually nothing to help the sixth graders integrate socially through this, so online learning has become a huge source of anxiety for him, always worried about whether his picture is showing on everyone else's screen (and afraid to speak up to ask a question because then he'll definitely be on everyone's screens, even after he's done talking) and a bunch of kids who barely know him will see him doing something embarrassing and that's how everyone at middle school will know him going forward. If I didn't have to work, I would withdraw him and homeschool because I am that worried about the toll this is taking on him, but becoming homeless would take an even worse toll.

So please, go ahead and keep assuming that I'm just some ignorant, disengaged parent who doesn't care about teachers, but also know that your assumptions are false and offensive. I care about the teachers, but I can't care about them more than I care about my own child.

What?! I don’t know where all these assumptions are coming from. You sound like a great parent. I was impressed you set up a designated workspace for him, and that you listened so carefully to his concerns and needs about returning to school. I responded out of sympathy for your child. I have about a 100 essays I need to grade and lessons to prepare and the last thing I want to do is sit at my computer by myself in MY designated workspace. My ideal scenario would be getting that damn vaccine — like this weekend if possible — and then going back to normal school and not this hybrid/ concurrent nonsense. I just don’t like to get my hopes up about any particular outcome because it absolutely crushes me when what I start hoping for and wanting very badly doesn’t come to pass.

You should get a pet hamster. Or maybe a lizard.

I already have both. They do help. Thank you for your concern.

I’m psychoanalyst but any idiot with an ounce of empathy can see that distressed parent is writing to herself and not to me. She just isn’t listening or being very patient or kind with herself.

That sounds very patronizing.

So does that.

I don't think you understand what "patronizing" means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I am the poster to whom you originally responded with suggestions. I understand that you were trying to be helpful, I really do. But it is also tiresome, because underlying your suggestions is an assumption that I'm some lazy, disengaged, etc., parent who just isn't trying hard enough to help her child learn effectively. That I'm just screaming for schools to open because I don't want to parent my kid.

I have engaged. I have thrown everything I have into this, plus time and money I don't, to try to make distance learning work for him because I appreciate that if we could make distance learning effective for everyone, it would solve this whole issue because we would simply continue with distance learning until the pandemic is over. But distance learning isn't working for him. In some ways, I'd rather see APS punt on this whole school year, just cancel it and repeat the year next year, because I'm deeply worried that my child is getting left behind and that no one in the schools is going to take responsibility for making up what he didn't learn this year.

I'm also worried about the toll this is taking on him mentally. He is now in teletherapy (that I'm running up credit card debt to pay for) because the effects of the isolation became so bad that I was worried he was going to hurt himself. He is in sixth grade, in a bunch of classes with kids he doesn't know (because his school somehow managed to put him in classes with almost no one from his elementary school). His middle school has done virtually nothing to help the sixth graders integrate socially through this, so online learning has become a huge source of anxiety for him, always worried about whether his picture is showing on everyone else's screen (and afraid to speak up to ask a question because then he'll definitely be on everyone's screens, even after he's done talking) and a bunch of kids who barely know him will see him doing something embarrassing and that's how everyone at middle school will know him going forward. If I didn't have to work, I would withdraw him and homeschool because I am that worried about the toll this is taking on him, but becoming homeless would take an even worse toll.

So please, go ahead and keep assuming that I'm just some ignorant, disengaged parent who doesn't care about teachers, but also know that your assumptions are false and offensive. I care about the teachers, but I can't care about them more than I care about my own child.

To the parent who wrote this: I am so, so sorry to hear this. Have you reached out to the school? Because if one of my students’ parents told me this, I would be bending over backward to get them support.

I'm a different poster. What this parent wrote probably describes at least 1/2 if not more of the students in DL. Obviously some of the details are different- but that is a vivid picture of how DL is working for the majority of kids. Certainly it describes my kids, and I have heard many many stories from different parents along these lines. There is no amount of 'support' the school can give- they need to get the kids back in school. I want to throw things when I hear Bridget Loft say at school board meetings 'well if a student is struggling start by reaching out to the teacher.' They need to be back in school- anything else is just nibbling around the edges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am the poster to whom you originally responded with suggestions. I understand that you were trying to be helpful, I really do. But it is also tiresome, because underlying your suggestions is an assumption that I'm some lazy, disengaged, etc., parent who just isn't trying hard enough to help her child learn effectively. That I'm just screaming for schools to open because I don't want to parent my kid.

I have engaged. I have thrown everything I have into this, plus time and money I don't, to try to make distance learning work for him because I appreciate that if we could make distance learning effective for everyone, it would solve this whole issue because we would simply continue with distance learning until the pandemic is over. But distance learning isn't working for him. In some ways, I'd rather see APS punt on this whole school year, just cancel it and repeat the year next year, because I'm deeply worried that my child is getting left behind and that no one in the schools is going to take responsibility for making up what he didn't learn this year.

I'm also worried about the toll this is taking on him mentally. He is now in teletherapy (that I'm running up credit card debt to pay for) because the effects of the isolation became so bad that I was worried he was going to hurt himself. He is in sixth grade, in a bunch of classes with kids he doesn't know (because his school somehow managed to put him in classes with almost no one from his elementary school). His middle school has done virtually nothing to help the sixth graders integrate socially through this, so online learning has become a huge source of anxiety for him, always worried about whether his picture is showing on everyone else's screen (and afraid to speak up to ask a question because then he'll definitely be on everyone's screens, even after he's done talking) and a bunch of kids who barely know him will see him doing something embarrassing and that's how everyone at middle school will know him going forward. If I didn't have to work, I would withdraw him and homeschool because I am that worried about the toll this is taking on him, but becoming homeless would take an even worse toll.

So please, go ahead and keep assuming that I'm just some ignorant, disengaged parent who doesn't care about teachers, but also know that your assumptions are false and offensive. I care about the teachers, but I can't care about them more than I care about my own child.

To the parent who wrote this: I am so, so sorry to hear this. Have you reached out to the school? Because if one of my students’ parents told me this, I would be bending over backward to get them support.

What kind of support do you think the school should be able to provide? If there's something our school could be doing but isn't, I'd be happy to hear it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am the poster to whom you originally responded with suggestions. I understand that you were trying to be helpful, I really do. But it is also tiresome, because underlying your suggestions is an assumption that I'm some lazy, disengaged, etc., parent who just isn't trying hard enough to help her child learn effectively. That I'm just screaming for schools to open because I don't want to parent my kid.

I have engaged. I have thrown everything I have into this, plus time and money I don't, to try to make distance learning work for him because I appreciate that if we could make distance learning effective for everyone, it would solve this whole issue because we would simply continue with distance learning until the pandemic is over. But distance learning isn't working for him. In some ways, I'd rather see APS punt on this whole school year, just cancel it and repeat the year next year, because I'm deeply worried that my child is getting left behind and that no one in the schools is going to take responsibility for making up what he didn't learn this year.

I'm also worried about the toll this is taking on him mentally. He is now in teletherapy (that I'm running up credit card debt to pay for) because the effects of the isolation became so bad that I was worried he was going to hurt himself. He is in sixth grade, in a bunch of classes with kids he doesn't know (because his school somehow managed to put him in classes with almost no one from his elementary school). His middle school has done virtually nothing to help the sixth graders integrate socially through this, so online learning has become a huge source of anxiety for him, always worried about whether his picture is showing on everyone else's screen (and afraid to speak up to ask a question because then he'll definitely be on everyone's screens, even after he's done talking) and a bunch of kids who barely know him will see him doing something embarrassing and that's how everyone at middle school will know him going forward. If I didn't have to work, I would withdraw him and homeschool because I am that worried about the toll this is taking on him, but becoming homeless would take an even worse toll.

So please, go ahead and keep assuming that I'm just some ignorant, disengaged parent who doesn't care about teachers, but also know that your assumptions are false and offensive. I care about the teachers, but I can't care about them more than I care about my own child.

To the parent who wrote this: I am so, so sorry to hear this. Have you reached out to the school? Because if one of my students’ parents told me this, I would be bending over backward to get them support.

I'm a different poster. What this parent wrote probably describes at least 1/2 if not more of the students in DL. Obviously some of the details are different- but that is a vivid picture of how DL is working for the majority of kids. Certainly it describes my kids, and I have heard many many stories from different parents along these lines. There is no amount of 'support' the school can give- they need to get the kids back in school. I want to throw things when I hear Bridget Loft say at school board meetings 'well if a student is struggling start by reaching out to the teacher.' They need to be back in school- anything else is just nibbling around the edges.

Well, what can you do to make that happen? I am serious. Loud complaining only goes so far. Start problem solving and having meaningful, respectful dialogues with the folks that can bring this about. Make concessions and compromises where necessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I am the poster to whom you originally responded with suggestions. I understand that you were trying to be helpful, I really do. But it is also tiresome, because underlying your suggestions is an assumption that I'm some lazy, disengaged, etc., parent who just isn't trying hard enough to help her child learn effectively. That I'm just screaming for schools to open because I don't want to parent my kid.

I have engaged. I have thrown everything I have into this, plus time and money I don't, to try to make distance learning work for him because I appreciate that if we could make distance learning effective for everyone, it would solve this whole issue because we would simply continue with distance learning until the pandemic is over. But distance learning isn't working for him. In some ways, I'd rather see APS punt on this whole school year, just cancel it and repeat the year next year, because I'm deeply worried that my child is getting left behind and that no one in the schools is going to take responsibility for making up what he didn't learn this year.

I'm also worried about the toll this is taking on him mentally. He is now in teletherapy (that I'm running up credit card debt to pay for) because the effects of the isolation became so bad that I was worried he was going to hurt himself. He is in sixth grade, in a bunch of classes with kids he doesn't know (because his school somehow managed to put him in classes with almost no one from his elementary school). His middle school has done virtually nothing to help the sixth graders integrate socially through this, so online learning has become a huge source of anxiety for him, always worried about whether his picture is showing on everyone else's screen (and afraid to speak up to ask a question because then he'll definitely be on everyone's screens, even after he's done talking) and a bunch of kids who barely know him will see him doing something embarrassing and that's how everyone at middle school will know him going forward. If I didn't have to work, I would withdraw him and homeschool because I am that worried about the toll this is taking on him, but becoming homeless would take an even worse toll.

So please, go ahead and keep assuming that I'm just some ignorant, disengaged parent who doesn't care about teachers, but also know that your assumptions are false and offensive. I care about the teachers, but I can't care about them more than I care about my own child.

To the parent who wrote this: I am so, so sorry to hear this. Have you reached out to the school? Because if one of my students’ parents told me this, I would be bending over backward to get them support.

I'm a different poster. What this parent wrote probably describes at least 1/2 if not more of the students in DL. Obviously some of the details are different- but that is a vivid picture of how DL is working for the majority of kids. Certainly it describes my kids, and I have heard many many stories from different parents along these lines. There is no amount of 'support' the school can give- they need to get the kids back in school. I want to throw things when I hear Bridget Loft say at school board meetings 'well if a student is struggling start by reaching out to the teacher.' They need to be back in school- anything else is just nibbling around the edges.

Well, what can you do to make that happen? I am serious. Loud complaining only goes so far. Start problem solving and having meaningful, respectful dialogues with the folks that can bring this about. Make concessions and compromises where necessary.

DP. APS has changed its approach and is now moving toward rolling out hybrid in January, so I'm not sure what else you think the pro-hybrid people should be doing here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people aren’t judging those who want to be back in the classroom. I’d love my kids to be back in the classroom. But there is still safety to consider. It’s not safe right now, even if it’s very important for your child to be back. Just cause they should have been back in in September doesn’t mean they should be back in now.

You are entitled to your opinion, but please know that keeping students home is not a harmless alternative. Even beyond the learning loss for totally typical students, there are children who are now suffering from depression and engaging in self-harm. There are suicides. There is increased child abuse happening at home. There are students with special needs who will age out of services this year or next who aren't getting necessary job training and other skills development, which will put them at increased risk of homelessness, substance abuse, and premature death. So when you take that position, you are not advocating for a solution that is clearly safer overall, you have simply weighed the risks and made a value judgment about who you feel is expendable.

So you are upset that teachers aren’t choosing themselves as the expendable ones? Please stop with the moralizing. If you want teachers to be happy about going back to the buildings without a vaccine, put your energies into fundraising for hazard pay and a healthy supply of N95 masks for them That might work.

Why do you assume I haven’t? Since late spring I have been advocating at the school, county and state levels for increased funding for PPE and other safety equipment to maximize our ability to reopen safely. I have been hyper-diligent about masking, social distancing, etc., to make sure we don’t personally contribute to virus spread. I want APS to choose the best option for this moment based on weighing the needs and risks of *everyone* involved, not just a single group. Based on all of my own review of the available data and research, I believe that option is to reopen schools with an emphasis on safety precautions and leaving a virtual option for those who need it. That includes teachers who need it because they are high risk. Obviously there still need to be adults in the schools to supervise, but I’m fine with that being an aide to assist a teacher who is teaching remotely.

We're all glad that you're "fine" with it... it seems so long as you aren't the one putting your life on the line... And I'm a parent responding to your post btw. With people like you around no wonder teachers don't want to be in the buildings to teach. I wouldn't be "fine" teaching your kids with you a parent to kids I teach either. Yowza.

I am an attorney who does a lot of work with clients who face barriers to remote engagement (e.g., technology for receiving, reviewing, signing and returning digital documents). I could decline to represent such clients right now, but I don’t because I know how much they need the assistance and don’t have at alternative options. So I meet with them in person as needed, taking all reasonable safety precautions, despite the risk to myself. I am not a teacher, but I am walking the walk here.

OK - are you pushing for APS to implement all reasonable safety precautions?

Entrance & surveillance testing
Air filters
PPE

I already said I was, and have been for months. If you’re going to read that selectively, I can’t help you.

How have you been advocating for that? I only hear a handful of parents pushing for these safety measures. And they aren’t the ones sh1tting on the teachers.

[Anonymous]

I'm a different poster. What this parent wrote probably describes at least 1/2 if not more of the students in DL. Obviously some of the details are different- but that is a vivid picture of how DL is working for the majority of kids. Certainly it describes my kids, and I have heard many many stories from different parents along these lines. There is no amount of 'support' the school can give- they need to get the kids back in school. I want to throw things when I hear Bridget Loft say at school board meetings 'well if a student is struggling start by reaching out to the teacher.' They need to be back in school- anything else is just nibbling around the edges.
————
Fascinating. Because everyone I know with middle schoolers says it’s fine. Not great but fine. So there are a lot of experiences. I dont think your claim that it’s half the kids having extreme anxiety is remotely accurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I'm a different poster. What this parent wrote probably describes at least 1/2 if not more of the students in DL. Obviously some of the details are different- but that is a vivid picture of how DL is working for the majority of kids. Certainly it describes my kids, and I have heard many many stories from different parents along these lines. There is no amount of 'support' the school can give- they need to get the kids back in school. I want to throw things when I hear Bridget Loft say at school board meetings 'well if a student is struggling start by reaching out to the teacher.' They need to be back in school- anything else is just nibbling around the edges.
————
Fascinating. Because everyone I know with middle schoolers says it’s fine. Not great but fine. So there are a lot of experiences. I dont think your claim that it’s half the kids having extreme anxiety is remotely accurate.

And who cares about the ones who do, right? They’re damaged goods, this is just natural selection weeding them out.