Time to start loking seriously into Double shift school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A previous poster suggested every other day, but if we are throwing out big ideas just for the hell of it, I'd suggest half the school population goes to the physical school for 2 weeks while the other half does online learning. Then they switch.

At each switch, you have a weekend for a deep cleaning of the school. The every other day or the half day proposals don't acknowledge that the virus stays on surfaces for at least a few hours and up to a few days.

The bonus is that students would be more isolated for 14 days every 14 days so any burbling re-emergence of the virus in the school population would be hindered/slowed down before it really took off (reducing R-nought).

Students in the two week online cycles could work on longer projects, have homework assignments from their teachers, watch lesson videos... basically what is going on right now. But it would be for 2 weeks at a time. Then they could get into the classrooms for interaction/instruction from the teachers in person.

Is it an ideal situation? No. But I could see it work for a year while we wait on having a vaccine.

It would beat having to shut down school for a month every month or two due to detecting a resurgence of COVID-19 community transmission. It would be scheduled and predictable, which would be awesome for these kids whose lives seem to be totally up in the air with indeterminacy at this point.

Except the staff would be the same group of people, so anything that someone in group A transmits through the staff like when Larla coughs on Mrs. Jones on the second Thursday of her 2 week rotation. Mrs. Jones is at school on Friday, the following Monday and Tuesday until she starts feeling sick on Wednesday and realizes she has a fever on Wednesday evening when she gets home. Now kids in group B are exposed, not to mention all staff in the building. Are we forgetting that staff members are also human and susceptible to this virus?

Also, who is teaching the students online? Teaching in person and teaching online are incredibly different and require different types of planning and prepared materials. So Mrs. Jones is now responsible for delivering instruction in two completely different ways? While risking her own health?

This scenario ever being a possibility is incredibly slim to very none, because you wouldn't have enough teachers willing to stay in the profession if they were expected to do this kind of craziness.

How dare you point out reality? Don’t you know you’re not supposed to do that on here?

[Anonymous]

"This scenario ever being a possibility is incredibly slim to very none, because you wouldn't have enough teachers willing to stay in the profession if they were expected to do this kind of craziness."

Based on our new economy, not sure exactly how many other spare jobs are out there...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"This scenario ever being a possibility is incredibly slim to very none, because you wouldn't have enough teachers willing to stay in the profession if they were expected to do this kind of craziness."

Based on our new economy, not sure exactly how many other spare jobs are out there...

Things will not always be as they have been in the last (checks calendar) 6 weeks.

[Anonymous]

Would probably make sense to split it so kids alternate days. I don't really think it helps as much if you have the same number of kids going through the school on the same day. The surfaces are still infected when the afternoon shift comes in.

If they alternate days, some cleaning can be done and the virus will weaken on the surfaces a little as well.

[Anonymous]

MCPS doesn't even have teachers do Zoom instruction - fat chance they will do twice as many classes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"This scenario ever being a possibility is incredibly slim to very none, because you wouldn't have enough teachers willing to stay in the profession if they were expected to do this kind of craziness."

Based on our new economy, not sure exactly how many other spare jobs are out there...

But this would actually CREATE jobs just like the public works did during the depression. We need to keep safe, we could split the school system into the two shift system and hire an army of teachers giving job to all those who lost it in other ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"This scenario ever being a possibility is incredibly slim to very none, because you wouldn't have enough teachers willing to stay in the profession if they were expected to do this kind of craziness."

Based on our new economy, not sure exactly how many other spare jobs are out there...

But this would actually CREATE jobs just like the public works did during the depression. We need to keep safe, we could split the school system into the two shift system and hire an army of teachers giving job to all those who lost it in other ways.

Hiring someone to fill a spot in the classroom does not mean that person is a teacher. We already tried this with TFA and other “teach while you learn how to teach programs”. It hurts student outcomes when you put an unprepared person in a teaching position with little to know support. The person who lost their job in retail is not going to want to put in all the unpaid hours at home, plus take the courses required to certify. So you basically have just hired a bunch of subs who will quit as soon as something better comes along.

[Anonymous]

I,expect a lot of older teachers and paras will not return next year or will take a leave of absence. Subs will not come either. This two,shift system has no chance. Schools are not baby sitters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I,expect a lot of older teachers and paras will not return next year or will take a leave of absence. Subs will not come either. This two,shift system has no chance. Schools are not baby sitters.

True: Schools are not babysitters.

Also true: One of the things schools do is provide child care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I,expect a lot of older teachers and paras will not return next year or will take a leave of absence. Subs will not come either. This two,shift system has no chance. Schools are not baby sitters.

True: Schools are not babysitters.

Also true: One of the things schools do is provide child care.

Then states should just hire child care workers if what is most important is having any adult willing to watch the kids 6-7 hours a day, whether or not that adult knows the content or how to teach it. Just open child care centers and pack 30 kids into a room. Hell, why offer only the regular school day hours? Run ‘em 24 hours a day. Then the parents will be free to do whatever they want. Any parent who really wants their child to learn can opt for distance learning instead. That can be done asynchronously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"This scenario ever being a possibility is incredibly slim to very none, because you wouldn't have enough teachers willing to stay in the profession if they were expected to do this kind of craziness."

Based on our new economy, not sure exactly how many other spare jobs are out there...

But this would actually CREATE jobs just like the public works did during the depression. We need to keep safe, we could split the school system into the two shift system and hire an army of teachers giving job to all those who lost it in other ways.

How will MCPS pay for thousands of second shift teachers?

Even if short term funding could be worked out until a vaccine, what will MCPS do with thousands of extra hires when the second shift is no longer needed? They would have to be non-tenure track.

How would you like it if your child got all of the second shift emergency hires who never wanted to become teachers, don’t know the content, don’t know pedagogy or child development, and have no incentive to stay the whole school year if another employment opportunity comes along?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I,expect a lot of older teachers and paras will not return next year or will take a leave of absence. Subs will not come either. This two,shift system has no chance. Schools are not baby sitters.

True: Schools are not babysitters.

Also true: One of the things schools do is provide child care.

Then states should just hire child care workers if what is most important is having any adult willing to watch the kids 6-7 hours a day, whether or not that adult knows the content or how to teach it. Just open child care centers and pack 30 kids into a room. Hell, why offer only the regular school day hours? Run ‘em 24 hours a day. Then the parents will be free to do whatever they want. Any parent who really wants their child to learn can opt for distance learning instead. That can be done asynchronously.

I mean, I agree with you that states should hire child care workers. But child care is a need in states that want everybody to go back to work. And if everybody is supposed to go back to work, why keep the schools closed and set up a new separate non-school child-care system? Re-opening the schools should be one of the highest priorities. Kids need to go to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I,expect a lot of older teachers and paras will not return next year or will take a leave of absence. Subs will not come either. This two,shift system has no chance. Schools are not baby sitters.

True: Schools are not babysitters.

Also true: One of the things schools do is provide child care.

Then states should just hire child care workers if what is most important is having any adult willing to watch the kids 6-7 hours a day, whether or not that adult knows the content or how to teach it. Just open child care centers and pack 30 kids into a room. Hell, why offer only the regular school day hours? Run ‘em 24 hours a day. Then the parents will be free to do whatever they want. Any parent who really wants their child to learn can opt for distance learning instead. That can be done asynchronously.

I mean, I agree with you that states should hire child care workers. But child care is a need in states that want everybody to go back to work. And if everybody is supposed to go back to work, why keep the schools closed and set up a new separate non-school child-care system? Re-opening the schools should be one of the highest priorities. Kids need to go to school.

Health should be the highest priority. If people want to put their children in unhealthy settings so they can work more than they want learning at home, give them state-funded cattle pens. But don’t force others to have only one unhealthy option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Health should be the highest priority. If people want to put their children in unhealthy settings so they can work more than they want learning at home, give them state-funded cattle pens. But don’t force others to have only one unhealthy option.

That's a very simplistic view of the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"This scenario ever being a possibility is incredibly slim to very none, because you wouldn't have enough teachers willing to stay in the profession if they were expected to do this kind of craziness."

Based on our new economy, not sure exactly how many other spare jobs are out there...

But this would actually CREATE jobs just like the public works did during the depression. We need to keep safe, we could split the school system into the two shift system and hire an army of teachers giving job to all those who lost it in other ways.

How will MCPS pay for thousands of second shift teachers?

Even if short term funding could be worked out until a vaccine, what will MCPS do with thousands of extra hires when the second shift is no longer needed? They would have to be non-tenure track.

How would you like it if your child got all of the second shift emergency hires who never wanted to become teachers, don’t know the content, don’t know pedagogy or child development, and have no incentive to stay the whole school year if another employment opportunity comes along?

Ahhh, that’s because the people who post these kinds of things automatically assume that their special snowflake will be placed into their preferred shift where they get the best of all worlds. It never would cross their mind that Aidan would be placed in the second shift with unlicensed teachers. That’s for the poors.