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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]AACPS voted last night to go back in a hybrid mode for K-2 on November 16 and 3-5 on November 30, with middle and high school later (maybe as early as the second week of December)

On one hand, I'm thrilled there is forward motion... on the other hand it's a TERRIBLE plan!

There will be two cohorts - Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday.  Everyone is home on Wednesdays.  So far, so good.
However, the teachers will be expected to be actively teaching both cohorts at the same time.  So the teacher is still sitting in front of her computer, still using the same virtual tools to teach, and now has to manage in class and online behaviors.  And the in school kids are just sitting at their desks instead of sitting at their houses.

Sounds like all the risk of in person without any of the benefit.[/quote]

Other private schools are following this model (Spaulding, for one) and it's working well. I think the new normal will have a transition which is difficult but if the county had done this plan in September like the private schools instead of choosing all virtual, many of these mid semester changes wouldn't be happening. 
Any in person time with a live teacher and live friends to banter with over the chromebooks is a good thing. It's the exact same as some of the virutal learning pods and daycares that are set up for school aged children. There is a benefit to this type of instruction. 
[b]The sad part is that it is going to implemented mid semester and the kids who are staying fully virutal will need to change teachers.  Once again, if it was done in September like the Archdiocese or other private schools, this transition wouldn't have been necessary. 
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PP, are you sure about the bolded part? Why can't students who are staying virtual just remain virtual under the new model?[/quote]

Not that posted, but yes - that's what both Arlotto and the board members said.  Virtual kids will be in a separate class - probably with a new teacher and maybe even with a teacher and kids from a different school.
Given the teacher will always be teaching kids at home anyway, I have no idea why they are doing it that way.

They even said that even hybrid kids may have to change their teacher depending on which teachers come back and how many kids chose each option.  They will "balance" the classes to make sure each elem homeroom cohort only has 10-12 kids, so if a lot of kids from one homeroom chose virtual they may shift kids around.[/quote]

Thanks PP.  That's a shame and unfortunately, terribly disruptive for the kids already dealing with this less than ideal learning environment. I guess the benefit of doing it that way is that it will allow teachers who don't want to or have medical issues that would prevent them from teaching in person to have their own virtual classes. The workforce will be divided to make things as safe as possible for those teaching in person, with smaller classes for the in-person teachers.

I'm one of the posters above whose kids attend a private in AA County using a hybrid model. I was completely against sending my kids in person at first, but now, I'm so grateful that they have had the opportunity for some in-person learning. Fall was the time to do it, and we are grateful for each day they get to go in person. Chances are the school will resume all virtual for some, if not all, weeks of school during the winter. [/quote]

I feel like AACPS would have been better served to start the year hybrid (for those who elected this model) and then pivot to virtual for everyone if the case numbers rose in Nov/Dec. That way, folks would have already been settled into their "cohorts" and could easily switch back to hybrid and in-person in the spring if conditions allows. So it feels like AACPS may have missed the window for this, as starting hybrid at the end of Nov may not work well.

Having said that, my kids have been going to their AACPS school every day for online learning and it's been great. There are 12 kids in their group and three folks from the County help them if there are issues. They eat lunch at the school and then play on the playground for over an hour each day during lunch. We've been going since Sept 8 and there have been zero issues or outbreaks. So I feel very comfortable transitioning to the hybrid model at this point.  
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