Anonymous
Post 05/04/2020 08:43     Subject: why can't teachers just wear masks in the fall?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:well, why is there a great debate of whether or not to bring teachers back?

Put them in masks and send them back. Our healthcare providers are taking care of actual Covid patients wearing 50 cents masks for a week. Teachers have a MUCH MUCH lower risk of contracting Covid.

I don't know why there is even a question of sending teachers back.


I’m a teacher and I’m not worries but I don’t have kids and my parents and elderly family are states away. I’m not worried about going back. I live with someone who works in healthcare and their coworkers have had the virus, so I could get it anyway. I’m young so I’m still cautious but I’m not super worried for myself.

I am worried for others though. What if my roommate gets it and then I do? What if I don’t know and then I end up infecting kids in my class and one dies (rare with kids, I know), or what if (more likely) I pass it to my students who bring it home? Many have older parents and many live with grandparents. Then what if their parents or grandparents dies? Hospitals have strict rules and staff are still getting it. Can we be sure the kids will be fine? Or maybe my coworkers are older or live with people who are older and then they get really sick...

I’m not too worried about myself getting this but I do worry about getting it and not knowing and passing it to others who aren’t young and/or healthy. They say many who get very sick are obese. Many Americans are obese... I’m not but I don’t want to get anyone else sick.

I guess it’s not necessarily that people are scared to send teachers back. I mean I’ve hears some teachers whine on Facebook about their life being put at risk and sort of roll my eyes, but it’s about making sure the virus doesn’t spread from the healthy (someone like me) to the fragile (my students’ 60 year old dad, sister with low immunity, mom with cancer, elderly grandparents, etc.). A lot of teachers are in fact young, healthy, and at low risk. But we are more likely to have it without knowing.

Phew. It’s exhausting trying to think of all the ways this virus can be bad.


We are simply not going to be able to keep this up until a vaccine is developed. Flattening the curve is meant to make sure that those who need hospitalization can get it, and take the precautions they can to minimize their exposure. It is not like school is going to be out all of next year until they develop, test, and can wisely distribute the vaccine next summer.


Sheltering in place is meant to beat the virus. The goal is not to allow us to die in the hospital instead of the street.

That's what the 14 days of decreasing numbers means.


The decreasing #s in MD are focused on hospital capacity.
Anonymous
Post 05/04/2020 00:27     Subject: why can't teachers just wear masks in the fall?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:well, why is there a great debate of whether or not to bring teachers back?

Put them in masks and send them back. Our healthcare providers are taking care of actual Covid patients wearing 50 cents masks for a week. Teachers have a MUCH MUCH lower risk of contracting Covid.

I don't know why there is even a question of sending teachers back.


I’m a teacher and I’m not worries but I don’t have kids and my parents and elderly family are states away. I’m not worried about going back. I live with someone who works in healthcare and their coworkers have had the virus, so I could get it anyway. I’m young so I’m still cautious but I’m not super worried for myself.

I am worried for others though. What if my roommate gets it and then I do? What if I don’t know and then I end up infecting kids in my class and one dies (rare with kids, I know), or what if (more likely) I pass it to my students who bring it home? Many have older parents and many live with grandparents. Then what if their parents or grandparents dies? Hospitals have strict rules and staff are still getting it. Can we be sure the kids will be fine? Or maybe my coworkers are older or live with people who are older and then they get really sick...

I’m not too worried about myself getting this but I do worry about getting it and not knowing and passing it to others who aren’t young and/or healthy. They say many who get very sick are obese. Many Americans are obese... I’m not but I don’t want to get anyone else sick.

I guess it’s not necessarily that people are scared to send teachers back. I mean I’ve hears some teachers whine on Facebook about their life being put at risk and sort of roll my eyes, but it’s about making sure the virus doesn’t spread from the healthy (someone like me) to the fragile (my students’ 60 year old dad, sister with low immunity, mom with cancer, elderly grandparents, etc.). A lot of teachers are in fact young, healthy, and at low risk. But we are more likely to have it without knowing.

Phew. It’s exhausting trying to think of all the ways this virus can be bad.


We are simply not going to be able to keep this up until a vaccine is developed. Flattening the curve is meant to make sure that those who need hospitalization can get it, and take the precautions they can to minimize their exposure. It is not like school is going to be out all of next year until they develop, test, and can wisely distribute the vaccine next summer.


Sheltering in place is meant to beat the virus. The goal is not to allow us to die in the hospital instead of the street.

That's what the 14 days of decreasing numbers means.
Anonymous
Post 05/04/2020 00:16     Subject: Re:why can't teachers just wear masks in the fall?
Anonymous wrote:https://www.cnet.com/news/kids-in-china-head-back-to-school-wearing-social-distancing-hats/



As an elementary school teacher, I'd be fine with going to back to a classroom full of social distancing kids like this one. All kids wear masks and I'll wear a mask too.


What about the elementary schools that don’t have desks but have those annoying tables that sit four kids and in large classes they fit 5 or 6?
Anonymous
Post 05/04/2020 00:12     Subject: Re:why can't teachers just wear masks in the fall?
^so many typos on my phone. Sorry!
Anonymous
Post 05/04/2020 00:10     Subject: why can't teachers just wear masks in the fall?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Teachers and kids can wear masks but I have trouble wearing one for more than 15 minutes. Teachers are special and want to scream low pay when here they are paid more than most. They need to do a better curriculum if this continues online.


So does everyone doctor and nurse I know. Do you think anyone likes wearing a mask? NO. but they suck and up and do it for their job.



Nurses and doctors are health care professionals. I dont think just because you do it should make teachers do it.

And i am so sick of the phase suck it up. No, I will NOT.

I feel badly for the situation teachers are facing, but unfortunately, they just aren’t living in reality. A world where school administrations won’t protect teachers from out-of-control children isn’t about to shut down schools so that teachers won’t be exposed to the same germs the rest of the public will get upon reopening. They’re just going to replace the teachers who won’t suck it up with all the graduates who need work. It sucks but that’s life in a pandemic with broke economy.


You think people are going to flock to fill open teacher jobs? Lol! lol! lol!! lol!!!


Not the PP, but, yes, I think many many many new graduates would love to land a teaching job. With the contraction of the economy, 2020 college graduates are going to have a damn hard time getting a job, let alone one that actually starts them on a legit career path.

+1 My background is in finance and the employment market is plummeting. Young graduates, who are also the least at-risk CV group, will definitely be taking jobs others don’t want.


Based on past collision between teacher shortages and bad economies, they will take those positions but not stay in them for long. You can look at the first couple years of the Great Recession.

The difference is that the current layoffs are due to a pandemic which young people are largely unaffected by. Teaching is still an attractive market for new graduates because of the benefits and job security. I think ultimately the staff turnover will be mostly older teachers leaving who can afford to. I don’t think there will be any teacher shortage.


There’s not job security... every year you have a chance of being budget cut or not renewed if your admin doesn’t like you enough. There’s is no tenure in VA. Teaching does provide job security in states with tenure but only AFTER that tenure is obtained, which is usually after three years in the same district. Many are let go before obtaining tenure. In rare cases those with tenure are cut if everyone at a school has it (common in the northeast). In the south and other states without tenure teaching is normally a very unstable career. Sure, once you’re on for the year you really have to mess up to be let go, but every spring teachers fine out they are being let go for things ranging from enrollment changes, budget cuts, admin disliking you... Right now it’s a perky career since those still in their contract can work from home and make the same paycheck as before covid. Some of us know we won’t be back at our current school best year and hope another school takes us or we won’t have a job. Due to enrollment I was told I won’t be back next fall but I can apply to other schools in my district. I don’t know any other profession where it’s normally to have to find out if you’re contract for the next year will be renewed or not. It’s not stable.
Anonymous
Post 05/03/2020 23:17     Subject: Re:why can't teachers just wear masks in the fall?
If the scare of COVID would not send many parents into home schooling and drive many teachers our of the profession then the mask wearing order certainly might.

Here is why:

Masks are great for a short period of time when you need to go to get your groceries, but
they are NOT ideal for the general public to be worn all the time. Teachers and kids.. not the ideal group. Kids.. growing bodies need UNRESTRICTED amount of oxygen, it is low as it is without masks when 30 kids sits and exhales all day long.. now add the mask to this? Super unhealthy.

Teachers - many teachers who have any lung or heart issues might actually suffer all kinds of health problems due to prolonged mask wearing.


Does wearing a mask cause shortness of breath?

This delivers less oxygen into the body than when the person is not wearing a mask. “It can lead to oxygen shortage, suffocation, respiration trouble, and heart attacks,” said Dr D Saha, scientist and additional director at the Central Pollution Control Board

Side note: A mask may also cause respiratory distress and become a hotbed for microbes to thrive.



https://scroll.in/pulse/860276/no-good-choices-a-mask-may-block-out-some-pollution-but-have-other-ill-health-effects
Anonymous
Post 05/03/2020 21:52     Subject: why can't teachers just wear masks in the fall?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:well, why is there a great debate of whether or not to bring teachers back?

Put them in masks and send them back. Our healthcare providers are taking care of actual Covid patients wearing 50 cents masks for a week. Teachers have a MUCH MUCH lower risk of contracting Covid.

I don't know why there is even a question of sending teachers back.


I’m a teacher and I’m not worries but I don’t have kids and my parents and elderly family are states away. I’m not worried about going back. I live with someone who works in healthcare and their coworkers have had the virus, so I could get it anyway. I’m young so I’m still cautious but I’m not super worried for myself.

I am worried for others though. What if my roommate gets it and then I do? What if I don’t know and then I end up infecting kids in my class and one dies (rare with kids, I know), or what if (more likely) I pass it to my students who bring it home? Many have older parents and many live with grandparents. Then what if their parents or grandparents dies? Hospitals have strict rules and staff are still getting it. Can we be sure the kids will be fine? Or maybe my coworkers are older or live with people who are older and then they get really sick...

I’m not too worried about myself getting this but I do worry about getting it and not knowing and passing it to others who aren’t young and/or healthy. They say many who get very sick are obese. Many Americans are obese... I’m not but I don’t want to get anyone else sick.

I guess it’s not necessarily that people are scared to send teachers back. I mean I’ve hears some teachers whine on Facebook about their life being put at risk and sort of roll my eyes, but it’s about making sure the virus doesn’t spread from the healthy (someone like me) to the fragile (my students’ 60 year old dad, sister with low immunity, mom with cancer, elderly grandparents, etc.). A lot of teachers are in fact young, healthy, and at low risk. But we are more likely to have it without knowing.

Phew. It’s exhausting trying to think of all the ways this virus can be bad.


We are simply not going to be able to keep this up until a vaccine is developed. Flattening the curve is meant to make sure that those who need hospitalization can get it, and take the precautions they can to minimize their exposure. It is not like school is going to be out all of next year until they develop, test, and can wisely distribute the vaccine next summer.
Anonymous
Post 05/03/2020 21:30     Subject: why can't teachers just wear masks in the fall?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Do you give speeches in mask?



Yes, we do patient rounds on them every day.


That’s very different. Patient rounds involves asking questions and listening. Teachers are constantly talking.



Huh? I'm a teacher, I do plenty of asking questions and listening.

I think that OP is nuts, but she's not wrong about that.


I think PP means talking to someone for 15-20 min in a 12 inch voice rather than 40-45 in a room-sized voice. Think about how your throat feels at the end of the first week of school.

My child’s teacher wears an amplifier for the hearing impaired students, she never raises her voice. It’s pretty cool! They could probably do that when the schools reopen.


You realize that the amplifier doesn't make the teacher's voice more clear or loud for the rest of the class right? The amplifier only "projects" the teacher's voice straight into a hearing aid device the kids with hearing impairments wear. It doesn't work for the general population.



This is totally wrong. I’m a teacher who has used an amplifier. It’s basically a microphone you wear around your neck like a lanyard. It makes your voice louder for the whole class. They’re wonderful and I think all classes should have them, but they are expensive and most classes only have a few. They will only give them to teachers who have a hearing impaired child in their class.

+1 The amplifier projects for the entire class, not just the hearing impaired.


Okay, then whatever it was that I had and wore for my hearing impaired student was a different device that only sent my voice directly to his hearing aid.


I also used that same device. Only the student who was DHOH could hear it.
Anonymous
Post 05/03/2020 21:22     Subject: why can't teachers just wear masks in the fall?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:That picture is adorable but not happening in America. Even in China, how do the poor dears pee?


This would never fly in U.S. schools- we just don't hold our kids to the behavioral standards necessary to pull this off. There is no discipline and kids have no consequences for their actions.


I'm the first one who mentioned it. I didn't mean to imply we should do it, it was in response to something that said that only 17 and 18 year olds are back at school in China. Those kids don't look 17 to me.
Anonymous
Post 05/03/2020 21:22     Subject: why can't teachers just wear masks in the fall?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Do you give speeches in mask?



Yes, we do patient rounds on them every day.


That’s very different. Patient rounds involves asking questions and listening. Teachers are constantly talking.



Huh? I'm a teacher, I do plenty of asking questions and listening.

I think that OP is nuts, but she's not wrong about that.


I think PP means talking to someone for 15-20 min in a 12 inch voice rather than 40-45 in a room-sized voice. Think about how your throat feels at the end of the first week of school.

My child’s teacher wears an amplifier for the hearing impaired students, she never raises her voice. It’s pretty cool! They could probably do that when the schools reopen.


You realize that the amplifier doesn't make the teacher's voice more clear or loud for the rest of the class right? The amplifier only "projects" the teacher's voice straight into a hearing aid device the kids with hearing impairments wear. It doesn't work for the general population.



This is totally wrong. I’m a teacher who has used an amplifier. It’s basically a microphone you wear around your neck like a lanyard. It makes your voice louder for the whole class. They’re wonderful and I think all classes should have them, but they are expensive and most classes only have a few. They will only give them to teachers who have a hearing impaired child in their class.

+1 The amplifier projects for the entire class, not just the hearing impaired.


Okay, then whatever it was that I had and wore for my hearing impaired student was a different device that only sent my voice directly to his hearing aid.


There are FM systems that project to speakers that aim at the whole class, that project to a speaker that can be placed on a specific child's desk, and that stream to a single person's hearing aides. They are all things.
Anonymous
Post 05/03/2020 21:13     Subject: why can't teachers just wear masks in the fall?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:That picture is adorable but not happening in America. Even in China, how do the poor dears pee?


This would never fly in U.S. schools- we just don't hold our kids to the behavioral standards necessary to pull this off. There is no discipline and kids have no consequences for their actions.


This. We allow disruptive kids and kids who throw chairs to remain in classrooms. This would never happen in China.
Anonymous
Post 05/03/2020 21:11     Subject: why can't teachers just wear masks in the fall?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Do you give speeches in mask?



Yes, we do patient rounds on them every day.


That’s very different. Patient rounds involves asking questions and listening. Teachers are constantly talking.



Will students blurt and interrupt less with masks on? LOL asking for a friend... hehe
Anonymous
Post 05/03/2020 21:02     Subject: why can't teachers just wear masks in the fall?
Anonymous wrote:well, why is there a great debate of whether or not to bring teachers back?

Put them in masks and send them back. Our healthcare providers are taking care of actual Covid patients wearing 50 cents masks for a week. Teachers have a MUCH MUCH lower risk of contracting Covid.

I don't know why there is even a question of sending teachers back.


I’m a teacher and I’m not worries but I don’t have kids and my parents and elderly family are states away. I’m not worried about going back. I live with someone who works in healthcare and their coworkers have had the virus, so I could get it anyway. I’m young so I’m still cautious but I’m not super worried for myself.

I am worried for others though. What if my roommate gets it and then I do? What if I don’t know and then I end up infecting kids in my class and one dies (rare with kids, I know), or what if (more likely) I pass it to my students who bring it home? Many have older parents and many live with grandparents. Then what if their parents or grandparents dies? Hospitals have strict rules and staff are still getting it. Can we be sure the kids will be fine? Or maybe my coworkers are older or live with people who are older and then they get really sick...

I’m not too worried about myself getting this but I do worry about getting it and not knowing and passing it to others who aren’t young and/or healthy. They say many who get very sick are obese. Many Americans are obese... I’m not but I don’t want to get anyone else sick.

I guess it’s not necessarily that people are scared to send teachers back. I mean I’ve hears some teachers whine on Facebook about their life being put at risk and sort of roll my eyes, but it’s about making sure the virus doesn’t spread from the healthy (someone like me) to the fragile (my students’ 60 year old dad, sister with low immunity, mom with cancer, elderly grandparents, etc.). A lot of teachers are in fact young, healthy, and at low risk. But we are more likely to have it without knowing.

Phew. It’s exhausting trying to think of all the ways this virus can be bad.
Anonymous
Post 05/03/2020 16:33     Subject: why can't teachers just wear masks in the fall?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Do you give speeches in mask?



Yes, we do patient rounds on them every day.


That’s very different. Patient rounds involves asking questions and listening. Teachers are constantly talking.



Huh? I'm a teacher, I do plenty of asking questions and listening.

I think that OP is nuts, but she's not wrong about that.


I think PP means talking to someone for 15-20 min in a 12 inch voice rather than 40-45 in a room-sized voice. Think about how your throat feels at the end of the first week of school.

My child’s teacher wears an amplifier for the hearing impaired students, she never raises her voice. It’s pretty cool! They could probably do that when the schools reopen.


You realize that the amplifier doesn't make the teacher's voice more clear or loud for the rest of the class right? The amplifier only "projects" the teacher's voice straight into a hearing aid device the kids with hearing impairments wear. It doesn't work for the general population.



This is totally wrong. I’m a teacher who has used an amplifier. It’s basically a microphone you wear around your neck like a lanyard. It makes your voice louder for the whole class. They’re wonderful and I think all classes should have them, but they are expensive and most classes only have a few. They will only give them to teachers who have a hearing impaired child in their class.

+1 The amplifier projects for the entire class, not just the hearing impaired.


Okay, then whatever it was that I had and wore for my hearing impaired student was a different device that only sent my voice directly to his hearing aid.