Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m in favor of slowly opening up, but the logistical / planning needed here is not insignificant. No one is even talking about how you handle social distancing when you still need to practice lockdown, tornado and fire drills. Those threats don’t go away.

I'm guessing this will be---hallelujah!!!--the end of lockdown drills. The days of having 20 five year olds all huddled together in the corner real close for 10-15 minutes? Gone!!!!

Regardless of how you feel about lockdown drills, do you seriously think they’re going away? Wasn’t there a shooter in AZ (not at school) recently?

I wonder if any aftercare at all will be allowed. Probably not based on the report.

Anonymous wrote:I’m in favor of slowly opening up, but the logistical / planning needed here is not insignificant. No one is even talking about how you handle social distancing when you still need to practice lockdown, tornado and fire drills. Those threats don’t go away.

I'm guessing this will be---hallelujah!!!--the end of lockdown drills. The days of having 20 five year olds all huddled together in the corner real close for 10-15 minutes? Gone!!!!

For the majority of kids, I think they will be ok if schools follow the protocols. However, people thinking opening schools is only about kids supposedly being resistant to the virus are dense.

As I mentioned before, schools have to figure out health protocols while

- running safety drills (Fire, tornado, lockdown)
- evacuating classrooms when a kid becomes violently disruptive (has a student like that in DS’s class)— where do you take kids?
- evacuating busses
- etc

Not to mention the COST to sanitize and shut down schools if a student or someone in their household becomes infected with COVID. Because it is a public building, having someone just come in with chlorox wipes in the student’s classroom isnt going to cut it.

That are some of the real logistics. It’s not doom and gloom as people are saying on DCUM. That’s the realities we are facing in schools, running summer camps. I am willing to send my kids to outdoor camps because i believe the chances for infection outside is very low. However, if I were in charge of running the camp, the risks wouldn’t be worth it unless I charged parents BIG money and even then I might not.

Anonymous wrote:And there is news that in South Korea dozens of schools had to close within hours of reopening because of infections.

I don’t know exactly how any school district opens and stays open.

Actually, no. There were two positive tests among high schoolers (obviously spread not through schools since they hadn’t even reopened) and kids were apparently sent home erroneously by panicking teachers. There is no lesson from South Korea to be drawn one way or the other yet.

And there is news that in South Korea dozens of schools had to close within hours of reopening because of infections.

I don’t know exactly how any school district opens and stays open.

and then there is this terrifying development: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/23-dc-area-children-have-rare-illness-possibly-linked-to-covid-19/2308394/?fbclid=IwAR1uyTL4bHYr_2mpsgriJsNPPFJ0EkXrkfX0d5Bee_r7l7rHCg7fbvywgGg

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The CDC recommend masks only for staff/teachers, not for kids.

They’re saying masks should be worn by students “as feasible,” but not on kids under 2. I cannot imagine most PK3 kids lasting in a mask for 5 min.

Oh, and here’s the link.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/schools.html

Anonymous wrote:The CDC recommend masks only for staff/teachers, not for kids.

They’re saying masks should be worn by students “as feasible,” but not on kids under 2. I cannot imagine most PK3 kids lasting in a mask for 5 min.

Anonymous wrote:Also how to teachers do centers or stations in this environment? You can’t have three kids at a kidney table working with the teacher. So is all instruction going to be lecture from the front of the room? How is that better than small group calls, 1:1 check in meetings, and videos / teacher instruction?
I would much rather teachers do virtual small groups than lecture from the front

I've been thinking about that too, with my work with older kids. If we all need to stay six feet away from each other, I won't be able to look at student work on their desks or do any small group work. Honestly, I can imagine trying to use zoom with kids in the classroom in these settings just so we could have a small group conversation. But then it seems especially crazy to imagine being in school with all the risks involved.

The CDC recommend masks only for staff/teachers, not for kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to have 6 feet AND masks because humans are ping pong balls and incapable of perfectly respecting 6 feet of distance.

Asia does masks, no touching, and no 6 feet stuff. Has good outcomes. They wrote the playbook during SARS. Pretty sure our CDC said no masks and 6 feet at first because, amoung other reasons, they didn't think we would wear masks (and they were right in some states), but we've largely adopted them. This accident is how we ended up with BOTH recs (6 feet AND masks). Masks stop the coughs and sneezes and large droplets the same way 6 feet would (with the 6 feet rule, those droplets fall to the ground and table-tops and not on a person). Masks have the exact same function since they make the droplets stay on the sneezer's face. The new problem is that it lingers in the air in miniscule droplets - masks offer a little protection for this but not great protection. The 6 feet rule offers no protection for this. No one wants to take away the 6 foot rule, but this rule doesn't exists in Asia; I think they say 3 feet there, but that is to avoid touching.

Yes but Asia doesn’t do protests against masks or shutdowns. Asian kids are very compliant. They will keep the masks on, remain in their seats and observe the 6 feet of distance.

Not so for American kids.

Anonymous wrote:Also how to teachers do centers or stations in this environment? You can’t have three kids at a kidney table working with the teacher. So is all instruction going to be lecture from the front of the room? How is that better than small group calls, 1:1 check in meetings, and videos / teacher instruction?
I would much rather teachers do virtual small groups than lecture from the front

+100

I had this realization today when thinking about how to convert my teaching to these hybrid methods. I sadly realized regardless I was just going to have to lecture and give worksheets individually. So yes I might as well sit and lecture through a screen.