|
|
Post by karen on Mar 31, 2020 2:39:29 GMT
I think teachers will need to really think about what matters is he most. Personally, I think the way that I teach will be very different in the future. I already use web based resources, but I will use them differently. I also think that the kids will be behind next year and that we will have to be even more creative to meet their needs. The standards for my subject change for my grade next year, so I think my entire approach will change drastically.
|
|
|
|
Post by iamkristinl16 on Mar 31, 2020 2:53:51 GMT
The thing is that our brutal summers are not sometimes. It's every year, without fail, from May-October. Having 12 weeks off during that time saves millions if it's a large district. Personally, I'd love to go to a balanced schedule where we had some time off in the spring and fall when it's nicer to be outside here. But the expense of air conditioning is always brought up as a primary reason why we can't. Well, the winters are always cold *enough* that the buildings have to be heated the whole time, which was my point. Sometimes it’s cold enough to be *closed* but we don’t ever have the option of not turning on the heat and that’s typically from October through May which is most of the school year. But if you had year round schools, you would have to heat in the winter and cool in the summer. Our district is in the process of air conditioning buildings now (or at least parts of them) and it is miserable in the buildings even in the later part of the school year or when school starts if the buildings aren’t air conditioned. They manage for the short amount of time that they need to but there wouldn’t be much learning going on if they had to be there all summer with no AC. |
|
kate
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,509 
Location: The city that doesn't sleep
Site Supporter
Jun 26, 2014 3:30:05 GMT
|
Post by kate on Mar 31, 2020 3:47:06 GMT
For me, personally? It happens that my classes this year have already been introduced to the Big Concepts that they need for the year. Honestly, if they spent the rest of the year just solidifying those skills, they'd be just fine. Maybe better than fine.
Now, if we magically got to go back to school next week, they'd be learning to apply those concepts in new ways, and we'd be learning new dance material that they could carry with them to the next grade, etc. So, yes, they're missing out a bit, but I am not "worried" for them going forward - if that makes sense?
My students will not be MISSING the last 3 months of school. I'm working my tail off to provide online lessons to make sure they're NOT missing that much time. Is it the same as in-person lessons? No. But it's much better than nothing, and I'm doing my darndest to make it skill-building, relevant, and fun.
|
|
|
|
Post by Legacy Girl on Mar 31, 2020 3:53:17 GMT
Ugh...my post just got eaten.  So in short -- mom of a high school junior. Not much learning taking place in 4th quarter this year as they try to get the online classes up and running. This concerns me because DD's first attempt at the ACT didn't result in the scores we would have hoped for. I had been hoping that she would gain more knowledge in classes and score better on her second attempt, but if the classes are lacking, that may not be the case. Miami University in Oxford, OH, published an article today in which the question was raised whether students would even be allowed to return to campus in the fall. Closed colleges are making college visits difficult, and while we have done a few, this spring and summer were to be our time. Anyway, all of the uncertanties are more than a little unnerving as I try to envision how DD's next few years are going to unfold. |
|
|
|
Post by crazy4scraps on Mar 31, 2020 4:22:11 GMT
Well, the winters are always cold *enough* that the buildings have to be heated the whole time, which was my point. Sometimes it’s cold enough to be *closed* but we don’t ever have the option of not turning on the heat and that’s typically from October through May which is most of the school year. Our district is in the process of air conditioning buildings now (or at least parts of them) and it is miserable in the buildings even in the later part of the school year or when school starts if the buildings aren’t air conditioned. They manage for the short amount of time that they need to but there wouldn’t be much learning going on if they had to be there all summer with no AC. We’re already doing that now in my area anyway. My kid’s elementary school (along with several other elementary schools in the district and the building where ECFE is based out of) IS open and used all year round, although not for actual school in the summer months. The district runs the summer day care program for school kids there from 6 am until 6 pm pretty much every weekday for ten weeks every summer. My kid went to it several days a week for the summer after Pre-K through after 2nd grade. Last year (after 3rd) she didn’t go because she was old enough to entertain herself mostly at home without me needing to stop what I was doing every ten minutes so we let her stay home with me. The school is closed for one week right after school lets out so they can clean and rearrange the classroom areas where the kids will be, and again for the last week before school starts up at the end of August to clean and put everything back together again for school. Other community ed classes like driver’s ed are held there too. I think the middle schools and the high school building are also utilized for various community ed classes too over the summer so all the buildings are already air conditioned all summer. |
|
|
|
Post by iamkristinl16 on Mar 31, 2020 12:23:44 GMT
But if you had year round schools, you would have to heat in the winter and cool in the summer. Our district is in the process of air conditioning buildings now (or at least parts of them) and it is miserable in the buildings even in the later part of the school year or when school starts if the buildings aren’t air conditioned. They manage for the short amount of time that they need to but there wouldn’t be much learning going on if they had to be there all summer with no AC. We’re already doing that now in my area anyway. My kid’s elementary school (along with several other elementary schools in the district and the building where ECFE is based out of) IS open and used all year round, although not for actual school in the summer months. The district runs the summer day care program for school kids there from 6 am until 6 pm pretty much every weekday for ten weeks every summer. My kid went to it several days a week for the summer after Pre-K through after 2nd grade. Last year (after 3rd) she didn’t go because she was old enough to entertain herself mostly at home without me needing to stop what I was doing every ten minutes so we let her stay home with me. The school is closed for one week right after school lets out so they can clean and rearrange the classroom areas where the kids will be, and again for the last week before school starts up at the end of August to clean and put everything back together again for school. Other community ed classes like driver’s ed are held there too. I think the middle schools and the high school building are also utilized for various community ed classes too over the summer so all the buildings are already air conditioned all summer. True. Our elementary schools have summer Kidstop programs as well. I am not sure if the whole building has AC or just the offices/gym or if they keep the AC on in the whole building all summer. It seems like it is usually really warm in the classrooms when we go for open house in the fall. But I know our middle school does not have AC and it is miserable in there when it is warm. Either way, there are a lot of reasons that I could think of to not have year round school. This is just one of them. |
|
|
|
Post by SockMonkey on Mar 31, 2020 12:27:28 GMT
Everyone will be in the same situation.
What is "behind?" Mostly the markers of grade promotion are fairly arbitrary and kids develop at such different paces anyway. We will meet the kids where they are. We will do what we should be doing anyway and decide what is essential and teach that more deeply instead of content firehose.
What concerns me most is the inequity magnified by this; under-resourced schools will be in even tougher situations and their students may be further behind.
|
|
|
|
Post by crazy4scraps on Mar 31, 2020 13:39:42 GMT
We’re already doing that now in my area anyway. My kid’s elementary school (along with several other elementary schools in the district and the building where ECFE is based out of) IS open and used all year round, although not for actual school in the summer months. The district runs the summer day care program for school kids there from 6 am until 6 pm pretty much every weekday for ten weeks every summer. My kid went to it several days a week for the summer after Pre-K through after 2nd grade. Last year (after 3rd) she didn’t go because she was old enough to entertain herself mostly at home without me needing to stop what I was doing every ten minutes so we let her stay home with me. The school is closed for one week right after school lets out so they can clean and rearrange the classroom areas where the kids will be, and again for the last week before school starts up at the end of August to clean and put everything back together again for school. Other community ed classes like driver’s ed are held there too. I think the middle schools and the high school building are also utilized for various community ed classes too over the summer so all the buildings are already air conditioned all summer. True. Our elementary schools have summer Kidstop programs as well. I am not sure if the whole building has AC or just the offices/gym or if they keep the AC on in the whole building all summer. It seems like it is usually really warm in the classrooms when we go for open house in the fall. But I know our middle school does not have AC and it is miserable in there when it is warm. Either way, there are a lot of reasons that I could think of to not have year round school. This is just one of them. I get it. That would suck to not have decent A/C. My kid’s school has open classroom spaces so there is no way to only air condition part of it in the summer. It would have to be all or none. They run one summer day program for rising K-2 graders and another for the rising 3-5 graders. Those two programs are housed in different parts of the school so the older and younger kids don’t mix. Plus they hold other summer weeklong intensive community ed classes for older kids in various classroom areas such as the art room and the science lab, as well as driver’s ed for high schoolers. Our whole building is utilized. Her school building is relatively new, it was built maybe 25-30 years ago so it’s probably more energy efficient and better insulated than an older building would be and that also makes a huge difference. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Mar 31, 2020 14:48:49 GMT
Everyone will be in the same situation. What is "behind?" Mostly the markers of grade promotion are fairly arbitrary and kids develop at such different paces anyway. We will meet the kids where they are. We will do what we should be doing anyway and decide what is essential and teach that more deeply instead of content firehose. What concerns me most is the inequity magnified by this; under-resourced schools will be in even tougher situations and their students may be further behind. 100x this. And it’s why I get so angry when I see relatively privileged people freaking out about grades or AP scores or whatever. Your kid is going to be just fine. But millions are going to go hungry and/or become homeless. The dropout rate will skyrocket in some communities. Kids with special needs will lose critical time and may never overcome the regressions they experience as a result. These are the kids really at risk. |
|
|
|
Post by SockMonkey on Mar 31, 2020 15:30:40 GMT
Everyone will be in the same situation. What is "behind?" Mostly the markers of grade promotion are fairly arbitrary and kids develop at such different paces anyway. We will meet the kids where they are. We will do what we should be doing anyway and decide what is essential and teach that more deeply instead of content firehose. What concerns me most is the inequity magnified by this; under-resourced schools will be in even tougher situations and their students may be further behind. 100x this. And it’s why I get so angry when I see relatively privileged people freaking out about grades or AP scores or whatever. Your kid is going to be just fine. But millions are going to go hungry and/or become homeless. The dropout rate will skyrocket in some communities. Kids with special needs will lose critical time and may never overcome the regressions they experience as a result. These are the kids really at risk. I have been overall very proud of how my district has handled all of this, but one admin was worried about SAT Prep. I was like... Are you fucking kidding me with this right now? Then the governor cancelled state testing (praise baby Jeebus, let's just do that every year) and they finally shut up about it. I mean... WTF. |
|
