I’ll be back to work in the classroom on Tuesday - 19 second graders all in person learning. No one in our entire grade has opted for remote learning.
I have separated all materials and created alternative storage so everything can be kept at student seats, separated desks as much as a I can (about 4 feet), have individual hand sanitizer at every desk, everyone is required to wear masks in the building, we are encouraged to take our lessons outdoors as much as possible.
Any other suggestions for avoiding the spread in my class (or to me)?
I’ll be back to work in the classroom on Tuesday - 19 second graders all in person learning. No one in our entire grade has opted for remote learning.
I have separated all materials and created alternative storage so everything can be kept at student seats, separated desks as much as a I can (about 4 feet), have individual hand sanitizer at every desk, everyone is required to wear masks in the building, we are encouraged to take our lessons outdoors as much as possible.
Any other suggestions for avoiding the spread in my class (or to me)?
My wife has moved almost everything out of her class and now it looks like a mental institution. In order to allow kids to remove masks as they sit at their desks, they are all 6’ apart. Technically they can have them as close as 3’ but then the kids would have to wear the mask all day. She will have 18 students and a lot of parents asked about cyber school but it doesn’t look like any of them are going that route.
Each student has their own supplies and are not allowed to share. She is actually putting a shield at her desk for when students come up during work sessions. They will have reading groups but they will be smaller and there is a section of the floor for that portion. In addition, she will have several areas around the room with tissues and hand sanitizer. There really isn’t much else she can do.
Increasing ventilation (ie open windows) and filtration (install portable HEPA filters or ask your HVAC folks to install high MERV rating filters). Also, consider having classes outside when you can.
I’ll be back to work in the classroom on Tuesday - 19 second graders all in person learning. No one in our entire grade has opted for remote learning.
I have separated all materials and created alternative storage so everything can be kept at student seats, separated desks as much as a I can (about 4 feet), have individual hand sanitizer at every desk, everyone is required to wear masks in the building, we are encouraged to take our lessons outdoors as much as possible.
Any other suggestions for avoiding the spread in my class (or to me)?
Lots of hand sanitizer stations around the school.Avoid crowded hallways with staggered class dismissals. Some kind of regular random testing protocol if possible (temperature screening is largely useless/irrelevant).Be flexible and especially vigilant re the kids’ mask wearing and social distancing
Elementary teachers certainly are a different breed. I always admire your flexibility and range of capacities! I feel for you in this situation.
Even if they’re not required to wear masks because they’re six feet apart, they and you certainly need to do so. I hope the parents have trained their kids. Other than that, the only suggestion I have is fanatical hand cleaning. Gloves. And even cleaning those gloves while they are on. I am a former zoo keeper and we would wash/ disinfect so much that our hands would chap. We all should have purchased stock in whatever company makes Eucerin hand creams. But if you didn’t do that, there were all sorts of bugs that could wreck you for a few days.
I wish people who suggest the HEPA filters, windows, and circulation could understand how crappily designed so many schools are. Windows don’t open for safety/ security, the AC systems in most schools SUCK, there is no circulation, and no easy fix. My old school spent big $$$ a couple years ago on a new AC system… that did absolutely nothing.
I feel your pain. I get “kids” (college+grad students) again in another week.
My biggest concern is dealing with kids that test positive from some exposure outside of school, and have exposed other students and teachers at school. This is really a completely separate issue than social-distancing protocols while at school.
About 2.5% of the population in ID is estimated to be currently infected. With hundreds of people physically on campus, it’s almost inevitable that somebody is going to expose a whole classroom at some point in the semester. Guidelines call for self-quarantine after exposure. So, if (when!) a teacher gets exposed, the entire course is in jeopardy, as we just can’t stop for 2-3 weeks for a quarantine.
We have remote-delivery plans for a lot of courses, and contingency plans for some. But, some courses have no remote-delivery options (e.g. engineering/science labs working with physical equipment).
I wish people who suggest the HEPA filters, windows, and circulation could understand how crappily designed so many schools are. Windows don’t open for safety/ security, the AC systems in most schools SUCK, there is no circulation, and no easy fix. My old school spent big $$$ a couple years ago on a new AC system… that did absolutely nothing.
I’m fully aware of how crappy most HVAC systems are - I work in this space. Indoor air quality is an often neglected part of public health especially if you consider things like how some new building materials can leech formaldehyde and other carcinogens into indoor air. Raising awareness and proposing solutions/workarounds does not mean folks aren’t aware of the shortcomings of current infrastructure and practices. If anything, aerosols as a probable transmission vector for this disease is bringing this issue to light even more.
Increasing ventilation and boosting air exchange rates in classrooms boosts cognitive function and may reduce potential transmissions of bioaerosols. While it certainly is more expensive, these measures are more straightforward to implement than to ask 20+ grade school children to comply with wearing masks, washing hands, following good hygiene practices, etc. If budgets don’t permit mitigation measures and space allows, schools could also consider having some classes outside is possible. Just my 2 cents.
I’ll be back to work in the classroom on Tuesday - 19 second graders all in person learning. No one in our entire grade has opted for remote learning.
I have separated all materials and created alternative storage so everything can be kept at student seats, separated desks as much as a I can (about 4 feet), have individual hand sanitizer at every desk, everyone is required to wear masks in the building, we are encouraged to take our lessons outdoors as much as possible.
Any other suggestions for avoiding the spread in my class (or to me)?
My wife has moved almost everything out of her class and now it looks like a mental institution. In order to allow kids to remove masks as they sit at their desks, they are all 6’ apart. Technically they can have them as close as 3’ but then the kids would have to wear the mask all day. She will have 18 students and a lot of parents asked about cyber school but it doesn’t look like any of them are going that route.
Each student has their own supplies and are not allowed to share. She is actually putting a shield at her desk for when students come up during work sessions. They will have reading groups but they will be smaller and there is a section of the floor for that portion. In addition, she will have several areas around the room with tissues and hand sanitizer. There really isn’t much else she can do.
I’d be curious what the docs here say- but I would probably get a pulse oximeter and check your blood sat regularly to see if you notice a drop. My ER nurse friend said a lot of her bad cases were people who showed up with crazy low numbers and were about to crash.
Elementary teachers certainly are a different breed. I always admire your flexibility and range of capacities! I feel for you in this situation.
Even if they’re not required to wear masks because they’re six feet apart, they and you certainly need to do so. I hope the parents have trained their kids. Other than that, the only suggestion I have is fanatical hand cleaning. Gloves. And even cleaning those gloves while they are on. I am a former zoo keeper and we would wash/ disinfect so much that our hands would chap. We all should have purchased stock in whatever company makes Eucerin hand creams. But if you didn’t do that, there were all sorts of bugs that could wreck you for a few days.
I wish people who suggest the HEPA filters, windows, and circulation could understand how crappily designed so many schools are. Windows don’t open for safety/ security, the AC systems in most schools SUCK, there is no circulation, and no easy fix. My old school spent big $$$ a couple years ago on a new AC system… that did absolutely nothing.
AC, come up north, most of the schools in my area, NW PA, don’t have AC. Temperatures reach the 90’s in my wife’s class.
I feel your pain. I get “kids” (college+grad students) again in another week.
My biggest concern is dealing with kids that test positive from some exposure outside of school, and have exposed other students and teachers at school. This is really a completely separate issue than social-distancing protocols while at school.
About 2.5% of the population in ID is estimated to be currently infected. With hundreds of people physically on campus, it’s almost inevitable that somebody is going to expose a whole classroom at some point in the semester. Guidelines call for self-quarantine after exposure. So, if (when!) a teacher gets exposed, the entire course is in jeopardy, as we just can’t stop for 2-3 weeks for a quarantine.
We have remote-delivery plans for a lot of courses, and contingency plans for some. But, some courses have no remote-delivery options (e.g. engineering/science labs working with physical equipment).
Ugghh!
This is my concern too. Numbers of positive cases are increasingly rapidly here right now and it’s all traced back to large social gatherings where people are not following any COVID recommendations.
So it’s been two months. How are things going? How do you (or what will do) deal with kids who seem sick? Hope it’s all going well.
The reason I ask is that my little man is in first grade in a Kansas City suburb and he’s been back in school a month. He goes M-Tu on-site at school then W-F online. The other half of his class does M-W online and Th-F at school. They deep clean the school on Wednesdays. He came down with a fever and cough Monday and before he can go back to school, he has to get a COVID test and test negative.
He and his dad (my nephew) went to the drive up testing center and he got the swab that “poked my brain.” He thought no big deal regarding a COVID test until later, when he heard his dad talking about “Marshall having to get tested for the cornavirus.” At that point, he freaked out and started crying, not putting COVID = corona together. “Dad, people DIE from corona!! I don’t want to die!” Bless his heart. Once dad explained that the vast majority of people who die have an underlying condition, he was fine. And, is back to normal, calling my Facetime 4 times this morning. Luckily, no corona, so it’s back to school next week.
His sister is on an IEP and attend on-site 5 days per week, but they can close that part of the school off to the rest of the school/kids.
Well, they keep changing the schedule in my wife’s school and the kids have no clue what day it is. For a few weeks it was every other day online. Then last week it was half and half in school and then Fridays at home virtual. But then this week Monday was a holiday so Friday is in person in school. But back to half MonTue and the other half WedThu and Friday home.
The kids have no consistency and attendance is a shit show.
Also…the kids can take 5 minute mask breaks at their desks…all at once…inside…at their desks…what…the…fuck?
Well, they keep changing the schedule in my wife’s school and the kids have no clue what day it is. For a few weeks it was every other day online. Then last week it was half and half in school and then Fridays at home virtual. But then this week Monday was a holiday so Friday is in person in school. But back to half MonTue and the other half WedThu and Friday home.
The kids have no consistency and attendance is a shit show.
Also…the kids can take 5 minute mask breaks at their desks…all at once…inside…at their desks…what…the…fuck?
That schedule thing is crazy! How is she and the parents supposed to plan anything? I won’t even comment on the masks.
Well, they keep changing the schedule in my wife’s school and the kids have no clue what day it is. For a few weeks it was every other day online. Then last week it was half and half in school and then Fridays at home virtual. But then this week Monday was a holiday so Friday is in person in school. But back to half MonTue and the other half WedThu and Friday home.
The kids have no consistency and attendance is a shit show.
Also…the kids can take 5 minute mask breaks at their desks…all at once…inside…at their desks…what…the…fuck?
That schedule thing is crazy! How is she and the parents supposed to plan anything? I won’t even comment on the masks.
Yea first month was all online, so they had one schedule of every other day live teaching. Then once they started in school hybrid model, it was split with half the kids 2 days and the other half two days then Fridays everyone home for “fairness.” That started last week except holidays throw that schedule off. Such a clusterfuck.
Yea the masks thing…I don’t even know what to say. Thank god I’m not faculty there, or a public servant at all. I wouldn’t be able to keep my mouth shut, and it wouldn’t be polite for long. We pay obscene amounts of money to superintendents and their offices, and this is the shit they come up with. SMDH
Well, they keep changing the schedule in my wife’s school and the kids have no clue what day it is. For a few weeks it was every other day online. Then last week it was half and half in school and then Fridays at home virtual. But then this week Monday was a holiday so Friday is in person in school. But back to half MonTue and the other half WedThu and Friday home.
The kids have no consistency and attendance is a shit show.
Also…the kids can take 5 minute mask breaks at their desks…all at once…inside…at their desks…what…the…fuck?
My daughter’s teach asked online- if kids have math at school every day for two weeks how many math classes have they had. The kids all started guessing 4? 8? 10? It was pretty funny despite being really sad - since i still don’t know if Friday is a school day. You have to show up to find out.
