** Official Teachers Thread **

[smokew11]

- Son's school went from full virtual to fully in-person for K-2 two weeks ago, 3-12 on 11/4
- My school is hybrid, but our school of 950 kids has over 1400 D/F reports sent home 2 weeks ago...so what we're doing is changing the format. M/T kids weren't doing anything other than asynch on W-T-F, and T/F kids were doing asynch from M-W. It made planning hell, and gave the kids an excuse that they couldn't get help. So no, if you're in school M/T, you have to attend live on WebEx on T/F. If you're in school T/F, you have to attend live on M/T.

It'll make planning a hell of a lot easier on our part, but in my post-obs meeting with my principal last week he basically said that every school doing that isn't seeing any success either, but fuck it we gotta try something new.


I have 117 students and 68 of them have a D or F

It was funny though, my one class Friday was bitching about the change, like "ugh do we really have to log in every day now AND have school work? this sucks"....this is a class of 28, 21 with D's or F's...in not so many words I told them this is THEIR fault...they had this golden opportunity to have 3 school days "off" and they blew it by not doing a damn thing

[Mickey Carson]

Our district is primarily doing in-person learning under a hybrid schedule. Group A attends M/W (every other Friday) and Group B attends T/Th (every other Friday). The brutal part is that the district caved last minute and allowed parents to either send their kids in-person or Zoom into their classes instead. So every period I have students in class and anywhere from 1-8 students Zooming into the class at the same time. Trying to teach both in-person learners and remote learners simultaneously during a period is an impossible task. We've only been open for a month, but our entire middle school staff is already burnt out.

[smokew11]

Yup we’re in the same boat. My class has basically just become straight lecture which sucks

[Mikeap]

Hello fellow teachers. I don't post much on here and somehow have never noticed this teacher thread until today. I am full time virtual, my wife is full time in person, and my kids are hybrid. I feel myself starting to struggle physically and mentally from sitting and staring at a computer all day. Anyone else that is full time virtual, how are you handling everything?

[laura22]

Originally Posted by Noles20

So in my area (Southeast PA) the trend right now is to increase in person attendance for schools who are hybrid and for schools that are fully virtual to begin the process of transitioning to hybrid. The district I teach in is planning to return from full virtual on January 4th and the district I live in where my daughter attends is planning to return in November. This feels completely backwards to me. if September wasn't safe enough, the winter months will be better? My son goes to a private school and they have the complete opposite approach. They began 2 weeks early in August in hybrid mode and have a one month break in December and January planned with the understanding that they may go full virtual in January until the spring. This makes much more sense to me than what public schools are doing. What is happening where you all live?

we started the first 3 weeks full remote for everybody. in october we started hybrid (2 in person days, 3 remote) for PK-4 & grade 9, as well as the sub separate special ed classrooms. grades 5-8 and 10-12 were supposed to start in a week, but due to increasing covid numbers in the town, that is being postponed for a later time (TBD).

[Noles20]

Tomorrow will be my first day in the building since March 9th. Feels so weird to be going back. We are teaching virtually from our buildings until the students return on 2/1. Less than half of the students are returning and I hear those numbers are decreasing now that parents are finding out what it will look like in the building.

[smokew11]

you guys will be closed in 2 weeks....at least thats whats happening to all the schools opening in berks

[ThatLetter]

Originally Posted by Noles20

Tomorrow will be my first day in the building since March 9th. Feels so weird to be going back. We are teaching virtually from our buildings until the students return on 2/1. Less than half of the students are returning and I hear those numbers are decreasing now that parents are finding out what it will look like in the building.

Originally Posted by smokew11

you guys will be closed in 2 weeks....at least thats whats happening to all the schools opening in berks

Our schools opened to in person learning in September. They have not been closed at any point. Keep in mind this is Florida where the state motto has been changed to "Are people really altering their lives over this?"

Kids who are exposed to or contract COVID self report to the health department who advises they stay at home for 10-14 days. There is no contact tracing. Teachers and peers who have come into contact with infectious students are not notified. Only the extended absence gives it away. There is no way for parents with kids in school to know how many are currently infected or have been.

That said the school system mandates masks for students at all times except lunch. My understanding is that post Christmas has seen a goodly number of absences for an extended period.

[BAHHHTIWaC]

Next week we're starting our phase-in of two grades for two days, one day of full virtual learning, then the other two grades to finish the week. Was strange to be part of the meetings about it because at this point it feels like almost everyone involved in education is so burned out and drained that they don't care to put up a stink or anything. Will be interesting to see how it turns out.

[Noles20]

Originally Posted by smokew11

you guys will be closed in 2 weeks....at least thats whats happening to all the schools opening in berks

There is a part of me that thinks the school board will balk at the 2/1 start and postpone it a few weeks. Especially now that people are realizing what hybrid learning really is.

[dontdrink36]

Any of y'all received any bonuses of any kind throughout all this? Kemp just announced that all GA teachers and educational staff will be getting a one time $1k bonus in February.

[smokew11]

bonuses

the public already hates us enough, cant imagine getting a bonus




I did just sign up for the vaccine though

[Noles20]

Originally Posted by dontdrink36

Any of y'all received any bonuses of any kind throughout all this? Kemp just announced that all GA teachers and educational staff will be getting a one time $1k bonus in February.

Too many people think we are overpaid for that to happen.

[dontdrink36]

Well we are getting one. Teachers aren't eligible for the vaccine here yet but should be soon.

[Climb2safety]

For you teachers, thanks. If you’ve heard this well, thanks for let me post it for others.

An old man meets a young man who asks:

“Do you remember me?”

And the old man says no. Then the young man tells him he was his student, And the teacher asks:

“What do you do, what do you do in life?”

The young man answers:

“Well, I became a teacher.”

“ah, how good, like me?” Asks the old man.

“Well, yes. In fact, I became a teacher because you inspired me to be like you.”

The old man, curious, asks the young man at what time he decided to become a teacher. And the young man tells him the following story:

“One day, a friend of mine, also a student, came in with a nice new watch, and I decided I wanted it.
I stole it, I took it out of his pocket.

Shortly after, my friend noticed the his watch was missing and immediately complained to our teacher, who was you.

Then you addressed the class saying, ‘This student's watch was stolen during classes today. Whoever stole it, please return it.’

I didn't give it back because I didn't want to.

You closed the door and told us all to stand up and form a circle.
You were going to search our pockets one by one until the watch was found.
However, you told us to close our eyes, because you would only look for his watch if we all had our eyes closed.

We did as instructed.
You went from pocket to pocket, and when you went through my pocket, you found the watch and took it. You kept searching everyone's pockets, and when you were done you said ‘open your eyes. We have the watch.’

You didn't tell on me and you never mentioned the episode. You never said who stole the watch either. That day you saved my dignity forever. It was the most shameful day of my life.

But this is also the day I decided not to become a thief, a bad person, etc. You never said anything, nor did you even scold me or take me aside to give me a moral lesson.

I received your message clearly.
Thanks to you, I understood what a real educator needs to do.

Do you remember this episode, professor?

The old professor answered, ‘Yes, I remember the situation with the stolen watch, which I was looking for in everyone’s pocket. I didn't remember you, because I also closed my eyes while looking.’

This is the essence of teaching:
If to correct you must humiliate; you don't know how to teach "

[laura22]

finally my district is offering the vaccine next week for related service providers (OT, PTs, SLPs), as we qualify for the phase 1 rollout. i feel guilty that the sub separate/PK teachers that have been working in-person just as much as we have, don't qualify for phase 1 too

[Noles20]

Originally Posted by laura22

finally my district is offering the vaccine next week for related service providers (OT, PTs, SLPs), as we qualify for the phase 1 rollout. i feel guilty that the sub separate/PK teachers that have been working in-person just as much as we have, don't qualify for phase 1 too

With such a push to get schools reopened, and the data that claims to show that transmission is low in elementary schools, it would make sense to get all elementary education workers vaccinated. That would allow a more aggressive reopening.

[Mickey Carson]

Originally Posted by dontdrink36

Any of y'all received any bonuses of any kind throughout all this? Kemp just announced that all GA teachers and educational staff will be getting a one time $1k bonus in February.

Our district gave a 1k bonus in the fall to teachers as compensation for us teaching students in the classroom and on Zoom concurrently.

Originally Posted by laura22

finally my district is offering the vaccine next week for related service providers (OT, PTs, SLPs), as we qualify for the phase 1 rollout.

Our district is offering a vaccination clinic next week for staff members 65 and older along with staff who work with students unable to wear masks. There is supposedly another clinic happening in a month for all K-12 staff, and I’m hoping to get the first vaccine shot then. Our district (about 11,000 students) has been doing in-person learning since September.

[Noles20]

Originally Posted by Mickey Carson

Our district gave a 1k bonus in the fall to teachers as compensation for us teaching students in the classroom and on Zoom concurrently.


Our district is offering a vaccination clinic next week for staff members 65 and older along with staff who work with students unable to wear masks. There is supposedly another clinic happening in a month for all K-12 staff, and I’m hoping to get the first vaccine shot then. Our district (about 11,000 students) has been doing in-person learning since September.

Full in person or hybrid?

[Mickey Carson]

Originally Posted by Noles20

Full in person or hybrid?

Elementary is doing full in-person learning 5 days a week.
We couldn’t follow that model at the middle schools or high schools and maintain 6 feet of separation in classrooms, so we’re doing a hybrid model (in-person learning 2 days a week - M/W or Tu/Th with everyone Zooming in on Fridays). For the first couple months of the school year we were doing in-person learning on Fridays by alternating the groups each week, but it was a bit of a cluster. Switched to Zoom Fridays in December.

[smokew11]

yeah we've done hybrid since day 1 and only had to close once for 2 days

[laura22]

Originally Posted by Noles20

With such a push to get schools reopened, and the data that claims to show that transmission is low in elementary schools, it would make sense to get all elementary education workers vaccinated. That would allow a more aggressive reopening.

Originally Posted by Mickey Carson

Our district gave a 1k bonus in the fall to teachers as compensation for us teaching students in the classroom and on Zoom concurrently.


Our district is offering a vaccination clinic next week for staff members 65 and older along with staff who work with students unable to wear masks. There is supposedly another clinic happening in a month for all K-12 staff, and I’m hoping to get the first vaccine shot then. Our district (about 11,000 students) has been doing in-person learning since September.

time for me to switch districts

Originally Posted by Mickey Carson

Elementary is doing full in-person learning 5 days a week.
We couldn’t follow that model at the middle schools or high schools and maintain 6 feet of separation in classrooms, so we’re doing a hybrid model (in-person learning 2 days a week - M/W or Tu/Th with everyone Zooming in on Fridays). For the first couple months of the school year we were doing in-person learning on Fridays by alternating the groups each week, but it was a bit of a cluster. Switched to Zoom Fridays in December.

wow. for gen ed, we have a hybrid model for K-4 but they've only been in school for a total of 8 days because of all the cases/teachers having to quarantine

hybrid grades 5-8 probably in-person 2 days so far. and i don't think HS has actually started their hybrid model yet. it's just a terrible situation..

for the record, i work in a town w/ one of the highest COVID cases in MA

[Noles20]

I'm in my building. It's 58 degrees inside and the fan is blowing constantly so there is a wind chill in here probably around 50-52. Fun times.

[dontdrink36]

Originally Posted by Noles20

I'm in my building. It's 58 degrees inside and the fan is blowing constantly so there is a wind chill in here probably around 50-52. Fun times.

How is that possible?

[smokew11]

Originally Posted by Noles20

I'm in my building. It's 58 degrees inside and the fan is blowing constantly so there is a wind chill in here probably around 50-52. Fun times.

that sucks dude. When I taught at Reading I had a lot of days like that. We'd be wearing our winter coats in class.

[laura22]

how's everyone holding up?

[Noles20]

Originally Posted by laura22

how's everyone holding up?

It still feels like summer. We had school on 8/30, 8/31 and 9/1. School was closed on 9/2 because of Ida flooding. We then had a 4 day weekend for Labor Day and then yesterday and today school is closed for Rosh Hashanah. Tomorrow will feel like the first day again. Aside from that everything is good. Everyone wears a mask with no issue.

[smokew11]

My room just started being renovated so I'm on a cart the next 6 weeks...not terrible but my feet are killing me, and I have all the behavior kids, so obviously they do well with change

[iammine]

Los Angeles Board of Ed is going to be discussing whether to make vaccines mandatory for ages 12 and up. It'll be interesting to see if that passes, and the impact it would have on places across the country.

I'm lucky in my district (in Southeaster MA). Our numbers are good, kids (begrudgingly) wear masks and most of the school population is fully vaccinated. This year is a welcomed return to near-normalcy, considering we don't have to worry about cohorts or zooms, and there are minimal distancing requirements.

That being said, I've been teaching for 15 years now and every year I forget just how exhausting the first few weeks are and how long it takes to retrain my body for the physical and mental demands of the job.

[smokew11]

^ not to mention that most kids havent had a normal 5 day school week since March '20, and most schools have had to be very flexible in grading. It's gonna be a world of shit this year