My kids are in elementary school and virtual learning will not work. This is not a long term solution and if they try to make it one, education will suffer. High school is different, but it is still not a long term solution.

Charpie said:

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Which high school, if you don't mind me asking

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I try to keep my work stuff on the DL. Our cyber security training is scary AF, so I'm relatively careful. Heck... I barely have social media.

Understood. My kiddo goes to Westwood.

I don't envy y'all at all. Right now, the parents are in an uproar over how on campus instruction is gonna happen.

Charpie said:

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Understood. My kiddo goes to Westwood.

I don't envy y'all at all. Right now, the parents are in an uproar over how on campus instruction is gonna happen.

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Well... I definitely don't work at Westwood.

Yea... it's sucks because we have zero control over anything at this point. Just wait and see. I'd really like to start planning but I don't know what I am planning for...

Another update from dr Flores. He's feeling the pressure about on campus learning. I will say that even though I disagree on some decisions, I appreciate his humility and willingness to flex. I admittedly don't have all the info he does nor do I deal with the same heat.

Here is the side by side link for high school. Got it from a McNeil parent. When I showed it to my girl, she said, "If this is what being at school is like I might as well stay home."

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1niE2fjtd6BtRQGJ_oYPVDWxoSLX5KKPv8e71-VQE8DM/edit

Live and in person instruction is how he described elementary school. Just using the schoolology platform too. I don't know.

Wow that in school program is completely worthless.

Tell me about it.

The kid is out of Austin and I was hoping to keep this whole thing from her so she could have fun and not worry about this. She's already upset about missing out on a big band trip because of COVID, they haven't practiced for cross country but 4 times and now this? But of course she found out. She's being brave, but I can see and hear her. She's devastated. And I don't blame her.

discobrob said:

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Live and in person instruction is how he described elementary school. Just using the schoolology platform too. I don't know.

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Yes, we have a Caraway Elem teacher watch our kids a few times a week. From what she's been communicated to her, the in-class instruction will be the teacher monitoring the kids performing the same virtual program as the kids at home. And if someone tests positive, the entire school shuts down for at least 5 days. That was as of Thursday afternoon.

Unless they've changed their mind again, the reimagining learning FAQs said they would just contact trace positive cases. Those who had contact with infected person would go home for 14 days. Not the whole school. They could've changed, but that's a pretty big change to make without making it known.

I don't doubt that. Definitely not an official notice, just what she's "heard" so who knows.

I wonder if it's one of those things where the district says one thing but individual campuses interpret it however they see fit. I have no idea.

Caraway

This man makes a valid point. Important to emphasize every aspect of his ability to send messages without getting labeled.

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, I appreciate his humility

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Maybe the first time that's been said about Flores

What good is 'going back to school' if the kids are going to sit in one chair, and stare at a chromebook all day? Whats the point? That is not in-person teaching. It's just distance learning in a different chair. It only serves to provide babysitting for the parents.

I also saw a detail about the plan, where the teacher in the classroom is likely not even teaching the kids in that particular class room. They'll be teaching another group of kids, in another room. That seems like a terrible idea, and I dont know what good that does.

Why not have a designated teacher teach all the kids in that 'class', even if they're in multiple class rooms. Then the teacher in the room can use 15ish minutes to answer questions once the lesson is finished? Having them do two different things in the same room sounds like an absolute cluster.

A lot of the measures seem very 'feel good' to me. It seems like they're trying to just 'do something' without actually weighing the actual benefits.

I dont mean to be so negative, but this is going to be terrible. If parents are ok with letting their kids go back to school...let them actually go back to school.

Exactly. If this is unveiled tonight, the kid will stay home

Charpie said:

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Exactly. If this is unveiled tonight, the kid will stay home

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I truthfully think that's what they want the majority of people to do...so they're going to set this up in a way that pushes people that direction.

Think they're starting to lean away from that idea. Currently in my district we are being told to keep student desks as far away as possible. Teacher is in the classroom, but always at the front of the room and no group work.

i sure hope you're right. I got that yesterday...but that would be MISERABLE for the kids.

I also find it funny that they want to take all these measures....and then will let kids who opt to stay home participate in extra-curriculars.

What.Is.The.Point?

This is not the plan for elementary kids.

You're right. Mine are older, so I was referring mainly to what they'd be doing.

discobrob said:

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This is not the plan for elementary kids.

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What's the plan for them getting some excerise?

The town hall said they will get the required amount of physical exercise. Outside recess is a go and they'll have a plan for PE. The biggest thing is not mixing classes and outside adults.

After the first week, how is everybody feeling about virtual school? Basically a disaster at our house. Not really the teachers' fault at all. Technology was a nightmare.

My 1st grader has been at it for over a week. It's a disaster. Partly just her being at home and our teacher is just not cut out for virtual learning. There's exactly 0 differentiation. Just a bunch of "do this and turn it in". We're maybe at 4 hours of actual school a day. The rest is just her playing outside.

Seems like my high schoolers are doing pretty well. Freshman are having a little bit of a hard time learning where to go, where to turn things in, etc. Putting them in individual breakout rooms and checking for understanding has helped a lot. I'm lucky I teach science so I can get them up and moving around during asynchronous time as well.

My elementary aged kids had such a rough go. It was disheartening and frustrating and stressful. And the district is going to push for this longer. I can feel it coming.

I have empathy for parents of young kids. For those of us with self sufficient middle school and high school kids it's perfectly crafted. It's easy to complain but under the circumstances, round rock ISD nailed it.

RRISD here. It's bad, really bad. The teachers were given a **** sandwich by the district. Their servers are overloaded, teachers scheduled Zoom calls but district issued chrome books can't do zoom. My elementary kids are in class 2 hours a day, high school is fairly pointless.

Plus I have me at home trying to work and do meetings and 4 kids in virtual class. My home internet can't keep up, I use my work hotspot half the day.

High School parent here. (Westwood) and it was far from pointless for us. Perhaps it's the teachers, or the age of my kid, but it turned out great. It's not where we want to be but it will do for now.

Charpie I should clarify... pointless was not completely accurate. I am not confident the teaching part will be effective. My senior son said it was mostly hi I'm your teacher, nice to meet all of you. Watch these videos on how to do the work, it's due on Monday. Have a great weekend.

Private school admissions are way up this year.

Mine had the exact opposite experience. She got emails from them ahead of time. Did lots of introductions and overviews. They had a true breakout session for one of her classes that met during async time.

This week will be telling, though.