As directed by my school district, I worked (at least) from 8:30-10:30 this morning and 12:30-2:30 this afternoon. Mostly what I did was update my web site with contact information (including my Skype name, if students need assistance), change the due dates of all the assignments on my web site, submit grades, and "stand by" if anyone contacted me. No students did. Tomorrow I'll start posting review videos from Khan Academy so that students can keep current--we're going to hit the ground running when school opens back up. Have I mentioned that we're not allowed to present new material or to require any assignment to be done while school is closed? Given that, I don't want them to forget what we've recently learned! I'm also planning on what topics I can cut from my courses since we'll have at least 3 fewer weeks of school than planned.
Today Sacramento County
got even more serious:
New, aggressive directives from Sacramento County officials have been
given out to residents to try and combat the spread of coronavirus.
Effective as of Tuesday, public health officials are urging everyone to stay home as much as possible.
Only trips to “essential” sites are excluded. Those sites include
doctor’s offices, grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, banks, and
businesses that provide food, shelter, social services and other
necessities of life.
our school is doing the same thing except once Thursday hits, the union doesn't want us contacting the students. Some of the teachers have been practicing with Google Meet for virtual classes. But yeah no new material and nothing can be graded. For our district its about equity. Not every student has a device or internet. And if we required that, we would be liable to pay for both.
ReplyDeleteIf that is the norm, then kids in high-performing, affluent districts will be even further ahead of average. I have grandkids in such schools, (three public systems and one private school) and they are continuing to learn new material and turn in assignments. Their last day in school, they were told to take home all books and, at the one school where tablets did not usually go/stay home, those were included. One school opened yesterday, for a few hours, yesterday, when forgotten items could be collected. These are kids who are already ahead ; schools where many kindergarteners are fluent readers who can handle 15+ pages of books like the Magic Treehouse in one sitting, know their addition/subtraction facts and are working two-digit problems sets, and are writing/spelling correctly. Of course, tutoring will continue for the kids who already are being tutored.
ReplyDeleteHere's why there will be no new material:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-releases-webinar-fact-sheet-protecting-students-civil-rights-during-covid-19-response