COVID-19 Resources

[Mark Sedenquist]

I have been conducting a straw poll with folks I personally know who have young children in their households. Almost all are planning on keeping their children at home for the the next 10 weeks and using whatever distance learning tools they can find or obtain from their local school districts.

I spoke with one such person about an hour ago with a 6-year old and 9-year old. He and his wife are fortunate enough to have sufficient room in their house to take one of the rooms and remodel it for the primary purpose of re purposing it as a "class room."

It is going to continue to be a grind for every family with school-age and college and beyond children for at least another year.

Hoping that all of the teachers who are required to report to duty remain healthy!

Mark

[BillyGr]

I love kids, especially the younger ones, but admittedly when I signed up for teaching, a personal computer wasn't something on everyone's radar. So I never thought I'd be teaching kids who weren't in the same room with me!
Donna

I guess this area was just "ahead of the curve"? Having graduated high school in 1994, during those high school years, we had a classroom designed for "distance learning". The idea was that three local school districts in our county were connected (probably by something on the order of closed circuit TV back then), and you could have a teacher in one school teaching to students in their own classroom, as well as one (or both) of the other schools simultaneously.

This was conceived of as a way to provide classes at the high school level that wouldn't have otherwise been feasible - for instance, in the one I was in there were 3 students in our school and 5 at one of the others. Neither school would find it cost effective to have a teacher for that small a class size, but by combining them (and some aid as the class offered college credits) they were willing to offer these options to the students.

At that time, the schools (and possibly the companies who provided the services) covered the costs (as a demo of what they could offer, say, a big company that wanted to avoid people travelling to a meeting), but I'm also sure it was much more expensive than what is available today.

This is why it's difficult to see that some areas have had trouble doing these "online" classes, as with today much advanced technology it should be far easier to do on a wide scale than it was on a small scale back then.

[Rick Quinn]

One of the biggest challenges is for the economically disadvantaged students. For distance learning to work, you need reasonably high speed internet access, a computer with a webcam and a microphone, and, especially for the younger ones, a parent to supervise. In most low income families the parents work outside the home, in professions that can't be done remotely. Families that don't have the needed equipment and hook-up are hard-pressed to afford it, and poor school districts have no budget to help them. The alternative is sending the kids back to the classroom, but that's a terrible idea, for so many reasons.

Here's a link to an article that ran in the Washington Post two days ago, about the harsh reality of trying to re-open a school district in rural Arizona, with the resources that are available, and in accordance with the schedule set by our Governor. Have a box of tissues handy. This man's story will break your heart:

Voices from the pandemic: "I'm sorry, but it's a fantasy."

Rick

[Mark Sedenquist]

Wow, that was a sobering read.

Wish I could think of something to do to help.

I personally have a lot of people and lot of families relying on me to make good enough decisions to stay healthy and keep everyone working. This preventative lifestyle flies in the face of my true nature -- which is a lot closer to the "once more unto the breach" form of diplomacy and approach to life.

Just made a text check on my friends who are battling through Covid-19 -- they are still pretty ill, not really able to text, but their partners are doing ok.

Hang in there, everyone.

Mark

[DonnaR57]

Wow. Wow. Wow. I just read that article as well. Then I went to Mr. Google to see what district he was talking about. He's in a district which I am very familiar with since I taught not too far from there, at the very beginning of my teaching career. He should be starting Distance Learning, as we are, but I know what he's saying about the devices, hot spots, meals, etc. In the district I'm in now, at the end of my career, we have a number of those same problems too. I do "get" why they want to start in person -- every single teacher I know wants the same thing, but most of us know that it's not reality. We love the kids, and want the best for them, which is in person schooling. That's what we signed on to do when we got our teaching credentials.


Donna

[Mark Sedenquist]

Benjamin Collin manages a PR/Marketing firm and he has sent me a few emails about posting a new guide about dealing with the Coronavirus. The information was written from the perspective of UK citizens or those thinking about going to the UK, but there are a variety of web resources on the site.

How to practice responsible tourism during COVID-19

Take a look and share what you think about it.

Mark