What is your School Doing so far regarding sports?

[socalkdg]

Our company never quit working as we make parts for a lot of different industries, including for medical beds and ventilators. We staggered our start times, have 5 different lunch hours, two people per table with distance between them all at lunch, keep 6 ft minimum distance work spaces, require masks when inside of that (most people wear them all day). Added a number of hand sanitizing stations, kept departments from mingling with other departments when possible. Added full time janitor to clean lunch areas, restrooms, etc. Also allowed a few to work from home where possible. When someone starts feeling ill they go home, out 2 weeks, get tested, test and sick leave paid by company. Sadly due to the slow down of the economy we have laid off 10% of the work force and cut hours down to 7 instead of 8. But we figure out a way to keep going.

I really felt they could have made it safe for teachers and have students show up at school if parents wanted them to go to school.

 

[Messi>CR7]

As we prepare to go into the fall semester, we are looking for ways to improve our children's education through distance learning as this seems to be the only choice. Although our schools and teachers put lots of efforts forwards, I didn't see great results. They are looking for feedback as to how to improve in order to better assist students. What are your schools doing that is making it successful in the distance learning program for junior high and high school students?

I don't have all the answers, but I can share what worked extremely well for one of our kids. It really came down to discipline from both the kids and the teachers. When you work or study from home, you invariably slack off just a bit (speaking for myself). So the more "routines" you have the better. This is what my kid's elementary school teacher did during spring:

-She makes the kids wake up and meet at 8am everyday
-During every zoom session, everyone's camera needs to be on. No voice-only call in your pajamas
-The 8am session runs for 90 minutes. The class is then broken up into two groups. Group 1 starts at 9:30am while group 2 starts at 11am. Each group works on a daily assignment while the other group is in session.
-In the afternoon, the whole class meets together again and finishes at 2:45pm, just like in-person school.
-There is homework and a requirement to read 60 to 90 minutes every night.

Both my kid and the teacher did more work online than in-person learning. In comparison, my neighbors' kid with a different teacher finished everything within one hour each day. But that's nothing new. Whether it's online or in-person, if you are fortunate enough to get a good teacher, it's all good.

Best of luck.

 

[Grace T.]

I don't have all the answers, but I can share what worked extremely well for one of our kids. It really came down to discipline from both the kids and the teachers. When you work or study from home, you invariably slack off just a bit (speaking for myself). So the more "routines" you have the better. This is what my kid's elementary school teacher did during spring:

-She makes the kids wake up and meet at 8am everyday
-During every zoom session, everyone's camera needs to be on. No voice-only call in your pajamas
-The 8am session runs for 90 minutes. The class is then broken up into two groups. Group 1 starts at 9:30am while group 2 starts at 11am. Each group works on a daily assignment while the other group is in session.
-In the afternoon, the whole class meets together again and finishes at 2:45pm, just like in-person school.
-There is homework and a requirement to read 60 to 90 minutes every night.
If
Both my kid and the teacher did more work online than in-person learning. In comparison, my neighbors' kid with a different teacher finished everything within one hour each day. But that's nothing new. Whether it's online or in-person, if you are fortunate enough to get a good teacher, it's all good.

Best of luck.

This is similar to what my kid's private school did (didn't need to break into groups because there were only 18 kids in the class). If anything, he pulled in a longer day. Our public schools though a good 25% of middle schoolers had no in person instruction whatsoever....just sent home busy work and an hour of office hours. The issue is the schools don't seem to have the power to order the unions to do even live online instruction nor have they rolled out the training to do so, setting up a trainwreck for the fall.

 

[MamaBear5]

This is similar to what my kid's private school did (didn't need to break into groups because there were only 18 kids in the class). If anything, he pulled in a longer day. Our public schools though a good 25% of middle schoolers had no in person instruction whatsoever....just sent home busy work and an hour of office hours. The issue is the schools don't seem to have the power to order the unions to do even live online instruction nor have they rolled out the training to do so, setting up a trainwreck for the fall.

The real problem was that teachers were told we could not hold synchronous online courses. Students were also not held accountable for the learning or the work (do no harm grading promise). If teachers did try to hold students accountable then the kids came up with excuses....working, no internet, had to watch the kids. Some learned, some did not. Some teachers gave up. Can you blame them?

Things will hopefully be better. Students will be held accountable. Teachers will be held accountable. The good teachers are already working hours a day to make it better.

 

[Grace T.]

The real problem was that teachers were told we could not hold synchronous online courses. Students were also not held accountable for the learning or the work (do no harm grading promise). If teachers did try to hold students accountable then the kids came up with excuses....working, no internet, had to watch the kids. Some learned, some did not. Some teachers gave up. Can you blame them?

Things will hopefully be better. Students will be held accountable. Teachers will be held accountable. The good teachers are already working hours a day to make it better.

Doubt they will. The next hill the union will die on will be grade equity (if kids are 3 to room in a 1 room apartment, how can you hold them to account?) as well as teacher accountability (we got no training even though it's already July, because there aren't enough online learning "experts" to go around), Even in our private school DYS was constantly complaining about 2 girls in his class that whenever they were called on their internet mysterously went out. Also there's very little you can do to police exams.

 

[Messi>CR7]

At least one school district in OC is giving parents options. Irvine USD just announced they will have three options for Elementary (virtual, hybrid, traditional), two options for middle/high schools (virtual and hybrid), and traditional for special ed for all ages.

A school bus will also take you straight to the OCGP afterward for soccer practices. J/K

 

[timbuck]

Work from home and school at home is not an easy combination.
I work from home, but will typically meet with client around So Cal several times per week. From San Diego to LA. Haven't been to an in-person meeting since mid-February
My wife works from home and would travel overnight a bit. She will also typically have calls/meetings late due to working with people in Europe and Asia. She's not been to an in-person meeting since mid-February
When kids where in school- we figured out a way to get them to school and to try and be home for them after school. Those 7 hours while it was just the 2 of us in the house were productive work hours.
Then the kids would get home - 1 would have soccer practice and the other would be home. The next day 1 had dance, while the other was home. While they were home, my wife or I could help with homework. It was a bit hectic, but manageable. And we could get a tutor when too busy or the HS math homework was beyond our capabilities.
When everyone got sent home from school in March - it was complete mayhem around the house.
"Mom, my 8:30 am zoom call isn't working."(While I'm on a call with a customer)
"What's wrong with our internet?"(While I'm talking with my boss)
"My computer isn't charged." (While I'm in the middle of writing a proposal)
"It's time for lunch. Can you get my sandwich?" (While I'm scrambling to close a deal that determines how much we can afford to eat next month)
I understand that these are 1st world problems and it can be much, much worse.

I can't imagine how hard it would be for a single parent home or a home with more children in it. Let alone not having access to proper technology. Or living in a house with less rooms than you have people

 

[Messi>CR7]

Work from home and school at home is not an easy combination.
I work from home, but will typically meet with client around So Cal several times per week. From San Diego to LA. Haven't been to an in-person meeting since mid-February
My wife works from home and would travel overnight a bit. She will also typically have calls/meetings late due to working with people in Europe and Asia. She's not been to an in-person meeting since mid-February
When kids where in school- we figured out a way to get them to school and to try and be home for them after school. Those 7 hours while it was just the 2 of us in the house were productive work hours.
Then the kids would get home - 1 would have soccer practice and the other would be home. The next day 1 had dance, while the other was home. While they were home, my wife or I could help with homework. It was a bit hectic, but manageable. And we could get a tutor when too busy or the HS math homework was beyond our capabilities.
When everyone got sent home from school in March - it was complete mayhem around the house.
"Mom, my 8:30 am zoom call isn't working."(While I'm on a call with a customer)
"What's wrong with our internet?"(While I'm talking with my boss)
"My computer isn't charged." (While I'm in the middle of writing a proposal)
"It's time for lunch. Can you get my sandwich?" (While I'm scrambling to close a deal that determines how much we can afford to eat next month)
I understand that these are 1st world problems and it can be much, much worse.

I can't imagine how hard it would be for a single parent home or a home with more children in it. Let alone not having access to proper technology. Or living in a house with less rooms than you have people

You need to go to a nearby hotel and steal one of those Do Not Disturb hanger. I use that in my home office whenever I'm on a call, and kids know not to bother me when the sign is up.

 

[Emma]

You need to go to a nearby hotel and steal one of those Do Not Disturb hanger. I use that in my home office whenever I'm on a call, and kids know not to bother me when the sign is up.

You have better children or you raised them better. We have a door closed/open policy and it's not working. We also breed strong voice box children.

How are the teachers retaining attention or getting children engaged during zooms for 3-4 hour sessions?

 

[Grace T.]

How are the teachers retaining attention or getting children engaged during zooms for 3-4 hour sessions?

They aren't. Even in my kid's high performing elementary school, in a class where 1/2 the children are gifted and the other 1/2 the kids are at least above average intelligence and 4 of the kids where regularly sent to CLC or Kumon after school for more schooling after regular school days, the teachers had a hard time. My son brought home the math medal this year....before the lockdowns he was ranked 4th in his class even though he was pulling an A (but barely).....his explanation for why he got the math medal: "I didn't give my teacher any crap and I paid attention all the time". Given he's ADHD, I couldn't have been prouder.

The parents at our school rebelled about 2 weeks in that the kids were doing too much....a few of them on top of the homework and the lockdown stress apparently broke down.

 

[Kante]

They aren't. Even in my kid's high performing elementary school, in a class where 1/2 the children are gifted and the other 1/2 the kids are at least above average intelligence and 4 of the kids where regularly sent to CLC or Kumon after school for more schooling after regular school days, the teachers had a hard time. My son brought home the math medal this year....before the lockdowns he was ranked 4th in his class even though he was pulling an A (but barely).....his explanation for why he got the math medal: "I didn't give my teacher any crap and I paid attention all the time". Given he's ADHD, I couldn't have been prouder.

The parents at our school rebelled about 2 weeks in that the kids were doing too much....a few of them on top of the homework and the lockdown stress apparently broke down.

Grace T., Quick question. My wife works w/ ADHD kid and she thinks she's noticed those guys generally doing better working remote than when they were in class. Have noticed the same - or not so much - with your dude?

 

[Grace T.]

Grace T., Quick question. My wife works w/ ADHD kid and she thinks she's noticed those guys generally doing better working remote than when they were in class. Have noticed the same - or not so much - with your dude?

I actually think there's something to this. My son and his girlfriend are both ADHD. He's normally on a non-stimulant, with a stimulant boast for school only. During remote he didn't need the stimulant. His girlfriend was going into things ranked 3rd in the class. Based on her 4th quarter grades she finished valedictorian. The kid that occupied the top spot is incredibly smart (9 and 8s on his ISEE) but I believe is autistic. He had a horrible time with the remote learning and lost out on both valedictorian and the math medal. However, my son's bestie is also ADHD and in his school in our local public school system there was no live classes (only busy work and 1 hour face to face with the English and Math teachers)...but for grade protection he would have failed and the teacher reamed out my friend...blaming his performance on his parents for not stepping up during the emergency (both of whom work) and not taking their kid's school work seriously (it ended in a shouting match with the teacher and was fought out in our local paper through a series of letters to the editor).

The key is whether they can self-regulate and turn the assignments in on time (my son's case....he actually owes that discipline to his GK training), or whether their parents or teacher are there to push and regulate them (the girlfriend's case).

 

[Emma]

They aren't. Even in my kid's high performing elementary school, in a class where 1/2 the children are gifted and the other 1/2 the kids are at least above average intelligence and 4 of the kids where regularly sent to CLC or Kumon after school for more schooling after regular school days, the teachers had a hard time. My son brought home the math medal this year....before the lockdowns he was ranked 4th in his class even though he was pulling an A (but barely).....his explanation for why he got the math medal: "I didn't give my teacher any crap and I paid attention all the time". Given he's ADHD, I couldn't have been prouder.

The parents at our school rebelled about 2 weeks in that the kids were doing too much....a few of them on top of the homework and the lockdown stress apparently broke down.

We were relaxed the first few weeks bc we understood the change was dramatic and would have emotional implications the children would be unaware of until it manifested itself elsewhere, but even after, it didn't appear that they were learning as much or close to the same level as before. Even with the significant amount of zoom time and attention, do you see your son learning more during distance learning? Or are you supplementing his education in other ways to improve it? Trying to make the best out of this situation for the kids emotionally and educationally.

 

[Messi>CR7]

How are the teachers retaining attention or getting children engaged during zooms for 3-4 hour sessions?

I'm not sure actually, so I asked my DD. She gave me three examples of what her teacher did:
-She actually gives out unofficial grades even though school does not require them
-She randomly calls on people to answer questions. She doesn't believe in raise-your-hand-if-you-know-the-answer. It's a lot of pressure when you're on the laptop screens of 32 kids and don't know the answer.
-Every kid has to do two short video presentations each week on the topic learned. One pre-recorded, and one live

In short, what do you do with kids that are lollygaggers? You scare them (Bull Durham).

 

[Grace T.]

We were relaxed the first few weeks bc we understood the change was dramatic and would have emotional implications the children would be unaware of until it manifested itself elsewhere, but even after, it didn't appear that they were learning as much or close to the same level as before. Even with the significant amount of zoom time and attention, do you see your son learning more during distance learning? Or are you supplementing his education in other ways to improve it? Trying to make the best out of this situation for the kids emotionally and educationally.

I didn't really layer anything on top of it because at our private school the online stuff was much more intense than even the in person stuff. He's also a very high e and struggled when things were really shut down-- the only thing that kept him going was his GK training continued during the lockdown (one week he couldn't take him and he broke down into a red hot mess which wasn't matched until last Monday when he got word team practices were suspended). Honestly it was just the GK stuff and his remote drum lessons that kept him going or he would have seriously cracked (my niece has seriously cracked....she's a very very high e off the charts and headed into puberty....without getting into details its a serious crack up). If anything, my son didn't do the non-core subject take home classes (French, art, music) or did just barely enough which ultimately cost him the valedictorian spot (I didn't care...his sanity is more important).

His new private school has assigned him a bit of work (reading, math, Spanish, band) over the summer but mostly he's been playing dungeons and dragons with his school's summer camp on zoom. They are wrapping up online camp this week because they thought sports and live camp would be back (my pediatrician friend got that wrong...she owes me a drink).

 

[notintheface]

Distance learning is going to expose a whole hell of a lot wrong with curriculums. Hopefully the school boards figure out how to keep these kids engaged, because just watching zooms isn't the solution. You might as well get kids rolling on khan academy or some other MOOC, and if you're going that route and the kids wind up being successful, there are going to be an awful lot of parents asking what's the point of paying for USC tuition. We may wind up with an entire generation of kids who never get a traditional degree and are still very successful in the workforce. Maybe that's a good thing-- for-profit higher ed in the USA needs to be blown up and rethought.

 

[Ellejustus]

Distance learning is going to expose a whole hell of a lot wrong with curriculums. Hopefully the school boards figure out how to keep these kids engaged, because just watching zooms isn't the solution. You might as well get kids rolling on khan academy or some other MOOC, and if you're going that route and the kids wind up being successful, there are going to be an awful lot of parents asking what's the point of paying for USC tuition. We may wind up with an entire generation of kids who never get a traditional degree and are still very successful in the workforce. Maybe that's a good thing-- for-profit higher ed in the USA needs to be blown up and rethought.

Mike Rowe has a $1,000,000 to hand out for trade industry. Big money in welding, AC Tech, Plumber, Electrician and if you work hard and listen, you might be able to own your own company some day. Choices for all

 

[SoccerFan4Life]

Mike Rowe has a $1,000,000 to hand out for trade industry. Big money in welding, AC Tech, Plumber, Electrician and if you work hard and listen, you might be able to own your own company some day. Choices for all

My straight A kids will be going to a community college for 2 years. There’s no need to pay $40k a year for online College learning. They are going to be seniors in the fall. After 2 years they can decide if they want to go to a UC school or trade school.

college is not worth the investment anymore. The onlY great thing about college is the life lessons they learn when living away from home. The parties are great too

 

[Ellejustus]

My straight A kids will be going to a community college for 2 years. There’s no need to pay $40k a year for online College learning. They are going to be seniors in the fall. After 2 years they can decide if they want to go to a UC school or trade school.

college is not worth the investment anymore. The onlY great thing about college is the life lessons they learn when living away from home. The parties are great too

My dd wanted to go big time U and watch home football games, parties and more parties and play soccer and mix in a degree in 5 years. I thought soccer would pay for all that. I dont want to add up all the dough I spent over years because it's hard on my brain

 

[Banana Hammock]

My straight A kids will be going to a community college for 2 years. There’s no need to pay $40k a year for online College learning. They are going to be seniors in the fall. After 2 years they can decide if they want to go to a UC school or trade school.

college is not worth the investment anymore. The only great thing about college is the life lessons they learn when living away from home. The parties are great too

Trade school is where the money is at. Consider... no traditional college, no student loans, paid apprenticeship, all the trades have a higher than average growth rate, and most are recession proof. I have several degree including MBA, the most money I ever made was as an electrician. The electrical trade was what ultimately let me get in a position to take advantage of the degrees.

My oldest son who plays soccer, and could have player in college, has decided to not attend college right now. He is going to be serving his country in the Marine Corps. He will have the GI Bill when he is done and still have NCAA eligibility if he still wants to play soccer. The GI bill can be used at all kinds of schools including trade and pilot training.

Lets face it, kids these days are lost. They have no idea what they should do or even what they want to do. Don't think that your driving them or telling them what they want will result in anything but disaster. Yeah, there are those few kids who may know their place or path, but they are few. Since my son has decided to do this, I have really seen a new purpose and drive in him.

This "disaster" is problem a good thing for their ultimate transition to the real world. And it is probably saving this generation from millions of dollars of student loans. Which is good thing too.

 

[Ellejustus]

Trade school is where the money is at. Consider... no traditional college, no student loans, paid apprenticeship, all the trades have a higher than average growth rate, and most are recession proof. I have several degree including MBA, the most money I ever made was as an electrician. The electrical trade was what ultimately let me get in a position to take advantage of the degrees.

My oldest son who plays soccer, and could have player in college, has decided to not attend college right now. He is going to be serving his country in the Marine Corps. He will have the GI Bill when he is done and still have NCAA eligibility if he still wants to play soccer. The GI bill can be used at all kinds of schools including trade and pilot training.

Lets face it, kids these days are lost. They have no idea what they should do or even what they want to do. Don't think that your driving them or telling them what they want will result in anything but disaster. Yeah, there are those few kids who may know their place or path, but they are few. Since my son has decided to do this, I have really seen a new purpose and drive in him.

This "disaster" is problem a good thing for their ultimate transition to the real world. And it is probably saving this generation from millions of dollars of student loans. Which is good thing too.

Excellent takes and tell your son, "thank you" from this dad. My son's best friend is going in too. I was talking to another business friend I have who owns a trade company. He told me he has a 20 year old who is now a journeymen plumber. Two year apprenticeship and now making close to $75,000 a year. His pals are now taking online course at big U for $25,000+ a semester. The college dude is way behind dollar wise and will owe a house payment when he graduates. If Joe wins and Elizabeth has her way, all student loans will be forgiven so this could bold well for that group. I also hear many schools are in deep debt up to their eye balls They practically give you these student loans and kids take them and have no idea of whats coming when their looking for a good job out of college and the monthly loan payment kicks in. PM me if any of you have young male or woman who want to try a different route. I know a woman plumber who makes over $100,000+ a year.