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School
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2021-09-14
The Start to the School Year is Unlike Any Other
I wrote an opinion piece for Idaho Education News last week after the latest school board meeting in Nampa, Idaho. Since March of 2020 educators have worked tirelessly to ensure that our students continue to receive a quality education. Initially, educators were seen as 'heroes' of the pandemic. However, over the last 9 months, the rhetoric surrounding schools and teachers has turned nasty. Yet, teachers continue to show up every single day and offer learning experiences to all children. At last week's board meeting, the discussion focused primarily on a mask mandate for our district as hospitals in our state began rationing care given the soaring number of Covid-19 cases. There was an even split between the trustees who were in favor of masking and the trustees who were against masking. This split did not come as a shock to me. However, the line of one trustee hit me in my gut, "I guess I go back to the mission statement. I'm here for the kids, so I'm not going to worry about the adults." The mission and vision statement the trustee is referencing states that teachers offer "exceptional learning experiences" for every child. Given the largely unvaccinated population of our community, the high numbers of teachers out sick, and the alarming number of students out sick as mask mandate seemed like a simple request. However, the board did not vote in favor of helping teachers ensure we are able to provide 'exceptional learning experiences.' Are masks the only answer? Not necessarily. Last year, students attended school 4 days per week while the 5th day was reserved for students to connect with students who were in quarantine/sick and unable to attend school. This year, all of those requirements are gone. That being said, students and teachers attend school 5 days per week and there is no time allotted for teachers to connect with students who are quarantined or sick. Given the latest numbers, about 25% of our entire district is out sick. That is 25% of students who do not have access to their teachers. The article was published on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, and Idaho Ed News shared it on their Facebook page as well. Shortly after 7 pm MST the post has over 160 comments (mostly in favor of teachers), 250 reactions, and over 50 shares. In addition, I have received numerous private messages and emails from other teachers who thank me for giving them a voice during this 'unprecedented' time. While I am still a fairly new teacher with only 3 years of experience, there are veteran teachers who are being pushed to the brink. Many would like to think this is an Idaho problem but the reality is that teachers across the country are feeling unsupported and unappreciated by the communities they serve. I am fearful this will be my last year teaching - I LOVE my job. I remain hopeful that this year turns out to be something amazing. -
2020-10
A Journal of a Plague Year
The object I am uploading shows us how fashion is also impacted by Covid, it is really interesting. -
2021-08-23
Jones County, Georgia
A friend of mine shared her experience with how her child’s school is handling the pandemic and exposure when kids test positive for Covid. She also shared the short conversation with her child’s teacher after receiving an email from the school. -
2021-08-15
Vaccine Passport
The Instagram page nochill_latinos share a meme directed at those who are making a big deal that vaccine cards are being required at schools and places of work. -
2021-08-19
What if they are ahead?
My year 10 English teacher shared this but unfortunately I don't have the original to credit it. I liked it because people are so panicked about kids missing school and so I thought this was a nice reminder that education is not just school, and success in life is so much more than an ATAR score. It was backed up when I came across the items and sign in the second photo which I assume have been made by kids and made me think that they are learning empathy and kindness which will stand them in good stead, even if they can't do long division. -
2021-03-10
Pandemic downturn leads to animal abuse crisis in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is facing a multitude of problems, including a weak currency, dependence on fluctuating oil prices, a closed political system and dire human rights. Amid all of this, the fate of its abused pets may seem trivial. However, passionate activists are rising up to take a stand for animal rights. As the Central Asian state’s socio-economic conditions have worsened over the past year due to the pandemic, more pet owners have been abandoning their animals or committing violence against them. And just as animal shelters are more needed than ever, they’re grappling with an influx of animals, a lack of funding and a legislative vacuum on animal rights. -
2021-06-10
School’s Out, I Finally Met My Teacher
The day after school ended, we returned all the materials to my kid’s elementary school. While there, we were able to thank my son’s first grade teacher for all her work throughout the year in person. I will be forever in awe of this woman, keeping six year olds engaged over Zoom for a year. She is a testament to teaching and you could feel her genuine love for her students through the screen. There was something so bittersweet about my son’s first face to face meeting with her being after school ended. Such a bizarre way to begin an academic career. -
2021-08-11
Exposure to covid in the classroom
I came across this conversation on a neighborhood app (Nextdoor) of a grandmother pleading for masks and vaccines after learning that one of her grandchildren was exposed to the virus in the classroom. I added a bit of the thread as well to show the different opinions on the matter. -
2021-08-06
Times of Covid-19
When Covid first started and we got the news we had to leave school for 3 weeks at first it was exciting because we just thought that we were getting extra fun weeks of spring break. After the three weeks, we didn't get to come back to school and it was rough because none of us knew what we were doing, we kinda had to learn by ourselves. All of my grades and begun to drop and it was not a fun time I would have rather been at school than that. Now a year later I have had and still have to retake classes to earn my credits and it really honestly sucks. Other than that literally right before school started we had taken a trip to Tennessee so that my younger sister and I could meet our older sisters and because of Covid we didn't get to go down there again until August of 2019 which was a whole year later. -
2021-08-04
Chuggin along
My experience with the pandemic is one and one thing only and that is that school became really hard for no reason at all. Ever since the pandemic schooling has been hard online and even harder coming back to school in person. I think that it is so unfair to have such a change up in an education system developed over many years just be stripped down and rebuilt using sticks and glue. -
2021-07-16
Arizona governor says schools can't force unvaccinated students to quarantine if they're exposed to Covid-19
This CNN article discusses a recent letter sent out by Gov. Doug Ducey's education adviser, that said requiring unvaccinated students to quarantine after a COVID exposure is against state law because Arizona does not require students to be vaccinated or wear face masks. I am from NYS and this is drastically different than what Gov. Andrew Cuomo is requiring and/or recommending for students in public schools and state universities. It is bizarre how different states and governors are handling the COVID and vaccination situation. -
07/08/2021
Christopher Hall Oral History, 2021/07/08
The interviewer describes his experience as a teacher with remote learning, how he viewed the pandemic when it first was in the news from China, how it affected his parenting and his daughter, how he feels New York State and the country have handled the pandemic, where he obtained his news on the pandemic, and his view of how people handled the pandemic. -
07/08/2021
Collett Hall Oral History, 2021/07/08
Collett Hall talks about her fears about her daughter getting the virus, her system for obtaining groceries, and her experiences working as a special education teacher. -
2020-06-23
SRVUSD Budget and Reopening Protest Photographs
These are unpublished photographs I took while reporting for my school's newspaper, The Californian. These photographs show the people who attended the protest, including a mixture of students and parents. There are also a variety of signs showing various motivations for protesting. This entry is connected to the "San Ramon community protests SRVUSD spending and issues with remote learning" submission. -
2020-06-29
What should the school year of 2020-2021 mean for Cal High’s students?
This is a set of three articles from The Californian, the student newspaper of California High School, each one arguing in favor of a different stance regarding the reopening of San Ramon Valley Unified School District schools. In the articles one can see the concerns that motivated high school students (well, three students in one high school) to form opinions about various forms of learning during the pandemic. One article argues for fulltime in-person learning, one article argues for completely remote learning, and the third argues for hybrid learning, a mix of the two. An illustration also accompanies the set of articles. -
2020-06-27
San Ramon community protests SRVUSD spending and issues with remote learning
This is a news article I wrote about a protest for my school newspaper. The protest was convened to support the ability for students in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District to be able to return to school for the 2020-21 school year, and to oppose raises for district management and certain purchases made by the district. The protest occurred on June 23, 2020, at the SRVUSD offices in Danville, California. -
2021-05-10
Mothers Day 2021
I wasnt expecting a take-home craft this year from my Kindergartener especially with covid restrictions mostly still in place. Instead, her teacher and school went above and beyond. We all wore masks and each class took turns in the cafeteria in order to limit the number of people. We were surprised by placemats (spaced six feet apart) with snacks and a water bottle. My daughter was able to show me work and pictures from her Kindergarten year, while I ate my snacks she gave me the sweetest "massage" then read me a book. The kids then got up on stage and sang us a song as best they could. I'm not the sort to cry but I did. I'm not sure if it was because my daughter is just so cute or if it was the realization of how strong she's been this year. Virtual learning was tough, wearing a mask to school was tough, being six during a global pandemic was tough but my daughter showed me that she's tougher. I hope one day she will realize just how much I admire her. -
2021-04-13
The Last Day of School (but in March)
The Last Day Of School (but in March) By Taylor S. Remember how public toilets were gross not unsafe? Remember when we were packed on planes, flying to places with more people? Remember when playdates weren’t virtual? Remember when the only masks we saw were in doctor movies? And when we went to REAL LIFE SCHOOL!! Lunch in the Cafeteria and rushing to get the best handball. Learning in person and then setting off to do a mountain of homework. Hanging out with your friends, real P.E, real assemblies. The experience of school. I miss it so much. Just sitting at a real desk with a teacher in front of you. I haven’t been to school in 7 months. An extra long summer break? No, A world wide pandemic. But that Thursday in March, The last day of real school, I remember like yesterday. The rain feeds the starving grass, it pounds on dusty roofs, and my mom’s car gets a much needed wash. Me, well I’m sleeping unaware of what’s to come. “Taylor Wake up,” My mom whispers, she slaps on the lights and throws a laundry basket in the middle of my room. “Ugg,” I groaned, “5 more minutes please!!” “You have school” My mom says. I unwillingly role out of my bed and onto my floor, but it's not really a floor. It's a mountain of junk, with books, clothes and who-knows-what else. I stand up and zombie walk over to my window. I peek out and see rain. “OOOHHH!!!!” I yell. (I’m amused that it's raining, but I’m yelling for the main reason to see if my sister is up.) I hear footsteps down the hallway. Sydney walks up, “What is it?” Sydney asks. “Just rain.” “Then why did you wake me up!” “Cause I wanted to.” “That's mean.” “Your mean.” “Can I borrow your rain jacket?” Sydney begs. “No I’m wearing it.” She sticks her tongue out at me and leaves. I lazily slap on some clothes, and hide my rain jacket in my tornado closet and stumble to the kitchen. My mom was sitting at the couch worryful glancing at the news. Her old computer was on her lap as she packed the amazon cart with toilet paper and clorox wipes. “Governor Newsom just banned gatherings over 50 people.” My mom says glancing at her phone. “But P.E is more than 50 people.” I say. “So we don’t have school.” I start to get my hopes up. “Too late to cancel now.” My mom utters. “Just enjoy school, Ok Taylor.” “I would rather be sleeping.” I mumble. After 1 lazy bowl of cereal it's about 8:05 and time to go to school. “We are going to walk.” My mom mumbles, “We need to get outside more.” I am about to argue but getting wet doesn't sound too bad. After blocks of wetness we are at school. “Race you to the front office.” Sydney yells. “Ok….” I start. “Hey Scarlett!” Sydney cheers and runs off with her. I make my way through the confusion of kids, parents, backpacks, and umbrellas. I wipe my feet in the sea of people in the entrance. I skid down the hallway out the door to Ms. Grafton’s classroom. Beyond that is normal classroom stuff. Math lesson ?, storyworks packet, indoor recess. All I wanted was to be in my bed. I opened up my book and started whispering to my friend during my snack indoor recess. I had no clue that 7 months later I’m a 5th grade Zoom student….... “Ok everyone, put away that math book and time to watch a movie!” Ms. Grafton cheered. Excitement flooded the room, we were finally doing something fun! Not long division. After Ms. Grafton heated up the popcorn that had been sitting in the corner of the classroom for weeks. “Everyone line up.” Ms. Grafton instructed. So after that everybody raced to get to the front of the line. No social distancing, no masks, imagine that! While watching the movie I imagined being home in my own bed. I just want school to end. I want it to close and be at home. But Taylor you heard the news, and that Covid-19 is dangerous. In the future if you're at home you’ll be looking back on this day, saying “I wished Taylor enjoyed that,” Just enjoy School. Just eat popcorn and enjoy. So I did enjoy myself and appreciated school. After 3 servings of popcorn, and the evil guy in Kung-Fu-Panda 2 destroying a fortress, Ms. Grafton abruptly stops the film. “This most likely won’t happen, but we may not go back to school. Gather up you Math Book, Writers Notebook, also…….” Ms. Grafton started. Of course I didn't listen. I shoved all the contents of my desk into my hands, and carried them out to my backpack. It took me 2 trips. (And in the end I forgot my favorite galaxy water bottle!) As the clock ticked closer to 3. The classroom started to look emptier. The desks were stripped of all contents and shoved into backpacks. “Ms. Grafton..” A girl in my class begained. “What?” Ms. Grafton responded. “You know how you said that we probably will come to school tomorrow, but we are taking a lot of our stuff out of our desks. Won’t it be hard to put it all back?” “It’s better to be safe than sorry.” “BING!!” the 3:00 bell had rung. I walked out the door to the front office, where my mom would be to pick me up. I looked back at the classroom, unsure if or when we would come back to it. I walked along the hallway with one of my good friends. We joked like normal, but would this be the last time? I walked out the commotion of the front office to my mom and sister. As we walked to my mom’s grocery filled car, I looked back at Franklin. When would I come back? I already missed school, the classroom, the cafeteria, the yard. That was the last time I got picked up in 7 months. At first we were sure to be back by the end of Spring Break. Nope. Cases too high. What about the start of next year? Nope. Now we are hoping for an after winter break reopening. But who knows? I think back to all the times throughout 4th grade, that I just wanted to be home, sleeping. Turns out that wish came true. Now all I want is to be back in the classroom. (And I still don’t have that water bottle back!) -
2021-05-25
Stephanie Oral History, 2021/05/25
I am a victim of online pedophilia. My experience discusses how that has effected the switch to online school. -
2021-05-23
BLUR - Life During COVID
This story details the way life felt during COVID, just a blur, a mix of days where they all felt the same, except for maybe one or two. It explains how COVID changed school for me, what my habits became, and the sort of things I had to deal with. This is important to me because it's the only time I've ever explained what the last year has made me feel, and it's very raw. It's not some grand essay, just exactly how I've felt, and the issues COVID has caused me. -
2020-10-05
Record of the Day
I didn’t do very much of anything today, but I’ll give a record of it anyway because maybe it was more interesting than I thought. First things first, I woke up at 6:40 am and didn’t move out of bed until 6:50 am when my dad yelled for me to get up. Then I got ready for school, helped get my two little brothers ready for school, and drank a smoothie for breakfast. We left kind of late today, so the older of my two younger brothers was almost late for school. Then, to make sure my youngest brother was on time and so was I, my dad dropped me off at my brother's drop-off spot and I had to walk the rest of the way to school. I had advisory and the assembly first, so nothing too exciting. Next, I had science where we went over our last experiment and the homework, had a mini in-class quiz, and then we got to finish The Martian. Once science was over I had English where we just worked on our papers that are due Thursday. Thankfully, after that was lunch and recess which were a nice reprieve from schoolwork. After lunch, I had math where we learned about linear systems of inequalities. My last class of the day was PE where I am currently doing volleyball. It was pretty fun, except for my arms were sore after because the coach had us using the heavy balls to practice setting. I went home after PE, had some nut mix for a snack, and went on my phone for a while before starting my homework. I took a break from that at around 5 and went on a walk with my family before coming home and eating dinner. I finished up my homework a little after that and spent some time with my family before going to work out and shower. After I showered I went to bed, and that was my day! -
2021-02-07
An Interview On 2020
Me: Could you give me a brief overview of your experience with COVID? Interviewee: Uh yeah, I mean, I guess I just experienced the same thing that every, you know, United States high-schooler experienced, it was just a random Friday in the middle of March and we went home and from there I've spent, I guess a month and a half in quarantine, you know, strict quarantine. And then of course I've been distancing from friends since then. Me: Do you remember your thoughts at the beginning of the pandemic and even prior to the pandemic and hearing news about it? Interviewee: Yeah. I mean, hearing news about it, you always think, Oh, that's, half a world away, what difference does it make? But I think when it started to set in for me was when there was a document released saying that the United States was statistically about seven days behind Italy in terms of contracting the virus and the virus's effects. And I remember there was this one week in Italy where their grocery stores were completely sold out, even the pasta which when you're looking in the United States, it actually did happen, I think a little bit on a smaller scale, but it definitely, in terms of toilet paper and paper towels, those were out of stock along with a lot of other necessities and cleaning supplies. So I would say those were my first thoughts. Me: What did you find to be the hardest part about the quarantining experience? Interviewee: I mean, I think there's just a sense of loneliness. I was at my previous school because I just transitioned to another school for high school and I kind of felt cheated out of those last few months of summer with my friends back at home and now I've been cheated out of all of winter term staying here at home. So in that sense, I've just felt a lot of frustration, but then also like a lot of loneliness in terms of quarantining. Me: Yeah. I think I understand that. Were you optimistic for 2020, at the beginning of the year? Did you have high hopes for the year? Did you say this is going to be Eleanor's year? Interviewee: Um no. I kind of find that whole thing cringy. I hate new year's resolutions personally, just because statistically the majority of people do not stay with them. I set goals every new year, but I don't really think of them as resolutions because, what am I resolving a part of my identity or something like? I don't really believe in that. So I wouldn't say I had high hopes for 2020, but I would say I had a lot of goals specifically in terms of my education and personal/social lives that were not able to come into fruition because of the virus. Me: Hmm. Are you optimistic for 2021? Knock on wood. Interviewee: Yeah, no. I'd say the same thing of course, going into the year it is like “Oh, new year, clean slate”, and then, you know, in the political world, there's so much going on too, especially with the violence at the Capitol and the inauguration. So I think in general, it's hard to have hopes for your 2021 but I think that it's always important to look at the good news. And you know, if you look at it, right, the vaccine is coming out. We had a pretty peaceful inauguration, so stuff like that, I think there are things to be hopeful for and to look forward to. Me: Do you think some people believe that everything was going to miraculously, you know, clear up at the beginning of 2021? Interviewee: I don't think anyone genuinely believed that, you know, I think if someone were to sit down and really think, or not even really think halfway think they would kind of realize that this virus isn't going anywhere the second it turns from 2020 to 2021. I think people have a lot of hope for 2021, as we should. But I don't think that anyone truly believes that the new year would make everything perfect. Me: Yeah. How do you think 2020 compares to other years of your life? Interviewee: Um I think it had, it ties in highs and lows like every year. For me the virus, I was fortunate that it didn't impact a lot of my life, my personal life. I don't have family members who have contracted the virus. But in my personal/social and educational lives, I would say a lot has changed. So I think the virus was responsible for a lot of that. Me: I know you're pretty experienced with online schooling through Zoom and other various platforms. What were your thoughts on that? Interviewee: Um it's awful cause I think the biggest thing about school is you have little interactions with people throughout the day and even with the teachers. For me, I work really well in visual and auditory learning, which of course through zoom and online platforms, you have auditory learning, but the visual component is a lot harder. And you just, a lot of times you don't have that same one-on-one interaction. And even if you go to conference periods or set up one-on-one meetings with your teachers, it's just not the same feeling. And unless you deliberately set aside time in your day to connect with your peers and to maintain and build upon those friendships, it's so easy to lose them online. Me: How do you think this year will be taught in history books and to the students of the future? Interviewee: Poor kids in 2050. Me: Remember that the me-me I saw of kids learning about 2020 in the future. Interviewee: Um yeah, I've seen a lot of Memes, Me: You mean Me-mes? Interviewee: Yes. Suuuure. Okay. But anyways, I feel like kids will have maybe a better understanding of the impacts of the virus because there is so much documentation on it. I feel like for us, if you're looking back in history, maybe one of the biggest things that every single person in the world learns about I would say it's probably World War II, right? That's something that, you know, you ask any kid already age, they probably have some sort of idea of what world war two was hopefully. So I feel like in that sense, the virus will go down as one of those things. And I think for us, World War II has some sort of impact because it was our grandparents who were fighting in the war and you know, Whereas I feel like future generations might feel a little bit more separation from World War II, however, I think that they might experience the same feelings of coronavirus as we feel about World War II, if that makes any sense. Me: Do you think you'll be telling kids of the future that you had to quarantine for 18 months straight and couldn't see light and couldn't talk to anyone? Interviewee: Totally. I turned into a vampire too. -
2020-03-13
My Experience with Online School and Quarantine
Hi! My name is Wendy! Right after a normal weekend in March, I never expected that we would switch to online learning. I was shocked to see the email in the picture on March 13th, saying that we would no longer go back to normal school. This screenshot is very important to me since it made me realize that Covid-19 was a bigger issue than I thought. There was talk of a new illness (Covid-19), but I honestly didn’t feel like it would turn into a whole pandemic. I was kind of thankful since I had a dentist appointment on Monday that would’ve made me be absent from class, but all the cons of Covid-19 outweighed the benefits. The first few weeks were awful- it was hard to adapt to the constant isolation, and being with my family all day was tiring. Also, school wasn’t as engaging or fun anymore. We weren’t able to connect with our teachers or talk to our friends in class. Furthermore, seeing the news and how thousands of people were dying was very frightening. But it's been more than a year of online school, and I found out that what helped me cope was the small things like texting my friends on Discord, hanging out (with masks and 6 feet apart obviously), and exploring things that I couldn’t do before quarantine like drawing or playing the piano. Of course, there were days where I was fed up with being inside or when I felt depressed, but making the most out of this situation gave me the drive to keep social distancing. So remember to keep wearing masks, keeping 6 feet apart, and get vaccinated! This lack of social interaction and not being able to go to school or public places normally is unfortunate but we must stay away from each other to stay together. When it gets hard, find ways to connect with others through safe means like social media and use all that free time to improve and discover things about yourself. -
2020-03-09
Future Historians
Dear Historians of the Future, In 2020, there was a pandemic that occurred known as COVID-19 that made drastic changes in terms of restaurants, traveling internationally, school and work. One of my biggest pieces of advice is to ensure the president you have is not a narcissist or a leader who does not take responsibility for the bad things that happen. According to the article “Donald Trump owns the Coronavirus,” published on March 9, 2020, by a senior economist Dean Baker, this document explains how COVID impacted the community and what experiences people faced. Reading this article will allow you to understand the ability to have directorship in guiding the country to a better path then shifting it to the left. For instance, the reading states “It is very likely that we will face a recession as people cancel travel plans and are reluctant to go out to restaurants, sporting events and other public places.” Because of Trump, Americans and the people that live in it had to cancel many of their plans as a result of Trump not taking accurate information into consideration. He was mainly focused on putting blame towards China or the democrats, rather than looking for solutions with CDC. During the pandemic, many people believed Donald Trump was responsible for the Coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. in the article, Baker concludes: “In short, the fact that we are likely facing a serious pandemic, unlike any we have seen in more than a century, is 100 percent Trump’s fault. Because of his vanity and ineptitude, people will die, and many more will get sick.” This article demonstrates how Trump did not care to take action when the pandemic initially began. Because of this, one can say when it comes to having a narcissist president like Trump, leadership plays a role in situations like this for the world. In conclusion, I chose this source to explain my experience of the pandemic and what challenges people faced. In other words, this article will help you understand how the pandemic had an impact on many people's lives. If president Trump initially took action when he first started receiving news about the COVID, people would still be employed and parents would not have to stay home with their children. The negative aspect of this is some families struggled financially as a result of the pandemic and staying unemployed. -
2020-03-11
CUNY's Response
Where to even start? 2020, the year where everything and everyone changed forever. 2020 did not just consist of the Covid Virus it consisted of many other threads that harmed everyone’s mental health including students. It was hard for all students during this time but in my perspective College students. This documents faithfully explain 2020 and I will be here to give you future historians a more in depth look at how it really was during these times. The document I chose not only explains how we went from going in person to virtual but also how it made me feel as a visual learner and as a college student of course. CUNY mentioned we were going to have a “Instructional recess from March 12-18th”, this day I will never forget because I did not know that March 11th was going to be the last day of my two-years of college. When I received this email on Twitter that CUNY had stated this I was overwhelmed and shocked. The thought of everything being virtual just didn’t seem right to me, although I did have all the access from computers to internet access, it just did not sit right. As a visual learner this was tough for me, this was a moment of you get classwork and you basically have to teach it to yourself, not seeing my professors in person and through a screen was very hard to get used to, the internet sometimes would not work and it would cut off and I would miss most of the important things said during the lesson, it was honestly very difficult, this was not just tough on students, as well as professors having the same issues. This era was honestly tough, but technology really saved a whole year worth of schoolwork. To the historians reading this in a couple of years from now, I, as a person who lived through these times want you to understand the rough time we went through, from masks to face shields to many deaths and virtually going to school. These were moments in time that no one anticipated. It shaped the future into what it had become, masks may become the new norm, working from home may be allowed for certain jobs and companies, schools just might let people continue to be fully virtual and things may be extremely dependent on technology from now on. To conclude this 2020 document, though it was a rough year where millions of people died worldwide, I can only be thankful that me and the ones I love are safe and okay. We now know how to take proper precautions in case anything like this happens again, though I don’t wish for a repeat of 2020. The year of 2020 is one for the books and one that will go down in history. -
2020-03-13
My Experience with Online School and Quarantine
Hi! My name is Wendy! Right after a normal weekend in March, I never expected that we would switch to online learning. I was shocked to see the email in the picture on March 13th, saying that we would no longer go back to normal school. This screenshot is very important to me since it made me realize that Covid-19 was a bigger issue than I thought. There was talk of a new illness (Covid-19), but I honestly didn’t feel like it would turn into a whole pandemic. I was kind of thankful since I had a dentist appointment on Monday that would’ve made me be absent from class, but all the cons of Covid-19 outweighed the benefits. The first few weeks were awful- it was hard to adapt to the constant isolation, and being with my family all day was tiring. Also, school wasn’t as engaging or fun anymore. We weren’t able to connect with our teachers or talk to our friends in class. Furthermore, seeing the news and how thousands of people were dying was very frightening. But it's been more than a year of online school, and I found out that what helped me cope was the small things like texting my friends on Discord, hanging out (with masks and 6 feet apart obviously), and exploring things that I couldn’t do before quarantine like drawing or playing the piano. Of course, there were days where I was fed up with being inside or when I felt depressed, but making the most out of this situation gave me the drive to keep social distancing. So remember to keep wearing masks, keeping 6 feet apart, and get vaccinated! This lack of social interaction and not being able to go to school or public places normally is unfortunate but we must stay away from each other to stay together. When it gets hard, find ways to connect with others through safe means like social media and use all that free time to improve and discover things about yourself. -
2021-05-02
Charlotte Botenhagen Oral History, 2021/05/02
This was an interview from Jennifer Botenhagen who is a preschool teacher living in a tiny mountain town. This interview details her experience adapting to teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. -
2020-03-13
Illinois Closes ALL Schools
It was the day the governor of IL announced school closures due to COVID-19 -
2021-05-04
Dreams
This was an assignment in Paula Flynn's 5th grade class at Franklin Elementary School in Santa Monica, CA. I hope to see my friends again I hope to go to school in person I hope to travel around the world I hope to see relatives Why can’t it always be like this? Hope hope hope -
2021-04-30
High school proms go on, but with COVID-19 restrictions
Prom has been cancelled across the United States. While this is the case for most places, select locations are finding ways to make prom possible. For a school district in Pennsylvania, this meant having prom on the football field. This allowed them to enforce social distancing while still allowing the students to play games and have fun. -
2021-03-10
Nursing schools response to Covid
Covid-19 and the pandemic has had a significant impact on the healthcare industry. Healthcare providers that were nearing retirment had a good reason to retire early, and many others that felt the job became too dangerous or mentally taxing left the medical field forever due to Covid-19. The numbers of nurses have suffered as a result, and that means that during the worst healthcare crisis in recent history, the nurses that were working had even more burden placed on them by staffing problems. This article explains the ways in which nursing schools have responded to try and get more people into the field. -
2020-04-30
Offline and left out: Not all Arizona students can connect for remote learning
This article focuses specifically on Arizona's efforts to provide students with internet/technology access in order to achieve online learning. It goes into detail about how several Phoenix schools dealt with the pandemic and online learning in the spring semester of 2020 as well as discusses how some students dealt with internet access issues in creative ways, either due to lack of internet or hotspot issues. Some examples are utilizing hotspots or through just going to public areas despite quarantine conditions to complete schoolwork. -
2021-04-18
What made California’s vaccine rollout so difficult?
The Golden state only recently received news that “50% of all eligible Californians have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine." It’s progress and it’s most certainly hope. What gives people even more hope is how they expanded vaccination eligibility to 16 and over as of April 15. Schools are already reopening, but this is good news for those who are still hesitant to return — and for good reason. What made California’s vaccine rollout so difficult? One of the most obvious answers is the size of the state. Its population was recorded to be over 39 million in 2020. Even with an increase in vaccines, with roughly 2.4 million doses in the first week of April alone, it was not enough to accommodate even the 50-64 age group — a population of roughly 7.2 million. Santa Clara County Executive Officer, Jeff Smith, was also quoted to have cited the state's governor for perpetuating the pandemic — that his pandemic approach was “disorganized and petulant.” Although affordable healthcare services is a nationwide pandemic in and of itself, California also deals with fragmented healthcare responsibilities. Distribution is “split up among 58 county governments.” Issues in communication, planning and transportation of vaccines are all major factors impacted by the overwhelming lack of unified leadership. https://twitter.com/CAgovernor/status/1383132361148100609 https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/04/01/as-california-expands-covid-19-vaccine-eligibility-to-all-californians-50-governor-newsom-receives-vaccine-in-los-angeles/ -
2021-04-15
Second Semester Done, One Year In, But What Will I Miss?
The end of the semester is near, with one week left in my college semester and only a few weeks left at the high school where I work. As my first year as a Ph.D. season comes to a close, I have to say I am actually going to miss some parts of spending the year going to class via Zoom. It’s been nice to not have to worry about superficial things like my outfit and practical things like making sure my water bottle is full and that I have had lunch before class. Zoom is exhausting. Being aware that my classmates can see me, and I can see everyone else all at once. Sure, I can hide self-view, but in a way that makes me more nervous because I won’t be able to see if my face looks silly. I spend a lot of time holding my face in a specific way to avoid “resting bitch face” that I often end my 2.5-hour classes with headaches and jaw tension. I guess I won’t miss that. Monitoring chat and live conversations is a nightmare. So much so that I don’t pay much heed to the chat at all. I won’t miss that. Not having to find parking on campus though... that has been super nice. Not having to account for traffic, being able to schedule appointments more easily. It’s also allowed my professors to be in other states for meetings when necessary or step out for other Zoom meetings when they have to for a few minutes and then return. I guess it is what we have been saying for the better part of nine months now, that we have always had the ability to be flexible, just no willpower, and the pandemic has shown us that we really can be flexible. Selfishly it makes it easier to work and go to school as well. I haven’t missed a single class all year. It made being a TA easier too, since I didn’t have to go to campus for those classes either, which would have further complicated a work schedule. I am ready to go back to school, after three online master’s degree, the perpetual student in me was so excited to go back to campus for classes and be a part of a college campus again and I didn’t get that because of the pandemic, but I think in some ways it made the transition easier for me. It made it easier for me to feel like I could do it all at once. -
2021-04-15
Vaccinated, but how soon is too soon?
I have been vaccinated for a month now and I know that I have a research trip coming up to New Orleans, but I am still wary. We talk at work all the time about how we are vaccinated and wear masks everywhere, but we still feel like it’s too soon to get back to that much of real life. We still know people who are hospitalized and dying of COVID, but without the vaccine, so if we have it we should be fine? I certainly plan to double mask up on my flight to New Orleans with a box of KN-95s that I purchased on Amazon a bit ago. I carry my vaccine card everywhere; I hope the vaccine passport becomes a thing. In the same way that I don’t like to shop at places that are not requiring masks or offer medical exemptions, I would rather go places that require the vaccine. Certainly, other countries will require it upon entry and that might very well make them safer than the US, which of course I don’t expect to require anything under the guise of freedom or some nonsense. “oh no, we can’t make people get the vaccine to travel!” without realizing that their kid needs MMR, Polio, DTAP, and the chicken pox vaccine to go to school. All I am saying is that if you made a Venn Diagram of the people who think its okay for a bakery in Colorado to refuse baking a cake for a gay wedding and the people who don’t think a private business can require a mask is almost a perfect circle. But maybe this is all psychological? Maybe I am afraid that being out in the world, despite being “safe” gives the wrong impression. That unless I wear a mask that has “Fully Vaccinated” printed on it and hang my vaccine card from my neck, people will look at me, out and about, and assume that I don’t believe in the pandemic or staying home and staying safe? Am I more afraid of people who are also out, but safely, thinking I am not safe, or am I afraid that people who think the pandemic is a hoax will think that I am one of them? As much as the mask lets me hide my facial expressions, it doesn’t hide enough that I am not still worried about what others think of me. -
2021-04-14
I Thought It Was Safe
It's been over a year since my daughter has gone to a birthday party. She got invited to one at an indoor kid's place and I had plans on taking her. She's gone to school online and only had playdates with one child ever since the pandemic began. She is not more likely to catch the virus than any other child, but, if she were to contract it, her symptoms would likely be severe and it would be very difficult for her to recover from it. My family has been very worried and take tons of precautions to protect her. We got an invitation to a private 2 hour party at an indoor amusement facility for kids. I got a text two hours before the party was set to begin saying that the party was cancelled because the family had just been notified by the school that there was an exposure to COVID-19 in the birthday boy's classroom. I am so glad the family was notified before the start of the party, but it just really hit me how dangerous it is to go to a simple kid birthday party. I immediately began to beat myself up... I had a thousand "what-ifs" go through my mind. I don't know when we will be able to go to indoor play facilities and I don't know when we will get to go to another birthday party. It's still just too scary and risky. -
2021-03-27
Fox News Perspective
Living in a divided nation I felt it necessary to follow various news outlets. I've realized that many times the truth usually lies somewhere in the middle. Actually, I think the truth usually lies somewhere closer to the left side but that's beside the point. I found this post by Fox News to be interesting because it talks about how conservative TV Host Laura Ingram thinks history will be written. I rarely agree with anything Fox News posts but in this case, I agree that history will record the many villains that have been exposed during the pandemic. I agree that many special interests bodies will be listed but I don't think it will include teachers. I don't think it's farfetched to say that the conservative's push to return back to school has more to do with money and less to do with children. It's funny how she says it's time to "follow the science" where were these conservatives when science said masks help stop the spread of COVID? -
2020-10-05
Teaching over technology: educational priorities during COVID-19
This article focuses more on the teaching side of the shift to online schooling. The reading mostly discusses different challenges that teachers face in regards to accesses with technology or ways that they can work with disadvantaged students during the pandemic. The second half of the reading focuses mostly on the support and recognition that teachers deserve due to the circumstances provided by COVID-19. -
2020-06-04
How COVID-19 Is Shaping Tech Use. What That Means When Schools Reopen
This article discusses mostly how teachers are changing their beliefs/enhancing abilities due to the switch onto the online function. The article discusses a number of relevant topics such as teacher's capabilities to utilize educational technology, ability to troubleshoot technology problems, and technological environments for both students and teachers. There is also discussion on their views on the online teaching format, as well as their responses regarding economic and technological disparities for certain groups of students. -
2021-03-29
School Districts in California Setbacks while Reopening
This explains which and how many school districts in California have reopened. Many have remained closed for a year or more. As the article's title suggests, "A majority of school districts are now open. But not everyone wants to return," they share why they're seeing a slow intake of students. They also reported that the Long Beach school district had their teachers vaccinated earlier, therefore was able to open their schools earlier than the rest of the state. -
2021-04-01
Transgender Day of Visibility
Today on #TransDayOfVisibility, we are in solidarity with all trans and nonbinary folks, whether they choose to be visible or not. Visibility does not equal protection and safety, and it does not guarantee basic rights. Currently there are at least 44 anti-trans bills being introduced by lawmakers in the US, a record number that primarily targets children and prohibits them from accessing medical care and limits their ability to participate in school sports. With visibility comes the need to be even louder. No one is free until we are all free, and with the disproportional rate our Black, Brown, and Indigenous trans siblings experience violence, both physically and judicially, we must commit to ending the systems that allow the systemic barriers and hatred to endure. For more resources, actionable steps and donations, follow: @raquel_willis @chasestrangio @glits_inc @mpjinstitute @transjusticefp @intransitive.ar @tko_alabama @mattxiv @jmaseiii #transdayofvisibility #tdov2021 -
2021-04-03
Proposed Ban on Hijab in France
Amplifying @muslim because we all need to address this. We support our French sisters in all of their efforts to fight against this Islamophobic law. This is a human rights violation and will only continue putting young hijabi girls and women at higher risk for gender-based discrimination and violence. To all the organizers or grassroots campaigners working on this in France, let us know in the comment, we are here with you - the colonial powers and hate-filled people it has indoctrinated cannot win this. ・・・ BREAKING 🚨 France proposes on bill to ban hijab for girls under the age of 18. The proposal now has to go through the National Assembly. source - @publicsenat #muslim #muslimnews #francescas -
2021-04-02
Why is this so hard?
Every week, write an entry in JOTPY. Seems like the easiest assignment ever. I thought so, too. But, I have really struggled. I have found myself behind in entries and I probably need to write 2-3 times a week for the rest of the semester to stay on track. I've always had trouble journaling and writing in diaries ever since I was a kid. I've always viewed those things as really personal thoughts and I like to keep mine in my head. I viewed writing my innermost thoughts and viewpoints would give others an advantage over me, a way to see my weaknesses. A super intimate view of myself through my own lens. I've read thousands of pages, researched for hours, written a dozen response papers, drafted a 25-page paper, and still, this write in JOTPY every week has been the hardest assignment all semester. Maybe it's because it forces me to think about COVID and how it has affected me, my family, and the rest of society. COVID has taken over my life for the past year and this assignment forces me to confront that fact and my feelings about it head-on. It forces me to publicly share these thoughts. At first, I wondered if it was even beneficial to assign students to write for a project like this. It's supposed to be shared experiences but how authentic are the entries really going to be when people are not writing on their own, but writing because their grade is dependent upon it? I cannot speak for other students, but I feel that this entry I am writing now is very authentic. Although I am scrambling and having to submit a few times a week, I am grateful for this assignment. It really helped me grow as a student and a person. I still have a ways to go, but I am becoming more comfortable with sharing my personal thoughts and opinions in writing. -
2020-04-30
53% of Americans Say the Internet Has Been Essential During the COVID-19 Outbreak
This Pew Research article discusses how different socioeconomic status and political preference influences how Americans believe schools should provide technology for their students. More importantly, the article goes into detail about how parents with lower incomes are more likely to struggle to provide some sort of adequate situation for their children, especially when the majority of Americans view technology and the internet as an essential tool during the pandemic. Besides student access to technology, economic class is also having an impact on how some individuals can afford their own internet connections and phone plans, thereby limiting their access. -
2021-03-23
Where Are All the Kids?
Our school has never looked better - festive flags waving, campus clean and painted, welcoming balloon arches. We were ready to re-open. But then, no one came. The message we teachers had been whispering amongst ourselves for weeks, that kids and their families do not want to come back yet, had come to fruition. Out of my 172 students, only 31 will step foot on campus, the rest will continue to logon from home. That number, 31, is expected to continue to drop as more students revert to only Distance Learning. Knowing how few students were on campus, I was surprised to see our school social media posted first day pictures. I know it was supposed to be celebratory, but I couldn’t stop laughing at the insanity of a balloon arch welcoming no one. How could our social media exclaim that we were “so happy to see students roam the halls again” and then post pictures of a completely empty school? It looks like Chernobyl. At some point, I decided to take the images, a video of an empty classroom my friend took, and my attendance roster with almost all kids marked as “Distance Learning” and put them together in a video to try and capture the mixed emotions. I alternatively feel like crying and laughing when I watch it. I really think it captures the reopening, albeit in a slightly subversive way. Of course, I really hope my admin never sees it, because I’m guessing they will not see the tongue and cheek, ironic humor in this. -
2021-03-26
One day
I hope one day, When someone asks me how I’m doing, I’ll say that I’m good, And truly mean it. I hope one day, That I have no feeling of missing, And have all the people, Together with no concern. I hope one day, I can breathe in the world, And not have to worry about masking myself. I hope one day, I’ll go to the hospital, And see the doctors laughing. I hope one day, I’ll truly forgive. Forgive myself, And forgive others, Of always wanting, Wanting something more. Shall we not hope on that day, To work at home, For being tired Of running to school? Shall we not hope, To run away, Or mask ourselves In disguise? Shall we not hope, That we did something more, While in, This everlasting void of unhappiness? Shall we not hope, That we had been better, That we had resisted, And pushed on? So, I hope on that day, We will not regret, We will forgive, We will understand. We will hope. -
2021-03-26
Letter to the World
Dear post-covid world, I dream for people to take science more seriously. I dream for school to realize the pain it gives some people. I dream that the “rulers” of the school have learned that they aren’t better than others. I dream that the teaching of racism dies. I dream that women get equal pay. I dream that people can learn to love mother nature. I dream that people will smile more. I dream that adults would stop acting like babies. I dream that we can trust one another again. I dream that I can go back to the childhood I used to know. The childhood that didn’t care about a thing in the world. The childhood that didn’t have to see and learn the cruelty of the real world. I dream that at least one person reads my letter. I dream that all of this will come true. I know it won’t. But a kid can only dream. Sincerely, One voice -
2021-03-26
I want...
I want... To be able to see my friends and without masks. To be able to see my cousin who's one of my best friends. To be able to go to school To be able to play volleyball inside To be able to have fun without worried about my health To be able to see my grandparents and my newborn cousin I haven't been able to meet To be able to have fun and live my life as a kid, the world every kid deserves -
2021-01-26
Journal of American Medical Association Data and Policy for School Opening
The article references numerous case studies and research which suggest that transmission between students should not be a determining factor in postponing in-person instruction. External factors (i.e. local communities) are analysis in the article to offer another perspective about the dangers of students in the classroom. The article does provide recommendations to mitigate the spread of the virus between students, teachers, and staff. -
2021-03-02
The 128th Day, aka Day One
For the first time in 374 days, I taught from my classroom today. It is the 128th day of school, we have only one quarter left. As nervous as we are about our community and the COVID risk level, I feel very positive and relieved to be back. COVID numbers have dropped considerably, and though I haven’t always seen eye to eye with my district in the way this entire pandemic has been handled, at the end of the day, I really feel like the right decisions were made Compared to neighboring districts, I feel our safety standards exceed the norm. It is strange still - the largest in person class I will have is seven students and the smallest is zero! Many families in our community have opted to continue distance learning through the rest of the school year, which I understand. We made the same choice for our two kids! Still, it was nice for the first time in over a year to wake up and have somewhere to go. Even though on one hand it seems ridiculous to Zoom an entire class of kids with two kids in the classroom who are sitting far away from me with headphones on and are logged into also the same Zoom meeting, I did feel re-energized to just be back in my classroom. I don’t think I have a greater prayer right now than for the vaccines to continue to work and for the adolescent and pediatric trials to successfully run their course. Wouldn’t it be incredible to have the kids vaccinated by fall? I know it will not be a reality for all students, but I think that piece of the puzzle will be a big part in mitigating the spread. In the meantime, I’ll continue to follow the pleas of the SOS sign that is taped all over the school. Indeed, let’s save our school year and the next one, too!