If you think it, post it

[willandi]

I think we've seen the last of the NFL exhibition games. They can step on the field and play.

Bet the owners trade 2 of the 4 pre-season games for two more regular season games (to the players union) - maybe expand the roster in the first 2-3 weeks, then make final cuts.

The draft will likely be cut down then, With fewer opportunities to evaluate draftees, no point in taking too many.

[kitzbuel]

Have to drive down to Knoxville, TN tomorrow to help my daughter move into another dorm. They are converting her current dorm into a COVID hotel to house infected students. They ran out of isolation housing there in less than a month.

[DZ]

Have to drive down to Knoxville, TN tomorrow to help my daughter move into another dorm. They are converting her current dorm into a COVID hotel to house infected students. They ran out of isolation housing there in less than a month.

Ouch.

Good luck. College students have no "good" answers, only "less bad" - which is true of all students, but college is such a unique age.


Another topic:

Who knew that if you switch one letter, from GEG (Spokane) to GIG, you get Rio De Janero? And that makes a lot of sense because Rio is said to be a lot like a tropical and new Paris (except the slums) and, as we all know, Spokane is a lot like Paris.

[Jazzgirl_127]

So far online schooling is a mixed bag. I like that they can work at their own pace, but I honestly feel like there's too much work for some things. 1st grader can plow through a week of math and ELA lessons in 2 days so we're far ahead in that, but social studies and science are big lessons with a lot to write and draw (for a 6yo and considering in school they don't even start science until the second half of the year, and only work social studies into other writing lessons (ex. MLK day or Presidents Day).
4th grade science and social studies also eat up a ton of time. The science videos are like watching a VHS tape on an iPad complete with garbled sound, you can't hear the voiceover over the background music. The social studies is... interesting. It feels like they've loaded a full year into 6 months, they're expected to do a lesson/time period each week. The lesson choices are bizarre. It includes Texas and California history as two separate units...but leaves out...wait for it....the American Revolution?! Everything else is in chronological order but they leave out a huge thing like that?

I wish we had gone with the virtual option with the real teachers and worried about the next step if the district went back to the buildings.

I hope the college move out-move in goes well and she stays healthy Kitz!

[gu03alum]

I hate smoke

[gu03alum]

Safe travels, 03.

I had a good time in Reno. We stayed at Davis Creek Campground. It was a nice campground and I was happy to be among many trees. It was great to finally meet my nephew.

[DZ]

Awesome picture. Really nice. Save that one.

[gu03alum]

Awesome picture. Really nice. Save that one.

Thanks, definitely will

[gu03alum]

It rained last night and we are still at 232 Air Quality Index. I hope the rain helped contain more of the fire burning a few miles east of me.

[Jazzgirl_127]

It rained last night and we are still at 232 Air Quality Index. I hope the rain helped contain more of the fire burning a few miles east of me.

I can't even imagine being so close what the air must be like. I hope everyone on the GUboards is okay and escapes without property damage.
Cute picture of your nephew! That's a fun age, you get a good idea of their personalities but they're still too tiny to run amok

[kitzbuel]

So far online schooling is a mixed bag. I like that they can work at their own pace, but I honestly feel like there's too much work for some things. 1st grader can plow through a week of math and ELA lessons in 2 days so we're far ahead in that, but social studies and science are big lessons with a lot to write and draw (for a 6yo and considering in school they don't even start science until the second half of the year, and only work social studies into other writing lessons (ex. MLK day or Presidents Day).
4th grade science and social studies also eat up a ton of time. The science videos are like watching a VHS tape on an iPad complete with garbled sound, you can't hear the voiceover over the background music. The social studies is... interesting. It feels like they've loaded a full year into 6 months, they're expected to do a lesson/time period each week. The lesson choices are bizarre. It includes Texas and California history as two separate units...but leaves out...wait for it....the American Revolution?! Everything else is in chronological order but they leave out a huge thing like that?

I wish we had gone with the virtual option with the real teachers and worried about the next step if the district went back to the buildings.

I hope the college move out-move in goes well and she stays healthy Kitz!

Thanks! It did go pretty well. I was primarily cleaning crew, morale support and decent food provider.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DZ]

We got shocking word.

My daughter's school is going full time Monday, this despite the fact that they made it all of two days on hybrid. Why it changed feels political though I'm not introducing politics here, I am talking the issues we now face.

I talked to her principal whom I respect tremendously and I very respectfully said that I know this was not her decision to make but I disagreed with it. I said she has no good answers, only less bad ones. We wanted to really see how the hybrid half-time went for 2-3 months, not 2-3 weeks (unsuccessful at that).

I asked if my daughter could still do hybrid given that we have a vulnerable adult at home, invalid, tons of health probs. Additionally, my daughter has high anxiety in normal times and worries about COVID and its impact on me (50 y/o not immune to bad things), and even herself a bit.

Principal could not allow keeping her on hybrid. Our choices: Home school, virtual learning 100%, school full time.

Home schooling is a non-issue. There is a reason teachers have graduate degrees and are smart. They know what they're doing. We don't pretend to.

My daughter is highly anxious about virtual learning and I'm not positive as to why. She isn't really talkative about it and I'm trying to respect that she has her reasons while trying to soothe it away. We do worry she'll get behind. But right now virtual would be our favorite.

But she says she prefers simply going. BUT, she is also premising that on "They will screw it up soon enough" - which is probably right, but not bankable. She's precocious. What we are doing is going to her doctor this afternoon, describing the dynamic including her anxiety and getting an almost blanket doctor authorization to take leave day to day as needed. Kind of a modified hybrid that certainly not every other day. More like "as needed" and more frequent than per usual.

Any thoughts anyone has would be very much appreciated. I don't know that I'm correct on this and there is no "wrong" idea that doesn't deserve some consideration. I don't mean to be needy but I'm questioning whether I am seeing this correctly. Biggest factor obviously is what's best for her and not falling behind.

[Martin Centre Mad Man]

We got shocking word.

My daughter's school is going full time Monday, this despite the fact that they made it all of two days on hybrid. Why it changed feels political though I'm not introducing politics here, I am talking the issues we now face.

I talked to her principal whom I respect tremendously and I very respectfully said that I know this was not her decision to make but I disagreed with it. I said she has no good answers, only less bad ones. We wanted to really see how the hybrid half-time went for 2-3 months, not 2-3 weeks (unsuccessful at that).

I asked if my daughter could still do hybrid given that we have a vulnerable adult at home, invalid, tons of health probs. Additionally, my daughter has high anxiety in normal times and worries about COVID and its impact on me (50 y/o not immune to bad things), and even herself a bit.

Principal could not allow keeping her on hybrid. Our choices: Home school, virtual learning 100%, school full time.

Home schooling is a non-issue. There is a reason teachers have graduate degrees and are smart. They know what they're doing. We don't pretend to.

My daughter is highly anxious about virtual learning and I'm not positive as to why. She isn't really talkative about it and I'm trying to respect that she has her reasons while trying to soothe it away. We do worry she'll get behind. But right now virtual would be our favorite.

But she says she prefers simply going. BUT, she is also premising that on "They will screw it up soon enough" - which is probably right, but not bankable. She's precocious. What we are doing is going to her doctor this afternoon, describing the dynamic including her anxiety and getting an almost blanket doctor authorization to take leave day to day as needed. Kind of a modified hybrid that certainly not every other day. More like "as needed" and more frequent than per usual.

Any thoughts anyone has would be very much appreciated. I don't know that I'm correct on this and there is no "wrong" idea that doesn't deserve some consideration. I don't mean to be needy but I'm questioning whether I am seeing this correctly. Biggest factor obviously is what's best for her and not falling behind.

DZ -

We all share your concerns about school reopening challenges. This will be a very anxious year for students and families all over.

I do not envy anyone who has responsibilities related to school reopening plans in this country. Every decision that a school board or administration makes is subject to scrutiny from hundreds, if not thousands, of passionate constituents with competing needs and views on how to do this. Everyone wants students to have a safe, quality education, but there is little consensus regarding how much risk we should accept to improve the educational experience. Every action that improves community health and safety will reduce some level of normalcy for students. Some students adapt well to alternative learning modalities; other students can’t. Some students need face to face peer interaction to learn; others don’t. Some students need hands-on education in shops and labs more than others. Some students thrive on extracurricular activities that cannot be performed without a team. Some families need to put their kids in school, because they have no other access to childcare. Some kids simply don’t have the family support necessary to succeed with distance learning. Other families have heightened concerns regarding potential exposure due to family health needs. These are hard questions with no perfect answers.

[willandi]

Maybe they can bring back 1 man football...virtually.

[Jazzgirl_127]

We got shocking word.

My daughter's school is going full time Monday, this despite the fact that they made it all of two days on hybrid. Why it changed feels political though I'm not introducing politics here, I am talking the issues we now face.

I talked to her principal whom I respect tremendously and I very respectfully said that I know this was not her decision to make but I disagreed with it. I said she has no good answers, only less bad ones. We wanted to really see how the hybrid half-time went for 2-3 months, not 2-3 weeks (unsuccessful at that).

I asked if my daughter could still do hybrid given that we have a vulnerable adult at home, invalid, tons of health probs. Additionally, my daughter has high anxiety in normal times and worries about COVID and its impact on me (50 y/o not immune to bad things), and even herself a bit.

Principal could not allow keeping her on hybrid. Our choices: Home school, virtual learning 100%, school full time.

Home schooling is a non-issue. There is a reason teachers have graduate degrees and are smart. They know what they're doing. We don't pretend to.

My daughter is highly anxious about virtual learning and I'm not positive as to why. She isn't really talkative about it and I'm trying to respect that she has her reasons while trying to soothe it away. We do worry she'll get behind. But right now virtual would be our favorite.

But she says she prefers simply going. BUT, she is also premising that on "They will screw it up soon enough" - which is probably right, but not bankable. She's precocious. What we are doing is going to her doctor this afternoon, describing the dynamic including her anxiety and getting an almost blanket doctor authorization to take leave day to day as needed. Kind of a modified hybrid that certainly not every other day. More like "as needed" and more frequent than per usual.

Any thoughts anyone has would be very much appreciated. I don't know that I'm correct on this and there is no "wrong" idea that doesn't deserve some consideration. I don't mean to be needy but I'm questioning whether I am seeing this correctly. Biggest factor obviously is what's best for her and not falling behind.

I think giving her the ability to take mental health days is a great idea. Not just for this pandemic but when we're on the other side of it and life is normal again. I really hope that one good thing that can come out of this is giving kids the ability to "be" in class without actually being there. Whether they have a long term illness, need a mental break from their peers, or just missed the bus, it's silly to think we can't give them the ability to attend in the 21st century (especially when school's put so much weight in attendance).
Ours voted to go back hybrid. It also feels political. The board members who voted against it raised some great points about even the youngest kids being expected to carry all of their books back and forth between home and school. And it was good to hear them acknowledge that the online school we're doing through the district is highly problematic so it's not going to be as easy of a transition from virtual to online as many would have had parents believe who still want to stay home. I'm honestly still considering homeschooling in the spring. Not because I think I know enough, but because I genuinely think this program has packed an entire year of school into one semester. I'd rather we live in a hell of our own creation without deadlines than this deadline driven hell lol.

[RenoZag]

How has the school thing worked out DZ ?

[gu03alum]

That sucks DZ! Please update us.

I don't know what we would do if we were faced with that choice. My daughter's school district had decided to bring back students in phases starting with special needs and Kindergartners/first graders full-time and then the rest in different phases in a hybrid system. We were also contemplating keeping my daughter home for full-time virtual learning when the district changed it's mind and decided they would only bring special needs students back. I feel bad for my daughter. She misses going to school, but I'm glad she won't be bringing COVID home. I think they changed their minds because our numbers started rising again. It seems like every time we start to get our new cases down they start rising again. It's really frustrating.

[LongIslandZagFan]

As we forge through the final quarter of the year I feel like this:

[Jazzgirl_127]

As we forge through the final quarter of the year I feel like this:

I can't find it but there was a meme comparing 2020 to Grover's "There's a Monster at the End of the Book" and every month is a new page we keep turning.

[Jazzgirl_127]

4th grader has a science unit on astronomy (for the laughably bad online school) and one of the assignments is to draw a model of Stonehenge and then speculate at what it was used for...
So the big question this week is, can he make an 18" model instead and quote the Spinal Tap song without the teacher realizing it? We shall see ...

https://youtu.be/zg5Ovdu6bOE

[kitzbuel]

4th grader has a science unit on astronomy (for the laughably bad online school) and one of the assignments is to draw a model of Stonehenge and then speculate at what it was used for...
So the big question this week is, can he make an 18" model instead and quote the Spinal Tap song without the teacher realizing it? We shall see ...

https://youtu.be/zg5Ovdu6bOE

Excellent!

[Jazzgirl_127]

4th grader has a science unit on astronomy (for the laughably bad online school) and one of the assignments is to draw a model of Stonehenge and then speculate at what it was used for...
So the big question this week is, can he make an 18" model instead and quote the Spinal Tap song without the teacher realizing it? We shall see ...

https://youtu.be/zg5Ovdu6bOE

The answer is "yes" he could submit that without the teacher realizing it. Didn't do a model, but his drawing was done on a cocktail napkin We were curious if the work he's doing is really even being reviewed, and I kind of feel like the answer to that is "no."

[23dpg]

The answer is "yes" he could submit that without the teacher realizing it. Didn't do a model, but his drawing was done on a cocktail napkin We were curious if the work he's doing is really even being reviewed, and I kind of feel like the answer to that is "no."

Love the homage to Spinal Tap.
Your last sentence is both sad and worrisome. Continued good luck.

[Jazzgirl_127]

Love the homage to Spinal Tap.
Your last sentence is both sad and worrisome. Continued good luck.

I'm honestly considering doing our own homeschooling/unschooling in the spring. It seems like our district is going to have the option for virtual for quite some time still, so we could switch away from the school's online vendor and be with actual teachers they have met before. But honestly? I feel like 9 weeks in and they have already done more science and social studies than they would have done in a full year at school. They're getting burned out, I'm getting burned out. It feels like so much is busy work and poorly thought out lessons, grammar and spelling errors, formatting errors on the online tests that contribute to incorrect answers. I think we can find ways to learn on our own that will engage them more and actually stay in their minds longer than just memorizing to get through a test. Aside from the slower pace I think we all need, I would hate to add on to the district teachers' workload since they're already dealing with in person and virtual with the kids they're assigned. We're sticking it out through the semester, but that's it.
In doing some research it sounds like the online teachers aren't paid enough to care, so I think that's why assignments just get full credit. I can't blame them because the online content itself lets me know it's a bad company to work for and they may be doing this so they can stay home with their own kids.

[DZ]

My child is still going to a very careful school in a low number area - though the HS just closed, they're watching.

Funny thing: This is NOT a political story. It's a story about social studies.

As one might expect, especially among a certain class of people, they all lean one direction down here. My daughter does not lean that, way for reasons well beyond me - certain "aunties" that lived next to us for years in Spokane.

In class the other day, she was told that it is important to get along with Russia (which is true, I admit), and that it's a good thing our leaders get along. My daughter raised her hand. "Hasn't Putin Killed People?"

Her teacher said: "That is a theory"

My daughter said: "Polonium seems like a good "theory."