Another week of safe distancing done, and still some folks are too self absorbed to do what is in the best interest of us all. People still seem to think their having fun is more important than keeping us all safe. They want to go to the beach, have a party or hang out with their buddies. Maybe it is just a generational thing, but I was brought up to look at the greater good ahead of my own pleasure. So I do not get this.
Because of the selfishness, Governor Northam has issued an order to stay in place. This will mean that those who can't play by the rules could be subject to removal and possible legal action. The whole success of safe distancing depends on everyone being willing to sacrifice a bit of freedom in an effort to insure COVID-19 is limited.
At the end of last week we finally were authorized to provide new material to our students. I'm still unsure of how much material we will be allowed to give the kids to work on. I am finding all of this a real challenge since many of my students are not able to access materials electronically. This means that I am preparing materials two ways. A paper one that goes home with the students and an electronic on that can be viewed online.
In listening to my students, before we knew schools would shut down, it became clear to me that my comments on the Power Points were very important to their understanding. To deal with this, I added notes to the Power Points so that the kids will still have my words. For the online version, I added audio to the Power Points. I hope that this helps them.
Still I know that those who go online and take advantage of the electronic materials that are available for them will have a far better understanding of the material than those who just get the paper packet.
If nothing else comes out of this pandemic, I do hope that those who have the power to make decisions will find a way to bridge this gap. If not we will continue to widen the differences between those who have means and those that do not.
On a more personal level, I seem to be coping with this new reality. One thing that I do is completely avoid as much news coverage as possible. I find the daily Presidential briefings to be frustrating. Long on bluster and short on useful information. In a situation like this, I am not looking for confrontation, or misleading information. What I want is to know what is going on and and that everyone is working together to solve the problem.
Monday, March 30, 2020
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Waking Up From History (Part 2)
Sometimes it is important to read other materials for perspective on what is going on with COVID-19. Yesterday in my rambling around the the social medias, I came across some interesting stuff. This article from The National Review gives a timeline on the Chinese handling of the outbreak.
https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/chinas-devastating-lies/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
I found it very enlightening, especially when I compare it to coverage by China Daily. (BTW, I follow them on Twitter for two reasons. 1. My niece lived in Shanghai for a year and a half, 2. It pays to know what other countries think of the US.)
As I take in information, there are two places that concern me. No, neither of them is going to impact my life directly, but the humanitarian impact will be huge. The first is all the refugee camps in Africa and the Middle East. Those folks have been forced to flee from famine and war and are living in conditions that most of us would not want our pets to experience. If COVID-19 hits these camps, where there is no such thing as 'Social Distancing' and where people are living with compromised immune systems, the infection rate and death rates could be staggering. The other is the densely populated cities in less developed countries where over crowding and poor living conditions could lead to the same results as the refugee camps.
On a personal note, the sun is shining for the first time in nearly two weeks, and my wife and I are planning on taking a brief walk to just get out of the house for a bit. Since March 13, I have only been to work the three required days, and two other times. While being an introvert makes this something not difficult for me, I do know that a bit of fresh air and sunshine is needed right now.
https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/chinas-devastating-lies/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
I found it very enlightening, especially when I compare it to coverage by China Daily. (BTW, I follow them on Twitter for two reasons. 1. My niece lived in Shanghai for a year and a half, 2. It pays to know what other countries think of the US.)
As I take in information, there are two places that concern me. No, neither of them is going to impact my life directly, but the humanitarian impact will be huge. The first is all the refugee camps in Africa and the Middle East. Those folks have been forced to flee from famine and war and are living in conditions that most of us would not want our pets to experience. If COVID-19 hits these camps, where there is no such thing as 'Social Distancing' and where people are living with compromised immune systems, the infection rate and death rates could be staggering. The other is the densely populated cities in less developed countries where over crowding and poor living conditions could lead to the same results as the refugee camps.
On a personal note, the sun is shining for the first time in nearly two weeks, and my wife and I are planning on taking a brief walk to just get out of the house for a bit. Since March 13, I have only been to work the three required days, and two other times. While being an introvert makes this something not difficult for me, I do know that a bit of fresh air and sunshine is needed right now.
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Waking Up From History
The title comes from a song by the German band The Scorpions, "Right Here, Right Now." The song gives their impressions about the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of Communism in Eastern Europe. It is a reminder that big history just blows up and big things seem to come out of nowhere.
Yesterday I challenged my students, past and present, to journal or blog about this experience, because we are truly making history and their children and grandchildren would want to know what things were like in the "Great COVID-19 Pandemic" (see I just named it). At 2:30 this morning my mind was rambling about thoughts on what all of this means so I decided it was time to start writing what was on my mind. I am writing three separate posts. One will be my thoughts on the unfinished business of how this school year ended. One will be a message to the class of 2020. That one will be both big picture and personal.
This one is going to be an ongoing commentary. It will be as much a meditation on what's going on as a recounting of events. It will be disjointed and rambling because I plan on writing about what exactly comes to mind as I write.
Here is Post 1:
I have been watching the pandemic since the early cases in China. I saw how the Chinese government was slow in reacting, not seeming to want to interfere with the Spring Festival travels. Then it moved on to aggressive measures like locking down a city eleven million. But they were too late, and I doubt we'll ever know what has really happened there. It then moved to unexpected places like Northern Italy, and Spain. It is truly now a global pandemic.
Most country's have now started taking aggressive actions, and yet the disease continues to spread. America, because it is a republic, has 51 different responses. Most are working hard and are taking unprecedented steps to slow the spread. We regularly hear about "Flattening the curve," in other words take steps to keep people home. It makes sense to me that we need to do what is necessary to avoid overloading our healthcare system. Personally, I don't relish the idea of being treating in a hospital parking lot because we did not do what we could to slow down the rate of infection. I feel like our state government has done an effective job of making decisions in a decisive manner. Although I would have loved a bit more heads up on the first closing of schools announcement. 15 minutes before school got out on Friday was a shock to us all.
Virginia closed schools for two weeks at 2:54 p.m. on Friday March 13, 15 minutes before final dismissal. I heard about it from a student who had gone to the bathroom and been told by a teacher. I went out on the Web and confirmed that is was true. To me the interesting thing was the range of emotions from the kids. There were some who were at a complete loss about what they would do and what it meant and those who were excited about the idea of no school. We had no time to prepare ourselves for what all this might mean, We had been instructed to prepare a packet of materials to cover two weeks.
Teachers here worked in the building on Tuesday - Thursday of the following week. Since we had no idea what was coming next, I spent much of my time looking at ways to deliver instruction electronically. I have an advantage in that all of my class materials are on line so that part of delivery is no problem. Some of my kids are accessing the packets on line and turning in work by forwarding screen shots or pictures of the completed. Clunky and rudimentary, but for now it will do.
Yesterday, Governor Northam announced that he was closing all schools for the remainder of the school year. So are now in limbo. We are waiting on directives from the Virginia Department of Education to be filtered through our administrators. So for now, I continue to work at home, researching, checking student's work, and thinking.
Those reading this that know me know that I watch no CNN, MSNBC, or FOX for my information. This is intentional, I am selective in where I get my information from. I prefer to draw my own conclusions based on a broad sampling of sources. As such, I am impressed by the steps taken by many states to stem the tide of the disease. I am less than impressed by the waffling on the Federal level. First it is not a big worry, only 15 cases and it will go away when the weather warms, Out right lies about the availability of testing and needed supplies. Now it seems the Federal responses are two fold, throw money at the economic impacts (if they can decide what they can agree on) and the economy is more important than the health impacts. As one of those in the higher risk category, this worries me. I am also concerned that Dr. Fauci, the greatest expert in our country on infectious diseases, now seems to have no seat at the table in figuring out our national strategy.
Yesterday I challenged my students, past and present, to journal or blog about this experience, because we are truly making history and their children and grandchildren would want to know what things were like in the "Great COVID-19 Pandemic" (see I just named it). At 2:30 this morning my mind was rambling about thoughts on what all of this means so I decided it was time to start writing what was on my mind. I am writing three separate posts. One will be my thoughts on the unfinished business of how this school year ended. One will be a message to the class of 2020. That one will be both big picture and personal.
This one is going to be an ongoing commentary. It will be as much a meditation on what's going on as a recounting of events. It will be disjointed and rambling because I plan on writing about what exactly comes to mind as I write.
Here is Post 1:
I have been watching the pandemic since the early cases in China. I saw how the Chinese government was slow in reacting, not seeming to want to interfere with the Spring Festival travels. Then it moved on to aggressive measures like locking down a city eleven million. But they were too late, and I doubt we'll ever know what has really happened there. It then moved to unexpected places like Northern Italy, and Spain. It is truly now a global pandemic.
Most country's have now started taking aggressive actions, and yet the disease continues to spread. America, because it is a republic, has 51 different responses. Most are working hard and are taking unprecedented steps to slow the spread. We regularly hear about "Flattening the curve," in other words take steps to keep people home. It makes sense to me that we need to do what is necessary to avoid overloading our healthcare system. Personally, I don't relish the idea of being treating in a hospital parking lot because we did not do what we could to slow down the rate of infection. I feel like our state government has done an effective job of making decisions in a decisive manner. Although I would have loved a bit more heads up on the first closing of schools announcement. 15 minutes before school got out on Friday was a shock to us all.
Virginia closed schools for two weeks at 2:54 p.m. on Friday March 13, 15 minutes before final dismissal. I heard about it from a student who had gone to the bathroom and been told by a teacher. I went out on the Web and confirmed that is was true. To me the interesting thing was the range of emotions from the kids. There were some who were at a complete loss about what they would do and what it meant and those who were excited about the idea of no school. We had no time to prepare ourselves for what all this might mean, We had been instructed to prepare a packet of materials to cover two weeks.
Teachers here worked in the building on Tuesday - Thursday of the following week. Since we had no idea what was coming next, I spent much of my time looking at ways to deliver instruction electronically. I have an advantage in that all of my class materials are on line so that part of delivery is no problem. Some of my kids are accessing the packets on line and turning in work by forwarding screen shots or pictures of the completed. Clunky and rudimentary, but for now it will do.
Yesterday, Governor Northam announced that he was closing all schools for the remainder of the school year. So are now in limbo. We are waiting on directives from the Virginia Department of Education to be filtered through our administrators. So for now, I continue to work at home, researching, checking student's work, and thinking.
Those reading this that know me know that I watch no CNN, MSNBC, or FOX for my information. This is intentional, I am selective in where I get my information from. I prefer to draw my own conclusions based on a broad sampling of sources. As such, I am impressed by the steps taken by many states to stem the tide of the disease. I am less than impressed by the waffling on the Federal level. First it is not a big worry, only 15 cases and it will go away when the weather warms, Out right lies about the availability of testing and needed supplies. Now it seems the Federal responses are two fold, throw money at the economic impacts (if they can decide what they can agree on) and the economy is more important than the health impacts. As one of those in the higher risk category, this worries me. I am also concerned that Dr. Fauci, the greatest expert in our country on infectious diseases, now seems to have no seat at the table in figuring out our national strategy.
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