Jul 21, 2020 08:01PM bcincolorado wrote:

Both of my children are teachers. My son also has 4 kids who will all be in school as well. My daughter-iin-law in an onco RN. They are all terrified.

My daughter ln Wyoming and works in a small town where distancing is easy for them in their classes at least.

My son teaches in a smaller school but distancing may NOT be an option for them and they live near a big city and DIL works at a major hospital.

It sounds like both districts plan on doing a combination of classroom and distance learning with maybe reduced time in the classroom and then also doing online instruction as well.

Jul 23, 2020 10:29PM mavericksmom wrote:

Mominator, I am so sorry that your mother, grandmother and friend battled cancer, and that you had to go through so many major surgeries to try to prevent it from happening to you!

As for school opening, at least kindergarten students aren’t passing the disease like older students, but how can anyone avoid close contact with them? They are little and many will have increased separation anxiety! I simply don’t get it. Whoever thinks in-school learning is going to be so much better, has never worked in a school, let alone one under pandemic conditions! I wish all school was virtual until there are enough effective vaccines and drugs to fight this!

I am also a special education paraprofessional, in a middle school. I don’t know if I will have a job in the fall. If they go to on-line school, I don’t think they will use us like they did in the spring. No one knows what is happening in September because the status of the virus changes daily. The only thing for certain is they won’t get the funding to operate as they did other years. So many don’t have jobs and can’t pay their taxes. All the extra safety equipment costs a lot of money. Less income and more expenses. It’s a catch 22!

Just so much we don’t know about this virus! I have never been so stressed or so afraid to work in a school!

Both my husband and I are revising our wills. I don’t think life will ever be back to the old normal

Jul 25, 2020 10:58AM spookiesmom wrote:

Our schools normally start the first week in August. Some districts have pushed it back to the last week. Our superintendent is still farting around with the date. Yeah, welcome to Florida

Jul 26, 2020 11:29AM exbrnxgrl wrote:

I teach first grade. I have been teaching with stage IV bc for the last nine years! The first thing I’d like to clear up is a comment someone made earlier. Most public school teachers are not highly paid nor do we “make the big bucks”. Relative to educational requirements for obtaining a teaching credential in most states, we are not highly paid. So yes, we make more than aides or para-professionals, but if making the big bucks is your goal, don’t become a teacher. Onwards... My district is starting with distance learning and has plans for using a staged return to slowly move us back to the classroom as health and safety conditions merit. Using available funds and grants , the district is purchasing PPE for all staff.

I want to be in the classroom with my students, everyone wants that but not until themany unknowns about Covid, children, and transmission risks are better understood. Many of my colleagues, myself included, spent the summer working on how to make distance learning more robust. We focused on essential standards, take home supply boxes so all students will have what they need (from iPads to crayons!) to start school. Over the next two weeks, I am taking several courses to help me learn to use all of my online teaching tools most effectively. I have also participated in focus groups with parents to understand their concerns and find ways to support them. I have taken additional workshops on social emotional learning as well as this will be important. This not so highly paid teacher did this all without being paid because my sole aim is to deliver the best possible academic program to my students under highly unusual circumstances.

I am very thankful that my school district valued the opinions of all stakeholders and recommendations of our county health department In making their decision. It will not be perfect but it’s the right thing to do.

Jul 26, 2020 04:09PM exbrnxgrl wrote:

I am a long term teacher who is at the upper end of the salary range but it took a long time to get there. I live and work in Silicon Valley, one of the most expensive places to live in the US. But most of our newer teachers are struggling mightily to make ends meet and have little hope of buying a home here unless they have a partner making quite a bit more money. Public school teachers are not getting rich no matter how long they've worked. Remember that salaries are only relevant when compared to the cost of living in a given area. $130,000. may sound like a lot but it's not in Hawaii or California for example. It also took many years to get there. Check out teacher salaries at year 10 or 15. Not quite that high! On the first day that my daughter went to work for Apple, she made just about what I was making after years of teaching and now makes far more.

I'm not sure what our aides will be doing this year. Some, who are one to one aides for SPED students, may be able to provide remote support. During our differentiated reading time, I teach a group that has two instructional aides but since we won't be following that model online, I hope my district finds something for them to do until we return to the classroom. I never imagined that this is how my beloved career would end (will most likely retire after this year). Education is my passion so I'll have to find an outlet for it post-retirement. Ed law fascinates me so maybe I can find some kind of advocacy volunteer work.

I am taking care of my daughters cat this week. I am so desperate to introduce some bright and curious minds to all the wonders of the world that I might start trying to teach the cat to read 😉.

Anyway, best of luck to all of us and I hope each of your school districts err on the side of caution.