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Teachers and Educators in the Times of Covid


JanasTattooParlor

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23 hours ago, viii said:

Anyone else looking forward to Christmas Break yet? Just me?? ?

I've been working consistently all year, no reduction in hours/tasks due to the pandemic as I'm a frontline worker (not medical). I could have taken holiday time at any point but I didn't bother, mainly because I felt that with lockdowns coming and going, I couldn't travel anywhere and was spending enough time stuck in the house as it was so it would be a waste of days off.

Anyhoo, a couple of weeks ago I decided that since I haven't had any time off since January I should really take a break, even though I personally didn't feel a huge need for it. it was more of a preemptive thing, to get rested up before the winter hits.

Well.

I'm one week into my two weeks off and I've hit some sort of wall. I'm permanently exhausted, sleeping nonstop, RIDICULOUSLY emotional , crying at the top of a hat and overreacting to everything. All I want to do is eat shite, watch shite and wear pyjamas. I have forced myself to do a few tasks around the house and meet a few friends for coffee but I cannot tell you how hard that was.

I'm genuinely worried about how i'm going to cope with going back to work in a week. If I hadn't taken this break I'd probably still be fine just trudging along but something has crashed in me now and the entire Covid thing has rained down on my soul.  

I like my job and I generally don't find it too stressful - isn't it ironic that the most stress it's brought me this year is when I took a break from it???!!

:bangheaddesk:

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On 9/28/2020 at 1:09 PM, viii said:

Anyone else looking forward to Christmas Break yet? Just me?? ?

Me, me! Pick me! Every single day off is a good day. The amount of paperwork I have to do now is it's own part-time job. 

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4 hours ago, IrishCarrie said:

I'm genuinely worried about how i'm going to cope with going back to work in a week. If I hadn't taken this break I'd probably still be fine just trudging along but something has crashed in me now and the entire Covid thing has rained down on my soul.  

I like my job and I generally don't find it too stressful - isn't it ironic that the most stress it's brought me this year is when I took a break from it???!!

It doesn't surprise me that everything has hit at once - there's been a lot of change to deal with, and a crapload of stuff to deal with, and you didn't have time so you put it to one side to do later.  And now, when you have time and some emotional space, it's all sort of hit at once. 

Watch the crappy movies/tv, try not to eat too much of the crappy food (but don't beat yourself up if you do), try to get out for a walk or similar each day, try to meet up with friends, but if you just feel like being a hermit and crying a lot that is fine. It will pass, you're not going insane - you're just belatedly reacting to the rest of the year.

FWIW this all sounds 'normal' to me because it's not uncommon in parents who had a child in NICU/PICU. During the intense period there's no time to deal with anything past the immediate now - and after their baby/child comes home they start processing everything, and find themselves crying a lot even though everything is fine, they're home and their child is safe. Handy hint - try not to cry while driving, it's not a great thing to be doing if you can't actually see! Pulling over is much safer.

Just realised I didn't get to saying what I meant to, which is that see how it goes with work - getting back into the groove might feel completely normal, it might feel like groundhog day, you might need some adjustment time while you find a new rhythm. If you've got employee assistance it's not a bad idea to talk things through, if not now then a bit later on. But take care of yourself now, and if that is staying home and watching/eating shite then that's what it is.

Edited by Ozlsn
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Whelp, we are heading in to start the hybrid process. This should be interesting.  How many students do I have? 22. How many desks in the new social distance model? 4.?

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/1/2020 at 7:41 PM, WiseGirl said:

Whelp, we are heading in to start the hybrid process. This should be interesting.  How many students do I have? 22. How many desks in the new social distance model? 4.?

Schools in my area are ending the hybrid process and going to all in person full time.

 

We also had a paraeducator die from COVID last week. which she caught from a student.  This woman was exposed in the 1st week of school, took a few days off to help her elderly mother after surgery and was informed as she was with her sick elderly mother that she'd been exposed. Of course her and her mother both got it.

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Schools in my city return next Monday for Elementary.  Middle School returns sometime in November, High School not until January.  4 days a week with Wednesdays for cleaning, & things like teacher planning & training.

Meanwhile they now have a waiting list of parents who have now decided (despite 3 previous opportunities as far back as June) they want their kids to be 100% online.

Me - no kids, grand kids etc - but I'm anticipating a spike in cases associated with this return in say - two to three weeks (meaning right around the time they want to return Middle School kids)

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Schools here are doing a staggered return - year 12 and some year 11 went back on the 5th, mostly so they could do one in person required exam, before primary school and year 7 went back on the 12th. Year 11 and 12 start exams in the next fortnight, so they will be back off site again shortly.  Year 8-10 go back on Monday, much to the relief of pretty much everyone, parents and teachers. There is provision for students who are at higher risk or who have family members at higher risk to continue home-based learning via the school if needed. From what I've seen schools are staggering arrival, finish, play and lunch times to limit the number of kids interacting. Everyone over 12 must wear masks (there is a provision for children/adults who are unable to), which basically means all high school students. Schools have also directed classes to enter via specific gates, and parents who are picking up children are directed to wait in cars while staff bring children out, or to wait in specified areas (while maintaining social distance). No parents are allowed on site. 

We'll see how this impacts case numbers in about a week - at the moment we are at low daily cases, but still some unknown community transmission cases which are the more concerning ones.

I honestly don't know how teachers are going in classrooms - I must ask friends and find out.

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20 hours ago, allthegoodnamesrgone said:

Schools in my area are ending the hybrid process and going to all in person full time.

I wish that was us. I understand the hybrid model is a nightmare so there's that. The other fun thing is where I teach is a red zone in my state.  The surrounding areas are in but they are also not red/spiking. Pressure from parents wins out...who cares if the teacher(s) is/are imunocompromised ....we need our kids to be in school/babysat/back to normal. I don't see this ending well.

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We are in person 100%. Families with reasons had the option for remote. Which as a teacher is a nightmare. We had one case among staff and students from mid-August until last week. That student got it from his parents, one of whom was exposed by a co-worker.  Now we have several kids out, three cases as of now in HS. A ton of kids quarantined because they were exposed to them outside of school with no precautions . BUT here’s the thing: this all blew up a week after “homecoming”. We had spirit week in the building, an outdoor school time coronation with masks, no students at the football game and no dance. So what happened? Idiot parents threw parties in lieu of a dance with no masks and no distancing. Same thing happened in another nearby community where parents threw an unsanctioned dance at someone’s home and they have 40 cases traced to that.  
 

At this point, students are safer in school. We’re enforcing strict rules. We are literally giving detentions for not wearing masks properly. Outside of school, they’re ignoring all precautions. 

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6 hours ago, louisa05 said:

Now we have several kids out, three cases as of now in HS.

One of the reasons schools shut here was that if a student tested positive they essentially shut the whole school - it was impossible to know who that student might have been in contact with, and it got to the level of community transmission that to essentially limit as much contact between people everything went into lockdown. This time around there's a lot more separating out, so hopefully we can avoid that.

6 hours ago, louisa05 said:

Idiot parents threw parties in lieu of a dance with no masks and no distancing

Some people deserve to end up in hospital I swear. I honestly don't get it - yes, your kids will miss out on some of the traditional school stuff. It is not the be all and end all of life, geez. 

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1 minute ago, Ozlsn said:

One of the reasons schools shut here was that if a student tested positive they essentially shut the whole school - it was impossible to know who that student might have been in contact with, and it got to the level of community transmission that to essentially limit as much contact between people everything went into lockdown. This time around there's a lot more separating out, so hopefully we can avoid that.

Some people deserve to end up in hospital I swear. I honestly don't get it - yes, your kids will miss out on some of the traditional school stuff. It is not the be all and end all of life, geez. 

We have a lot of extra work in order to be able to contact trace kids. Seating charts in every class. Keeping track of when and with who they do partner or group work. They have to sit at the same table with the same people at lunch every day.  They are literally not with someone else on school grounds longer than 5 minutes  without someone documenting it.  And masks are nonnegotiable.  Detentions for not wearing them properly.  

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All week long we are goung to hybrid on Monday, we are going hybrid. Schedules changed, safety committee does a walkthrough yesterday....late last night we get an urgent email...jk folks 2 more weeks of DL. Teachers we will let you know what you need to do on Sunday night.

I'm part relieved, part upset because I miss students, and I feel really bad for parents. At this point just call it until January folks.

We knew numbers were increasing but I feel like something must have happened.  Two districts near us also went DL.

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One of my daughters works at a combination daycare/early intervention program sponsored by the local school district.  All of the adults allowed in the building wear masks full time, gloves when necessary.  Many of the kids arrive wearing masks that they can take off during the school day.  My daughter and other paraprofessionals like her spend at least half of the time wiping down surfaces and supplies, and working with the kids under the supervision of the teachers.

A couple of days ago, my daughter and another woman were monitoring the kids on the playground.  One of the favorite games some of the kids play involves going into the little playhouse and pretending to be a shopkeeper.  Other kids will approach the window and ask for something.  It could be anything, a fast food order, a candy bar, or toilet paper.  The child inside will pretend to hand over the item and get pretend money in return.

The incident I'm referring to involved two little 4 year old girls.  As the 'customer' approached the window, her mask was pushed down under her chin.  The 'shopkeeper' called out "You have to wear a mask to shop here".  The customer stopped and adjusted her mask appropriately before approaching the window and asking for her order.

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  • 3 weeks later...

District finally called it. They will revisit when we can go back in mid January.  Teachers no longer have to go into the building two days a week. Relieved yet sad. This year sucks. Next week we have virtual conferences. A whopping 5 minutes long. "Hi nice to meet you.  Next!"

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I am so pissed off with our School District right now. Here is the situation:  I am in a Slack group for the Teachers On Call (Substitutes) in my district. Today, one of the people in that group (I don't know her-its a big district) was at an elementary school. She was covering preps today. She found out that one of the kids in one of the classes she was covering has just returned to school EARLY after testing positive for Covid.  The only reason she found out was that she decided to attend the union meeting at lunch.  The classroom teacher of the child was there talking about how she feels unsafe with the situation.  Apparently the union is getting involved, but they were saying that the problem is that there are privacy issues with disclosing the medical information to the school.  The Health Board,  the child's doctor, and the parents may well know that the child has now tested negative, so can be safely back at school, but they are not required to disclose that to the school (WTF!)  Or, the  child may have bat shit crazy parents who have decided that they are tired of waiting and are just gonna send the kid back.  There is no way to know.  Oh, and the Substitute is freaking out because a) she is pregnant and b) she is pretty sure nobody would have told her if she hadn't decided to go to the (usually super boring) union meeting.  

I get that privacy issues are involved, but I do not understand why the School Board is allowing this kid back in school. In my opinion, you just have a policy of a mandatory14 day quarantine after a positive test. If you want back early, then you can voluntarily disclose your negative test info/Doctors note. Don't want to disclose? Then stay home.  
 

I don't even agree with the disclosure problem.  Teachers are privy to lots of private information, some of it medical.  We have a code of ethics that means we are not allowed to go leaking a child's private info to all and sundry. This is necessary information about a communicable dangerous disease. We need to be told.   

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18 hours ago, PreciousPantsofDoom said:

that privacy issues are involved, but I do not understand why the School Board is allowing this kid back in school. In my opinion, you just have a policy of a mandatory14 day quarantine after a positive test. If you want back early, then you can voluntarily disclose your negative test info/Doctors note. Don't want to disclose? Then stay home.  

As a parent I would also be seriously pissed off if I found out about this - which is another reason the school should be requiring information or a sign off from the Health board or something. If they tested positive I would have thought 14 days is the minimum they should be home.

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On 11/16/2020 at 9:41 PM, PreciousPantsofDoom said:

I am so pissed off with our School District right now. Here is the situation:  I am in a Slack group for the Teachers On Call (Substitutes) in my district. Today, one of the people in that group (I don't know her-its a big district) was at an elementary school. She was covering preps today. She found out that one of the kids in one of the classes she was covering has just returned to school EARLY after testing positive for Covid.  The only reason she found out was that she decided to attend the union meeting at lunch.  The classroom teacher of the child was there talking about how she feels unsafe with the situation.  Apparently the union is getting involved, but they were saying that the problem is that there are privacy issues with disclosing the medical information to the school.  The Health Board,  the child's doctor, and the parents may well know that the child has now tested negative, so can be safely back at school, but they are not required to disclose that to the school (WTF!)  Or, the  child may have bat shit crazy parents who have decided that they are tired of waiting and are just gonna send the kid back.  There is no way to know.  Oh, and the Substitute is freaking out because a) she is pregnant and b) she is pretty sure nobody would have told her if she hadn't decided to go to the (usually super boring) union meeting.  

I get that privacy issues are involved, but I do not understand why the School Board is allowing this kid back in school. In my opinion, you just have a policy of a mandatory14 day quarantine after a positive test. If you want back early, then you can voluntarily disclose your negative test info/Doctors note. Don't want to disclose? Then stay home.  
 

I don't even agree with the disclosure problem.  Teachers are privy to lots of private information, some of it medical.  We have a code of ethics that means we are not allowed to go leaking a child's private info to all and sundry. This is necessary information about a communicable dangerous disease. We need to be told.   

Yes, there has been similar issues in my district. They are not allowed to disclose who tested positive and we are not supposed to discuss it. I have not felt safe. 

I had a student who came to school sick saying he tested negative. I could not believe that was allowed. What about false negatives?

My state closed down in person learning for high school for three weeks. I suspect it will last much longer. Yesterday was the last in person day. I felt relieved and sad. I will miss most of the students. 

I am exhausted this morning. I am not sure if it is because yesterday was a long day due to packing up everything I might need and then having to spend a few hours setting up my at home office or if I have the virus. I am so glad I can stay home now and stop worrying about every little symptom.

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I posted once about the daycare my daughter works at, and how some of the kids are incorporating covid restrictions into some of their games.  A new one happened yesterday.  The kids came in on Monday to find that the corner of their classroom that had once housed a little store set up was changed over the weekend.  The teacher changes it out every couple of months.  Now it's a little medical exam room.  One of the boys who only comes in a few days a week saw it for the first time on Wednesday.  He got very excited and immediately announced he was a doctor.  Then he ran around the room asking the other kids to come and be doctors.  One of them said "We can't ALL be doctors."  The first child said "We should all be doctors.  We need more doctors!  We don't have enough doctors 'cause of Covid."  Turns out one of his parents works at the local hospital.

When the kids were playing shopkeeper and asking each other to mask up, it was cute.  This time, it was kind of sad.

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Fellow teachers, you have not lived until you get to do 3 days of virtual parent conferences. Trust me on this. :bangheaddesk:

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3 hours ago, WiseGirl said:

Fellow teachers, you have not lived until you get to do 3 days of virtual parent conferences. Trust me on this. :bangheaddesk:

I had one long day of virtual conferences and it was exhausting. I can't imagine three.

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Tuesday was my last day of in person learning for at least three weeks. Ever since Wednesday, I have had muscle aches and felt really fatigued. I have also had a hard time staying awake. I have considered getting tested. I would rather not expose myself because if I do have it, it is a minor case and I am planning on staying home regardless.

I really hope my state prevents high school from going back until at least mid January. Virtual learning is not ideal, but at least I am safe at home.

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2 hours ago, Ali said:

Tuesday was my last day of in person learning for at least three weeks. Ever since Wednesday, I have had muscle aches and felt really fatigued. I have also had a hard time staying awake. I have considered getting tested. I would rather not expose myself because if I do have it, it is a minor case and I am planning on staying home regardless.

I really hope my state prevents high school from going back until at least mid January. Virtual learning is not ideal, but at least I am safe at home.

Honestly - if you can do it safely I would get tested, not least so there is a paper trail if there are any longer term issues. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I feel so much safer at home. I don't want to go back in person until I can be vaccinated. I am concerned my district will push us to be back before we should unless the pause is continued by the state. I suspect my district is not being completely transparent with the numbers. My students keep mentioning high risk for exposure activities like it is no big deal and I feel like many think my life is meaningless to a significant portion of the population. I just needed somewhere to vent.

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