NYC Educator: Class with Instructional Lunch

NYC Educator: Class with Instructional Lunch

Class with Instructional Lunch

The chancellor had a flash of inspiration one day, and decided that he needed to maximize learning in schools. Now I'm just a lowly teacher, so I have no idea exactly what inspiration looks like on that lofty plain, that hallowed ground of the old Tweed building, named for the crookedest politician of all time (pre-Trump, of course).

That's why it's hard for me to fathom exactly what the thinking was behind this particular revelation. Consider the following--NY State opening guidelines state the following on page 29. You can check. 

 Turn desks (including teachers) to face in the same direction rather than facing each other to reduce transmission caused by virus-containing droplets (e.g., from talking, coughing, sneezing); 

Given that we can't even face one another because it's too risky, given that talking is listed as something we ought not to be doing while facing one another, how on earth is it okay for us to be sitting in the same classroom and eating?

I can't speak for all my colleagues, but if I were in a class with instructional lunch, I'd be wearing an N95 mask, a facial shield, a hairnet, and an entire body covering. That's what my doctor wore when she examined me a few weeks back. I would not consider eating, not for a moment. 

I'd advise students not to eat either. Perhaps this is conceived for younger students rather than high school students, but it would make no difference to me. 97,000 children just tested positive for Coronavirus, and this idea is a rebellion against common sense. 

As if that's not enough, who on earth wants to brush up on calculus while eating lunch? Back before the apocolypse, I used to eat lunch with a group of teachers. We had a table. There were generally two science teachers, a Spanish CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: Class with Instructional Lunch