C.D.C.: Schools in the U.S. Should Continue to Use Masks - The New York Times

C.D.C.: Schools in the U.S. Should Continue to Use Masks - The New York Times

Schools in the U.S. should continue to use masks, C.D.C. advises

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday clarified coronavirus advice for U.S. schools, recommending the continued, universal use of masks and physical distancing, after the agency’s sudden announcement that vaccinated Americans could forego masks indoors.

All schools teaching students from kindergarten through grade 12 should continue to implement proper mask-wearing through the end of the 2020-2021 school year, the C.D.C. said. The agency also kept in place its suggestions to observe physical distancing and to test for coronavirus infections.

About 122 million people had been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 in the U.S. as of Saturday, but the average number of vaccinations per day has dropped since its peak in April, according to C.D.C. data. News of the C.D.C.’s sweeping change to mask rules that were introduced a year ago came suddenly last week, prompting elation among many Americans but also some confusion over how to respond to the new guidance.

The C.D.C.’s advice for schools attempts to clear up some of the confusion. On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds in the United States. But some parents are still hesitant about the vaccine. And no vaccines have been authorized yet for children under 12. CONTINUE READING: C.D.C.: Schools in the U.S. Should Continue to Use Masks - The New York Times

It’s not enough! | Live Long and Prosper

It’s not enough! | Live Long and Prosper

It’s not enough!

MASKS WORK…

I feel like we’re living in an Idiocracy.

Wisconsin’s Republican legislature is fighting the mask mandate ordered by the Democratic governor…because, of course they are.

Wisconsin’s Legislature repealed Gov. Tony Evers’ mask mandate. He issued a new one.

Fearing more deaths statewide, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers reissued a mask mandate Thursday, standing up to a Republican Legislature that had repealed his previous mask order earlier in the day.

“We know that wearing face coverings can save lives and prevent death. We know it’s supported by science,” Evers, a Democrat, said in a two-minute video.

He said repealing his previous mandate to wear face coverings in public places put at risk about $50 million a month in federal funds to help hundreds of thousands of vulnerable residents.

Experts, i.e. those who are educated and actually know things, understand that masks, along with other mitigation measures, help prevent the spread of COVID-19 (See here, here, and here. The idiocrats in the Wisconsin legislature aren’t experts.

…BUT MASKS ARE NOT ENOUGH FOR SCHOOLS TO OPEN

So what do experts say about opening schools during a pandemic? Teachers are worried about their own safety, as well as the safety of their students, co- CONTINUE READING: It’s not enough! | Live Long and Prosper

LESS TEAM FIDELITY AND MORE TEAM WORK WOULD BE WELCOME – Dad Gone Wild

LESS TEAM FIDELITY AND MORE TEAM WORK WOULD BE WELCOME – Dad Gone Wild

LESS TEAM FIDELITY AND MORE TEAM WORK WOULD BE WELCOME

“I’m stuck on this planet with you. And honestly, I’m glad. I’ve been exposed to a lot of awful people in the last few months, but I’ve met so many more that are amazing, thoughtful, generous, and kind. I honestly believe that is the human condition. And if the Carls are testing us, this final test is the hardest to accomplish. If you pay attention, there is only one story that makes sense, and that is one in which humanity works together more and more since we took over this planet. Yeah, we fuck it up all the time, yeah, there have been some massive steps backward, but look at us! We are one species now more than we have ever been. People fight against that, and they probably always will, but could there be any time in history when what Carl is asking would be more possible?”
― Hank Green, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

I was talking to a friend earlier this week about the current pandemic. “The CDC is predicting that by the end of June, everybody who wants a vaccination will be able to get one’, he said, “but I’m afraid what that means for Tennessee is that we’ll become one of the first states to pass legislation allowing people to opt-out of vaccine’s.”

As outlandish as that statement may seem, I can’t disagree. It would be consistent with how we approach every issue and development these days. Research, analysis, followed by the formation of opinion, have been replaced by the creation and selection of teams. Teams that repeatedly consists of the same players.

Think about every issue we’ve faced recently. Be it the wearing of masks, the severity of the virus, the opening of school buildings, it’s all almost instantly devolved into 2 camps. Once the teams are formed, the arguments shift to discrediting the opposition, instead of finding solutions for the issues at hand.

Look at the opening of the school buildings. Once again, 2 camps. The prevailing arguments assert that all of those who are pushing for school buildings to be open are just looking for baby sitters for their children and a return to their privileged lives. On the other hand, those advocating for schools CONTINUE READING: LESS TEAM FIDELITY AND MORE TEAM WORK WOULD BE WELCOME – Dad Gone Wild

Two School Districts Had Different Mask Policies. Only One Had a Teacher on a Ventilator. — ProPublica

Two School Districts Had Different Mask Policies. Only One Had a Teacher on a Ventilator. — ProPublica

Two School Districts Had Different Mask Policies. Only One Had a Teacher on a Ventilator.

Eleven states let school districts decide whether students and staff must wear masks. One Georgia middle school where masks were optional became the center of an outbreak.

On a balmy August morning in Emanuel County in eastern Georgia, hundreds of children bounded off freshly cleaned school buses and out of their parents’ cars. They were greeted by the principal, teachers and staff at Swainsboro Middle School who hadn’t seen them in four months. Before allowing the children to enter, a longtime receptionist beamed a temperature gun at their foreheads and checked for violations of the public school’s strict dress code: mostly neutral colors, nothing tight and no shoulders exposed.

Masks were optional, and about half of the children wore them. So did the receptionist, but only sporadically, according to several teachers.

Within a couple of days, the receptionist was out sick. Another receptionist called in sick as well. Both had caught the coronavirus, according to social media posts. In the ensuing weeks, a wave of cases would rush through the building — an outbreak for which district leaders blamed the community rather than the lack of a mask mandate in the schools. At least nine middle school teachers would be infected, including four along a single hallway; one would spend four weeks on a ventilator, fighting for her life. More than 100 students were quarantined because of positive cases or exposure. Within the first two months of school, the county would have one of the highest proportions of school-age COVID-19 cases in the state.

“Not everything that could have been done or should have been done was being done in the school system to stop the spread,” said Dr. Cedric Porter, a local CONTINUE READING: Two School Districts Had Different Mask Policies. Only One Had a Teacher on a Ventilator. — ProPublica

Good News, Teachers: Cloth Masks Do Protect the Wearer | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Good News, Teachers: Cloth Masks Do Protect the Wearer | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Good News, Teachers: Cloth Masks Do Protect the Wearer

COVID-19 has shaken classroom teaching to its core. It’s like carrying a platter of full water glasses while walking down the aisle of a lurching bus, and doing so daily.

Expect varying degrees of success, and intentionally celebrate those successes in that day to fortify your mental stability.

Believe me when I write that I thank God that he measures out my life in daily installments.

My sanity is grounded in understanding what, exactly, I control and leveraging that control to counter the volley of adjustments to adjustments.

And so, we arrive at mask wearing during this pandemic.

I am relieved that my school district requires students and staff to wear masks, and I am so grateful that I have virtually no pushback from my students regarding this requirement.

One issue under my control involves creating a respectful atmosphere in my room, which includes explaining why mask wearing is important to me; modeling the very behavior I am asking of my students, and thanking them for complying.

Of course, what is also completely under my control is my choice to wear my own mask.

When the pandemic first short-sheeted life in Louisiana, on Friday, March 13, 2020, I did not immediately take to wearing a mask, but I did immediately begin CONTINUE READING: Good News, Teachers: Cloth Masks Do Protect the Wearer | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

This School Year Has Been Unlike Any Other - The New York Times

This School Year Has Been Unlike Any Other - The New York Times

This School Year Has Been Unlike Any Other

Some examples of how the world of education has responded to the pandemic.

This article is part of our latest Learning special report, which focuses on ways that remote learning will shape the future.

A fall semester unlike any ever known is underway in America.

The coronavirus is lurking around every corner like a ghoul in a Halloween cornfield, waiting to leap out and frighten — if not sicken or kill — anyone who dares pass by.

It has created chaos in the world of education, as some schools refuse to open while others do, only to close again as cases rise. Some are online, while some are in person — or both. The pressure on students, teachers, administrators and parents is immense and has aggravated educational inequalities. Schools, after all, do more than deliver an education: they are a source of food, socialization and internet connections to the rest of the world — along with child care providers for working parents.

The instability for so many who depend on all that is grim.

But wait. In every dark time across history some people rise up and cope — more than cope really. They demonstrate resilience, creativity and an ability to innovate.

Some experts look at these efforts and hope that many will change — for the better — how students are taught and learn in the future.

Chris Cerf, who started his career as a high school teacher, served as the New Jersey education commissioner, deputy chancellor for New York City’s Department of Education, and is a founder of a nonprofit called Cadence Learning, is one of the optimists.

“I absolutely believe that we are going to come out of this pandemic having learned a great deal about how to deliver quality instruction to students,” he said.

You’ll find a handful of examples — snapshots, if you will — here and throughout our Learning section of creativity in a time of crisis.

#Coronavirussyllabus

It developed, as many things do these days, on Twitter.

In March, Anne Fausto-Sterling, an emerita professor of biology at Brown University, tweeted that professors should “teach the virus” whatever their discipline. CONTINUE READING: This School Year Has Been Unlike Any Other - The New York Times

Silver Lining: My Students Are Okay with Wearing Masks. | deutsch29

Silver Lining: My Students Are Okay with Wearing Masks. | deutsch29

Silver Lining: My Students Are Okay with Wearing Masks.

This past week was my first with students since the pandemic hit.

So much is in flux, including whether my district will continue with the hybrid model for middle and high school given that Louisiana governor, John Bel Edwards, announced Louisiana’s shift into Phase 3 (“with restrictions”) just as we are getting accustomed to the Phase 2 hybrid schedule.

Meanwhile, southern Louisiana is under yet another hurricane watch.

As of this writing, I do not know if I will be at school on Monday because of the approaching storm. Also, I do not know if next Monday, I will have a classroom full of students (with social distancing not possible) as opposed to the hybrid arrangement in which I am able to place student desks six feet apart. But here is what I do know:

The students at my school are overwhelmingly compliant with the mandate to wear masks.

I cannot tell you how relieved I am about their willingness to comply with the mask requirement, which the governor is keeping in place during Phase 3.

The governor’s order also includes adhering to social distancing guidelines, which is not possible if I must have 24 students in the room at one time and all 1,600 students on our school campus each day. Our state superintendent, Cade Brumley, assumes “more students” will “return to campus” as we “transition” to CONTINUE READING: Silver Lining: My Students Are Okay with Wearing Masks. | deutsch29

Anti-masking: The Subtext of White Privilege and Addictive Thinking – educationalchemy

Anti-masking: The Subtext of White Privilege and Addictive Thinking – educationalchemy

Anti-masking: The Subtext of White Privilege and Addictive Thinking

Whiteness and Anti-masking

It’s not surprising that the population who refuse to accept the full scope of Covid19, the anti-masker group, intersect with the same population who own and deny their White Privilege. It’s not emanating from communities of color. It’s not emanating from non-Western countries. It’s as white [1] and “Ameruh-can” as Apple Pie. That is because to accept either, to concede the reality of this pandemic or one’s own privilege, is to then require that person to act, to require a change in their behavior, or to moderate their own “rights” (or freedoms) for increased responsibility for others. When we wear a mask, we are saying “I acknowledge the effects my body and behavior have on others, and I take responsibility for that effect. I am willing to change myself to help those around me.” Most of us do share community obligations everyday … but it’s by choice of group affiliations and institutional memberships. Yet, Covid19 has demanded we accept that fate in relationship to people with whom we might not have ever cared or considered before now. It forces us to widen the scope of who or what must matter to us. I concur with Indi Samarajiva who argued, “It’s largely white people that won’t wear masks, for reasons of whiteness. If that’s not you then congratulations, welcome to the human race. Be whatever equal identity you want, but white power is out.” The lottery (“will I or wont I get sick?”) of Covid19 that preys CONTINUE READING: Anti-masking: The Subtext of White Privilege and Addictive Thinking – educationalchemy

Emerging consensus about kids and school transmission of covid

Emerging consensus about kids and school transmission of covid

PROOF POINTS: The evolving science of how kids contract and spread coronavirus
Emerging consensus that kids are getting and spreading it has implications for schools

In March 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic erupted in the United States, epidemiological reports circulated that children weren’t getting the virus very often and, when they did, their cases were mild. Four months later, in late July, three important public health studies documented that kids do get sick and are transmitting the virus. 

What this shift in the scientific literature means for opening up schools is still unclear. Parents and educators are confused because they have to deal with scientific progress in real time. This is still a new virus and scientists are just beginning to understand it. 

As an education reporter who covers quantitative research, I began to devour public health studies and try to make sense of them. The first study that caught my attention was on March 16, a day after New York City shut down public schools. The decision in New York was a controversial one. In the second week of March, the city had only a small number of cases and the mayor wanted to keep the schools open. But his public health officials warned about exponential spread. The mayor belatedly acceded to the demands of his health officials and agreed to lockdown the city. 

Yet a March 16 study out of South Korea had me wondering if New York had overreacted. South Korea was initially hard hit by the virus, but early on, fewer than 2 percent of its Covid-19 cases were children.  A study published in the Journal of Korean Medical Science about the first pediatric case in that country determined that a 10-year-old girl probably got it from her mother and uncle at home, not from schoolmates. She had had a mild pneumonia in February and recovered on her own without special treatment. Nonetheless, the medical scientists who wrote the study argued that Korea’s school closures were “justified.” 

By the end of March, school systems around the world had shut down. UNESCO calculated that children were out of school in 193 countries. That’s roughly nine out of 10 students worldwide.  CONTINUE READING: Emerging consensus about kids and school transmission of covid

Yahoo/YouGov Poll: A Quick View of Results Related to Mask Wearing and to K12 Education | deutsch29

Yahoo/YouGov Poll: A Quick View of Results Related to Mask Wearing and to K12 Education | deutsch29

Yahoo/YouGov Poll: A Quick View of Results Related to Mask Wearing and to K12 Education

On July 16, 2020, Yahoo News and YouGov released results of this 159-page poll, conducted on a variety of issues of immediate public concern, including coronavirus, the economy, the direction of the country. Some backgroud on the survey, as reported by Yahoo News:

The Yahoo News survey was conducted by YouGov using a nationally representative sample of 1,504 U.S. adult residents interviewed online between July 11 and 14, 2020. This sample was weighted according to gender, age, race and education, as well as 2016 presidential vote, registration status, geographic region and news interest. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of all U.S residents. The margin of error is approximately 3.2 percent.

Note that a margin of error of 3.2 percent means that the true value of a given finding for the entire population, based on this sample of 1,504 respondents, is likely “give or take 3.2 percent.” (With error larger for items with fewer than 1,504 respondents, though such increased error is not reported.)

Given the extent ot the survey, I have decided to offer overall survey responses for questions focused in two areas: Mask wearing and the return to K12 school during the pandemic.

Space limitations preclude my including response breakdowns according to gender, age, race, political party affiliation, 2020 presidential candidate vote intention (Biden or Trump), residency geography (city, suburb, town, rural), and income. In order to examine such breakdowns of responses, open the survey responses to the page number(s) of interest (which I provide below for each item) to view details.

And now, for the Yahoo News/ YouGov poll overall findings related to mask wearing and K12 education during coronavirus. Item wording and response choices are as they appear in the survey findings report. (Note that there may be some rounding error to percentage totals for  given item and that not all respondents have apparently answered all questions.)

• The U.S. is now reporting about 60,000 new coronavirus cases per day, more than ever before. What is the main reason for this? (1,475 respondents) CONTINUE READING: 
Yahoo/YouGov Poll: A Quick View of Results Related to Mask Wearing and to K12 Education | deutsch29

Mask-to-Mask Instruction May Be More Problematic Than Distance Learning | gadflyonthewallblog

Mask-to-Mask Instruction May Be More Problematic Than Distance Learning | gadflyonthewallblog

Mask-to-Mask Instruction May Be More Problematic Than Distance Learning

People talk about the upcoming school year as if we have a choice between in-person classes or distance learning.

We don’t.

The fact is there will be NO face-to-face learning this year.

Neither in our school buildings or on-line.

No matter which path we choose, we will be teaching behind a mask or behind a computer screen.

There is no middle ground here – nor should there be.

Even if schools try to execute some hybrid model where kids only attend classes in-person two or three days a week and go on-line for the remainder of the time, when they are in the school building everyone will be wearing masks.

And that’s as it should be.

When in a public place during a global pandemic like that of COVID-19, we need to wear face masks to reduce the spread of the disease.

But let’s not pretend this has no side effects.

Social distancing, limited mobility, plexiglass barriers, cleanliness protocols – all CONTINUE READING: Mask-to-Mask Instruction May Be More Problematic Than Distance Learning | gadflyonthewallblog

What Happens When They Don't? - Teacher Habits

What Happens When They Don't? - Teacher Habits

What Happens When They Don’t?

States have finally started to release guidance to school districts for the “safe” reopening of buildings for in-person instruction. My state’s Return to School Roadmap takes a phased approach, with each phase providing guidelines that are either “required,” “strongly recommended” or “recommended.” In Phase 4, some of the requirements are:

“Facial coverings must be worn in classrooms by all students grades 6-12 ” and that “Facial coverings must always be worn by staff except for meals.”

Schools “must cooperate with the local public health department regarding implementing protocols for screening students and staff.”

Schools are also required to “provide adequate supplies to support healthy hygiene behaviors (including soap, hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol for safe use by staff and students, paper towels, tissues, and signs reinforcing proper handwashing techniques).”

The American Academy of Pediatrics’ letter advocating the reopening of in-person learning provides similarly authoritative guidance. It says that,

Bus drivers “should be a minimum of 6 feet from students; drivers CONTINUE READING: What Happens When They Don't? - Teacher Habits

Rule Followers, Unite! And Stay Alive… | Teacher in a strange land

Rule Followers, Unite! And Stay Alive… | Teacher in a strange land

Rule Followers, Unite! And Stay Alive…

Meme wisdom: Those who have stayed inside, worn masks in public, and socially distanced during this entire pandemic are the same people who are used to doing the whole group project by themselves.

Of all the hundreds of things I’ve read about distancing, risk assessment, statistical analyses and their failings, back to school/stay home, and whether masking is really an IQ test—I like this one the best.

Every teacher with a couple years’ experience recognizes those kids: the ones who do what they’re supposed to do, even if it means picking up considerable slack generated by other kids. Community-minded kids are not always academic superstars, by the way—some of those really resent having to share their superior intellectual skills in the service of a good grade for a group. They will let the teacher know that, too.

In my classroom, rule-followers were kids who retrieved the percussion mallets or folders, after class. Students who showed the person next to them the correct fingering—and said ‘good job’ to their stand mate, when they mastered the Ab scale.

After all, we were playing together. Music is not an interpersonal competition—it’s a group project. We need each other. That was the party line in the band room, anyway—and most kids actually believed it and lived it. It didn’t come naturally, however.

The question is: how do cooperative kids get to be that way? What is the secret sauce CONTINUE READING: Rule Followers, Unite! And Stay Alive… | Teacher in a strange land

Mr G. for District 3 ----------------- Chris Guerrieri's Education Matters: DCPS looking to spend millions on plastic shields, masks still optional. (draft)

Mr G. for District 3 ----------------- Chris Guerrieri's Education Matters: DCPS looking to spend millions on plastic shields, masks still optional. (draft)

DCPS looking to spend millions on plastic shields, masks still optional. (draft)

You know for years I have been advocating for later start times for high schools. The science is pretty clear that high school kids should start later in the day.

https://www.cdc.gov/features/school-start-times/index.

The district always replies we can't afford it because of magnet school busing. Buses rum multiple routes for multiple schools and we would need a lot more buses and that would cost a lot more money.

Well friends I believe we can throw that excuse out the window and I think I have figured out where we can get the money.

Grumpy Educator has shared and invoice of the districts plan to buy Plexiglas shields and friends they going to run the district in the millions to buy.

https://duvalcosb.civicclerk.com/Web/GenFile.aspx?ad=18202&fbclid=IwAR3jhAlliACq-Ec4TQDlA8tTUHZg4FFp0RK9KlDKYJh4C35SrXR2_GmPQtE

Listen I am torn on this. I don't think the Plexiglas shields would hurt and I think they would help with slowing the spread of the disease. That being said it's millions for something if we are lucky we won't need much past Christmas or beyond this year.

Then think about this, the district is willing to spend millions on screens but shrugs their shoulders at masks. This despite the CDC and the Florida health department practically begging us to make them mandatory.

This is what I think we need to do and for those of you that disagree with me, cool, share your ideas, I  would CONTINUE READING: Mr G. for District 3 ----------------- Chris Guerrieri's Education Matters: DCPS looking to spend millions on plastic shields, masks still optional. (draft)

SSO COVID-19 Protective Mask Supply Survey - Nutrition (CA Dept of Education)

SSO COVID-19 Protective Mask Supply Survey - Nutrition (CA Dept of Education)

SSO COVID-19 Protective Mask Supply Survey

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Main Web Page

This is the second survey being sent to our Seamless Summer Option (SSO) sponsors in order to assist our sponsoring agencies who are serving their community during the 2020 summer season. The California Department of Education (CDE) Nutrition Services Division is assessing the protective mask needs for SSO program operators who will be providing meals this summer.

The CDE wants to provide every opportunity for you to receive the protective masks you need as soon as possible, so please complete the survey by Friday, June 26, 2020. You are required to answer all questions in this survey unless they are noted as optional.

The survey is available at the CDE COVID-19 Protective Mask Supply Survey web page.

After completing the survey, you will receive an email confirmation.

For more comprehensive COVID-19 guidance, please visit the CDE School and Child and Adult Day Care Meals web page.

Contact Information

If you have any questions regarding this message, please contact Sean Hardin, Staff Services Manager II, by email at shardin@cde.ca.gov, or by phone at 916-323-7175.

Questions:   Nutrition Services Division | 800-952-5609

SSO COVID-19 Protective Mask Supply Survey - Nutrition (CA Dept of Education)

Teacher Ponders Risk Of Return To Work While Being Paid Less Than Unemployment : NPR

Teacher Ponders Risk Of Return To Work While Being Paid Less Than Unemployment : NPR

A Teacher Ponders Risk Of Returning To Work While Being Paid Less Than Unemployment

Lainy Morse is an essential worker who has been out of work since the middle of March.

She teaches preschool and ordinarily provides a vital service for working parents.

"Without us, moms [mostly] can't go back to work," Morse says.

Lainy Morse shows students Wesley Schmidt and Celeste Abraldes a bearded dragon in a photo taken when school was open.

Lainy Morse

The Portland, Ore., school where she works is temporarily closed but may reopen as an emergency child care center. Morse dreads the idea of going back to a classroom filled with 2-year-olds who don't understand hand-washing, let alone social distancing.

"They always have snotty faces," Morse says kindly, noting that many of her students also spend time with elderly grandparents. "It just feels like an epicenter for spreading disease. And it feels really scary to go back to that."

Morse has considered working temporarily as a nanny, where at least she could limit her exposure to a single family.

FACES OF THE CORONAVIRUS RECESSION

Jobs lost. Businesses in peril. Meetings gone virtual. Faces of the Coronavirus Recession offers snapshots of working lives upended by the pandemic.

For now, she's staying home, grateful for the extra $600 a week in unemployment insurance that the federal government is offering during the pandemic.

"Without that, our family would not be making it right now," she says.

Because preschool teachers are "chronically underpaid," Morse says, unemployment benefits add up to about $500 a month more than she made when she was working.

"That's two weeks of groceries," she says. And that complicates the idea of going back CONTINUE READING: Teacher Ponders Risk Of Return To Work While Being Paid Less Than Unemployment : NPR