I don't understand why blended learning/part time schooling would work

[Whatchasayin]

I thought the argument for not returning to school before the summer was that even with half the class in it was still impossible to social distance the DC and teachers. Our primary only managed 8 DC in a classroom in June. My DCs school has smaller rooms than that so could presumably fit less in. When my year 10 went in for a few days there were 6 in his group to ensure no close contact and they all had to sit on their own table in the hall at lunch. How do you envisage part time schooling being possible at all?

And yet almost identical to what another poster was claiming teachers say yesterday. Is it from a script?

If you support schools being open no matter what, would you also support regular testing of all staff and pupils? I think that would be a big help.

@noblegiraffe

And yet almost identical to what another poster was claiming teachers say yesterday. Is it from a script?

What are you on about?

To answer the OP's original questions - my kids are doing blended learning. We have 2000 students in our school system. So far we've had 1 positive case, and 15 students have had to isolate.

We're in a US state that gives all students and teachers a laptop or similar device. They also have a Apple TV in each room so they can project the laptop onto a screen. Technology is vital to make blended learning work.

Some students choose to be all-online.

Half the remaining students are in school Mon and Thurs. The other half are in Tues and Fri. No one is in Wed - this is when the school is deep cleaned.

This means less than half of students are in a classroom at any one time. Everyone wears a mask, and they stay 3 feet apart.

At lunch they sit 6 feet apart then can remove masks to eat. They can also remove masks if they're outside.

Students at home attend the same classes as those in school via their laptops using Google Meet. Attendance is taken at the beginning of each class. Homework is submitted online and marked.

Some teachers work from home because they are vulnerable - in those cases their classes are managed by a TA, and the teacher's laptop/webcam is projected via the laptop.

They've been doing this since early Sept and it is hard work but going OK.

The expectation is that everyone will take exams as usual when they are due.

They all also did online school from about 4 days after lockdown started until the summer holiday, so learning from home is pretty second nature to them.

For those who have younger children with two working parents, they've done things like set up childcare pods with other families, use wraparound care, get family help, take leave of absence from work, work from home, etc.

It's not as good as being able to go to school as normal, but it's helped us keep our infection rates very low, which means that life in general can go on - doctors, dentist, opticians, hairdressers, restaurants, shops etc are all open.

The goal of our state is to keep infection rates low and managed, rather than eliminate Covid altogether.

@HoldMyLobster exactly what the UK government should have sorted back in the summer ready for September.
I also think pupils need to become more responsible for their own learning. Far too many including my own expect to be fed the information,behave in class, do what’s expected but aren’t “learning”. Pupils need to develop skills and ability to be doing something about it if they don’t get something eg DS sat through 5 chemistry lessons on ionic bonding, taken all the notes,drawn all the pictures does he get it? No! What’s he doing about it? Not a lot! This is where our pupils differ vastly to others around the world. Online learning would provide pupils with opportunities to develop such skills-or be left behind. After half term DS school is ready to deliver all classes remotely or in person at same time. There is a reduction in number of pupils in school too. All lessons will be stored on the platform for pupils to re watch if they don’t understand.

It's not as good as being able to go to school as normal, but it's helped us keep our infection rates very low, which means that life in general can go on - doctors, dentist, opticians, hairdressers, restaurants, shops etc are all open.

I think many societies would prefer to keep schools open but make sacrifices by closing hairdressers, restaurants, shops because our kids' education is more important.

We're in a US state that gives all students and teachers a laptop or similar device. They also have a Apple TV in each room so they can project the laptop onto a screen. Technology is vital to make blended learning work.

Is that a state or private school?

@CKBJ - what skills would students needs to learn to be responsible for their own learning? Googling? It's a genuine question as my DD really struggled to learn at home from the powerpoints that were sent through from school during lockdown. In school she's that annoying pupil who asks questions in class, she not one to just sit quietly talking notes. When she went back to school for a few days before the summer holiday they were short on teachers so she was in one classroom with a TA while the teacher was steamed from the next door classroom. DD had questions which needed to be answered by the teacher, but the TA told DD to be quiet (understandably given the situation). But DD needs a real life human person to teach her, she's a long way from having the skills of a university student who has the ability to learn by themselves from text.

@LynetteScavo that’s great your DD asks questions to consolidate her understanding. Wish mine would! On the learning platforms at my DS school these questions could still be asked by the pupil (either written and posted or spoken) and answered by the teacher (either personal message or to whole class). The skill to develop I believe would be independence. Rather than asking,finding the answer for oneself from at least 3 reliable resources. One of those sources could be the teacher. With internet access this should be achievable. In UK it is always deemed not appropriate to do this until university but why? Our pupils would be so much more prepared for learning if it was encouraged all through education.

Schools won’t blanket close. Thankfully.

I’m in NW in a very high risk area. We’re on to our second week of half term and just received a school email saying some one within the school has had a positive test. Luckily we had already broken up. That’s the only case we have had.

The school are fantastic, every one has a temp check and anti bac hand wash on entry to the school and all parents have to wear masks at pick up.

This is why you can’t do a blanket school closure. Some schools are just not as effected as other schools are

@sonnenscheins

We're in a US state that gives all students and teachers a laptop or similar device. They also have a Apple TV in each room so they can project the laptop onto a screen. Technology is vital to make blended learning work.

Is that a state or private school?

State schools.

All schools in my state have done similar. They've all used technology to be able to do online or hybrid schooling.

@sonnenscheins

It's not as good as being able to go to school as normal, but it's helped us keep our infection rates very low, which means that life in general can go on - doctors, dentist, opticians, hairdressers, restaurants, shops etc are all open.

I think many societies would prefer to keep schools open but make sacrifices by closing hairdressers, restaurants, shops because our kids' education is more important.

...and in fact my state did close those well before the UK did.

We also opened more slowly and carefully than the UK, which helped keep Covid cases down. No 'Eat Out to Help Out' ridiculousness driving infections back up. Our bars only just reopened recently, and will close again if it appears to be causing an increase in infections.

But for now we've found a way to keep hairdressers, restaurants, and shops open while also providing students with an education.

Our economy is no longer tanking, we can see our doctors/dentists/opticians, we can take care of our vulnerable loved ones without putting them at risk.

No one's having to choose between one or the other.

[quote CKBJ]@HoldMyLobster exactly what the UK government should have sorted back in the summer ready for September.
I also think pupils need to become more responsible for their own learning. Far too many including my own expect to be fed the information,behave in class, do what’s expected but aren’t “learning”. Pupils need to develop skills and ability to be doing something about it if they don’t get something eg DS sat through 5 chemistry lessons on ionic bonding, taken all the notes,drawn all the pictures does he get it? No! What’s he doing about it? Not a lot! This is where our pupils differ vastly to others around the world. Online learning would provide pupils with opportunities to develop such skills-or be left behind. After half term DS school is ready to deliver all classes remotely or in person at same time. There is a reduction in number of pupils in school too. All lessons will be stored on the platform for pupils to re watch if they don’t understand.[/quote]
Interesting - I worked in sales training a few years ago. One of our principles was that rather than teaching them to remember everything, it's more effective to teach them how to quickly find the information they need when they can't remember everything, and provide them with the technology they need to do so.

I enjoyed that job - learnt a lot from it.

No one's having to choose between one or the other.

Well that's great if all children and working parents are happy with online learning and great that all classrooms were given Apple TV's!