The coming School Year 2020-21

    Because of the spike in covid infections in my county, the new school year will start with the distance learning model. Schools in my state can apply for a waiver so that K - 3 students can have face to face instruction in a classroom.  Meanwhile, in San Diego, a conservative group is suing the governor over his closing the schools to prevent the spread of the virus. Either they don't have children or they just don't care about the health of others. 

    The textbook I use for instruction is 100% online, so the distance teaching thing will not be that much of a change, but classroom management, you know, attendance, grades, that sort of thing, might become a challenge. 

    Teachers will have the option of teaching from home, from the classroom or both. That is a good idea. Zoom will most likely be the platform of choice for 6 through 12 teachers and Google Meet for the others not teaching face to face. 

    The pandemic is forcing change, new ways of thinking about work, school and leisure are surfacing, the nature of interpersonal relationships is changing. The paradigm shift is in full swing.

I think, despite the politicization of the situation, good will come out of the suffering so many are going through.   

2020 - Yikes!!

    Well now. It's been three years since I have posted anything. My how time flies. This pandemic has really changed everything. More stay at home time, more eating, less exercise, more anxiety and stress. The every other day grocery shopping trip is now a big deal. It's the only time I get to be around other live human beings. In our state the Governor finally made it clear that schools will not open for face to face instruction in the counties that have covid spikes... and my county is one of those with increasing infections. Looks like distance learning for the time being, at least until Winter break.  

    Who would have thought that 2020 would be the year that a paradigm shift would be happening. Government Homeland Security police being turned into SS troops. A pandemic so badly handled by the president that the US is looked down on and pitied by countries that use to hold the United States in high esteem. Thousands of people dead, thousands more ill from covid19, supplies for testing, and keeping people alive are almost non-existent. There are more items that could be added to this list, but  thinking about them is making me really upset. 

    Today is a shopping day.... so that's a good thing. Supposed to be sunny and warm today (weatherspeak for hotter than hell) 

    Make sure that you are registered to VOTE.

Later

6/2017

What a year. Had a total hip replacement procedure. What a difference that made, but I developed an infection at the incision site and am now on antibiotics and have a wound vacuum to help clear things up. Its like being on house arrest. You can't go anywhere, and you have to take sponge baths because the wound vacuum can't get wet. Hopefully this will be over in a week or two. Till next time.... 

Man, where has the time gone? Since I last posted here, the city has paved many of the roads, instituted a water rationing scheme and school has started. It blows my mind that in less than 150 school days my charges will be in high school. Another post when I get a chance.

Oh well.

This summer is not turning out be as great as I had hoped. The student loan issue, the trial in Florida, the horrible events in my school district, the fire behind Hemet that is burning towards Palm Springs. More later.  

6 weeks to go!

We are on the final weeks of the school year. Hard to beleive how fast this year has gone by. STAR testing starts next week for my school. The kids seem ready for that massive interruption of their education. They are so tested out they really don't care that these tests determine what will happen to them in school for the next 4 years.
This week marks the 30th anniversary of the release of "A Nation at Risk", the report that started all of this testing stuff. This report had no data to back up its claims and it was created during the time of trickle down economics. That alone should indicate that it was most likely an attempt to disguise the fact that the economy was tanking and a scapegoat was needed.

Reality based food shows.... seriously????

The cooking channel, that Scripps-Howard cable TV network property, must be running out of things to broadcast. Extra Virgin, a show about the ups and downs of an Italian farm boy who marries an actress from New Jersey. Vapid is the only word I can use describe this program. Who cares if she is learning how to pluck a chicken or milk a goat while having perfect makeup, and dressed to the nines? One more reason not to watch too much TV. If I must... I use the DVR and edit what I subject myself to.