Posts by urbantinker8

Sarah Hall53 said:My absolute favorite thing is when someone tries to sell me on the whole "flipped classroom" concept.
The idea is that students do all the reading at home—actually putting in the effort to grasp the material—and finish their prep work beforehand.
Then you show up to class, and sure enough, maybe five kids actually did it, while fifteen didn't... so now you’ve got a flip-off classroom. Basically, it's just flipping the burden onto you, because now you're stuck improvising everything since those fifteen kids don't have the basic foundation needed to even touch the advanced stuff you planned.

Honestly, it's just nonsense.
I knew right away it wouldn't last even a single school year, and I suppose I should be thankful it didn't.
All that's left now is just some useless bureaucratic paperwork and all that ridiculous jargon; paper can handle just about anything, so none of it really affects me anymore, I guess.

hiddendriver34 said:Look, that history teacher of yours would get absolutely roasted by modern standards. The whole philosophy now is that "the student needs to be active and at the heart of the learning process," but in her classroom, she’s the one running the show while the kids just sit there like statues.

It’s honestly like when you're making lunch for a kid. You do all the heavy lifting, you cook the meal, and they just sit there and eat it. But suddenly, everyone expects the kid to cook the whole thing themselves—except you're still standing right over their shoulder, micromanaging every single move, showing them how to peel a potato when they've never even touched one before (even though we both know it would be ten times faster if you just did it yourself).

Does anyone actually still buy into those brilliant "school for life" philosophies?🙄 🤦
Honestly, you can't really pull that off with most college students these days, so I guess it's probably even more impossible with middle or high schoolers.

Susan Martin4 said:So I guess my only option is to argue with some CDC expert.
Or just tell them kids aren't hanging out anymore and send my son to school anyway.

Well, I kind of suspect that even a public health official wouldn't phrase things quite the way she did to you.

Susan Martin4 said:Here’s the deal

The kid has to be kept separate from everyone else in the house, which—let's face it—is pretty much impossible in a place like this.
If the test comes back positive, we’ll get an official notice from the CDC detailing the requirements. We just follow whatever orders the health officials hand down.

That isn't really true, not even close.
that rule applies to people who are actually infected, rather than those who are just quarantining.

Susan Martin4 said:We have a notice posted on the daycare website 😬 but there isn't an official signature from a health officer.

First thing I'm doing is emailing the head of the health department—the one who talks to the state epidemiologist—to demand why a secondary contact is barred from daycare.
By that same logic, neither my husband nor I should even show up to work, right? (I mean, okay, we're vaccinated, but if we weren't...)

At that point, it feels more like some individual's personal lapse in judgment rather than actual policy from the health directors.
so, honestly, I'd just ignore it.☕

Susan Martin4 said:Here’s the play-by-play:
1. Email one: The kid in daycare is likely positive since there are symptoms and a parent tested positive. They're testing tomorrow. But the kids aren't allowed in daycare tomorrow. If the test comes back positive, we get a formal notice about sick leave, which lasts until September 30th.
2. Email two: The epidemiologist writes in stating siblings can't attend school or daycare either.
3. Email three: Suddenly, siblings *can* go to school or daycare tomorrow, but if the kids officially get put on sick leave, then they're barred again.

Total chaos. Just pure chaos.

Look, this might sound a bit ridiculous, but it actually buys you some time.
Basically, your little one can just head off to school tomorrow like everything is totally normal, and while that's happening, you could reach out to the local health department official to ask exactly when a contact of a contact is supposed to start their quarantine and why. You could try asking them to put it in writing.
Because, honestly, if everyone actually followed these rules, we'd all just be doing remote learning all the time, since the logic seems pretty nonsensical to me.
I suspect, though, they probably won't give you a formal written answer that would actually put your mind at ease.

Austin Garcia said:Your doctor didn't actually give you the green light given your health history, yet you decided to go through with it anyway, which makes you such a wonderful role model to follow...

I don't recall ever suggesting that people living with chronic conditions should just blindly mimic my choices without checking in with their own physicians first, if that's what you're implying.
🤦
Could someone please grab me a quote?
(Though maybe one that actually proves a point, rather than this one right here)

Susan Martin4 said:I’m honestly debating whether I should reach out to some epidemiologists just to get a few perspectives on this. I touched on this in another thread, but here we go: under our current rules, if one kid in the house is in isolation, the siblings aren't allowed in school or daycare—unless you can prove there was zero contact at home, which we all know is a total fantasy.
So, my little guy is basically being barred from class even though his sister is perfectly healthy, meaning he’s losing eight whole days of school. If she stays fine, he’s essentially lost those days for nothing. It feels so pointless. He just started first grade, and now he’s just stuck sitting at home for no reason.

I’m genuinely curious how his teacher is going to react. I guess I’ll just be playing teacher myself, trying to keep up with the curriculum and emailing over his assignments so he isn't completely falling behind.

Wait, so they didn't even send you a formal decision saying he could attend?🤔
It definitely wasn't like this last year, so maybe you should go ahead and contact the health department and explain how ridiculous this situation is.
It doesn't seem right for a first grader to be stuck doing remote learning when there hasn't even been any close contact, just contact with someone who is currently healthy.🤷

Chloe Sanchez said:Just say: "I want everyone vaccinated because my COVID pass expires in a few months, and if I don't get a booster, I'll be in the same boat as those anti-vaxxers who haven't taken a single shot."

👍

I'm honestly not quite sure why I've become the center of attention here, though I suppose I clearly have quite a dedicated following, 🤣🤣

No, I don't think I'll ever be lumped in with the anti-vaxxers, really; I've done my part without needing some doctor to give me the green light, and my own personal health situation is such that I just don't see myself getting another shot, at least not anytime soon, I guess.

It isn't that I'm refusing the vaccine because I believe in microchips, or conspiracies about certain lifestyles, or unicorns, much like that lovely little group of people with those weirdly intense expressions I saw down at the town square yesterday.🙂

Linda Lee4 said:hmm

😵😵😵

🤣

What exactly are you trying to prove with these quotes of yours?🤔
I mean, I'm not exactly worried about COVID, whether it’s before or after getting vaccinated, I guess.
To be fair, I did deal with some pretty nasty side effects from the shot because of my chronic health issues, so I don't really see myself getting another one anytime soon.

Your trolling is kind of a waste of breath, honestly.
🤦

mellowskipper said:If they announced tomorrow that all the restrictions were officially over and we could go back to business as usual—would you actually be fine with that? Or would you still be looking over your shoulder at the unvaccinated?
I get the impression that vaccinated people are actually terrified of those who haven't taken the shot. It’s almost like we’re being treated as if we’re the ones at fault...

Personally, I wasn't really feeling much fear before the shots, and I don't feel any more now.
I wouldn't say it's that the vaccinated crowd is "afraid" of you guys, per se, but rather that you just seem to get under their skin.
Maybe if I had to guess, it feels more like you all are just struggling to deal with a bit of lingering guilt.🤷

Linda Lee4 said:You're barking at the wrong crowd, because it's the politicians, not the people, who are keeping us from getting back to normal...

but then again, politics is made up of people, isn't it?
I suppose some folks do it as a career, while others just sort of dabble in it during their downtime.

Alex Morales47 said:So why are you acting so terrified then—and why the hostility toward people who aren't?

I wouldn't say I'm acting out of fear, really.
I suppose I just find myself frustrated with the people making it impossible for us to actually get back to some semblance of normalcy.

coastalorca43 said:Hold on, are you actually suggesting I'm making things up?
It's pretty clear from the text that the principal is complaining about the administrative workload and the extra tasks being piled on.

By the way, you completely missed my main point, which is how the contact tracing isn't even decided by the actual epidemiologists—it's handled by school bureaucrats who just compile reports for them.
And they aren't looking at individual close contacts; they're looking at who has or hasn't had a vaccine pass, which the epidemiologists then use as their baseline criteria for determining exposure.
They aren't following standard contact tracing protocols where individual proximity is assessed; instead, simply being in a certain classroom without having a valid vaccination status for a 14-day period is enough to trigger the whole thing.

No, I'm not saying you're making anything up.
It's just, unfortunately, how things work in this country.
All those psychologists, counselors, specialists... in our schools, they seem to spend most of their time dealing with paperwork. So, I suppose it isn't really surprising that they were so quick to jump into the administrative task of listing students for quarantine. Just give them as many reports to fill out as possible, as long as it means they don't have to do the actual job they were hired for.🎉

OutOfBubblegum said:The homeroom teachers are gathering all this data on COVID vaccination status because apparently the school counselor needs it to put together a report for the local health department official.

aha.
I guess school counselors can never really have enough paperwork or bureaucracy to keep them busy, right?🎉

lujka_x said:There’s just no escaping it... you're basically surrounded by a sea of unvaccinated people.

I think I might have a chance.
I mean, I went ahead and got my shot. 🥳

hiddendriver34 said:The restrictions are staying in place because of the unvaccinated—regardless of how anyone feels about that logic.

The unvaccinated crowd loves to say, "Hey, you don't need to protect us," but let's look at the big picture: what happens if the healthcare system actually collapses? What if people are literally dying at the door because there isn't a single hospital bed left? That hasn't happened yet—and honestly, it won't—but if we scrap all the rules right now, we’re dancing on the edge of that cliff. Our healthcare system is already struggling as it is. We aren't Denmark. For context, about 95% of seniors over 80 in Denmark are vaccinated. Here in the States, we're seeing much different numbers in certain areas.

Now, look, personally? I’m all for reopening. I couldn't care less. If those old folks want to kick the bucket, that's on them. I'm exhausted from everyone constantly demanding we shield them. (I know, I know, urbantinker8 is probably going to jump down my throat for being "politically incorrect" again 😁).

But I totally get why Andrej Plenković is sticking to these measures. If the hospitals go under, they lose the election. And let's be real: losing an election is a way bigger headache than losing lives.

I won't jump down your throat, but that's just really ugly phrasing for a quote.
I don't wish for anyone to "pass on," whether they've had their shots or not.

Alex Morales47 said:But then, how do you account for the fact that the exact same situation is playing out in countries where the vast majority of people actually *did* view it as a perfectly logical and reasonable decision?

I wouldn't go so far as to say the situation is "identical."

Austin Garcia said:If you don't feel any safer from the virus, what was the motivation behind getting vaccinated in the first place? If you're still just as worried about ending up on a ventilator, then perhaps the only thing the shot actually added was more anxiety over potential side effects...

I mean, they tell us we still need to wear N95 masks and keep sanitizing everything, but if being vaccinated doesn't provide a real sense of security, then what was the whole point of doing it...

I suppose I got vaccinated in the hope that most people would see it as a logical, sensible decision during these crazy "new normal" times we've found ourselves in.
I went ahead with it because my daily life involves being in contact with hundreds of people for hours at a time.
I chose to get the shot mainly to minimize my chances of catching a severe case of the illness.

But I guess I'm not entirely certain, mostly because I'm still interacting daily with hundreds of unvaccinated people, which means I might still end up bringing this virus home to my unvaccinated kids. And please, don't start with the whole "but kids have mild symptoms" argument, because I really don't care about that—I just don't want my children to get sick. Period.
I'm uncertain because, honestly, it seems like there isn't much clear information out there regarding how long immunity lasts for those who were vaccinated.
And I'm also uneasy because, thanks to a massive crowd of unvaccinated fools who had the option but passed on it, we're basically leaving the door wide open for new variants—variants that my two doses might not even protect me against.

Hannah Stewart said:I have a question for my fellow vaccinated teachers and professors: do you feel any more secure as we kick off this new school year? Specifically, do you actually trust the vaccine to shield you from catching something while you're on the job? Does knowing there’s a much lower chance of you passing anything along to your colleagues—especially the older faculty members—make you feel more at ease? Also, how would you feel about students or undergrads going maskless during class if everyone could prove they were vaccinated? Does a student's vaccination status even matter to you? Would you prefer if everyone just dropped the masks, or would you rather everyone keep them on regardless of their status? Honestly, once you've had your shots, does any of this even weigh on your mind? 😁

Personally, I find myself feeling somewhat indifferent. It has been quite a while since I received my second dose—so long, in fact, that I almost forgot I even had it—so I don't exactly feel "super-protected" or anything. I haven't changed my habits much; I'm still being cautious just as I was before, and I plan to keep it that way as the semester begins. I share an office with some of the senior professors; though I'm more of an outside contractor, I still feel a sense of responsibility because, I suppose, I'm not entirely sure how much weight to give the data suggesting that vaccinated people spread the virus less frequently. As for the students' status, I really don't lose any sleep over it. We'll stick to social distancing and masks, and frankly, I was never particularly worried about catching something before, so I'm even less concerned now. It seems a bit silly to me to start questioning whether students are vaccinated or have already recovered just to sort them into seminar groups (even though the Department has left that option open). I don't think those kinds of measures are necessary, and it would be absolute chaos to overhaul the existing schedules just to form new groupings.

All in all, it looks like we’re just going to carry on as usual, following the same routine we've used for physical education classes throughout the pandemic—distancing, masks, hand sanitizer, and frantic ventilation until we're all shivering from the drafts. It’s hardly ideal when we end up freezing our heads off just to keep the air moving! 😬

I don't really feel any more secure than I did last year, I guess.
I've had both doses. I still wear a mask at school, in the grocery store, on public transit, and so on.
Personally, I think we should probably all stick to wearing masks while the numbers are still all over the place.
As for those COVID-19 vaccination cards, they seem a bit silly to me; they feel like an administrative category with an expiration date, and I'm not really sure what to make of how long immunity actually lasts since every state seems to be running its own show with policy.🙄
I don't have any intention of getting a third or eighth dose.
I don't have a cabinet.😁

William Barrett7 said:A two-minute walk down the hallway somehow morphs into six hours of being stuck in class. It’s funny how that works, right? If there's one thing we've actually managed to learn over the last 18 months, it's that restrictions only ever seem to pile up—they never actually scale back.

So maybe we should all just lean into being completely unrefined and act like a bunch of low-rent grease monkeys.🎉