Second Semester 2020/21 School Year

Larry Walker24 said:So, are we supposed to go online for a whole week right after the holiday break?

No, definitely not!!
nimbleranger17 mentioned that it’s almost certain he’ll be away—apparently, he has some prior commitment regarding a lecture or presentation.

Well, we ended up giving the school and the professor another call today; since it’s just the first week back after the break, we’re stuck running those lectures as outside consultants all week long, just like usual. Everything is proceeding exactly as expected, I suppose.

It seems like people only start talking about switching to the C-model when everyone finally agrees that things have gone south.

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Calling something a "bad situation" doesn't actually mean anything at all, really. It's entirely subjective, isn't it? One person might look at a figure of 1,000 daily infections and decide that's where the crisis begins, while someone else—perhaps more pessimistic or just differently calibrated—might not start sweating until they hit 10,000.

So, a buddy of mine has a daughter working as a preschool teacher, and apparently, the bug is tearing through that place like wildfire—half the teachers and cleaning staff are already down for the count.

On top of that, she’s got five grandkids, so now it’s basically a domino effect hitting multiple households since the kids are bouncing between all their grandparents. We're looking at maybe 15 adults confirmed sick at this point. Most of them are just dealing with mild symptoms, though losing your sense of smell seems to be the standard deal now. My friend mentioned he was stuck with some pretty nasty headaches for a couple of days, too.

nimbleranger17 said:Well, we ended up giving the school and the professor another call today; since it’s just the first week back after the break, we’re stuck running those lectures as outside consultants all week long, just like usual. Everything is proceeding exactly as expected, I suppose.

The professor is basically just winging it because she doesn't really have a clue what things will look like two weeks from now, so I suppose you should take any arrangements they make with a grain of salt.😉
(and honestly, it’s kind of cutting corners—having outside lecturers come in right in the middle of a pandemic isn't exactly textbook protocol)

nimbleranger17 said:Calling something a "bad situation" doesn't actually mean anything at all, really. It's entirely subjective, isn't it? One person might look at a figure of 1,000 daily infections and decide that's where the crisis begins, while someone else—perhaps more pessimistic or just differently calibrated—might not start sweating until they hit 10,000.

Does either scenario just seem totally fine to you?

driftingtinker said:So, a buddy of mine has a daughter working as a preschool teacher, and apparently, the bug is tearing through that place like wildfire—half the teachers and cleaning staff are already down for the count.

On top of that, she’s got five grandkids, so now it’s basically a domino effect hitting multiple households since the kids are bouncing between all their grandparents. We're looking at maybe 15 adults confirmed sick at this point. Most of them are just dealing with mild symptoms, though losing your sense of smell seems to be the standard deal now. My friend mentioned he was stuck with some pretty nasty headaches for a couple of days, too.

Good grief, driftingtinker.
I mean, I highly doubt they all caught it just sitting around a preschool; I guess they must be out hitting up weddings and funerals or something.🙂

A teacher’s true north should always be the students—they actually want to impart something meaningful, something that sticks, rather than just watching kids rot in front of a screen at home all day. Honestly, if we had even a fraction more educators with that kind of drive, instead of those burnt-out bureaucrats who are just counting down the minutes until they can dismiss the class and go home themselves, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess.

🤦

And I’m pretty sure the professor didn't say that if we switch to remote learning—that lecture MIGHT be online?

☕

Paul Kern12 said:No, definitely not!!
nimbleranger17 mentioned that it’s almost certain he’ll be away—apparently, he has some prior commitment regarding a lecture or presentation.

I nearly choked on my coffee reading that... 😁

Robert Hernandez11 said:🤦

And I’m pretty sure the professor didn't say that if we switch to remote learning—that lecture MIGHT be online?

☕

No. I was quite adamant about this; I insisted that my lectures must be conducted in person, otherwise, you simply won't see me standing at the lectern.

Back when we were hashing out the syllabus just two months ago, I made it crystal clear: if this all shifts to some digital void, I'm out, and we'll just wait until things return to a physical classroom setting. The professor actually agreed with me—she even remarked that she'd much prefer the face-to-face approach because, let's be honest, nobody listens to a word you say through a screen, and engagement goes straight out the window. But frankly, I couldn't care less about convenience; I have a genuine desire to actually impart knowledge to these students, not just mumble through a webcam and rush home to catch the evening news.

Aha.
Besides, live sessions are actually worth listening to. You don’t have anyone just staring blankly at a wall or out a window while it's happening.
And this whole idea of "imparting knowledge" is something I can't even wrap my head around. If someone wants to sit through a lecture, they’re going to pay attention whether they're sitting in a hall or watching online.
Someone please enlighten me on how a lecture delivered in person somehow "gives" you better knowledge than an online one—because I honestly don't see it.

I’m being very deliberate about using the word lecture here. We aren't talking about a hands-on workshop or practical exercises...☕

I really hope you aren't in the teaching profession, because if you can't grasp the fundamental distinction between a live, in-person lecture and an online one, we might have a serious problem on our hands.

nimbleranger17 said:I really hope you aren't in the teaching profession, because if you can't grasp the fundamental distinction between a live, in-person lecture and an online one, we might have a serious problem on our hands.

Look, I know the difference, and I'm well aware of the pros and cons of both formats.
It’s never just black and white.

Personally, I’ve sat through some incredible online lectures—and plenty of absolutely soul-crushing in-person ones. Too many times, actually.
☕

Robert Hernandez11 said:Aha.
Besides, live sessions are actually worth listening to. You don’t have anyone just staring blankly at a wall or out a window while it's happening.
And this whole idea of "imparting knowledge" is something I can't even wrap my head around. If someone wants to sit through a lecture, they’re going to pay attention whether they're sitting in a hall or watching online.
Someone please enlighten me on how a lecture delivered in person somehow "gives" you better knowledge than an online one—because I honestly don't see it.

I’m being very deliberate about using the word lecture here. We aren't talking about a hands-on workshop or practical exercises...☕

https://www.nytimes.com/news/education/value-of-in-person-learning-article-link

I wasn't talking about remote schooling at all.
I was specifically referring to online lectures.

And I bolded that term on purpose.

☕

I run my lectures as fully interactive, live sessions. I’m talking about kids who actually participate, earning little rewards along the way, tackling these constant mini-challenges tied directly to the material I'm covering—I weave them into the fabric of the lesson so that the second they grasp a concept, it's already firing those neural pathways and sticking in their brains.

It’s not as if I’m some indifferent bystander who just drones on with my own agenda and rushes home at the bell. Far from it. My classroom is a two-way street; whether we're diving into mechanics or history, I pull them right into the fray. I’ve developed several effective methods that most students latch onto immediately, finding that this kind of back-and-forth engagement makes learning something entirely new feel less like a chore and more like an actual experience.

My classes aren't those dry, soul-crushing lectures where a professor just talks *at* a room full of zombies without glancing their way once. Honestly, if you think online teaching is identical to in-person instruction, you're probably just lecturing in that same stale, one-sided way yourself. In my world, the two couldn't be further apart.

Look, I don't work in the school system

Robert Hernandez11 said:Look, I know the difference, and I'm well aware of the pros and cons of both formats.
It’s never just black and white.

Personally, I’ve sat through some incredible online lectures—and plenty of absolutely soul-crushing in-person ones. Too many times, actually.
☕

I'm right there with you.
Personally, I’ll always pick an in-person seminar over a webinar. Even if it means driving halfway across the state or shelling out extra cash for a hotel room nearby, it's worth it to me.

To me, the big difference is that human connection. There's just no substitute for eye contact versus staring at a computer screen.
Even when things are pretty passive—like when a professor is just reading off slides—it still feels more present.

Robert Hernandez11 said:Look, I don't work in the school system

Oh, well, best of luck to you 🎉
...

Austin Garcia said:Oh, well, best of luck to you 🎉
...

What a completely useless comment.
What exactly gave you that idea? Based on literally two posts of mine?
And what am I supposed to say to that?
I really hope you aren't working in customer service. 🤔

... Regarding my previous points—we aren't talking about remote learning here, we're talking about an in-person lecture at a school where some instructor is digging their heels in, insisting it has to be live because they claim "nothing beats being there in person compared to the online version"...

Total overthinking.☕