Why are many teachers concerned? A thread:
omny.fm/shows/ryan-jes…
We agree.
Emergency remote learning was hard. Intentional online learning is better, but there's no substitute for butts in seats. Let's move on.
In almost all cases, social distancing is not possible.
I'm not sure how this environment is different than the social gatherings at the heart of clusters of cases.
Yes the flu kills people - in the US, 34k people last year. We're 8 months into 2020 and COVID has killed 5x that many.
It's not the flu.
I am hesitant to overlook the potential long-term effects of this disease - there is a lot we don't know yet about this disease.
No. They are experts, and they know what they're doing.
But their advice is coloured by their experience in health care - where working/environmental conditions, training and PPE are of a different caliber.
They aren't teachers.
We want to go back. We want to welcome students back and do our best for them.
But we're worried - because it doesn't feel safe.
We want your families to be safe.
We want to be safe ourselves.
We want our families to be safe.
What can we accomplish at this point?
Distancing: We need to reduce class sizes. Give boards the money to split bigger classes and properly support online students.
Training: Train staff on PPE use, what should we be using and when.
Because if we can't?
Outbreaks will mean isolation of classes, or closure of schools.
And this will mean kids at home - unexpectedly. And teachers teaching online - unexpectedly.
That didn't go so well last time.
Help us to re-open schools in a sustainable way, so that parents can go back to work and reasonably expect to stay there.
Help us to give the economy the stability it needs.
Help us to keep Albertans safe.
Help us.