Yes, mine generally were. Run around or ride bikes outside. Watch TV. Have meals. When under duress, do some homework. Sleep. Repeat as necessary.Quote:
Originally Posted by grant hutchison
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Yes, mine generally were. Run around or ride bikes outside. Watch TV. Have meals. When under duress, do some homework. Sleep. Repeat as necessary.Quote:
Originally Posted by grant hutchison
You may run the risk of raising a cynic, but he could write an essay with excruciating detail about something like brushing his teeth, including a transcription of the label from the toothpaste tube. “The inactive ingredients are water, sorbitol, hydrated silica...”
The IEP coordinator got back to me, and the kids will now be allowed to essentially write book reports that day instead. Those days, I should say--in third grade, I had to write a weekly "what did I do on my weekend?" essay myself that was "I stayed home. I did yard work. I fought with my sisters" every week. But that wasn't a pandemic, and even if it had been, it was only once a week! I strongly suspect there are going to be a lot of book reports from his class.
They're missing an opportunity for creative writing. "What I'd Like to Do This Weekend."
That sounds like a good idea. I’ve regularly been thinking about things I’d like to do locally and otherwise, I have been finding myself looking at travel sites or shows I usually wouldn’t bother with or thinking about things I want worked on in my house but don’t want the workers inside now. Or going to restaurants I don’t go to that often but am missing now, or a number of other things I’m avoiding because I don’t want to get sick. And of course, there’s the rather limited Thanksgiving this year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim
I’m sure kids would have their own lists, and there is no reason they would have to stick to present day reality for creative writing. A trip to the Moon or a fantasy world, for instance, would be fair game.
How about "If I were teaching this class."
Thanksgiving was a disaster. It was just 9 of us, one under the state regulated limits. Society is starting to breakdown. In the middle of the ball game, my sister-in-law decided that we'd all enjoy the 2019 film version of Cats. Ah... no. No one enjoyed that. Then she went on a 2 hour tirade about how poorly her children's remote education was going and it was all the teachers' fault. My other sister-in-law is an English teacher. This enraged her. Thankfully, this distraction allowed me to put the football game back on.
About 60 minutes in to rage-fest, I turned to my niece and asked, "What subject are you having trouble in?"
She replied, "It'd be easier to list the things I'm not having trouble in. I don't turn in any of the assignments."
I told her it takes far more effort to maintain a 58% average than it does to simply turn in the work. I have an agreement with her. When my kids get up for school, I'll text her. When they get done, I text her to check if she turned in her work. No one leaves the house until the work is turned in. It will have to be the honor system for her, but someone has to adult in this and it's not mom.
Then her mom started in on how it would be better to get her kids IEPs. As a teacher in a special education environment, I nearly bit off my tongue and swallowed it. My son who had an IEP in school but graduated this summer, joined the Air Force Reserves and is currently college hunting decided this would be a good time to leave. Ever the funny guy, he almost killed off the whole conversation by shouting out, "Irish Goodbye, Irish Goodbye!"
It was good effort, but didn't work. It did give my other sister-in-law (the teacher) an opportunity to escape with him.
Let us never have another holiday like this one.
I give thanks that we do not have this holiday here. Rather oddly, we do have Black Friday though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Solfe
I tried to get the attachment to show, but I’m not sure it is working.Quote:
Originally Posted by Solfe
My Thanksgiving was very quiet. Yours sounds a little like one or two I’ve had in the past, in comfort level at least. My brother in law has very different political views than I do and on Thanksgiving he seems to think it’s a good day to “enjoy” himself and drink. When he drinks he tends not to be able to take a hint. If he gets on to politics . . . well, I typically beg off on political arguments and try to change the subject but I will reach a point where I’ve had enough. That has ended in extremely uncomfortable holiday get togethers and looking for reasons to break it up early.
I have had very nice Thanksgivings. Just a few turned out bad because of interpersonal issues, but I really enjoy the meal, and the get togethers can be really nice. Even my brother in law can be great to talk to if he doesn’t get on the (normally understood) forbidden topic. The meal is larger than just about anything else in the year, and typically the work is split up some so there are more dishes to enjoy and ones I don’t usually eat so seem special. Then there are the leftovers which make for easy but tasty meals for a few days (then you’ve had enough and want to switch to something else).Quote:
Originally Posted by 21st Century Schizoid Man
I don’t eat turkey often during a year so that keeps it as something I really enjoy when I do.
This too quiet Thanksgiving is missing something for me. I’ll be happy when things get back to normal.
Heh, I see it.Quote:
I tried to get the attachment to show, but I’m not sure it is working.
A little while ago saw a report on CNN about the Atlantic bubble. If you not know about it is this the 4 eastern most provinces of Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI and Newfoundland are doing better then most other regions of the country in controlling Covid-19 so we allow travel between the provinces but if you come from outside the provinces you have quarantine for 14 days. There have been somewhat of uptake in cases in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia o in Nova Scotia it is back to restaurant can only do take away and deliveries and stores can can only have 25% their normal occupancy in the store at a time. Over the last 9 months there have some people who have snapped but the most notable was going to do so no matter what, it just took a pandemic and his girlfriend to take unauthorized walk for him to go off on that killing spree. Plus like most of North America there are issues between natives and the rest of us that probably were made heightened in the last month and a half.
We had our Thanksgiving about a month and nothing happened. We had some food, I worked the auction including picking a table at a house were of course it was in the basement and there had to be at least one point lower than 6 feet. My Brother in law and his father and brother talked about boats for a while.
She suggested that once, but honestly, it was still just a choice. Which means that his classmates were still writing things, some of them, like "I had a slumber party with my cousins" or similar. So it's still frustrating to the kids who are sensibly not having slumber parties. I agree that more creative writing would be something to start the kids on. For one thing, when I was in second grade, I was writing poetry as a class assignment!Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim
The children themselves are probably not so diabolic, but if properly manipulated by a sufficiently malevolent adult, I think one could easily produce an essay that would guarantee the weekly assignment would be revised.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gillianren
I can see it. I virtually never participate in Black Friday. On a lark, I have ventured out in the afternoon to buy gift wrap and any remaining bargains that were a miss with other shoppers. I also get take out for the family. Tomorrow, I will make a turkey. This year, I'm skipping going out and I'm debating take out. Take out is kind of low risk, so I think I should.Quote:
Originally Posted by 21st Century Schizoid Man
It is my inclination to argue with people when they say their high schooler is being let down by this whole remote learning thing. It's not optimal, but the standards are much lower. Plus it teaches initiative and time management skills. People with kids who are younger than high school age or have special needs are the ones in serious trouble. Socialization and mentoring that they get in the classroom is utterly impossible right now. Parents who are on the ball can get the academic stuff done, but can't fill in the gaps that remain from not being in a classroom because they can't recreate that experience. Those younger children (or special needs students) are really missing out with no easy solution. On the positive side, this whole scenario is likely building better parents as opposed to teaching academics. Children learn no matter what and at the end of the day, these younger kids are learning right along with mom and dad. It's terrible for state or national standards testing, but parents are probably teaching different, but equally important skills.
Parents are PO'ed that their child isn't learning academic skills, but everyone should value the things parents are teaching. Someone needs to tell these parents that doing your best in rough situation is actually good enough for their child. I think parents get scared when their child "misses out", afraid that they didn't do everything they could do. Teachers should probably take some time out to thank parents for all they do, the same way that parents used to thank good teachers, pre-pandemic.
Same here. Even in normal years I hate the loony drivers* and crowded stores. But I’ve also read that Black Friday is fading and changing. Again, even last year a lot of purchases were made online and this year that is increasing dramatically. So this is becoming more of a time when online stores offer deals and drop some prices.Quote:
Originally Posted by Solfe
*it seems at this time of non-pandemic years, even normally mild mannered regular drivers become enraged and reckless. Sort of like those rat behavioral tests under crowded conditions.
I’ve noticed that a lot of stores are extending Black Friday deals both beyond and in advance of the date. This might also be a Covid-19 reaction to stimulate sales.Quote:
Originally Posted by Van Rijn
ETA: And also to manage crowds that typically gather on Black Friday.
I drive a school bus for district 214 in Illinois. We have the largest school district in the state and my bus and one other were the most overcrowded during "normal" times before March 15. Last fall I caught the flu and it spread like wildfire. The first week I returned the first 3 rows all caught it. The week after the middle rows dropped by 50% in attendance. By a month the whole bus had all the same coughing that Delsum could not shake loose for weeks on end. Overall daily attendance dropped from 50 to 31. These are high schoolers and they are both neat freaks and germ freaks at that school.
So we went to shuttling students in small pods. I take about 12 students daily to school by 9:40 AM. I do a second run that arrives by 11:00 AM. I might bring home one student at 11:10 AM but the last pick up run is always empty. A second bus takes my place at 2 PM and the majority go home at 3:30 PM.
Right now we suspended that program. District 214 figured holiday parties were going to ignore warnings so we are off until December 7th. On that date, I just make one trip for pickup and then head back to the bus yard. The midday bus will take them home at 3:30 PM only. All PM bus routes are laid off until January 11th. December 18th brings my gig to an end until January 11th. All middle school and K-5 have not been in school since March minus special needs. 3 bus drivers have caught COVID19.
My son and I are doing well. David does not notice the difference. He lives in isolation anyway since he is on the spectrum. Both his jobs are in the food industry so we are not bending or breaking financially. He is content with just doing crossword puzzles, KenKen, Sudoko, and Harry Boltinoff's "Hocus Focus" each day. He is never on social media.
Amateur astronomy? The pandemic did to the hobby the same thing it did to Newton. We are the hottest commodity right now. Club membership has soared through the roof with a young generation that is aggressive and software oriented. They love imaging. They are helping us run Zoom meetings while learning from our old heads how mounts, ATM projects, and particular equipment works. We are running classes on Pixinsight and Star Tools. We have a 17-year-old observing VP right now and he takes charge to juggle our observing schedule just right. He is in charge of hosting Zoom meetings. Responsibility does not frighten him. He hosts a podcast weekly. We are busy as beavers. Neowise could not time things much better along with all the clear nights. Over 20 times each month had us out.
Celestron and all the other companies connected to our hobby are taking up to 6 months to answer emails. They are swamped with backorders. Amateur spectroscopy has taken off as well. Tom Field's "Field Tested Systems" has never had this much business. It is just too bad that so many have passed away.
Yeah, I'd try to work that out with Simon if it weren't more trouble than it's worth. And again, I got the assignment revised. I feel a little guilty, as it is a substitute I was dealing with, but it's a long-term substitute. The regular teacher's on maternity leave. I feel that's taking over the class for long enough that she can make that kind of change.Quote:
Originally Posted by 21st Century Schizoid Man
We had a Zoom meal this Thanksgiving. Friends and family.
Several "pods" each made part of the meal; turkey from one group, sides, etc. We were on dessert duty. Thursday morning a designated representative from each household got together and divided up the spoils. In the afternoon we all set up a Zoom meeting on various devices at the dinner tables, and the whole big mass of us had mutual conversations while eating. It was fun.
Just the two of us here enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner together. We're both on the same political page so all went quite well, no conflict, no indigestion, no Qrazy relatives involved. We're very thankful for the way 2020 is closing as it heads for the exit and look forward to being even more thankful next year.
This Pearls Before Swine comic has Pig doing Zoom Thanksgiving with relatives. When the crazy uncle starts ranting he just shuts him off. As Pig says, this could change everything!Quote:
Originally Posted by Spacedude
Meanwhile, the McDonalds in town, which has been doing drive-through only, is closed, apparently due to a Covid outbreak.
Still working at home for the state of South Carolina. No word on when we go back to offices. Wife and I not getting around much except to grocery.
News about "surge on top of surge" makes me nervous.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ns/6452325002/
Well fooey, I guess my wife and I need to get tested, just to be safe. Two of our neighbors tested positive and we had spent about 15 minutes speaking with the wife a week ago, outside, six feet away and in our car. Her test results came back yesterday. It’s a low probability, but still.
Simon's school is doing school picture day this week. I have no idea how this is going to work. Everyone is assigned an hour to come based on first letter of last name, but this still sounds like a bad idea. Yet I'm doing it anyway, because I want a school picture of Simon this year. I get one every year and hang them on our wall and update the one I carry in my wallet. But I'm going to make sure we have masks when we go and do my level best to keep the kids' maintaining social distance. I wonder how many other parents are feeling this way.
Our governor talked today about “possibly” doing another lockdown “if” the numbers keep going up, as ICU requirements “could” exceed capacity. By comparison, in the spring there was quite a bit of extra capacity at peak.
I give it a week, two at the most. The numbers will go up, I can’t see this as anything but trying to soften the impact. We’ve had one full lockdown in the spring and variable restrictions after that.
Again, I doubt it will affect me much. I’m going back to home delivery, for the most part anyway.
I just learned two of my nieces in Boise have it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Van Rijn
The place where I volunteer shut down their evening programs about 3 weeks ago. A couple of days ago, one of the volunteers was diagnosed with COVID. Thankfully, he hadn't been there in several months, but he was schedule to show up yesterday night. He's in the hospital, so that didn't happen.
My kids' school reported 5 cases in one day, but they have been shutdown for a little over 3 weeks. I am not sure why they are reporting cases in children who have been at home for weeks are sick. That doesn't seem like useful information since they can't name names. Not that I really want them to hand out names, but that information would be slightly more useful. I'm actually feeling kind of bad for the kiddos, we used to have their friends over all the time. That hasn't happened in a while, except for one child who would be welcome even if she oozing COVID. She's nearly family and I don't exactly trust her parents to do the minimum correct thing let alone seek medical help.
I think it was in the other pandemic thread, but I recall hearing COVID patients who were taking nicotine had better outcomes. As I am going through the process of quitting smoking myself (and doing horribly, btw), I wonder if that might not be because people who are trying to quit smoking regiment their lives more strictly than they otherwise would. Such as taking time to clean, hand washing dishes, setting a specific routine in the morning, making sure they sleep well and so on. Anything to avoid smoking.
I got the flu shot last week. I am kind of hopeful that all the handwashing and masks really cuts down on the flu this year. Personal preference of daily actions over a last ditch solution of a shot, I guess. It makes me feel like a participant in my own wellbeing.
So we had the test yesterday and we both had negative results. But that nasal swab... oh brother. I was expecting something like a Q-tip with a fluffy cotton end.Quote:
Originally Posted by schlaugh
No.
This torture device...I mean swab...looks like a cocktail straw with some kind of collection medium on the business end, and I swear the nurse was trying to reach brain matter! My eyes watered for 15 minutes afterwards.
I have a friend who is the orthopedic doctor/surgeon for the Atlanta Falcons and he has to do the nasal swab test on himself every two or three days. And at this point in the football season he is having frequent nosebleeds. I can see why.
My description of the swab when I had it for possible flu in the spring of 2019 was that they put it about eleven feet into your sinuses. But it's great you tested negative.
Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton tested positive yesterday, just a day after winning the latest race. He's out for this weekend and maybe the next and last race of the season.