Yoshimitsu

Did you miss the part where I made suggestions as to the things that they should be focusing on or deliberately skip it to retort? The things they are being sent now are the same lessons that will be covered ad nauseam for the rest of their academic career at the K-12 level. The fact that a large portion of the standards DO NOT cover the ACT test, or the skills that are required to pass that test, is a huge oversight considering that we expect most of these kids to have some post-secondary career. As a parent myself, I'd want to focus on the key skills that are going to be the best for my kid when they get to the point of high school where they need to focus on the ACT. Reading and math in the early grades, and reading/math/science at the late middle school/high school level. There are things that everyone can do to some extent, particularly reading. Being a proficient reader is so important. And you are glorifying the process of the school year. Public school isn't about learning beneficial skills for the student. It's about teaching that student how to answer the questions that will most likely show up on the test at the end of the year. It's about identifying students that are close to moving up a level (Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, Advanced) and focusing on those kids as the year plays out. We are given a sheet every year with our students and their projected chance of passing the TCAP/EOC. We are then told to only focus on those that have a decent chance at passing...everyone else is sink or swim. Hell, I wish we were in school with this over and the exams still canceled so I could pass along some writing skills to the kids and practice some rhetoric. You know, I sat in on a Zoom class meeting the other day. Third graders. It was supposed to be a session where the kids could ask questions to their teachers. For 45 minutes I watched a train wreck in slow motion. Kids talking while one of the two teachers was trying to say something, parents talking while the teacher or the kid was speaking, kids getting up to leave, parents calling the teacher asking how they could block X kid from messaging their child because they didn't trust them. I had a good laugh. The funny thing is I think worksheets for the younger kids are a viable option, but these class meetings...eh, I think that's something for the older kids as they can navigate that realm better. **The Below, Basic, Proficient, Advanced is the old method of classifying the kids...they've undoubtedly spent thousands of dollars to change it to a new three category system, but point stays the same**

Yes, and I'm extremely familiar with how elementary school works, and even more so at the middle and high school level. What the state wants the child to learn for their current year should have already been covered in the classroom by the time Tennessee called for school closures. This is a time that is usually spent reviewing for TCAP and EOC assessments. I understand that elementary school is a year by year building block process, but they should have what they need by this time to move onto the next year. At the middle and high school level it's even less important because the standards literally have one or two additions for the next year with areas like math being the exception because math stays on the building block path. And this is not even touching upon the fact that in these smaller districts you have hardly any technology that is needed to truly do online classes. The kids that do have internet/webcam get help when they need it, but the ones that do not are likely developing bad habits across the board, especially if it's a content area they struggled with before school canceled. Or they are becoming frustrated to the point of meltdown (middle schoolers in particular) that they can't understand X skill. And you CAN hurt a student's love for a subject by doing things like this. It works for the bigger cities because they have better budgets, but for the smaller schools...sending assignments/worksheets via Google Classroom does not a quality assignment make. I'm not against working with students at this point, but the way a lot of districts are accomplishing this goal is simply sending busy work. Busy work that I KNOW will end up confusing the kids that are behind even more than they already were. My thoughts is to have the students work on things that schools deem unimportant during this time...creative work, reading, teachers creating enriching content, etc, etc. If I had a middle schooler, I'd be having him practice the ACT as a lot of the standards that Tennessee uses aren't aligned with the skills you need for the ACT. The pendulum of education, also, is swinging back towards technical schools. Any trade skill practice would be incredibly smart as it could lead to a future job as well as work in the STEM field. Your student's teacher for each subject probably won't have materials for that, but we can make suggestions. My district is doing a good job of handling this situation. Our focus is reading because we know that most of our kids don't own computers. Many don't even have access to the internet. Reading is one of the most important skills for the ACT that anyone can practice anywhere. Most of us know that it goes beyond the ACT as well. We simply sent out a structured plan for parents to follow that incorporates reading along with two online programs that we have purchased for the district. Those online programs, however, will likely see phenomenal results as a student showed me the app that has all the answers to the questions for those sites, lol. Every middle schooler knows of the apps existence and they will use it for all it's worth. TLDR: Yeah, I'm not a fan of busy work. Yes, I think kids should be working, but on the things that schools have virtually removed from the curriculum.

Yeah, I get that. Whole situation is a mess and I imagine there will be tons of new policies in place in case this happens again.

This is kinda what I’m saying—this time off shouldn’t be about doing worksheets and parents trying to teach kids things that most are incapable of teaching. Not saying you fit that description, but I guarantee there are many kids right now developing a lot of bad habits. The districts weren’t prepared for this to occur and this response (all these online assignments) is reactionary with little to no experience in how to do it.

You think this will still be an ongoing issue for that long? One of the experts I read said this was potentially an 8 month issue, but it could end sooner than that.

Busy work for both parties. You may not like hearing that, but it’s the truth. Parents are blowing smoke up their asses if they think this is something that is actually useful. As I said, teachers should have their standards completely covered by this point.

Schools are being ridiculous during this lockdown. Leadership is mandating insane amounts of homework in some of the districts. A friend of mine has to video conference with each child once a day...The fact is the second semester in every system is fucked and there isn't anything on an online program that will fix it. The TCAP/EOC's are canceled, school most likely is done for the year, and to be honest most teachers have already covered all the standards anyways--this time period is usually set aside for reviewing material for the end of the year exams. It's just busy work all around. I think recording content for the students to engage with the teacher is much more intriguing an option than constant video conferences with 3rd graders and sending them worksheets via Google Classroom. Let the kids work on their creativity and other skills that aren't part of the curriculum at most/all public schools these days. Also, all schools are still providing lunches in the worst possible scenario for this virus to spread. I watched a video the other day of 20 or so cafeteria workers, all 50+, shoved into a tiny kitchen making lunch kits. If even one of those people contract the virus it will spread like wildfire, from the lunch ladies to the recipients of the lunches. Schools are firing from the hip for publicity sake, but at this point it's gotten dangerous and stupid. I find it sad that a lot of parents are THIS reliant on school lunches. If anything, providing lunches should be solved by the community at much safer locations.

The likelihood of Rolle catching the virus is low too, given how much he struggled to catch anyone he covered.

Whatever I had ran it's course over about 5 days. I didn't start feeling normal for another 2-3. I had a mild cough and there were two nights where I felt seriously uncomfortable breathing, but I've had way worse cases as well. The highlight of it all was on the third night I coughed and this viscous phlegm kinda shot out of my mouth that was so thick it wouldn't come off my shirt. I was surprised it didn't hiss and try to escape my bedroom. I will not be surprised if my shirt has a Monica stain on it now either.

You try to take Marvin's lunch money and he'll cap your ass.

Not sure about the method of disposing the body, but I'd say there is a strong chance she killed him. I hope she fed him to the tigers though.

Anyone else watching this docu-series? The sheer insanity of it all is astounding.

First thing I did at the beginning of this situation is buy some kettlebells. So worth the money, IMO. I don't think I'm gonna be making crazy gains with them, but I've noticed I've leaned up quite a bit and feel stronger in all areas...cardio better too. Right now my everyday is as follows (and I'm not at the level of a lot of you here...this is just a suggestion for anyone interested): Full run of basic DDP Yoga moves (Basic yoga moves but you tense up your muscles through the movements) Circuit training with kettlebells for the following (4-5 runs of the circuit): Cleans x 3 Overhead Press x 5 Goblet Squat x 7 Bent Over Rows x 9 Swings x 11 Burpees, pushup or non-pushup depending on the day, until I'm blown up. DDP Yoga Cooldown stretches I'm loving this workout. I have major back and neck issues (two laminectomies and fusion at C level, whole lumbar calcifying) and this really helps to loosen up a lot of those issues. I'll go back to traditional stuff once gyms are back open, but I'll integrate this workout in between lifts some days, I think. One thing I've learned over the last few years is that it's very important to do some kind of exercise activity. I was in WAY more pain sitting around doing nothing. It sucked getting back into the routine last year, for sure, but after the first month I felt immensely better with my back. I also look at exercise in a similar fashion to Tyson Fury in that it's important for emotional health as well.

On a Vince Young Burrito scale, just how MUCH could you care less?

Well, potential chance that I have the goddamn virus. Pharmacy I use had a tech with a confirmed case and about three days ago I started feeling...off. Sore throat, super tired, cough, low fever...feeling poorly in general. This is very similar to how I feel when I’m dealing with the flu, which I’ve already had both types this year so I’m thinking it’s not that again. Hospital said as long as the symptoms stay mild to stay home. This is day three of feeling like that. It really could be anything, I suppose, but I generally don’t feel this way with allergies or a cold.