Remote Learning’s Already Apparent Shortcomings
A mid-October Pew Research Center survey that compared taking an online-only course with an in-person one found that: Just 30% said they “provide equal educational value.” 68% said they do NOT. So now imagine being one of the countless kids who, from mid-March to...
On the Way to Normal with Pfizer, Moderna, with Thanks
On November 18, Dr. Anthony Fauci, reassuringly said, “The cavalry is on its way. It’s not here yet, but it’s going to come. We have an even better than expected efficacy signal on two vaccines. We’re likely to already start having distribution of doses, hopefully by...
The Other Pandemic: Closed School’s Effect on Teen Well-Being
Mid-June Common Sense Media/America’s Promise Alliance surveys found that schooling’s “new normal” has hit teenagers hard—especially those who are black, Latino, and Asian. If a parent, you’re not surprised. As school psychologist Rob Coad reminds us: “One of their...
COVID’s Non-Stop Education Side Effects
The EdWeek Research Center has found that 31% of teachers and district leaders said teacher morale was “much lower” in August than before the pandemic, up from 26% in June. Plus, 32% of teachers said they’re likely to resign because of COVID, up from 12% in May. A...
Autumn’s Back-to-School Essential for All: The Seasonal Flu Vaccine
The back-to-school 2020 version began with most kids serving yet again as a captive virtual instruction audience, but the ties that bind have loosened, allowing many schools to now transition to a hybrid teaching model: typically three days of online learning, two...
The U.S. Millennial Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Survey Reveals Young People’s Ignorance
This first-ever state-by-state survey revealing how little Millennials and Gen Z know about history and the Holocaust is cause for great worry both culturally and educationally, as a new wave of anti-Semitism now overtakes America and Europe… World War II began with...
Common Sense Media Talks Remote Instruction with Teens
Of the 800 teens questioned in Common Sense Media’s remote instruction survey: 60% said online learning is worse than in-person instruction; 25% said it’s “much worse.” And yet, 42% think schooling now should be fully remote; 37% prefer the hybrid model, with 19%...
The Troubling YouthTruth Spring Remote Instruction Survey
It’s doubtful that the results of YouthTruth’s national survey of students in grades 5 through 12 regarding spring’s lockdown and all-remote schooling will surprise the parents of school-aged kids and/or their teachers. For instance: While 87% successfully handled the...
Making the Case against Education Technology
In pre-coronavirus days, Common Sense Media found that 80% of K-12 teachers had computing devices in their classrooms; that doesn’t mean, however, that they were big ed-tech fans. In fact, says Education Week’s Alyson Klein, “… Many see these companies as bad...
In or Out: The Great School Reopening Dilemma
The head spins with the constant COVID drumbeat of decrees and rising number alerts, lots of it now falling on the shoulders of educators, parents, and kids, as districts sort through it all, crafting and re-crafting their school reopening plans. The dilemma says...
Guest Blogger Andrew Clark’s Tips for Camping with Kids
Andrew has backpacked throughout the world, from the European Alps, to the deserts of the American West, to the mountains of Great Britain and Ireland, and of course, the forests of Appalachia. From his current base camp in Southern Pennsylvania, Andrew spends his...
Excerpts from the CDC’s “The Importance of Reopening America’s Schools this Fall”
Wherever you stand on the school reopening debate and now political football, the CDC reminds us: …The harm attributed to closed schools on the social, emotional, and behavioral health, economic well-being, and academic achievement of children, in both the short- and...
Safety Measures Being Considered When Schools Reopen
Thought you might like to know that, just this week, the Texas Medical Association came out with a risk assessment scale from one to nine for 36 activities, including: Getting restaurant take-out or going grocery shopping: 2 Going for a walk/run/bike ride or staying...
Move over Summer Slide, the COVID-Slide Has Gone Viral
Upcoming posts: To Keep a Lid on COVID, Keep Schools Closed in September? Pediatricians Tell Schools: “Open Wide!” School Reopening Talk Has Teachers Asking Safety Questions...
A Backward Glance at Remote, Pandemic Learning
Back on April 26, Education Week's Peter DeWitt found that, “Many teachers, students, and parents are proving to be remarkably resilient during this time when it comes to the effects of the pandemic on schools, education, and student learning. It is not easy to teach...
Our Amazing, Brainy Brains
In these “new normal” isolating, Zoom fatiguing, social distancing days, thought it time for a start-of-summer/Father’s Day weekend, feel-good reminder of the magic and potential that is in each of us… Our brains weigh weigh about three pounds and contain some 100...
A COVID Side Effect: Teacher Bashing Hits the Pause Button
Teacher bashing all but became a sport played by “reformers” who came up with such remedies as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 under President Bush, followed by the Obama/Duncan team's $4.35 billion Race to the Top, Common Core Standards, related online...
The Pandemic Hitting Schooling Hard
Writing on a day like this is no easy task. As COVID-19 continues to circulate among us, it’s social distancing be damned as countless thousands across the country have taken to the streets in protests that have turned ugly with rioting, looting, and destroying. Oh,...
A Brief History of Memorial Day and the Poppy Lady, Too
We’re just a day away from the unofficial start of summer--and that’s all many of us care about. A few have headed to the shore or mountains, but most of us, locked down as we are thanks to COVID-19, have stayed put, heading outside from time to time for a bit of...
Education Week Analyzes Remote Learning across America
Education Week never lets us down, keeping pace with the ever-changing face of COVID-19 and its impact on our lives and education in particular. This time around, the organization “scanned all 50 states' publicly continuous learning directives and guidance documents,...