Big 10 football

@Senna posted:

Bit of both, really. And the "perceived threat" is still relatively unknown (this virus is still being studied). Erring on the side of caution when the results can be the same either way is a prudent choice.

That said, we have made the decision to shift both of our kids back to in-person, as we're finding that the results aren't going to be the same. Just going to have to adapt as best we can. We're just fortunate we have the choice, and (hopefully) the ability to navigate it safely. Not everyone is so lucky on either front. 

I think one of the things we will learn out of this is how little we know about how to effectively teach online. Our school meets in person from 8 to 1:30, then teachers go to online learners from 1:30 to 3. I really don't understand how the two are supposed to equal out.

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

Probably a dumb question, but is it possible to rout the back break cable to the left hand and the front to the right hand? 

It could probably be done. But it was a lot easier to loosen the front brake cable. The front brakes still work. 

I should have bought a left handed bike. I really appreciate my left handed screw driver. 😁

@Iowamom23 posted:

I think one of the things we will learn out of this is how little we know about how to effectively teach online. Our school meets in person from 8 to 1:30, then teachers go to online learners from 1:30 to 3. I really don't understand how the two are supposed to equal out.

There are companies that have been doing online and home school K-12 for years. I wonder why so many schools districts are reinventing the wheel instead of consulting with these companies. I’ll bet some of the best teachers in the country have called these companies on their own. The rest of the teachers are probably just doing what their unions tell them. 

It’s why in any field (baseball or teaching for example) there are stars and there are the rest. The stars are those willing to make the extra effort.

I would like to see star teachers paid more rather than the same as a boring stiff who has worked the same number of years and is out the door as soon as the bell rings.

@RJM posted:

 

I would like to see star teachers paid more rather than the same as a boring stiff who has worked the same number of years and is out the door as soon as the bell rings.

I agree, and I think most parents would agree with this.  Unions will haven none of this.  They insist that it is impossible to fairly rate or rank a teacher.  Never mind that most parents know exactly who the best and worst teachers are, and every other industry in America has figured out how to do it.  I suspect the best teachers today in public schools, those who are truly ambitious and willing to go the extra mile, get out of teaching.  Private schools is an entirely different thing.  My kids teachers were on a 1-year contract and were re-evaluated every year.  The best teachers were rock stars, the worst were terminated.

@cabbagedad posted:

Uhhh, I'm guessing the concern is probably much more about the son becoming infected and then inadvertently infecting one of the compromised older family members, which is the very valid concern that so many want to gloss over.

That's not the way they worded their post. And college isn't the only place you can get covid. So, instead of keeping the kid home and letting him interact with an at-risk adult seems the better choice is to send the kid to school and keep them away from said adults. I know from reading your post over the years you know this, but then you post that drivel above. Kinda goes to my point. Is covid something to be concerned about? Yes, I don't think anyone would disagree with that.  But people are letting it cloud their judgment and for most that shouldn't be the case. I don't worry a lot about my son getting covid. I do worry about him driving home down a busy ass highway. I worry about him going out and drinking and maybe driving like I know college-age kids do. I worry about sex and pregnancy. Of the things I worry about that might negatively affect my sons life covid is down the list.

@SomeBaseballDad posted:

That's not the way they worded their post. And college isn't the only place you can get covid. So, instead of keeping the kid home and letting him interact with an at-risk adult seems the better choice is to send the kid to school and keep them away from said adults. I know from reading your post over the years you know this, but then you post that drivel above. Kinda goes to my point. Is covid something to be concerned about? Yes, I don't think anyone would disagree with that.  But people are letting it cloud their judgment and for most that shouldn't be the case. I don't worry a lot about my son getting covid. I do worry about him driving home down a busy ass highway. I worry about him going out and drinking and maybe driving like I know college-age kids do. I worry about sex and pregnancy. Of the things I worry about that might negatively affect my sons life covid is down the list.

 I think that there is a legitament concern  about bringing COVID home to the family, just as there is a legitament concern for the things you have posted. 

Anyone who thinks they can teach grade school level, or even jr high, or hell, even HS kids online is misguided. Unless that parent is willing to sit next to said student and monitor their actives good luck. Where do you think an 11/12/13/14/15/16/17/ year old male attention is going to be, algebra or pronhub?

@RJM posted:

There are companies that have been doing online and home school K-12 for years. I wonder why so many schools districts are reinventing the wheel instead of consulting with these companies. I’ll bet some of the best teachers in the country have called these companies on their own. The rest of the teachers are probably just doing what their unions tell them. 

 

If I had a kid in k-12, now, in an unopened district, I would be using an experienced online homeschooling option. There’s no way I’m having my tax dollars go to our local school district that isn’t open. 

My guess is the reason the experienced companies are not helping is competition.  Why help your competitors?

As husband of a woman who has over 20 years of experience in elementary education (well over half at Title 1 facilities), holds an EdD, and is an instruction coach for her school, I find the general lack of appreciation for educators expressed in these recent posts to be very disappointing. 

@Senna posted:

As husband of a woman who has over 20 years of experience in elementary education (well over half at Title 1 facilities), holds an Ed, and is an instruction coach for her school, I find the general lack of appreciation for educators expressed in these recent posts to be very disappointing. 

As a former teacher, I agree.  

@RoadRunner posted:

If I had a kid in k-12, now, in an unopened district, I would be using an experienced online homeschooling option. There’s no way I’m having my tax dollars go to our local school district that isn’t open. 

My guess is the reason the experienced companies are not helping is competition.  Why help your competitors?

Your tax dollars go to public education regardless of whether your kid is enrolled, right?

So I'm now curious--and maybe this should be a different thread--there seems to be a lot of crankiness with teachers unions. What do people think of players unions? 

@3and2Fastball posted:

Your tax dollars go to public education regardless of whether your kid is enrolled, right?

Where we live we can chose online tax funded public education vs tax funded city district public education or pay private tuition. Same 3 choices as pre-Covid. 

@Iowamom23 posted:

So I'm now curious--and maybe this should be a different thread--there seems to be a lot of crankiness with teachers unions. What do people think of players unions? 

Ahh unions, can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em.  I think I’ll take a pass on this one🤫

@Senna posted:

As husband of a woman who has over 20 years of experience in elementary education (well over half at Title 1 facilities), holds an EdD, and is an instruction coach for her school, I find the general lack of appreciation for educators expressed in these recent posts to be very disappointing. 

I have a lot of appreciation for the best teachers my kids had. There were a handful I believe should have been at the bottom of the pay scale due to their lack of ability or lack of desire to do more than the minimum.

My son asked one teacher for extra help. She told him to tell his parents to get him a tutor.  

@Iowamom23 posted:

So I'm now curious--and maybe this should be a different thread--there seems to be a lot of crankiness with teachers unions. What do people think of players unions? 

I’m not a big fan of collective bargaining. Unions were needed 100 years ago due to working conditions that are now controlled by government regulations. I’ve never worked in a union environment. When we (had partners) started a company here was never a reason for a union.

@Iowamom23 posted:

So I'm now curious--and maybe this should be a different thread--there seems to be a lot of crankiness with teachers unions. What do people think of players unions? 

I'm fine with players unions because they allow better players to be rewarded and lesser players to be cut.  I don't really understand why all unions don't operate this way.

@Senna posted:

As husband of a woman who has over 20 years of experience in elementary education (well over half at Title 1 facilities), holds an EdD, and is an instruction coach for her school, I find the general lack of appreciation for educators expressed in these recent posts to be very disappointing. 

My wife is a teacher. Has an M.ED. She would agree with most of these posts. She is frustrated with her peers and their approach to handling this situation. She spends hours every night grading papers and is extremely committed to being the best she can be. Has been teacher of the year at her school multiple times and once for the district.

We live in one of the best school districts in our state and still send our son to a private prep. An administrator at the best HS in our district just enrolled her son in the same prep this year. 

Are there good teachers, yep, lots of them. Are there bad teachers, yep, lots of them. 

@Iowamom23 posted:

So I'm now curious--and maybe this should be a different thread--there seems to be a lot of crankiness with teachers unions. What do people think of players unions? 

in General , I am anti any union in any industry. 

I just think that unions are there to protect the weak.. The good and strong will always be successful.

Most employees, in many industries are good workers in their fields. There are certain percentages that are not and are lazy and just put their time in without any passion what so ever.  The unions protect them.

It is also kind of like how it is difficult/impossible to fire a GOV'T employee.. that is ridiculous. 

In these many cases the govt is the union protecting the many weak who hide behind this protective curtain..(and I know many my self that fall into this catagory..taking 2 hour lunches,going to movies during the day (before wuhan)....it makes me sick. abusing the system of protection. 

there should never be a protective curtain.. 

 In Sports ..there is no where to hide. If you do not have what it takes or the passion to improve it will be unveiled soon in one way or another and your lack will be shown for all to see.  It is up to you to improve and fix or get out and find another gig..

  In Union/govt jobs  - this is never the case. 

I am self employeed and havent received a paycheck from an employer since I was in college. 

No guaranteed weekly salary.. no pension, no employee 401k(have my own) , no tenure.  If I do not produce -then my family suffers.

It is as easy as that. Should be that way for most.  Unions hide that.  the Govt hides that. 

There are good and bad teachers.  It has always been this way. Some teachers are good for some kids and bad for others.

There are good and bad coaches, haven't we heard that a lot on here?

What about good teachers who are bad coaches?  What about good coaches who are bad teachers?  What about coaches who are good for some kids and bad for others?

I have never heard of a coaches' union.  That doesn't stop some bad coaches keeping their jobs. 

@RJM posted:

I have a lot of appreciation for the best teachers my kids had. There were a handful I believe should have been at the bottom of the pay scale due to their lack of ability or lack of desire to do more than the minimum.

My son asked one teacher for extra help. She told him to tell his parents to get him a tutor.  

I went to a parent-teacher conference one day for my daughter. The teacher said isn't ----- your daughter? I said yes. He said, she's getting an A why are you here?

Not all teachers get that I didn't just want my kid to get a good grade. I wanted (still want) them to learn.

 My kids got in trouble a few times. So that meant a phone call to mom. After the phone call, I told them that you will never have to make a call again, I was a retired teacher.  One teacher, said you cannot believe what we go through with parents, we are always wrong.  

I left because of the parents, not the students.

Teachers don't get paid enough for what they do. 

And if you can read this, thank a teacher.

@TPM posted:

 My kids got in trouble a few times. So that meant a phone call to mom. After the phone call, I told them that you will never have to make a call again, I was a retired teacher.  One teacher, said you cannot believe what we go through with parents, we are always wrong.  

I left because of the parents, not the students.

Teachers don't get paid enough for what they do. 

And if you can read this, thank a teacher.

Amen. Parents can be absolutely awful. Unfortunately, it seems the younger teachers get the worst of it. Those are the ones we need to support and encourage to stay in the profession

There are bad unions and then there are really bad unions. 

A fave of mine: “Unions are like condoms: if someone is trying to convince you you don’t need one, you definitely, DEFINITELY need one.” That said, wife has never been a member of one (Ga-RTW state).

But with the current demands being placed on teachers, I believe very strongly in the value of their unions in keeping their rights and issues in the forefront of the public eye. Few professions have had such a drastic, potentially life-impacting change as a result of C19 as teaching, and few professions have been as vilified in many parts of the country as a result of it. Don’t believe me, just ask for a link to the next school board meeting here. 

@Senna posted:

A fave of mine: “Unions are like condoms: if someone is trying to convince you you don’t need one, you definitely, DEFINITELY need one.” That said, wife has never been a member of one (Ga-RTW state).

But with the current demands being placed on teachers, I believe very strongly in the value of their unions in keeping their rights and issues in the forefront of the public eye. Few professions have had such a drastic, potentially life-impacting change as a result of C19 as teaching, and few professions have been as vilified in many parts of the country as a result of it. Don’t believe me, just ask for a link to the next school board meeting here. 

There are lots of professions that don’t have nearly as much protection. The union demands have put teachers in a bad light in some areas due some of their requests not having to do with protection and in some cases using this crises as negotiating leverage. 

** I’ll add, some teachers can make themselves into hero’s and villains. My wife for example has been very calm and makes the most of the situation. Tons of parents have already sent emails and calls thanking her for putting the kids at ease and feeling safe in her room. Over $1000 in donated class gift cards to buy supplies for her room. On the other hand, some teachers have been complaining the entire time and telling the kids how unsafe it is and in some cases encouraging them to stay home and being openly political to the kids

Teachers as group spend more time worrying about what they make and how they are perceived then any other profession and 2nd place is a light year behind them. It is amazing 

BTW I am supporter of teachers and think they earn their money....but suck it Up folks 

@Iowamom23 posted:

I went to a parent-teacher conference one day for my daughter. The teacher said isn't ----- your daughter? I said yes. He said, she's getting an A why are you here?

 

Not all teachers get that I didn't just want my kid to get a good grade. I wanted (still want) them to learn.

Other than that one class my kids did great in school. The parent-teachers conferences would have been “your kid is so wonderful” if I hadn’t asked how can they improve. Some teachers didn’t understand why I would ask if a kid getting an A could get better.

I taught my daughter algebra in fourth grade when she started complaining math is boring. In 6th grade made the mistake of telling my son I did the math homework on the board live when told to put my homework on the board. He thought it was a challenge and did the same.

The only teachers my kids had issues with were the anti athletes who didn’t like early dismissals for sports. In high school my son knocked over a plant swinging his jacket around. The teacher turned it into a crisis and gave him detention on a game Saturday. The AD got his detention changed.

Our school district’s teachers went on strike for two weeks over having to pay $10 per pay period for benefits. Starting pay in the contract was 46K with a ceiling of 106K for PhD+. I don’t know what they make now. This was fifteen years ago. 

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

There are lots of professions that don’t have nearly as much protection. The union demands have put teachers in a bad light in some areas due some of their requests not having to do with protection and in some cases using this crises as negotiating leverage. 

** I’ll add, some teachers can make themselves into hero’s and villains. My wife for example has been very calm and makes the most of the situation. Tons of parents have already sent emails and calls thanking her for putting the kids at ease and feeling safe in her room. Over $1000 in donated class gift cards to buy supplies for her room. On the other hand, some teachers have been complaining the entire time and telling the kids how unsafe it is and in some cases encouraging them to stay home and being openly political to the kids

When my daughter was in fourth grade she came home upset one day. Her teacher told the class they were one lost paycheck by their parents from being homeless. I don’t know how a teacher can have the nerve make that kind of comment and upset kids in a town where average household income is six figures.

Another teacher told my son’s class President Bush is a war criminal. He was nine at the time. I think the teacher got off saying it in a town that is 75% Republican. The teacher knew the kids would tell their parents. The parents went en masse to tell the school board at the next meeting.

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

My wife is a teacher. Has an M.ED. She would agree with most of these posts. She is frustrated with her peers and their approach to handling this situation. She spends hours every night grading papers and is extremely committed to being the best she can be. Has been teacher of the year at her school multiple times and once for the district.

We live in one of the best school districts in our state and still send our son to a private prep. An administrator at the best HS in our district just enrolled her son in the same prep this year. 

Are there good teachers, yep, lots of them. Are there bad teachers, yep, lots of them. 

This is interesting teachers in a public school district would send their kids to private school. I went from one of the top public school districts in the state to private school. In comparison public school was kindergarten. The teachers were from HA’s and all had Masters. With ten or less kids in the class there was no place to hide. You were going to get called on every class. 

I was a boarder and couldn’t stand that environment so I demanded to come home. I didn’t care for the entitled, country club attitude.**  Most of my friends were the commuting athletes. I lived too far away and returned to the high school. Talk about easy after private school!

** “Of course we stay at the Plaza in the (NY) City. Where else would one stay?”

When my son started high school he was invited to spend a day at a private. They were recruiting him for sports. Since the high school has a gifted program he didn’t think the private was any harder than high school. Plus he didn’t want to repeat 9th grade. The baseball program was a USA Today top 25. They liked their seniors to be nineteen. 

It’s easy to complain about the bad teachers. In my kids experience they had so many very good teachers it made the bad ones noticeable. On one parents night in high school my daughter challenged me to stay alert for the entire twenty minute talk. I couldn’t do it.

”Imagine what it’s like trying to sit through fifty minutes every day!”