Reading For Treasure: COVID-19

Reading for Treasure is my list of articles that are worth your attention. Click here for an introduction! This list is an extension of my prior post. Here are some more articles about the current COVID-19 crisis:

Americans would most likely not tolerate a mandatory lockdown. There are alternatives and lessons to be learned from how other countries have structured social distancing: First, China, Then Italy. “What the U.S. Can Learn From Extreme Coronavirus Lockdowns:” The Washington Post

This article is an interview with Nicholas Christakis, a social scientist and physician at Yale University about the closing of schools. Dr. Chistakis argues for proactive closures of schools: closings before there are any cases directly in the school. “Does closing schools slow the spread of coronavirus? Past outbreaks provide clues:” Science Magazine

The CDC has a phone app that will send you notifications. Here is the link to the CDC webpage with information about the app. Here is the link to the CDC’s page on COVID-19.

One of the questions that I had was “How Long Does Coronavirus Live On Different Surfaces”  and this Lifehacker article clearly answers that!

Another issue for all of us staying at home is getting food. The Atlantic has a thoughtful piece that addresses this question: “How You Should Get Food During the Pandemic”

Teachers: if you haven’t found Free Free Technology for Teachers, you are missing out. This is a fantastic and very useful blog. This post provides provides “Tips and Tools For Teaching Remotely” which might be very helpful to everyone moving to online classes. In addition, Edutopia has a good article in which an American teacher in China shares what she has been learning moving her classes online: “What Teachers in China Have Learned in the Last Month”

I am currently reading Myths and Mortals by Andrew Keyt

Update - one more article: Here is an outstanding and very visual way to understand the effects of "social distancing." This article from The Washington Post actually gives you real simulations to see the results when more or fewer people stay home: "Why Outbreaks Like Coronavirus Spread Exponentially and How to "Flatten the Curve" 

Prudence Not Panic: How Staying Home and Avoiding Groups Can Help Everyone

If you are in COVID-19 (coronavirus) denial, it is time to wake up. If you are anxious and jittery, it is time to turn that energy into action. The key idea here is that we cannot go on as if nothing is happening and we cannot freak out.

I am not a medical professional. I have read the many statements from authoritative people posted on social media basically telling everyone to calm down. Instead of minimizing this issue, we must approach it thoughtfully and decisively.

Where do we need to go?

Here is my understanding put simply:

1.     There are far more cases of this virus around us than we know about.

2.     Each day, our odds of catching or spreading this disease increase significantly.

3.     If lots of people get this disease at the same time, our health resources will be overwhelmed and people will not receive the treatment they need.

4.     If we limit the number of people with whom we come in contact, we can slow down the spread of the disease.

5.     If we slow down the spread of the disease, people may still get it, but since fewer will get it at the same time, our health systems are more likely to be able to deal with it.

The key is to slow down the spread of the disease so we have fewer cases each day and thus our hospitals, doctors, and health professionals are not flooded with people who need immediate attention.

This requires everyone! This is the difference between China and Italy. China locked down while Italy took much longer to do so. While this may not have changed the number of people affected, it meant that, instead of hundreds or thousands of people trying to get to doctors AT THE SAME TIME, the number of people seeking treatment was spread over a longer period of time and thus was more manageable.

So what I have read suggests that we need to do a few things RIGHT NOW:

1.     Take care of yourself. Wash your hands, get enough sleep, and tend to your health.

2.     Avoid contact with anyone who is sick at all.

3.     Minimize leaving your home. Avoid gatherings.

4.     Move as much of your contact with people to the phone or computer. If you must leave the house, no hugging, kissing, or handshaking. Be a “far talker” and keep as much distance between you and other people as you can.

5.     Encourage everyone you know to do the same.

Don’t panic: be prudent and patient. We must all work together to stop this pandemic!   

Finally, here are the articles I have found to be most illuminating and upon which this post is based:

“Cancel Everything:” The Atlantic

“How Canceled Events and Self-Quarantines Save Lives, in One Chart:” Vox

“Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now:” Medium

“#StayTheFuckHome A Movement to Stop the COVID-19 Pandemic”

“Want To Do Something About Coronavirus? Here are 5 Ideas:” Vox

Would You Want Your Child to be a Teacher?

When I decided to be a teacher, more than thirty-five years ago, the profession looked very different than it does today. Being a teacher meant making a difference in the lives of children. It meant contributing to the community. It was, and still is, a noble profession.

Today is a different matter. Today, teachers are under attack. From testing to budget issues to Betsy DeVos’s move toward school vouchers, a teacher’s job is quite different than it was when I entered the profession more than three decades ago.

Why would a student, accumulating thousands of dollars in college debt, take a job that pays so little and has so many headaches? How long might it take a newly minted teacher to pay back all the loans? What emotional and mental costs might come with a career in education? 

We are going to face horrible teacher shortages in the coming years. There will still be some wonderful and dynamic teachers entering the profession. However, there will be fewer and fewer of them – and many will leave the profession in their first few years.

It is already happening. More than half of all new teachers last less than five years in the classroom. There are more former teachers in the workforce than those in the classroom.

Why are they leaving? Why are fewer students training to be teachers? This is not difficult to figure out.

Whether it is in high poverty schools or schools with demanding parents, it is difficult to be a teacher. While we often talk about addressing the mental health needs of students, we rarely think about the emotional and physical strains of their teachers.

Whether its parents who “lawyer up,” yell, scream, threaten, and rush to defend students who need to face the consequences of their actions, or parents trying desperately to make ends meet, teachers must cope with the constellation of family issues that rock their students. Over entitled or under-resourced, teachers get to be part social worker, part diplomat, part case manager and then are evaluated on their students’ test scores.

No wonder there are many schools that are stuffing classrooms to the brims or finding any warm body to babysit classes without a trained teacher. This is a situation we are going to see more and more as an aging teacher population retires. People my age represent a disproportionate percentage of today’s teachers.

Let’s assume that we still have some saints who are willing to sacrifice all and go into the trenches, I mean classrooms, and help kids learn. What happens to them when they get there? Who will support them? Will we talk about teachers’ mental health needs? How will we keep them in the profession?

These new teachers will be buffeted by the political and social forces that are testing teachers right now. They will be judged based on tests, handcuffed into scripted curricula, and then will have to compensate for all the social ills that plague society in general, but schools in particular. Then, they will burn out.

I watch my colleagues spend far too much of their precious time dealing with everything except education – and I taught in a privileged school.

Without teachers, we cannot have schools. If every child cannot attend a public school, what happens to our nation? If only the wealthy can afford a quality education for their children, what do we become? If teacher shortages mean that public schools become banks of computer monitors and babysitters, what is our future?

We need to rethink teachers’ experience. We need to revolutionize our public school system. And I have not heard anyone provide a viable solution.

Some of my sources and further reading:

Why I can’t teach in public education anymore.

Teachers are Paid Less Than Similar Professions. See the Breakdown by State

Where Have All The Teachers Gone?

Who Will Teach?

Husband’s Post About His Wife’s Pay as a Teacher Shows How Underpaid They Are

Teacher: What I Don’t Have Time To Do Anymore – and What I’d Do If I Had It

Stemming the Tide: Are Public Schools Keeping the Best and Brightest Teachers?

Why Good Teachers Quit

The Teacher Pay Penalty Has Hit a New High: Trends in the Teacher Wage and Compensation Gaps through 2017

Excuse Me, While I Teach Your Child, But First I Must…

Why Teachers Are Walking Out

Just Paying Teachers More Won’t Stop Them From Quitting

Teachers Go Public With Their Resignation Letters