SARS-CoV-2 / Covid-19 Posts


Posts on Teaching and Parenting under Covid-19

Here's my ongoing doc of peer-reviewed studies on SARS-CoV-2.

Year 1 (Jan-Aug 2020) --> Lockdown: 
Schools closed in March, on full lockdown, and we taught asynchronously from home. I spent March Break making videos for all my classes, and was up for the challenge created by Covid. I argued that the board's messaging, that marks couldn't go down from this point, set up Careers and Civics teachers for headaches, just starting new classes with students who didn't expect to have to do anything. 

20-01-27 - But Thinking is So Much Work!  -- we knew about Covid in January 2020
20-03-20 - The New Normal
20-03-21 - On Expectation* -- obsessive internal focus -- the beginning of an anxiety disorder -- watch my slow descent from all the crazy-making by following the posts with *
20-04-04 - I'm Fine, Really* -- first saved bit on wearing masks in April 2020 (I emailed staff about masks in March, but was shot down by a science teacher who was seen as more credible - wish I had saved that exchange!) - and my first panic attack!
20-05-10 - We're Getting Re-opened in the Morning! -- we knew about ventilation issues
20-05-26 - Opening Schools in September -- I advocated for masks, but also hand washing 
20-06-29 - In Retrospect: School in the Time of Covid -- we knew herd immunity won't work by June 2020
20-07-09 - On Laws and Common Sense -- people objected to masks before mandates; it was very clear we can infect others without knowing if we're infected -- asymptomatic transmission -- by July 2020

By July 2020, we knew that we cannot count on herd immunity for this, and people can have it and transmit it without any symptoms (how did everyone forget or unlearn this???), but also that masks and good ventilation work to reduce the spread. We had all the knowledge and tools we needed, but neglected to use them.

Year 2 (Sept 20 - Aug 21)--> Mask and Distance: 
Quadmesters! 2 courses for 2 months each, alternating 2 weeks at a time. I had my prep times at the very beginning and ending of the year, so I taught October to May without any time to prepare or mark. First semester, we taught hybrid (15 kids in the room, 15 at home), with one class at a time for two weeks, with all kids eating a 10 a.m. lunch together indoors, with no option to leave. I questioned that indoor lunch break since we could have easily let them leave for the day at 12:00. Masks were mandatory except when eating, but teachers had to wear loose surgical masks provided. I snuck in N95s. Classes would go for regular walks around the school, and I asked if we could go in one direction so people would stop smashing into each other, but was told it's not my place to question the rules. A few months later they suggested we walk clockwise. I taught a section online, but had to do it from inside the school, and they didn't have a room for me, so I made a desk out of a plank of wood! But I learned what an enormous difference a good Principal makes in the remote learning system. We were all under a lockdown (teaching from home) from Jan. 8 to Feb. 16, 2021. 

20-09-02 - Oh--What's a Teacher to Do? - letter to the board about mid-morning mask breaks
20-09-28 - The Fogginess of These Times* -- I figured out that we should protect our eyes too
20-12-06 - Mental Illness in Covid Times* -- being driven crazy by people who think it's silly to want to wear masks, way back in December 2020
20-12-25 - Unforeseen Custody Issues: Who Could Have Predicted THIS?* - the stress when a co-parent is on a different page is very real

Second semester, vaccinations became available to adults, then kids. I worked fully online and was allowed to work from home! But I still had to sit in a room during my prep period, and sometimes I ended up in an empty stairwell to avoid teachers working without masks. We had one more lockdown from April 12th to the end of June, which meant I didn't have to spend June in the school for my prep period - that came after I finished teaching all my courses!

21-05-10 - Safe Schools in September - Second Try* - the CDC and WHO both acknowledge it's airborne transmission by May 2021, NYT's wrote about "hygiene theatre," and I started calling in sick in order to be able to work
21-05-16 - Got a Better Idea?
21-06-14 - Paranoid or Prescient? Does it Matter?* - first time accosted in the street for my mask in June 2021

Year 3 (Sept. 21-Aug 22)--> Mask and Vax: 
First semester, we had two classes/day, rotating weekly, all in masks, and kids could choose to eat inside or outdoors. It was pretty manageable, but could have been made safer with better masks, filtration, and ventilation.

21-10-03 - The View from Here: Preventing School Spread of Covid-19 - rapid tests repossessed by Ford - they're for businesses only, not the public; first mention of CR boxes in October 2021
21-10-10 - Nobody's Rules - Arendt - teachers finally allowed to wear N95s
21-10-16 - On Moral Injury*
21-10-30 - On Burnout*
22-01-08 - Juris My Diction Crap - vaccination rules make no sense - vax only effective for months 
22-01-23 - Bad News is Increasing, but More Slowly?* - school screeners focus on symptoms despite half of cases spread asymptomatically
22-01-30 - Lunatic Fringe?* - colleagues on FB making fun of people wearing masks - this is a vascular, brain-invasive virus - 100% of cases have micro-clots in the blood

Second semester, we had four classes/day (the regular system). Mask mandates were dropped in March, 2022. I fought for masks and Corsi-Rosenthal boxes in the classroom. I got nowhere. I left teaching early on a mental health leave in April, two months before my official retirement date. 

22-03-05 - On Masks, Ventilation, and Contact Tracing - Yes, Again! - delegated to the board to try to keep my CR box - failed miserably - chanika later said no teachers should ever be allowed to delegate
22-03-21 - Not Dead Yet! *
22-04-18 - Masks Work - board messaging around not segregating unmasked kids from others - even from immunocompromised students -- we must put them in groups together -- forced infection much?!! 
22-05-19 - Pandemic Amnesia
22-06-27 - Open Letter to Universities Removing Mask Mandates - WLU reinstated mandates!!
22-07-11 - A Plague of Willful Incompetence - great "Don't Breath It In" PSA
22-08-16 - Strap One on for Safety (3QD article)
22-08-17 - A Useful Crisis
22-08-28 - On Divisiveness

Year 4 (Sept 22 - Aug 23) --> Infect around and find out! 
Back to "normal" - regular classes and no masks despite higher case numbers. Thank God I'm retired - but I'm still fighting to keep the kids safer in schools as a Trustee now! I passed a motion to encourage kids to wear a mask in school in December, and helped re-work a mandate to have a pilot program to check CO2 in classes actually begin in three schools. Then I quit in April once I realized how little I could actually do in that position, plus being openly despised (and threatened) by both anti-mask and pro-masks groups. And I wrote obsessively about Covid and started taking courses towards another masters to distract me from this mess! WLU was one of the last universities with mask mandates, and they dropped them in summer, then brought the back in August 2022, then dropped them in February 2023, just before kids come to visit schools! I've been successful at convincing classmates to still wear them, but profs are not on board at all - some request masks come off when students speak. (I had no intention, when I retired to write every day; it just happened like that!)

22-09-07 - It Ain't Over!
22-10-09 - On Being a Bad Person (3QD article)
22-10-15 - The New Wave
22-10-20 - Campaigning on Covid (3QD article)
22-10-26 - Covid and Kids
22-11-05 - The Cult of Covid
22-12-07 - Complete Chaos

23-03-05 - In the News...
23-04-06 - Age of Absurdity
23-05-01 - Why Take the Risk?
23-05-10 - So Close!
23-05-23 - On Prosocial Cuing
23-05-25 - The Need to Grow
23-05-29 - Kids Today!
23-06-14 - Climate Conspiracy
23-07-08 - Could This Be You?
23-08-01 - Covid on the Brain
23-08-05 - Cleaning Air

Year 5 (Sept 23 - Aug 24) --> Denial and Rationalizations for the Win! 
Back to "normal" big time! Almost nobody is wearing masks, hospitals are overflowing, and death and disabilities are increasing - of course - and shocking few are connecting the dots to Covid. I'm still trying to get masks on classmates in my university, but this term hit a lot of "just stay home" backlash! 

23-09-01 - Endgame Vision
23-09-14 - How Vaccines Work
23-09-16 - Stages of Genocide
23-09-21 - Chasing Pirola
23-10-01 - Covid, the T-Shirt
23-10-08 - Faulty Wiring
23-10-09 - Media Subterfuge
23-10-12 - It's Like the Sun
23-10-21 - Pet Lovers Revolt!
23-10-25 - We are Afraid
23-10-26 - Covid at Work
23-11-02 - Nothing New
23-11-12 - How It Began
23-11-25 - It's a Ruse!
23-11-27 - How to Know
23-11-28 - Fracking Hell!
23-12-05 - Just Safe Stories
23-12-10 - The Daycare Years





















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