Rated YA-MA discussion

First, hoping you are healthy and safe.
How are you coping? Where are you in the world? Are you still going to work or suddenly confined to your home? What advice do you have for other YA-MA members?

I am healthy and safe as are all of my family at this point. I am in southern Florida and a teacher so I am on an extended spring break. I work another job but this is my last week for that. I am currently taking this extra time to do the things I have been unable to do like deep clean the house and catch up on shows I have missed. The only advice I have is to not panic and buy up all the toilet paper because some of us just need to wipe as usual :) Relax and don't consume yourself with all the corona virus news out there.

I'm in Sydney, which means no toilet paper for me haha, luckily I already had enough before the craziness started. My family and I are all safe for now, schools are still open however my uni has closed and gone all online and the city is like a ghost town as many people are working from home now. we basically stay home unless absolutely necessary and hopefully things will slow down soon however I hear it's going to be more like 6 weeks. Fingers are crossed for all of us.

I'm in PA (USA) and like Dianne I get a surprise spring break. No one knows how long it will last. Also the state-run liquor stores are closed, so you know it's an apocalypse.

Melanie wrote: "I'm in PA (USA) and like Dianne I get a surprise spring break. No one knows how long it will last. Also the state-run liquor stores are closed, so you know it's an apocalypse."

yikes - liquor stores are closed - no bueno - i may need to stop on my way home for supplies (i'm in MD)

I am currently feeling anxiety and a bit of depression over all of this. I love teaching because I get so much out of the interactions I have with my students. They give me as much as I give them ( I admit what they give me is sometimes headaches and frustrations but they are middle schoolers it is kind of like a package deal) I m currently setting up online classes for the next month and know it will not be the same. I teach art to a low income community and I give them experiences they would not get otherwise. They have no supplies at home and cannot be expected to purchase anything for this. Many don't even have a supply of pencils or paper for drawing. I can come up with meaningful online lessons but it is not the same as hands on creation.

Yeah, I agree. My school has a lot of low-income students. They offered food pickups (free), but the lowest income community parents can afford to drive to the school to get the free meals. Now they are scrambling to find a way to make picks up once a week or some other kind of delivery.

I'm actually not allowed to give students any kind of enrichment activity (as per school policy). We just have canceled school. The state is planning to abandon the state exams and giving a waiver for days missed.

Right now I'm busing finishing up the yearbook because that still needs to be done. When that's done, I don't know what I will do with myself.

I'm in Madrid, Spain. My company made a big effort last week in order to let almost all us be working at home. Our government has declared the alarm status and we are confined at home. Exceptions for alimentary related stores and certain basic public services. We have not reached the contagion peak yet. Our health services are prepared but not much as it's needed. I don't have children but it must be very difficult to have them confined. Every day we go out to our balconies and clap to give support and a big thank you at our health professionals. I guess this will be our constant until May. But we will win. Thanks for asking, really. Take care all of you and make your governors to order confinement. The sooner, the better. This virus travels really fast.

Hi everyone!

I’m In Gainesville, FL
I work at the public library which has been closed for two weeks... we will see if they close us down for longer! The public schools here are closed until April 15, so I’m home taking care of my son and some other neighborhood kids while their parents go to work.
My mom had planned to go to a beach front hotel for a visit and we were going to go join her next week... but I’m kind of stressing out, thinking we should cancel the trip at this point.
Thankfully I have my health and a roof over my head, things haven’t been too bad here...
Hope you all get through this okay!
I’m glad I have books and kids to keep my mind occupied!

I really really think that countries with cases that haven't declared confinement yet are terribly wrong. In today's survey 95'5% of Spaniards are in favor of confinement. Our public health system has been said one of the best. However in Madrid after just a short week of confinement is getting closer to a collapse point ar certain hospitals. The virus contagion is exponential. Confinement is the only way to save lifes and help doctors help people until warm days comes and help. China made it wrong. Italia tried to react sooner but a lot of people evades confinement and they are collapsed, more deads than in China. Spain hasn't reached the peak yet but the confinement is helping the medicals to absorb the cases and they clap at us too.

Confinement is definitely the way to control it to a point. Australia hasn't done it yet, hasn't even shut the schools but it looks like it is going that way soon. Maybe in the next 2 weeks. Especially when you see video of complete idiots packed on Bondi beach! I'm here with my family of four, self isolating and they are all having a blast on the beach. Does my head in.
One thing in our favour is the fact we are an island and now that we have shut the boarders to tourists it might help. However the cruise ships going around Australia are still happening for some crazy reason. We will see how things go I guess.

Sandra wrote: "Every day we go out to our balconies and clap to give support and a big thank you at our health professionals. "

I love watching this happen on the news. It is a good reminder of what is good about humanity.

It is so varied how each country/ state is responding to the crisis. I can't control my government, so I am trying to stay positive and stay home because that is the right thing to do.

edit! our mayor announced yesterday that oahu is on lockdown until April 30. It's gonna be rough, but it needed to happen. We are a tiny island with limited resources and we need to do all we can to slow down the spread. crossing fingers that things will be ok!

I was checking some US press media yesterday and and I think they had the same comments we had a month ago. "There's more deaths by flu..." Etc.
But they already are cases in almost every state.
And just look at our countries, already shutdown and it still increasing fast.
Our gov should have cancelled the 8th March parade in Madrid. Soon there were a lot of politicians Covid positive. That surely help them make up there minds. Kind of like Trump, he has taken it a bit more seriously since he had to pass the test.
However that march probably meant the virus widespread as a lot of people came from out of Madrid.

Take care everyone.

We are going into shutdown tomorrow. it's good and needs to happen but now I have full time uni online and two kids to home school. I am not sure how this will work. just got to get on with it I guess.

UCI's are going to go through the worst soon because it takes 2-4 weeks to heal people but today is the second one in a row that the rate of contagions in Madrid decreases. Our government extends confinement until April 12th. I think we are in the road to win

Such a mix of hope and anxiety. I wish you all well and send you virtual *hugs*!

Amy wrote: "We are going into shutdown tomorrow. it's good and needs to happen but now I have full time uni online and two kids to home school. I am not sure how this will work. just got to get on with it I gu..."

hang in there Amy!

Sandra wrote: "UCI's are going to go through the worst soon because it takes 2-4 weeks to heal people but today is the second one in a row that the rate of contagions in Madrid decreases. Our government extends c..."

oh good, that sounds promising Sandra! Hoping for the best for everyone!

My school, which originally instructed me to do nothing for legal reasons, is now asking us to provide optional, ungraded enrichment material for students (both on and off line) starting on Monday. Part of me is excited to do something and part of is floundered by the scale of the task. I think they now realize the break is going to be longer than they expected, and parents are going to wonder why teachers are still being paid.

Meanwhile, cases around the world are growing and countries not in the news before all have their own horror stories. This is definitely stressful.

Melanie wrote: "My school, which originally instructed me to do nothing for legal reasons, is now asking us to provide optional, ungraded enrichment material for students (both on and off line) starting on Monday...."

Do you think that students are going to do ungraded work? I think enrichment is wonderful but at home it is up to the parents to encourage or enforce that. Intrinsically I feel very few students will be motivated. What do you teach and what grade level?

I viewing from an aspect that they are bored. So I’m going to try and encourage engagement. In a very real way, they miss their peers, so this can be a meet up opportunity they won’t get in isolation. I’ll let you know next week if it all flops or drops.

We are required to have work every day and a minimum of two grades a week. We are using Google Classroom and I only have 25% of my students that have accepted the invitation to join so far. Technically they are on spring break this week but I have to wonder how many will follow through. Our district is giving out loaner Chromebooks to all families needing a device to work on and Comcast is giving free internet access to families in need.

I’ve been using Google Classroom for 4 years and all my kiddos are signed up, but we didn’t send them home with Chromebooks.

We didn't sen ours with them either. They sent many many auto dials with info for drive through pick up info to give them the option. They could bike up or walk up also if parents don't have a car.

Here is a copy of a message one of my students left on google classroom. She only does enough on a regular basis to maintain a D average.

I don't know why these teachers got us out here doing work when I could be dead right now from this virus . I'm just tryna chill and they piling me up with this work. I'm tryna protect myself and I'm out here doing work. Mhmm, y'all don't care about us after all. I'll do it on one of my free days , the day before we go back to school . Ok na bye I just wanted you to know how we felt since nobody else was gonna speak up . See you soon , if i make it .

FYI no work has been assigned until next week because they are technically on spring break. Most of my students don't have this attitude but there are some in each class.

1. I would definitely pass that student’s message on to an administrator. If 1 kid is speaking out there are probably more that feel the exact same way. It hurts to know your kids feel that way too, so I’m sending love your way Diane.

2. Most of the commentary I’ve heard is advising teachers told to have mandatory graded work, to only assign 1/4 of what you normally would because you want students to have something to engage with but to not have “school” adding to their stress.

Most of the early feedback is indicating, like that girl’s message, that kids just want to know someone cares about them. They like having an opportunity to engage online with classmates they can’t see IRL. One my students said: “We all grounded now...”

3. From an educational stand point, it seems like there just isn’t a right thing to do in these circumstances.

I'm here in Iowa. Our governor is trying to walk to line between a GOP governor with a base that is hugely pro-Trump and someone that is actually trying to keep her citizens safe. It's so-so. She first started with just saying the general things such as don't go out if you are sick. Just last night she extended business closures to most places. You can still go to grocery/retail stores like Target or Wal Mart and you can order food online and pick it up or go through drive-thrus but other stores are finally closed. She has also ordered most service type places to be closed as well such as beauty salons but also dentists and things like that.

As far as schools go it varies greatly from district to district. I am a substitute teacher here in my state's capital. I am lucky enough that I have a family that I am babysitting for, so I can still earn an income. I also able to work with this family who has three children. I have set up a curriculum with them, so they don't fall behind in their learning. I'm so scared that school will not start again, and then we are going to have so many kids that are even farther behind.
Obviously, I think the closing of schools is the right thing to do. What concerns me is how are we going to reach the kids that need us most? I see that a lot of you have the same concerns.

I live in MN and we just went to Stay at Home. I am blessed to have a job where I can work from home but the isolation is suffocating. My husband has an auto mechanic business which has slowed but is still going.
I can't see my children or grandchildren for at least two weeks.
Prating we are all healthy and safe and the businesses who had to lose will survive.
Tess

I just “participated” in my churches 2nd virtual service. For those of you who are religious, how are you handling Sundays?

Ours are online as well. My mother who is 85 does not have internet and she is missing it

Tess wrote: "Ours are online as well. My mother who is 85 does not have internet and she is missing it"

And it's probably not safe to go visit her!
When my aunt when in the hospital, I would summarize the sermon for her since she couldn't go to church.

It's all kind of awkward.

I am wondering if anyone is finding it a bit harder than normal to read. I had a lot of time to read the past few weeks, but am only now seeming to be able to start back up. Probably due to my schedules and routines being all wonk a doo right now. Idk.

Exactly! I envisioned more time to do things like read and it is not the case because I am not alone and not on a routine. My focus is off also for sure.

Maybe I had less time the first two weeks, since I spend more time checking news and WhatsApp messages and cooking in advance. Now I am more relaxed, waiting for the famous curb to flatten and enjoying book reading as always.

Sounds good Sandra. We have to stay calm.

I practice mindfulness. It is very helpful to keep grounded

Not sure where to put this, so I'll just drop it here since it's a free program and we don't have much access to books atm...
Sync starts back up at the end of this month. For those who don't know what Sync is, it's a free summer audiobook program for high school-ish age kids. They used to pair a YA contemporary book with a classic. Now it's more of a free for all, but anyway. Each week there are 2 titles to choose from. You may download one or both.

For more info the website is audiobooksync.com

Happy reading or listening ;)

sync is always fun - i've gotten some good books - and then i lost all of them on my phone last year when i had to reset to factory settings :(

I'm in Minnesota. I am lucky in that I normally work from home anyway. However my husband is now working from home, too, and my son is home doing online school. My husband has taken over our home office, so I am now working in the living room. I'm high risk, as my immune system is compromised, so I haven't left home except to walk the dog. We are very fortunate that both of us are still employed.

Dee wrote: "sync is always fun - i've gotten some good books - and then i lost all of them on my phone last year when i had to reset to factory settings :("

Nooo!! That is horrible, Dee!

Linda wrote: "I'm in Minnesota. I am lucky in that I normally work from home anyway. However my husband is now working from home, too, and my son is home doing online school. My husband has taken over our home o..."

Linda, I am glad that both you and your husband are still able to be employed, but I am sad that you lost your office :(
It stinks to be cooped up so much though.

I feel very fortunate that I am now able to work from home and my husband is still working outside of the home. There is no way we could get by without income as we are paycheck to paycheck people. On a sad note though I just found out one of my students has been in the hospital with the virus. He is serious but not critical. I have at least two other families of students that are not in shelters because of this. It is scary and my heart breaks for them.

One on my best friend's husband had an aneurysm a year ago m
March. He is is a nursing home with very little mobility and responsiveness. he just turned 44. He has now contracted COVIDI-19. His facility has been on lock down since March 10 so Jenny can only see him via Zoom.
We live in MN

Oh man! That is horrible. thinking of him and your best friend. I really hope things improve soon.

Tess wrote: "One on my best friend's husband had an aneurysm a year ago m
March. He is is a nursing home with very little mobility and responsiveness. he just turned 44. He has now contracted COVIDI-19. His fac..."

That is heartbreaking. Prayers to him and his family.

I get myself into a big pity party about this, then I see I am blessed and need to be there for others