Tag: #NYCDOE

  • I Didn’t Write Today, But I Don’t Feel Bad

    That pretty much sums it up.

    Oh, and I had plans today as well. I had worked on the outline, and I was ready to start taking a second crack at working on the narrative. I even started thinking about the tone of the narrator, and the cadence he would have in his sentence structures, and use of receptive phrases. I was thinking about it, and gearin’ to go.

    And I won’t even say that the day went sideways. It just went, and I had to roll with it.

    First of all, the school had a two new assessment tests that they wanted my kid to take to see where she was on her reading and math skills. I know what assessment tests really mean, but for the kid it was just fun, and she enjoyed all the math stuff. In fact, for a kindergartener, I don’t know where she picked up what she knew about fractions! She’s not getting the math skills from me, that’s clear. Once she had finished the assessment, the app we were using offered some math games to play, which she ate up! And I sat next to her, encouraging her to keep going, and it was so exciting and heartwarming to see that spark of learning in her. That feeling that all the world can be discovered and understood. That horizons are being broadened.

    It through my schedule off for the rest of the day, but it was completely worth it.

  • The Doom Anxiety is Back

    Who else is still feeling the same level of anxiety you had before the election?

    That would be me.

    And most of my friends as well.

    Just about two hours ago, the Chancellor of the NYC Public schools announced that in-person classes will be cancelled due to the test infection rate is now above 3% in the city. Well… crap.

    There has been 100,000+ daily Covid infections for over the past week, as well as over 1,000 deaths.

    And we shouldn’t gather for The Holidays, but people are clearly going to gather for The Holidays

     We are clearly in a Second Wave, and for some of you, it might be a Third.

    And Trump won’t concede the election, which has the very high probability of make things worse as his administration is refusing to working with the incoming administration.

    2020 ain’t over yet, so I know it can still get worse.

    Like I said, I’m not feeling better.

    I haven’t really written anything other than these blogs, and that is due to my nonstop Doomscrolling. I keep checking to see if it is getting worse. This is clearly now a habit I have created for myself that I am not able to break, as my phone is connected to me constantly.

    Deep breath…

    Deep breath…

    We can get through this.

  • First Day of School

    Here we are t the first day of school in New York City!

    Look, I know that this is not ideal for anyone, and the teachers at our school are doing their best, and from what I have seen today, they are taking it seriously, and, from my kid’s reaction, they are making it fun.

    We have opted to do the remote learning from home, and supporting the kid in all of this, is one of my primary jobs as “stay at home dad.” I was hoping that we would get a schedule today, so I could at least start planning what our days are going to be like. Sadly, schedules are still being created, being made available later today, and that is disappointing. But I keep trying to remind myself that these teachers are doing their best with a really bad hand. They showed up, and are committed to make the best out of this.

    I like our school, staff and teachers, and for all of this to work, I know I have to be more involved, and be supportive of the school. This issues I am have are policy really, which is coming from the DOE, mayor, and the governor, and not the teachers and staff that I am interacting with. I have to remind myself of that.

    When I walk about NYC, it seems like every neighborhood has one old school that between built between 1890 to 1920. These schools are red bricked, some built in a Dutch Revival style, detailed, and dominating the block they are on. To me, they look like temples to public education, which says to me says that there was a time in this City when public education was taken seriously; something to be shown off, and honored.

    I have many friends that are teachers, all of this country, and for something that is so vital for a strong and equatable nation, why do we scorn public education? How did we get to a place where paying for something that has a benefit for everyone become a bad thing?

    I will go on the record and say, raise my taxes to pay teachers, staff and administrators what they are worth. And I will also go on the record to say that we, the public, have to get involved, vote in school board elections, show up to events, and push for policies that improve our communities.

    If we don’t, then no one’s education will be guaranteed.