So far, all the information I'm receiving from inside and outside the state is conflicting.

The Washington State Department of Education is issuing reports that show student achievement and test scores are down, meanwhile the Washington Association of School Business Officials says there's good news over remote learning:

Increased Online Access Boosts Achievement

A new study from the University of Notre Dame published in the Journal of Marketing Research has identified a correlation between increased internet access spending in school districts and improvements in academic performance, as well as potential disciplinary consequences.

I teach college English classes, and I can say there are both pros and cons to the remote learing thing. It's certainly a different animal for elementary/junior high/high school versus college though. Still, even in college classes, there are those who excel in this new modality, and those who struggle. My college has been great about making sure to properly train us and continue to support through developmental courses. The hardest part are the accommodations and technological hurdles for students. 

Thankfully during this time only my daughter has been enrolled in a school setting, albeit a small private school. My sons have remained homeschooled. That will change next year, but by then perhaps everything will be somewhat normal.

That's really cool man! I teach High School English and History and it's definitely been a tough year redesigning the curriculum- lots of late nights lol 

onipar wrote :

I teach college English classes, and I can say there are both pros and cons to the remote learing thing. It's certainly a different animal for elementary/junior high/high school versus college though. Still, even in college classes, there are those who excel in this new modality, and those who struggle. My college has been great about making sure to properly train us and continue to support through developmental courses. The hardest part are the accommodations and technological hurdles for students. 

-end quote

Yeah, I had to basically build my classes from the ground up. A lot of work, and they keep changing things that cause me to have to rethink my plans. 

i'm a bit concerned about these news reports on the vaccine. some doctors made it sound like they were covering up that it wouldn't be 100% effective.

Really?  I thought it was pretty well publicized that none of them are 100% effective. The J&J one is something like 60-ish%, the others are in the 90 percentile (I forget the exact numbers). I *do* know doctors are recommending you take whichever vaccine is available and not wait for one in particular.  

I'm in the 1b group because I'm a teacher, but even still I doubt I'll see one before late spring or even summer. 

The mass shutdowns last spring were a big mistake. They only delayed the virus peaking and lead to several businesses going under. There should have never been a mass shutdown and schools should have stayed open. There should have been reasonable policies to slow the spead without everyone spazing out. Private gatherings account for 75% of the cases and most others account for less than 5%. Here we are a year later and people still want us to wear mask, social distance and want to keep everything shut down. People wear mask alone in their car and walking down the street. They think wearing a mask 10 feet from people makes a difference. They think sanitizing surfaces makes a difference when they spread is from particals in the air........ There is so much ignorance over this virus and if you say anything you don't care about people's lives.



I got both Maderna vaccines because I work in a hospital. The first only caused some soreness, the second made me sick for a day with 102 fever. I think by May we are going to be pretty well off. Lets hope these restriction end and businesses don't try to insitue mask everytime there is a flu outbreak.

So I have the COVID. Sweet.

Just achy with a mild cough. Still... I'm stuck at home which bites.

2012 was supposed to be the apparent "end of everything" but something tells me that covid could potentially be the real thing, just look at how many deaths we've had since the past year. it just won't stop.