lucius septimius 8/17/2020 6:28:56 AM

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Three kids in three different rooms all doing work online.  They all had to login at 8:30.  I had gotten calls several times that they had been marked absent.  Mom had no explanation.  Youngest boy provided an explanation:  "I looked at the clock and realized it was too early to login.  Mom doesn't wake us up in the morning like you do."

*sigh*

lucius septimius 8/17/2020 7:13:52 AM

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Occasional Reader 8/17/2020 7:25:55 AM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 1:

I am amazed your school year is starting so soon. Here in DC it doesn’t start for two more weeks.

Occasional Reader 8/17/2020 7:26:58 AM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 2:

perfect.

JCM 8/17/2020 7:45:56 AM

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More peaceful protests in Seattle overnight.

4 cops injured by the all the peace.

Occasional Reader 8/17/2020 7:56:14 AM

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Reply to JCM in 5:

Related: what midtown Manhattan looks like after all the peaceful protesting. (You might have to reload the page a couple of times to get it to work.)

https://www.battleswarmblog.com/?p=45376

And this is why my shooting range was absolutely jampacked, both Saturday and Sunday.

Occasional Reader 8/17/2020 7:57:08 AM

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lucius septimius 8/17/2020 8:00:12 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 3:

The county only opened this week; their charter school started up two weeks ago.  They have their shiite together, unlike the county.  

Occasional Reader 8/17/2020 8:32:21 AM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 8:

I'm in no rush for virtual school to start.  Keeping a five year-old focused on online "learning" for X hours per day is not going to be easy.  Little OR is frankly leaps and bounds ahead of where they'll be in terms of the actual, substantive material, and is a voraciously self-starting learner, so I'm not worried about that aspect.  

lucius septimius 8/17/2020 8:42:59 AM

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In #9 Occasional Reader said: Keeping a five year-old focused on online "learning" for X hours per day is not going to be easy. 

I would suggest it's impossible.  Online teacher works for older kids -- sixth grade and up -- but not, I'd say, for the younger ones.  There is too much need for direct engagement with each student, hence "online" learning for smaller kids is really just homeschooling under the auspices of the state.

For my kids, their classes provide a kind of schedule and armature for exploring on their own.  And they have me as a resource person -- I find myself being called on to give short lectures on a very wide range of topics.

doppelganglander 8/17/2020 8:56:29 AM

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In #10 lucius septimius said: I find myself being called on to give short lectures on a very wide range of topics.

For the whole class? You should be getting paid.

JCM 8/17/2020 9:27:19 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 9:

Keeping teens focused on learning is not easy they are on the computers for online learning the the things are full of distractions.

lucius septimius 8/17/2020 10:08:56 AM

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Reply to JCM in 12:

Mine are issued Chromebooks by the school that can only be used for class assignments.  On the other hand, their phones remain the primary source of possible distraction.  For the most part they like to get in, do the work, and get it over with.

doppelganglander 8/17/2020 11:18:54 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 9:

If that's the case, why enroll him in school at all? He's likely to become bored and restless, and it may crush his natural love of learning. Of course, it depends on your ability to work and supervise him, as well as his mom's willingness to participate. Honestly, the situation sucks for both parents and kids no matter what you do.

Occasional Reader 8/17/2020 12:45:54 PM

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In #14 doppelganglander said: If that's the case, why enroll him in school at all?

We'll see how it goes, and if necessary, pull out and go homeschooling, at least until school resumes in-person.

Occasional Reader 8/17/2020 12:58:50 PM

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Someone at Insty linked to this last night; seems like an interesting non-lethal and non-obvious personal defense weapon.

Discuss... 

lucius septimius 8/17/2020 1:30:31 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 16:

I prefer the John Steed umbrella.

buzzsawmonkey 8/17/2020 2:22:00 PM

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buzzsawmonkey 8/17/2020 2:45:11 PM

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Anyone notice how very similar the arguments for mail-in voting are to the arguments slamming border enforcement?

If you're for enforcement of immigration law, if you want to differentiate between legal entrants and illegals, you're "racist"; if you defend the necessary actions of enforcement and detention, you're an unfeeling brute; if you express concern that illegals are voting when not entitled to, you are, again, "racist."

If you are for securing the voting process---whether with photo IDs or opposing vote-by-mail---you are, again, "racist" and engaging in "vote suppression." If you point out that there is a difference between traditional absentee-ballot voting (a minuscule part of the overall vote) and blanket vote-by-mail, you are accused of making illegitimate distinctions the same way people who distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants are. If you point out the massive vote-fraud possibilities, you are slandered the same way people who point out that motor-voter provisions in states that allow illegals to obtain driver's licenses are slandered for pointing out the possibilities of fraud.

It's the same set of arguments, re-purposed to a different issue for the same objective.

lucius septimius 8/17/2020 2:50:32 PM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 19:

But Drumpfhitler is removing all the post boxes from around the country!  Putting locks on them!! Defunding the USPS!!!!!!!!!  Drumpfhitler is destroying the postal system!!!!!!  

lucius septimius 8/17/2020 2:56:23 PM

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JCM 8/17/2020 3:10:17 PM

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Just saw a headline on my feed for Indianapolis schools, didn't bother clicking but the headline struck me.

School starts with anticipated snags.

This is indicative of the administrative incompetence I've dealt with.

If they were "anticipated" why were they mitigated before hand? Why did you wait until the start of school?

That would go over well at work...

Boss - "Why did this fail"

Me - "Well I knew it would fail...."

Boss - "Why didn't you prevent it from failing then?"

buzzsawmonkey 8/17/2020 3:18:58 PM

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In #21 lucius septimius said: They have to know that the Lumpenproletariat they need to win the election would never be able to pull off anything so complicated as voting by mail.

That's why they'll save 'em the trouble, by filling in the ballots themselves.

Kosh's Shadow 8/17/2020 3:53:03 PM

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In #12 JCM said: Keeping teens focused on learning is not easy they are on the computers for online learning the the things are full of distractions.

I worked for a company whose main product was to lock down a computer during exams, so students could only look up sites the school allowed for the tests.

It also was a great malware detector. Most of the support calls we got were because it shut down malware that had gotten into the internet stack,  and when it was shut down, the  network broke.

(The company was so small even the CEO took support calls)

Kosh's Shadow 8/17/2020 3:54:47 PM

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In #16 Occasional Reader said: Someone at Insty linked to this last night; seems like an interesting non-lethal and non-obvious personal defense weapon.

Looks like something John Steed would have

Occasional Reader 8/17/2020 3:59:29 PM

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@PBJ3 8/17/2020 4:00:46 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 26:

Cute!  You'd better take a video.

lucius septimius 8/17/2020 4:07:11 PM

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Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 25:

Reply to lucius septimius in 17:

GMTA

lucius septimius 8/17/2020 4:26:07 PM

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Occasional Reader 8/17/2020 4:35:45 PM

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In #27 @PBJ3 said: Cute!  You'd better take a video.

Done

Occasional Reader 8/17/2020 4:36:32 PM

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In #29 lucius septimius said: Bought salsa in the Mexican brand this week. 

OMG CULTURAL APPROPRIATION

doppelganglander 8/17/2020 4:49:51 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 31:

Lock me up. I made pico de gallo last week.

lucius septimius 8/17/2020 4:58:30 PM

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In #32 doppelganglander said: Lock me up. I made pico de gallo last week.

There are things deeper in your mind even more unpleasant.