11/25/2020

Headline, November 26 2020/ ''' '' ONLINE EERIE OOPPS '' ''' : REMOTE

 

''' '' ONLINE EERIE 

OOPPS '' ''' : REMOTE



! WE ARE FULLY REMOTE ! :

AND THESE HEROIC FOUNDER FRAMERS AND I ARE PROFOUNDLY GRATEFUL and deeply touched, by the very precious best wishes and prayers conveyed to us from every corner of the globe.

''May Almighty God bless You all ! May Almighty God bless the World! And may Almighty God bless all our efforts.'' As The World Students Society inches forward for great global elections, Eerie limbo of remote schooling stirs.

AS TEACHING GOES ONLINE, every mother worries that this option isn't what's best for their children. And with that The World Students Society rises to give all parents of the world a standing ovation and assure them of highest esteemed regards and respects.

My husband and I have three kids in three different schools. Our suburban New Jersey district is fully remote for now, so our eighth grader and 11th grader spend roughly six hours a day watching synchronous classes on laptops.

They wander, bleary-eyed into the kitchen at odd-times - for lunch at 10 am or for a three minute break between periods. When they're not in school they're eating Cheez-Its, staring at phones propped up against the fruit bowl. My son has a permanent bend in his hair from noise-cancelling headphones.

BUT WHEN I WAKE UP in the middle of the night, I wonder : Is this really the best we can offer our children? A year ago they were forming genuine relationships with their teachers, tossing an arm around a friend's shoulder.

Now they're isolated and glued to screens. Imagine yourself at 13, considering a group project by video chat with kids you don't know; at 16 learning physics alone in your bedroom; at 19, muting yourself in class.

I understand why remote school is necessary. We all have to do our part, but I don't want to get comfortable with what I think of as the ''new silence.'' It's not sustainable or healthy, especially for teenagers whose curriculum should include independence and freedom alongside physics and Spanish.

At my elementary school, there was a substitute teacher who made kids sit in the trash can when they misbehaved. I landed there once, and it was exciting at first. The putty-colored but offered a change of scenery, a break from the usual role as a diligent student.

But when my classmates' attention drifted back to decimals, I started to panic. I knew I didn't belong in the trash; I knew I was just being stashed there while the teachers regained control of the classroom.

For the first few weeks of ''school'' my teenagers had nothing to say about remote learning. They came downstairs for breakfast, then trudged back to their bedrooms for homeroom.

My inquiries yielded two responses : ''It's fine,'' and ''Can you please not talk to the cats in that voice while I'm in school?''

I knew distance education this year was more rigorous than the free-for-all last spring, but otherwise I was in the dark until we had another family over for a socially distanced dinner on our porch. As my husband distributed ice-cream sandwiches [unsung heroes of Covid socializing], my friends' son told us about his virtual carpentry class.

The course is being taught by a substitute ''until the real teachers gets certified,'' and the first lesson started with a slide that said ''Welcome to Carpentry.''

Suddenly, our porch erupted with competing stories : about students who play video games during class, report to pre-calculus from the line at Dunkin' drive-through, never turn their camera on or don't show up at all; about parents and pets intruding at inopportune moments; about virtual fire drills, lockdown drills and gym class; and teachers shushing their spouses and children.

The adults tried to sound a positive note [ ''Everyone is doing their best!''], but our voices were drowned by the joyous frenzy of four teenagers competing to shock their audience. I was glad I'd had warned my neighbors that we were expecting a raucous crowd.

[Transparency and selective hearing our pillars of porch etiquette, as they are in the raising of adolescents.]

Occasionally, from my improvised office, I hear one of my kids answering or asking a question, but mostly what I hear is unnerving silence. There is no leave-taking or homecoming, no rhythmic pulse of routine, just the soft throb of a household perpetually in limbo.

The Honor and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on Online World and Concerns and Sufferings continues. The World Students Society thanks author Elisabeth Egan.

With respectful dedication to the Grandparents, and Parents, Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all prepare and register for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter - !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011:

''' Together - Tomorrow '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless

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