Gadfly Bites 5/29/20 – Old

1. In Lorain, the old supe is finally the new CEO. The circle is complete. I think it’s the ninth. (Canton Repository, 5/28/20)
    
2. Nearby in Elyria, one graduating senior summed the year up by saying, “You just have to embrace the suck.” He did not elaborate upon the entirety of the suckitude he was embracing. I have some suggestions. (Elyria Chronicle, 5/28/20)
    
3. Speaking of the suck, here are some kudos to Ohio on education-related budget cutting. At least we don’t suck like New York! But not everyone felt like handing out cigars. Perennial sad sack Steve Dyer says: “It could have been a lot worse for the most challenged districts in the state, but it’s still not awesome.” Way to stay positive, man. (Chalkbeat, 5/27/20)
    
4. After many weeks of whatever remote learning is going on in Cincinnati City Schools, the Enquirer is trying to take stock of how things have gone. The main obstacles to success, as described in this piece, are the inherent inferiority of online connection vs. face-to-face and…senioritis. I don’t think they really got to the heart of it. Do you? (Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/28/20) That same level of distaste for online learning is evidenced in this piece, which is about – you guessed it – an online summer school to try and help stop Cincy students’ COVID slide. That’s quite some sell job you’ve got going on there, folks. Hope you don’t run out of virtual space in your program with all those kids beating a path to your portal! Honestly, y’all would probably learn more from a summer spent playing Animal Crossing. But what do I know? (Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/28/20)
    
5. I believe I have mentioned on these very pages that, when I was a wee nipper back in 1977, my district—Columbus City Schools—was forced to close its doors for two months during a stretch of brutal winter weather occurring during a gas shortage. (Wow, isn’t that just the most 70s thing you’ve read today?) I have fond memories of “TV school”, in which district teachers conducted lessons over the local airwaves. It seemed somewhat cool to me to continue learning while everything else in my city had basically stopped. We have heard that a few districts in Ohio have resurrected the idea of TV school during the school closures brought about in response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and here, finally, is some coverage of the Cleveland version, courtesy of Patrick O’Donnell. Don’t misunderstand me—this is a positive thing that is happening. But I do wish we could dispense with the idea that these folks are inventing something new and miraculous, which is the tone I took away from the piece. Heck, even my fourth grade teacher knew she was following in the footsteps of Mr. Rogers and Count von Count. We are also told along the way that the teaching is being done voluntarily and entirely by union teachers, that it requires multiple steps (performed by multiple district employees) from taping to air, and that it is a good thing that these replaced the actual paid programming – a “personal injury court show.” (Wow, isn’t that just the most Cleveland thing you’ve read today?) (The 74, 5/26/20)
    
6. We end today with an update on remote learning from Springfield Local Schools. Things seem pretty rosy by comparison to most other such updates we’ve seen. Even the teacherparents seem happy. This upbeat tale stands out to me; I wonder if we can figure out why they’re all so pleased. I think we get the best clue from a couple of seventh grade teachers who tell us that they have been using Google Classroom for a few years. They were also able to purchase Chromebooks for their entire class through a grant from a local foundation a while back. (Not sure why, though, since everyone knows that online learning sucks; perhaps they’re just embracing that suck!) “Ironically, this school year we have used Google Classroom more than ever. Students became accustom to being independent workers,” explained one of the teachers (perhaps one who is unclear on the meaning of the word ironic). “What a relief it was when the entire seventh grade was comfortable with not Google Classroom but being independent learners… We have not skipped a beat in our classroom.” Surely I don’t have to connect all the dots for you guys here, do I? (The Suburbanite, 5/27/20)
   

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