UFT Town Hall October 15, 2020

by special guest Mindy Rosier

Mulgrew: Thank you for taking the time on such a beautiful day to make it on this call. We are going to be talking about a lot of going ons. Spent a lot of the weekend talking to medical experts. When will this pandemic end? How long will our school system have to stay in this way? Next year we should be in a better place. It is about figuring out how we navigate through everything we need to deal with. The elections is weeks away and then we work on the Mayor's race. We are making sure we are safe, our livelihood is intact, and we are working on issues with the principals and the DOE.

We need to be diligent with everything we are doing. We are the only school system with mandated testing. Now the Gov wants to do more of this. We fought for the testing, the PPE, and we pushed the Mayor for delays twice. 

We cannot take anything for granted. We need to know issues right away. Schools have been getting the supplies. You must report any issues. City Hall found the money to make it work. We can only take care of a problem if we know about it. We will make sure they will do what they are supposed in making sure schools are fully supplied. Everything we have now, we had to fight for. PPE and procedures are the number one piece in stopping the virus. Then comes cleaning and testing. This should keep our schools safe. Everyone needs to do what they supposed to.

There is clearly a second wave hitting the country. We are paying attention. 

Our testing program has started. We get the reports nightly. We are way below the city average. You have to wear a mask. You need to be responsible. It's mandated testing for everyone. You have a responsibility to keep each other safe. The first week, the results weren't coming back fast enough. Solution was put it all in one place called the Situation Room. If there's a problem, we will move quickly. 

We now know we are not teaching children the way we would outside of the pandemic. We change. We adapt. Its what we do. 

There are community spikes and we saw specific zip codes go up. In the deal with the city and state, with rates over 3%, the schools must be tested. Of 118 schools, only 25 schools were being tested. We were preparing to go to court. The city was in violation with the plan that was put in place. We were ready. Call got a call on Sunday night from City Hall. All schools in those zip codes will be put in remote for at least 2 weeks. Gov jumped in with colored zones. We are tracking everything. We went from having to shut down the whole school system down to getting those schools into remote right away when there's a spike. Now the city is responsible to do the testing. If you need any further information on this, you can contact the call center.

Do not take anything for granted. Let us know if there are any issues in your school. We need to know if people don't wear a mask. That is not ok. Everyone must wear a mask.

Profession and livelihood: By next September, hopefully we'll have some normalcy. This has changed all of us forever. The economic wreckage on our economy is going to last years. It's real bad. The only good thing is, we may be able to bounce back quicker because we have so many industries here. 

If the city were able to borrow $3B, it wouldn't last long and we would go back in the red. NYC costs so much to run. There is a job increase in city, but not the state. There's no tourists, no planes, cargo ships. Economy has been very damaged. We fought really hard for the Cares act which ended at the end of September. Since the Cares Act prevented layoffs, as soon as it ended, Disney laid off thousands as did the airlines. Here, the Mayor spoke of layoffs for all agencies including us. We were able to thwart that because our schools couldn't open safely until there was more staff. 

If we get a big stimulus, we can get through 

the next 3 years and the ecoomy hopefully will pick up. If it doesn't, it can take 5-10 years. We had robust calls about retro. We were preparing for a problem with the retro. We asked for confirmation on the retro. We didn't get one. We use an electronic service, they don't understand our system. They thought they had to issue payment to the bank and they thought they had until the 13th. I said again, are you processing the retro payments. They did not confirm. They were not putting the money in the system and it was on hold. We put the legal papers together . That money is directly under the control of a mediator. Because of this, we could go straight to arbitration if there were any issues. Last Thursday, we got the  notification that there will be no retro. Told them we are going to arbitration and they weren't happy. Friday we went into arbitration and it was long and ugly. They kept arguing fiscal emergency. If they say this now, they can claim this anytime when they don't want to pay for something.  The arbitrator thought they were nuts. Plus on top of this, they were threatening to lay us off? The city was not happy with what was agreed to, the raise, the split payment, and no layoffs this school year.

We will get half of the retro this month and the other half in July.

Something else came out this day. We were able to get legislation crafted and was introduced to the senate and assembly.  We have been working on this for months. The city has given us written support for an  Early Retirement Incentive. They introduce this all the time in Albany, the electeds say they support it but then it goes nowhere. We will negotiate, we will get the legislation in place, and the city will be in agreement. 

Moving forward we need to get all of these operational complaints taken care of. Some principals say there's nothing we can do which is full of crap. Every CL is getting a phone call from the union. In late August principals were asked if they were ready. Staffing becomes an issue once open. Since they said they were good originally, staffing requests are being denied. An SBO is our tool not the principals. There are teachers who only want to teach their students both remote and in person. Do an SBO and we will work it out. There are so many ridiculous things going on in schools. Now get the schools staffed. We must remedy these things quickly. Enough is enough. The schools system is open. There will be schools that get a call at 4am letting them know that you're closed for a day or two or longer. This is the world we are living in. The craziness. 

So many of us are fried already. Working in a pandemic is a tough thing. These are extremely challenging times. Be there for each other. We are a political organization.  We have extremes on both side. Union comes first. Right now the union’s job is to protect our safety, our profession, and our livelihood.  

We are in a highly charged political society right now. Talking politics is crazy right now. All the yelling and disrupting. Our job right now has to be taking care of our safety, profession, and livelihood.  I need people to really be there for each other in the schools. What I've seen so far has been amazing. People saying how they are proud to be on the building response team. Beautiful stuff in schools during such a terrible time. These are our schools and our kids. We are going to do our jobs and we are going to take care of each other. We still have plenty of enemies. There are so many fights right now. We need to look at all of the issues and how they affect us. This is the world we are in. 

Thank you to all who have been reaching out to me. The beautiful part and the tough part of the union is trying to figure all of these things out. We keep moving forward. 

This is our profession. We adapt. We move forward in dealing with everything. We will hold more Town Hall coming up soon.

I've never seen so much stuff go out from the DOE with so much wrong information for example the testing. They said it isn't mandated, when it is mandated. 

Election day is a remote learning day. Teach from home. Not up to the principal. Kids are home. Read the calendar. We don't want you in the buildings because they will be used as polling sites. Drives me nuts. If they could just be clear with the communication it would make everything easier but they don't. 

Its phenomenal with what we all have done. 

Questions: 

Q: I qualify for a medical accommodation. I applied 3 weeks ago and no updates. I've also made calls to the call center. 

M: Sill will contact you after the Town Hall. 

Q: In D26 there are plenty of operational issues. Is there any light at the end of the tunnel?

M: Yes, we informed the DOE. The Mayor hired staff. Your CL will be getting a call. Our goal is to resolve these issues in a week or two. Its moving, and hopefully you will get the resolution you looking for

Q: Early retirement; Are there any specifics? If it gets passed when will we get it? 

M: It would be at the beginning of the fiscal year, if we get it done and that would be July 1st or so. People could then apply over the summer. Last one was 2002, we are looking at that. Let me be clear. It is not done yet. We do not have the Early Retirement Incentive yet. 

Q: What about medical accommodations after December 31st and any updates on Spring Break?

M: When arbitration is back up, we will move forward on Spring Break. Medical accommodations are based on a medical condition. We would have to do another one in Jan. Same documentation and everything.

Q: Speech therapist; Concerned about excessive paperwork with all of the changes including the back and forth with remote.

M: Are you saying parents are switching back and forth? 

: Yes

M: Give me some time to work out the rad. Sped folks at the DOE have nothing better to do than make us work harder while they do nothing. Mary Jo and I will be taking care of this. 

Q: Clarification on testing D75 

M: D75 is not exempt. Those doing testing are not DOE folks. D75 was never exempt. They don't seem to understand that the majority of D75 kids are in buildings with other schools. It doesn't matter how many schools in the building,  they are tested. K is still in question. We will probably be testing for the rest of the school year.

Q: In D75, it is my understanding that if students and teachers can't wear masks, they can't remain in school.  

M: Do they have a medical accommodation to not wear a mask? Can they wear a shield? I've been in many D75 schools. I see masks and shields. D75 is now getting whatever they need. The child might have to go remote. This is a health emergency. Please send info to Mary Jo. 

Q: How would the Early Retirement Incentive affect 25/55 ?

M: It might mean you may be able to retire early. But until it's negotiated, I don't want to say too much. It shouldn't affect things. They wanted us to pick specific titles. They don't want math, science and special ed to retire. It doesn't work that way. We will fight over this. Amount of credits and we'd like to settle on is 36 months. 

Q: I have a principal who thinks his interpretation is correct, how does this get resolved? Classes are doubled instead of hiring more staff.

M: Every time you hear a principal say that, you know the interpretation is crazy. This is moving forward. We started the process yesterday at the DA. What's going on with you is happening in other places. They want it done, they need to hire. 

Q: Observations?

M: We do not have an agreed upon observation process. They need to fix all of the operational issues before evaluations can even start. We have not negotiated this yet.  We believe at this time, the number is around 65% for remote. 

Q: Paras, roles, and responsibilities.  It seems that those who are remote are going 8 hours straight. There's no official schedule, no break, calling parents, and doing Sesis. It's am overwhelming amount of work. Its too much.

M: There is stuff there that should not be happening. Did you file an operational complaint? 

Same Q: No. Don't want anything escalated. Admin gave some information, but it is open for interpretation. 

M: What I'll do is, I will work with our folks with paras and get these things in place. You paras, the work you guys did was phenomenal.  For you guys to be treated this way now? Not acceptable. Paras were there to help out and went above and beyond. We will deal with this  and I will deal with the Chancellor directly. 

Q: I'm in a room without students and see students on Google meets. My lessons are all online. Can I do this from home? 

M: Yes. If all you are doing is teaching children from a room, you would qualify to work from home. 

Q: We found out that someone tested positive. How do I know proper procedures are being followed?

M: If you were informed that someone was positive, contact tracing is already happening. We taught them what questions to ask in school communities. We will get a report. Some people may be told that certain people need to quarantine.  Over the last 2 to 3 weeks, we have more confidence in them as they stepped it up. They are not DOE personnel.  They were very receptive to us. Our positivity rate right now is very low and we are doing lots of testing. 

Q: Are there any updates to Learning Bridges? 

M: Updates by the end of the week. It will be moving forward so that it is doing the job it was intended to do. They have to change the parameters of their programs.

Look, we will have another Town Hall in 2-3 weeks. There's still more issues to deal with. The program stuff, its a mess. There will be fights as these issues have to be dealt with. Thank you again for coming on this call and for everything you do. Nobody told us we'd  be doing this during a pandemic. It's about us. Doing what needs to be done. We will continue to take care of each other. It's about the passion and dedication of the work we do. It's been recognized now with our school system open. Everyone sees it. We have a lot to do. We will get through it. Find sometime to relax whenever you can. Goodnight. 

UFT Delegate Assembly October 14, 2020--We Will Survive (at least until June)

UFT President Michael Mulgrew.-- began listening at 4:32--talking about what happened with testing in September. Governor came out with a color coded plan which begins next week. We have already begun testing and get results daily. Our monitoring program tests a certain percentage monthly. Happening same day now, but will be spread out in future. Will hopefully keep virus at bay.

Country now at beginning of second wave and our challenge is to keep city safe. If there's a problem with PPE, cleaning, procedures, let us know. Only way we can fix is if we know. 

Profession and livelihood during bad economy--Fought to get CARES act passed. UFT coordinated different education unions. Gave us a lifeline, helped small businesses and family, but ended September 30th. Hundreds of thousands of layoffs now happening across country. Teachers, teacher aides, paraprofessionals being laid off around state. 

City prepared notices in July for 9,000 UFT members, but were not sent out. City actually needed more teachers. Some with remote settings have been hit harder. Budget cuts are going to get worse. 

We're in mid-election, looking at SCOTUS, and even with stimulus package next few years will be tough. Between city and state no one has seen this sort of number. If state could borrow 30 billion right now, it would still be in red. Every day we go further and further. Our economy doesn't cover expenses on day to day basis. This is longterm challenge.

We are hearing better news on virus. We'll probably go through this entire school year dealing with this, but hopefully next year we can have a vaccine in sufficient quantity. If we can get to that, then it's only the economy.

Lump sum payment--Many of you have written me about it. We always anticipate bad things. We plan for bad days as teachers. Didn't talk to city about it at all, and then on October 2 I asked for confirmation they were processing payment. Asked again. I then called, knowing members would check paychecks. City Hall didn't realize payroll system gave us info a week before. Wasn't processed. We had prepped legal papers, and on Thursday they said they would not process payment. We immediately filed papers.

We signed an agreement in 2014 for deferred wages. Said any issue would go straight to arbitration with mediator for that contract. We went immediately. I was quite angry city just took our money. Knew they owed us. 

Whole premise of city's argument is they're in a difficult fiscal time so they can't make payment. That would mean anytime they claimed a difficult fiscal time they wouldn't have to make a payment. We could not let that stand. We went to arbitration. Was very simple. If they denied us then, they'd deny raise in May and they could keep making this argument. Arbitrator started mediating. I'd prefer just lump sum, but other half was moved into next fiscal year. While that was good for city, we were made whole, and there was a no layoff clause. Possibility of second no layoff year if federal stimulus gets done. Very possible. Could be Title One allotment. 

Even with that package, city and state are in bad shape. Working with MLC on early retirement, got legislation introduced on Friday. City has given us letter of support. First big step in getting to incentive. We've taken steps, but there are many others that have to be taken before we get there. 

We have to look at safety and stay focused on it at all times, If city goes all remote will mean city is overrun with COVID. Meanwhile some geographic areas will be going temporarily remote. 

While we have raise and no layoff clause we're good this year at least.

We have to settle on working conditions. We can't have principal saying you are both remote and in person teacher. We have a system in place. When we needed money for PPE, staffing, we got that done. Issue is DOE says some schools can't get teachers. Some principals say that just so DOE will leave them alone. They don't help. They're only problems. They may have said they were ready before, but now they need staff for all these positions.

That is our fight right now. Every single CL with operational complaint will be getting phone call this week or early next. Many elementary schools have in person teachers also blended remote. We need to know how many teachers we need and go after it. If we have to fight DOE, we will do it. We are gettng it done. All safety work was us. We made sure mandated testing was in place. 

Entire time we were in remote, we talked to only half a dozen people at DOE. Now everyone wants to put their hand in things and we aren't having it. We gave the city time to hire people and get things done but the city isn't doing that. 

SBOs are great but they are not for principals. It's your tool, your power. Not in CSA contract. Principals cannot jam them through. If you don't want SBO you aren't getting one. Principals are being told they can't hire, and that's not what our agreement is based upon. We will put big push on this for two weeks to get this resolved.

What you're doing is amazing. We are moving kids around the city, getting tested, and fighting for our livelihood and profession at the same time. All the central level management are inept and I'm just talking to chancellor. Election Day is a remote learning day, and was made so because we needed to meet our state obligation. We worked with DOE to get this through SED. We're being told now it's up to principal whether teachers have to come in. They say they aren't sure. Why do we have all these people at DOE if all they do is create more problems?

First think we will ask mayoral candidates is how they will dismantle DOE and start system to support schools. November 3rd is remote learning day, and you work remotely. It's a presidential election year. Why would we want you in schools when they are major polling places? At every level we have this frustration. But you get it done. Teachers figure it out. If you're waiting for DOE support, you will wait a long time.

We will stay focused on safety protocols. If there's a problem, let us know. If you have supply issues we can help you quickly. Instructional side can't get it done. 

We wish we could've got whole lump sum, but we'll get half later, no layoffs, and guaranteed raise. 

We're doing a lot of elections, phone banking with NYSUT. We're concerned with SI Max Rose race and Andrew Benardis. We push not for party, but for whether they help teachers. So hard now to ask any of our members to do anything extra because of amount of stress we're under. Thanks those doing the work, and retirees in five different states right now working on national, Senate and Congressional races. Most unions don't have an active retiree chapter. They know what you're going through. 

LeRoy Barr--Make sure you fill out census. Directs billions to schools, public services. Deadline Oct. 16 6 AM. Most of us have done it, but remind friends, neighbors. Hispanic Heritage Month, and we are celebrating around the world. Most important election Nov. 3. Encourage people to vote. Breast cancer awareness month. Consider making donation to American Cancer Society.

Questions--

Q--Our principal not releasing people working remotely. Says even though she got guidance, wants it in writing what people do when they work remotely.

A--She's received it. Just playing games. Speak to DR. File operational complaint or DR will work it out. If not resolved in one day, file complaint. Ridiculous.

Q--SBO last spring for parent conferences same day--Staff doesn't want it anymore. Wasn't calendared. Principal in agreement.

A--Contact Debbie Poulos. We will support your reservation, given calendar came out so late. 

Q--CL tried to coerce me and other teachers into teaching in person and remotely so other person could do less work. 

A--You don't have to do that. Say no thank you. Sounds like there are operational issues. Contact DR.

Q--With NYS in fiscal crisis, how are our pensions?

A--Pensions are fine. Stability tied more to stock market, which has rebounded. 

Q--School not doing SBO. Principal asked for it. Problem now back in her lap. She said now I have a problem. Principal says operational complaint is black mark against school and she will be livid. I can't do it. She says she will take money and hire staff, but it hasn't happened.

A--For me it has to be operational complaint. Many principals ask CLs to file. For principal to say it's black mark is ignorant. You don't get proper support from DOE. Borough rep will follow up.

Q--We have students sent home by nurse, returning next day with no note, no test. Allowed to stay in building, not required to go home. 

A--You need to go to DR and get this done under safety. We can't worry about upsetting parents now. 

Q--What's our position on taxing wealthy in NYS to support communities?

A--We support it. State union campaigning for millionaire's tax. We need a stimulus, or massive borrowing. Can't borrow enough to get out. Will have to be revenue, stimulus, borrowing, or some combination. We don't know when economy will start again. State approaching 36 billion dollar hole. No one knows when economy will come back. Stores boarding up everywhere. Will be rough road. In election, one candidate really wants to hurt NY State.  

We supported last version too.

Q--Spring break pay--Why can't we go to arbitration now, like in lump sum?

A--We had special jurisdiction for lump sum. It's on the radar, and when it's time we'll get to it. Not forgotten.

Q--With remote election day, can we make sure that people are able to vote?

A--Law changed--if you don't have four consecutive hours outside work day, they will give you time. We have time. Wear PPE. You can also do early voting. Hopefully we won't have to stand on line. I want my vote counted on election day. Make sure you stay safe.

Q--Other districts have used remote to make layoffs. If we go fully remote, will it impact no layoffs?

A--No.

Q--Will kids who aren't allowed testing be allowed in buildings?

A--We were upset when they said it wasn't mandated. Caused problems everywhere. This is a health emergency. We owe it to each other that we test if we need to. New guidance says testing is mandated if you want to work or be in a NYC school. We gave some time the first month. Come November, that's it. If safety is first, people have to be tested. Will be done at random. Policy not changed, just confused. Part of state plan.

Q--What's DOE policy on writing up redeployed teachers?

A--No special policy. Some are redeployed, some management, and some are us. If you aren't doing your job correctly you can be written up. If you're written up for no reason, we will utilize due process.

Q--We're a PROSE school, and with everything that's happened, scheduling has gone out window. Should we then just do SBOs under circumstances, just to cover this year?

A--That is a real problem. Whatever you did originally probably doesn't work during crisis. Initially I'd say yes, but I will get back to you. You can perhaps vote to change rules temporarily, as we did here at DA. Will follow up.

Motions-- 

Next month's agenda--Vince Gaglione--In honor of RBG--child of Brooklyn, daughter of Jewish immigrants, NYC public school grad. Part of folklore of community. Represented values of her block--modesty, people living with one another. We need to honor her. 

97% yes. 3% no passes

Hector Ruiz--this month--Hispanic Heritage Month--UFT should continue advocacy for Latino community, especially for teaching staff.

91% yes  8% no passes

Resolutions--

Motion to move #10 to #1 for special election at request of political action committee.

 93% yes, passes

Mary Atkinson--Speaks in support of endorsing Kevin Riley for City Council. Supporter of public ed, public school parent, wants inclusive curriculum at all levels, wants health services in schools, knows public ed. requires funding, supports fully funding foundation aid. UFT members in Bronx think he will be strong ally.

Peter Lamphere--Neutral, but given fiscal crisis, is Riley in favor of raising taxes on rich to create revenue?

Mulgrew--Technically this is out of order. Interviews were done by district members, who make recommendation to exec. board or DA. Debate is for or against. 

Mark Walters--Lifelong resident of district 12, interviewed Riley, believe he's committed to NYC, district 12 and our children. Will support and implement policy to help our children and schools.

Nancy Wigo--For resolution. 

90% yes, passes.

Mulgrew--Asking that three BLM resolutions try to come together into one. We are out of time. Need you to make sure if something is going wrong on safety you let us know. We will push complaints rapidly. 

LeRoy Barr--Asks for extension as resolution relevant to election.

80% yes. Passes.

Mavis Yan--Back in May we asked to support postal service, lifeline for Americans in remote and rural areas. Many false statements from 45. Rushing to put Barret on court. He wants to send election to SCOTUS, and manipulate postal service and use it as scapegoat. Mail in voting important. Any change that negatively impacts postal service puts lives at risk. We are still in middle of pandemic. Lives are at risk and so is right to vote. Trump pefectly willing to sacrifice right to vote and postal service. Please support. 

Cynthia Smith--Supports Mavis and all she said. 

Joanne Genelda--No.

91% yes. Passes.

Mulgrew thanks us. Says keep watching each other's backs. We will take care of these fights. Be well and God bless.

UFT Can't Remain Third Person

 Teachers are incredibly frustrated this year (which is not to say that non-teachers are doing any better). The focal point of my career has always been the classroom. Despite the litany of complaints I've issued on this page about virtually everything, you haven't seen me bitching about kids or classroom work. These days, though, we're not doing what I signed up to do, or what anyone signed up to do.

I'm teaching online, and while there are moments I really feel, they're fewer and further between. It's better than last year, in that our school has pushed for students to show faces rather than avatars. I feel like I'm dealing with people more than pictures. Still, there are those who don't turn their cameras on, and who don't answer when I call their names. This wouldn't be possible in a live classroom.

On top of that, of course, was Bill de Blasio's unilateral decision to stab us in the back, and effectively rob us. If you weren't already freaked out, that pushed you over the edge. On top of that, TDA urged everyone to max out their TDA contributions, and I know teachers bringing home very little on that last paycheck. I maxed out my TDA too, but I've been doing this for a while and I'm not feeling the pain a first year teacher would feel. I know teachers with years of experience who are feeling that too.

I remember people telling me stories of financial emergency and New York City. I remember tales of the last time the city did layoffs. People told me of classes of 50, because during a financial emergency agreements are simply tossed out the window. I heard about teachers being transferred all over the place, because this one got fired, and you teach this, so now you stand in for whomever. It sounded like a huge mess.

Given that, I expected a much worse result than the one we got in the arbitration. I was relieved. Most email I've gotten from members at my school reflected that.

In fact, I came into this profession almost a decade after the financial crisis, and the city was still reeling from its ill effects. Thousands had left, and they weren't coming back. There was no, "Thank you sir, may I have another"" for New York City. I became a teacher because I had a degree, I saw a subway ad, I took a short test, and someone said, "Go teach English at Lehman High School in the Bronx." I was lucky I could even find my way there.

As for teaching, I had no idea what I was doing. I got an observation report, essentially confirming that, on my ninth day teaching. I was advised to be more "heuristic." No matter how many times I look up that word, I still don't understand that advice. When my supervisor suggested I didn't know what I was doing, I said, "Well, I told you that when you hired me."

The union, in 1984 at Lehman High School, was some guy in the men's room asking me to fill out a card. It all seemed very mysterious. In fact there were large union meetings taking place downstairs somewhere, in blatant protest against an abusive principal, but as a newbie I wasn't invited. In actual fact, I didn't get much involved with the union for another twenty years. 

Frankly, not much has changed. People still talk about the union in the third person, as this thing that maybe exists over at 52 Broadway. There's a lot of sound and fury packed into various corners of the internet, but there's still a high level of disengagement. I'm going to go out on a limb and say the disengaged are a large portion of our membership. I haven't got stats, but that's an overarching issue that we have to address when and if we get through the apocalypse.

Whatever you think about the way we resolved de Blasio's brazen holdup, it was handled from on high. Some people are saying we should strike over this, but we shouldn't. For one thing, we wouldn't get the public support we'd have gotten for a safety strike. More importantly, I'm not entirely sure how many were going to be picketing with us for safety. This is the result of the disengagement that infects us like a rot.

Things are not coming up roses in America right now. We need to look seriously at the future. We're going to need to engage a large portion of UFT, we're going to have to let them know we are UFT, not just those who work at 52, and we're going to have to put boots on the ground somewhere, preferably in front of Tweed and City Hall. 

This mayor deserves to feel our collective wrath.

Alternative Facts Are on the Ballot This Year

 I've been rewatching some of NYPD Blue on Hulu, and here's what I noticed. Every single show is about the police getting people to confess without consulting with lawyers. They get these people, read them their rights, and then persuade them to waive them. They make them false offers of getting leniency if they confess, and then send them off to be convicted and go to prison.

The only thing I've really learned from watching this is, holy crap, if I ever get arrested, the first thing I'm gonna do is speak to a lawyer. I'm not telling the police anything, whether I'm innocent or guilty. I'm getting the best advice I can and then protecting myself as best I can. 

America is different. We listen to the same story every time, and we never seem to learn from it. Four years ago, we were horrified by Hillary Clinton's emails. How could she write email to this person or that on her own server? (Now there's a growing list of Trumpies who did the same thing, and it means nothing, what with the President committing a new outrage each and every day.)

Meanwhile, Donald Trump was telling us he'd release his taxes. We all know how that worked out. He said if he were President Hillary would go to prison. We all know how that worked out too. He promised us a new wall, and there is no new wall. He promised us Mexico would pay for this new wall, and there is no payment from Mexico either.

Trump made the worst calculation of his brief political career last week, when he announced that he would not push a COVID relief bill for America until he was re-elected. He finally had a chance to turn things around and show he cared about us, but he blew it. He chickened out of a virtual debate, virtual because the whole world knew he had COVID. If anyone was still on the fence, they've jumped over to the Democratic side. 

Now President Trump is telling us he's cleared for public events. He's telling us he's no longer contagious. He's telling us that he's immune, though in fact there have been people who've gotten COVID more than once. Science is fake news, concludes the President, and he goes out and prepares for more superspreader events. 

Over and over he lies to us, and over and over millions of Americans are fine with it. It's NYPD Blue syndrome. "Trust me," he says, and they do. Over and over again. I have a great medical plan, he says, but we've repeatedly seen he has none. I'll protect people with pre-existing conditions he says, but he's in court right now trying to overturn Obamacare, the only actual instrument that protects Americans with pre-existing conditions. 

And he gets away with it, over and over again, and it doesn't matter how many times he tells the same lies. And there are really very few rationalizations for it better than an old LBJ quote:

If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.

It's racism, bigotry, and xenophobia, pure and simple. Hitler had Germany hate the Jews. Right wing ideologues have long targeted The Other, the foreigner, whoever that may be. We have a neo nazi rally and Trump says there are fine people on both sides. He champions Confederate monuments and generals. He condemns BLM as people are murdered in the streets. 

There is a war on truth in our country right now, and the truth is losing. The only truth that will effectively change things will be an election in which Trump's voted out in overwhelming numbers. It won't change his mind, of course. Maybe he'll start a Trump network to rival Fox. Ever since Kellyanne Conway introduced us to "alternative facts" the truth hasn't mattered that much anyway.

The outlandish nature of Trump's lies, though, repeated over and over, will not pass muster if we stand up to them. This is our chance.

Don't forget to vote, and don't forget to tell all your friends and relatives to do the same.

We Will Get Our Promised Rain in May

I was fairly panicked by de Blasio's disgusting swipe at educators. As for the remedy, I don't generally have a lot of faith in arbitrators. I've seen them make terrible decisions, and more than one of them has left me wondering whether they were hard of reading. So I was a little more than apprehensive when the supposedly liberal mayor of NYC effectively said, "Screw you, I'm not paying you until I'm good and ready."

Yesterday I parodied the chancellor again, though this time he hadn't actually written us. I don't know exactly how this man musters the gall to write to us as though he's our friend. He's shown he doesn't care about us at all, and raised not a peep when his boss decided to rob us at the last minute. Last night I wrote the following to members at my school, including an outrageous typo, but I've decided not to bother correcting it. 

It makes as much sense as anything else in the year of double twenties.

 

In case you haven't heard, and in case you haven't read Michael Mulgrew's letter, we will get our retro. The arbitrator ruled we will get half at the end of this month, and half in July. While that's not what we expected, it is a far better result than we could've gotten. There will also be no UFT layoffs this year, and we will get our promised rain in May. I'd have preferred a full immediate payment, but you never know with arbitrators. This one wasn't perfect, but was very good. If you've maxed out your TDA, it may still be worth it. There are great advantages in being union. I wish you a great three day weekend. Best regards, Arthur

Letter from the Chancellor

Dear colleagues,

It is with great joy that I write you to let you know what a fabulous job you are all doing, under difficult circumstances. I know that you needed to be very nimble last March, when Blaz and I kept the schools open after having closed Broadway. Actually Broadway is still closed, and you are all dragging your sorry asses into school buildings day after day, but I digress. 

I would be remiss if I did not mention the sacrifices you make each and every day for our 1.1 million students. You know, that's a large number. If you were to go anywhere in the country and look at 300 people, one of them could be our student. And if you were to line them up in single file they would stand from here to the Joe Biden Travel Plaza in Delaware. If you were to stand them on top of each other, they would make the largest celestial ladder seen in human history. And if you were to deprive them of thousands of dollars you owed them, they'd come with torches and pitchforks and do serious damage to our fine facilities at Tweed.

This brings me to another point. Now sure, the nay sayers, the Debbie Downers, the Negative Nabobs of Neverneverland will say, hey, that Carranza and Blaz just stabbed 100,000 UFT members in the back, and sure, there will be some validity to that POV, but please try and see it from our side. Look,  I'm a working stiff just like you. Now sure, I make $345,000 a year, and I live rent free in a home the city gave me, but I had to take a one week furlough. Now that right there is 5,000 bucks out of my pocket, so I know how it feels when it's five from yours, or more likely ten. 

I certainly understand your disappointment. I know many of you maxed out your TDA contributions, hoping to save some of this money for the future. Now, not only won't you have that, but you won't even have your regular paycheck. Sure, that's tough, but we New Yorkers are nothing if not resilient. Of course I'm not actually a New Yorker, but I read that somewhere. 

And I understand some of you had this money earmarked for a new home, but hey, isn't part of the adventure of being a New Yorker living in a romantic twentieth floor walkup with a bathtub in the kitchen? Aren't you proud of being so authentic? And hey, if you had that money earmarked for sending your kid to college, are you sure it's worth it? For example, Blaz and I just scammed tens of thousands of college grads out of almost a billion dollars. Would you want that happening to your kid? Of course not.

So let's all just put on our Big Boy Pants. Mine are from Brooks Brothers and cost $600 a pair. And don't get me started on cufflinks. You know you've really made it once you wear cufflinks. I wear them on the sleeves of both my shirts and trousers just to let people know I'm serious. Listen, it's only money.

On the bright side, I'm still here, writing you inspirational letters whenever the mood strikes me. And don't get any big ideas about striking me. I'll be holed up in my office for the next year or so, and you'll have to get past security before I entertain the likes of you. I've got to scrape by on only $340,000 this year, but you don't hear me bellyaching. Of course you can't, because I'm sitting in my fancy office and you won't see me in your school until this current generation of teachers retires. Hopefully by then I'll have scored another gig, maybe on the West Coast, or maybe I can get one of those gigs like I used to see in the Sopranos sitting on lawn chairs and watching people work.

Anyway, I'm always impressed by your great dedication to the children of this city, and I'm certainly glad all of you are out there doing the work because someone has to sit in this office and get pastrami sandwiches delivered from Katz's. Remember, Rich be nimble, Rich be quick, cutting teacher pay is slick.

Please forget about the money, don't go to arbitration, and don't say bad things about us.

In unity,

Richard

Adventures in Remote Teaching

I've had an interesting few days. Sometimes my personal and professional lives overlap in ways that are simply not convenient. For years I've been taking my dog to Petco for vaccines. I've never been persuaded it's a good deal to pay triple the price at the vet. This year, though, I noticed that the apocalypse had affected that as well. I had to make an appointment for my dog, and the only one I could get this month was yesterday at 12:30.

I begged out of a tutoring session I had, drove to Petco, and then, when I checked my appointment, noticed it was today rather than yesterday. As my wife was available, I sent her to do it today. That way I could teach my class. Alas, I no longer carry my house keys routinely, and coming home from a walk, I found myself locked out. I climbed on a chair in the backyard and tried to climb through a window, but I had locked them all. The only burglar I'd saved myself from was me.

I then had to call the school to say I'd miss one of my classes. I can actually make it up on another day, but I was disappointed. I finally figured out how to show a video to my class. First I tried calling Apple to see if they'd sell me a DVD or digital copy or something. When they said they wouldn't, I decided to place two laptops facing each other and show it that way. One of my students said she couldn't hear, so I decided to try something else.

I took my laptop into the living room, where we have a TV hooked up to a sound system. I then moved my dog crate, which we haven't used in years, in front of the TV. I got a good angle, and was able to show pieces of the video, using a remote on the TV. The only real issue was I then had to pick up the laptop, have a brief discussion, and then replace it. But it seemed to work.

I wonder, though, if my attempts at showing the video are cursed. The second time I wanted to show it today, I found myself locked out of my home and sitting forlornly at my own doorstep. I made a bunch of frantic phone calls, trying to get someone to tell my class I wouldn't be there but I'd make it up. Then I sat for a while and remembered The Mad Greek, a takeout joint on the Nautical Mile, blocks from my house. I'd never been there and it was lunchtime.

They had something called a gyro quesadilla that sounded interesting. Actually it's gyro and feta between two pitas. But they also had a spicy tzatziki sauce that was very happening. It's not really what I'd call a quesadilla, but whatever it is it's pretty good. 

So if you ever get locked out of your home, and you haven't got your car key, and all you have is your wallet and cell phone, and if that happens to happen in my neighborhood, I strongly suggest you walk over to The Mad Greek and try them out. It will take your mind off your situation until you figure out a way to get back into your home.

If You Like the DOE, You'll Love Trump

So the DOE now says that testing isn't, you know, mandatory for students, but that those who decline, "may be required to learn remotely" if they don't receive enough forms. Of course, that defeats the entire purpose of the testing program, as random samples are not self-selected. Also, that's absolutely not the agreement they made with UFT. UFT will now have to waste time and energy enforcing yet another agreement the DOE made but doesn't care to understand.

Anyway, if you like agreements that work like that, you need to vote for President Trump. He's out there saying there will be no relief bill until after he's re-elected. I'm old enough to remember 2016, when he said he would release his tax returns if he were elected. I remember him saying Mexico would pay for the wall. I remember him saying he had a great health plan that would protect those with pre-existing conditions. It turned out his plan was for everyone to get sick and die ASAP. 

In fact, he's still saying he has a plan. Meanwhile, 210,000 Americans are dead because he's failed to make a national plan to deal with COVID. Originally, he decided not to bother because it looked to his thugs like it would only affect blue states. That's us, of course. We didn't vote for him so we can all go to hell. I guess if you're sufficiently racist or xenophobic, Trump's willingness to give a wink and a nod and say that's fine is kind of comforting. 

Of course if you're a teacher, there are other reasons not to vote for Trump. Trump is a big supporter of so-called right to work, and if you aren't persuaded of that you need only look at the Janus case, which overturned Abood nationally and made union membership optional. After all, why should you pay dues when suckers like me will do it for you? Why shouldn't you enjoy benefits that the rest of us pay for? That's the Trump way. Who do you think pays for all those golf trips he takes? 

Here's the thing, though--when Abood was in force, individual states could opt out via "right to work." This weakened union and made it difficult for working people to organize. Less union means lower pay and fewer benefits for working Americans. That's precisely what Trump wants, even as he stands in front of MAGA worshipers and pretends to be a working class hero. The unspoken deal is you can hate whoever you want, I'll screw you royally, and we'll all watch Fox and pretend things are otherwise.

Things can always get worse, and four more years of Trump will make that happen. If you believe Trump, who's currently trying to get SCOTUS to strike down insurance for tens of millions of Americans, as well as the only law requiring insurers to cover pre-existing conditions, is going to protect those with pre-existing conditions, I have a bridge in Brooklyn with your name on it. Pandemic, shmandemic, say the Trumpies.

Let's forget about health care for a moment, and look at your interests as a teacher. Do you think Amy Coney Island, or whatever her name is, is going to protect your rights as a union member? Let's take a look at our current situation. NY State has taken steps to ameliorate the overturning of Abood, and limited the time under which freeloaders can dump union. Doubtless the Kochs, the Walmart family, and the right-wing think tanks trying to kill union will bring suit to stop that. 

Of course, that's just the next step. Where do they go from there? You don't need The Amazing Kreskin to tell you that. Just take a look at what Koch sweetheart Scott Walker pulled off in Wisconsin. Subverting democracy was just another step to cripple union. In fact, he eliminated collective bargaining for workers with the exception of police and firefighters. Other Republican governors followed suit, cutting pensions except for police and firefighters.

Why are police and firefighters excepted? Because when thousands of workers stormed the capital, someone had to protect sniveling Scott and his thugs. Walker lied, of course, saying protestors were imported from out of state, but that's the right-wing playbook. Of course working people stood up. Hey, if you want to spend days and week protesting instead of working, Trump is the way to go. We can move just as far back as red states have in no time at all.

Do you know what it's like to live without collective bargaining? Teachers in "right to work" states do. I spent time talking to Texas teachers patiently organizing to work toward the rights we already enjoy. I have a friend in Florida who told me tenure there entails a multi-year contract as opposed to single year contract. If you're tired of having a guaranteed pay scale and due process, Trump's your guy. 

If you're tired of having a fixed pension, something few Americans still enjoy, Trump's your guy. If you're tired of being able to speak your mind publicly, again, you know how to vote. The GOP opposes the rights of working people. In fact, if Amy Coney gets her seat, we'll be facing a whole lot of these anti-union suits, and make no mistake, our rights are on the line.

Joe Biden was not my first choice as a presidential nominee. However, he is head and shoulders better than the raving lunatic sitting in the White House, having his COVID treated in ways working Americans could never afford. Get yourself registered in New York State by Friday. Early voting starts October 24th. If you want to keep the privileges you now enjoy, get out and vote for Biden.

If you believe in the rights of working Americans, there's no other choice.

The Tech Jaguar Catches Me

 My last class was the biggest disaster I've experienced in decades. It seemed like anything that could go wrong, did. I wrote a multi-day lesson based on a great video on Apple TV plus. They have a series I've just discovered called Little America, and the second episode is called The Jaguar. 

The story is about a young woman, undocumented but absolutely fluent in English, who's clearly spent most of her life in the United States. She is fairly lost in the beginning of the show, but finds meaning and future by embracing squash, of all things. She falls into this almost entirely by coincidence. I thought it might be inspiring to my students, and I saw multiple aspects worth writing about. I figured I'd spend a few days working on this and make it into a project I could grade.

The first thing that went wrong was when I went to grab my lesson plan from the printer. I'd printed it out earlier, I thought, but it wasn't there. In fact, not only was it not there, but my printer was not even on. Pushing the power button didn't help at all. I finally figured out that the little Dyson hot/ cool thingie I have in my home classroom had blown the power.

My wife decided to help, and went to play with the circuit breakers. Unfortunately, she played with the wrong one, and my internet simply dropped dead. I lost my entire class for a few minutes until she switched it back on. My printer still wasn't working, though, so I grabbed my second laptop and pulled up the document. My printer was still out for some reason, but at least I'd be able to continue my lesson.

So there I was, ready to begin my first video segment. I had a few issues screen sharing that precluded my getting to Apple TV plus, but I finally figured it out. When I got there, though, it kept directing me to the next entry in Little America. I'd stupidly watched a few more episodes, and it didn't seem to want me to review ones I'd already seen. For minutes I played with it, bringing it up in a different browser and trying everything. Finally I found a small leftward pointing arrow, which led me to the previous episodes.

Everything was solved. I clicked on the arrow a few times, and found the episode that had eluded me, the fast-moving jaguar. I clicked play and thought, here we go. I heard music, but saw a black screen. This was no good. My students were not going to love a video with no video. I knew this from experience.

I read a review of Little America somewhere, and I was really curious to watch it. I have an Amazon Fire Stick that I use to watch video channels, and I'd watched one or two things on Apple TV plus before. The first time I tried to watch Little America though, I saw the same thing my students did--total blackness. I tried a whole bunch of things to fix it, but ended up watching it on my laptop. Then I restarted the Amazon Fire Stick, and everything was fine.

If I were to restart my laptop, though, I'd lose all my students for the second time in one class. It didn't seem like a good idea. I'd given them a chapter in a grammar book to review our various uses of present tenses, and spent what was left of the class doing things in class I'd likely not have done. 

I used to laugh at younger teachers who freaked out because the technology failed. In a classroom, I always had a way to get through without technology. If I couldn't show vocabulary using a PowerPoint or Keynote document, I'd draw pictures on the board and do the best I could. Also, if the technology dropped dead, I could almost always find a student who knew better than I did how to fix it.

Alas, I'm at the utter mercy of the tech jaguar these days. Now I have to decide whether or not to try the A lesson with my PM class or not. I probably will.

Wish me luck. I'm gonna need it. On the brighter side, I've restored power to my printer. I'm hoping my luck has changed. Also, if you get a chance, go watch The Jaguar on Apple TV plus.

Update: I checked the video and it worked, but when I tried it in my class it didn't. One of my students told me that this is what happens when you're streaming. Evidently, since I pay, I can watch it, but since my students don't, they can't.  I now have a three page lesson plan and writing assignments I made up for no reason whatsoever.  I suppose I can use it if I ever get back into a real classroom.

UFT Executive Board October 5, 2020--The Fun Never Stops

 

5:50 Roll Call

Minutes--Approved

UFT Secretary LeRoy Barr--Welcomes us.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew--Asks for moment of silence for Ruth Greenburg, guidance counselor and special ed. pioneer. 

Busy weekend--all schools opened, and now 91 schools and 18 sites going remote. Serious issue. Hoping for fewer last minute dramas. Plan says if zip code goes over 3% they have to do heavy testing, but city was slow to react. Virus emerging in certain communities and cause for concern. There should be quicker testing. After over a week, city tested only 25 schools and not in compliance.

Mayor made right decision. Only one of those schools was in quarantine. Doctors said it was only a matter of time before these schools tested positive. Mayor made right call. Asking state for permission was rather odd, but there was a meeting today, governor, mayor and UFT. Decided to start tomorrow.

Looking at other zip codes. City has to increase testing capacity. We need to increase testing when zip hits three, not 7 day average. 

Some schools doing very well. Ready for any emergency. Other places have challenges. We don't have great leadership in every building, but that will always be a problem in a district of our size.

Mandated monitoring--there will be a clarifying document saying if you want to be in a school building, testing is mandated. You will have to sign consent form or go home. Constant problems with city before they get things better. They now understand with testing and PPE. Next challenge, hopefully, won't be so difficult. 

Testing has to happen every day. Randomization will hopefully be easy and clear as possible. With this virus moving, we need to monitor closely, increase testing, and follow protocols.

National--It's all about the election. Our UFT retirees are doing immense work on FL and elsewhere. NYSUT organizing phone banks for PA. We'll see where this thing goes. Election will take twists and turns no one could imagine. Debate, COVID, all crazy and unprecedented. We know how important this election is. Economy completely wrecked. We need help for city and state. Will take years, won't be easy. 

Staffing problems difficult. Had kept SBO programs shut--didn't want them before city admitted how much staff was needed. We have short term agreement for pay increases for subs who stay. People redeployed from central walk into schools and announce they don't teach.

Live instruction problematic because of staffing. Principals ask for live and remote together. Class sizes are too large. Starting to move through operational complaints. Hope there is relief by this week. Many principals getting constantly conflicting directives. They are rightfully leery. Info from central has been used against them many times.

After one week, 91 schools are going remote, some being open only one week. No answer will make everything right. This is chaotic until we get a vaccine. We have to keep our schools safe, and that's why yesterday was important. Mayor no longer saying all or nothing.

Chaos will continue. Remote learning has issues but fewer than we'd anticipated. Teachers, in person, are doing great job. Told city these are the heroes. They're dealing with things every day for which there's no playbook. Overall, hoping whatever new strategy governor and mayor announce changes things. If not, we'll see more remote, and we're equipped. We will keep monitoring.

Schools are now open, after 6.5 months of talk. Now we have to hold the city's feet to the fire. There is a daily phone call where we discuss all the issues. We were a little irate. Middle management of DOE is back, reinterpreting things and wasting time. They aren't here to reinterpret. They need to implement existing policy.

Economy will keep coming up. Number of layoffs is through the roof in state and country. Next report will be dramatically hire. We need to figure out how to get through next two or three years without a layoff.

Questions--

Don't pass SBOs if school has not met hiring standards. Insist on more staffing. Tell principal to deal with borough offices. If you have different instructional plans, that's fine. If principal doesn't want to be reasonable and hire staff don't do it.

Tests are mandatory if you want to be in the building. If you want to get paid, you need to be tested. It's a non-invasive nose swab. Hundreds were tested in some schools. 

If UFT members think worksite is unsafe, contact Jeff Povalitus. 

With two or more cases, there will be contact tracing. We are notified even if student or staff hasn't been in schools. We get that citywide. 

School secretaries--lack of plexiglass, and secretaries' chapter stood up. 

If we need a meeting, I will call one immediately. Please be on notice. Be safe and have a great night. 6:32

NYC Hybrid Model Designed to Fail

So says City Council member Mark Treyger in a great piece in New York Intelligencer. Why is it designed to fail? Treyger came to the same conclusions I did when I first saw this. Where are the magical co-teachers coming from? How can we send subs and Tweedies out to teach subjects they may or may not be familiar with? How will schools find the bodies to do this, and shouldn't we be looking for something better than bodies as teachers?

UFT endorsed this program, and I think it was specifically because of the need for extra teachers. Right now de Blasio is still talking about laying off tens of thousands of city workers, including 9,000 UFT members. It's certainly better to see the city hiring thousands of teachers than firing them. Maybe, if we allow ourselves to dream, we could imagine those extra teachers hanging around and reducing class sizes. That's the impossible dream, but there it is.

In reality, of course, de Blasio hasn't hired nearly enough teachers. If I recall correctly, one year we averted Bloomberg layoffs but he let our numbers dwindle via attrition, and we're thus down thousands of teachers. This is why classes of 34 are now more the rule than the exception. Of course in the years before the apocalypse crippled our budget, de Blasio never bothered to hire back those teachers. Had he done so, the hybrid model he now advocates might have a snowball's chance in hell. As things stand, such a statement would be overly optimistic.

And now, the very first school in Queens has closed due to COVID. If that's not a harbinger of things to come, I don't know what is. Even when you have a 1% positive rate, if you have 200 students, that rate will be enough to close your school. I'm not exactly sure why anyone would be surprised at this. We've had two reports at our school. One was last summer, and landed us on the DOE list of schools with a COVID case. However, that person reported before the building opened. In the DOE's unlimited capacity for ineptitude, it didn't bother checking dates. The second was last week, from a student who hasn't set foot in school yet. It's inevitable, though, that we're going to see real cases and real closures. 

I don't think the plan was designed to fail. I think it's a stupid design, and I think de Blasio and his people are too inept to even think it through. They evidently paid some crook millions to dream up this nonsense, and maybe they didn't want to look as though they'd just paid for the Brooklyn Bridge. Too late, though. If you were selling the Brooklyn Bridge, de Blasio and Carranza would be your top prospects. 

It wasn't designed to fail. It was designed to make money by pulling the wool over the rubes' eyes. And boy, did the mayor and chancellor pay these crooks off. It's remarkable, because any thinking teacher would come to the same conclusion Treyger did. But the top teacher, Carranza, couldn't be bothered thinking it through. Of course, ever since Carranza demanded the signatures of 108,000 epidemiologists before closing COVID-infested schools, I've seen his mission as doing whatever the hell de Blasio says. 

I hope individual schools can figure out just what the hell they need to do, and I hope UFT chapter leaders and principals can collaboratively work to figure it out. It would really be a shame if we had to rely on all those TFA leftovers as co-teachers. I realize they all spent ten or twenty minutes as teachers before  Bloomberg hired them to sit around Tweed and tell the rest of us what to do.

Still, I'm a lot more confident working with my existing colleagues.

Teaching in the Time of the Pandemic

 It's so absolutely odd to begin the year by seeing students onscreen instead of in person. One of the very worst aspects, for me, is having to actually call attendance weeks into the school year. Some students have made an impression on me, particularly in my smaller classes, but in my classes of 30-34 it's really hard. I have never been this far into a year and still calling attendance.

Now some students oblige me tremendously by not showing up at all. I get to learn their names fairly quickly. After all, I've tried calling their homes to no avail. I can remember they're never here. But I really miss my Delaney pages. I don't use the book, but I lay out the seating chart on the pages, and I can tell by day two who is and who is not here just in a glance. 

There's no seating chart on Zoom, unfortunately, and I haven't figured out how to print out the names of people there. The best I've been able to do so far is to begin the class, do whatever I have to do and then, when there's an activity that doesn't require my participation, go through the list. By then, I remember some students are there, and I only call the names of those I do not recall. It's a lot faster than calling all names. 

Of course, a lot of my students tend to be quiet. I've read a lot about classes in Asia that are very large in which student participation is not considered desirable. Sometimes it's hard to persuade newcomers that I want to hear their voices. I try very hard and get overly dramatic over it. However, there's only so much drama you can effectively pull off while seated in front of a computer screen.

Our school is asking students to show their faces during class. I think that's generally a good thing. Nonetheless, some of the same students who always hid their faces and did nothing last year continue to do the same this year. On the brighter side, most of my students are very cooperative, and turn on their cameras when I ask direct questions. I think the temptation to lie down and take a nap is far less when you know the teacher can see you.

Between classes I no longer hang around offices speaking to teachers and trying to avert disasters with administration. This works because Google Classroom is a real taskmaster. It's a little easier because it now connects to Skedula, so I don't have to write every grade only to rewrite them somewhere else. 

I'm really disappointed to see students submitting paragraphs clearly copied from other sources. I wonder why my students assume I can't tell the difference between Wikipedia entries and writing of beginning ESL students. I posted several sentences into Google and immediately identified plagiarism. I also got one composition from a student who's never shown up that was written in perfect English, clearly by a friend or family member.

It's hard for me to understand why anyone would be in this country and not want to learn English. Sure, it's possible they watched the Trump-Biden fiasco and decided English was some shithole language. But it's not always used like that, and it's pretty practical for getting around in the United States. Next to pants, it's one of the most important things you can bring to a job interview.

My conclusion is that remote learning sucks compared to the real thing. As far as I can tell, the only thing worse is sitting masked with 12 people and a masked teacher in a room in which no genuine interaction can tale place.