Masking children has gone from a reasonable precaution back when the virus was brand new, to probably not necessary once the data started to emerge, to rather crazy. But we have now passed crazy and arrived at evil. If you think mandatory masking of children for 6+ hours per day is acceptable in February 2022, you need to do some soul searching.
My colleague is hosting a running club after school, and I sat in on part of the first meeting today just for fun. While going over rules and procedures, she reminded students that they don’t need to wear their masks during the outdoor portion of the activities. What she said next was both necessary and heartbreaking. She instructed the students not to make fun of each other’s bare faces.
She and I have both realized that when you’ve interacted with someone daily for many months but never seen their whole face, your brain naturally fills in the missing parts; it is therefore shocking to see the whole face for the first time, not because there is anything wrong with the face, but because it can’t possibly match the imaginary face your brain created.
I experience this phenomenon regularly when I happen to catch a glance of the full face of one of my students who is particularly diligent about masking, perhaps while stopping by to visit with them in the cafeteria during lunch. As an adult, I know to refrain from commenting on this strange feeling that comes over me as my brain tries to process what it’s seeing. Kids, however, are not so filtered and often make comments about how “weird” a peer looks maskless.
This is not normal, and it’s not okay. They will not just “get over it”. We are causing major psychological distress to children during the formidable years of their lives, and only time will tell the true consequences.
My colleague is hosting a running club after school, and I sat in on part of the first meeting today just for fun. While going over rules and procedures, she reminded students that they don’t need to wear their masks during the outdoor portion of the activities. What she said next was both necessary and heartbreaking. She instructed the students not to make fun of each other’s bare faces.
She and I have both realized that when you’ve interacted with someone daily for many months but never seen their whole face, your brain naturally fills in the missing parts; it is therefore shocking to see the whole face for the first time, not because there is anything wrong with the face, but because it can’t possibly match the imaginary face your brain created.
I experience this phenomenon regularly when I happen to catch a glance of the full face of one of my students who is particularly diligent about masking, perhaps while stopping by to visit with them in the cafeteria during lunch. As an adult, I know to refrain from commenting on this strange feeling that comes over me as my brain tries to process what it’s seeing. Kids, however, are not so filtered and often make comments about how “weird” a peer looks maskless.
This is not normal, and it’s not okay. They will not just “get over it”. We are causing major psychological distress to children during the formidable years of their lives, and only time will tell the true consequences.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/briefing/mask-mandates-covid-new-jersey.html
New Mexico might be the ONLY state still masking children before long. 😢
New Mexico might be the ONLY state still masking children before long. 😢
NY Times
The Mask Debate
More Democratic governors are saying that masks can come off in schools.
I created a form that I’ve been giving out to students who have an F in my class. It has information on how to get extra help in math, and their parent/guardian needs to sign, acknowledging that they are aware of the failing grade. Some forms have yet to be returned, so I asked those students if they needed a new copy.
One of the students who requested a new form today had to stay after class because I didn’t have time to fill out a new one during the class period. When I originally handed out the forms, this student had a 0% in my class. I checked his current grade to copy it onto the form, and he was delighted to see that he now had something like a 5%.
I snapped back that he had no reason to be celebrating, and I had to make a point control my emotions as the lecture began. It drives me crazy to no end that there are no consequences for failing classes in middle school. Sure, we celebrate our high achievers with honor roll and pizza parties, and students can become ineligible for sports and activities if their grades drop, but ultimately, the vast majority are passed to the next grade regardless of success in the previous.
After 8th grade, during which an unlimited number of classes can still be failed, we send kids off to 9th grade where suddenly they learn that they do not receive credit toward high school graduation for an F. Some manage to make up for failed classes through credit recovery programs, but by this point, it’s too late for many kids. They are years below grade level proficiency in math and/or reading and have not developed the attendance habits, study skills, and grit necessary to pass their high school classes.
I have a good relationship with this student who went from a 0% to a 5%, but he seemed shocked after getting quite an earful today about how disappointed I am that he is failing his classes. Perhaps things will change for him; perhaps not.
One of the students who requested a new form today had to stay after class because I didn’t have time to fill out a new one during the class period. When I originally handed out the forms, this student had a 0% in my class. I checked his current grade to copy it onto the form, and he was delighted to see that he now had something like a 5%.
I snapped back that he had no reason to be celebrating, and I had to make a point control my emotions as the lecture began. It drives me crazy to no end that there are no consequences for failing classes in middle school. Sure, we celebrate our high achievers with honor roll and pizza parties, and students can become ineligible for sports and activities if their grades drop, but ultimately, the vast majority are passed to the next grade regardless of success in the previous.
After 8th grade, during which an unlimited number of classes can still be failed, we send kids off to 9th grade where suddenly they learn that they do not receive credit toward high school graduation for an F. Some manage to make up for failed classes through credit recovery programs, but by this point, it’s too late for many kids. They are years below grade level proficiency in math and/or reading and have not developed the attendance habits, study skills, and grit necessary to pass their high school classes.
I have a good relationship with this student who went from a 0% to a 5%, but he seemed shocked after getting quite an earful today about how disappointed I am that he is failing his classes. Perhaps things will change for him; perhaps not.
It’s been 23 months since my students could attend school without a mask, but they can tomorrow. I’m sure it will be an emotional day for everyone on both sides of the mask debate. https://www.aps.edu/news/news-from-2021-2022/aps-lifts-mask-mandate
Albuquerque Public Schools
APS Lifts Mask Mandate
Students and staff may choose to continue wearing masks, but they will no longer be required.
Meanwhile, the local union, an affiliate of American Federation of Teachers, is not happy that staff and students now have the choice of whether or not to mask.
23 months. That’s how long it’s been since students and staff could legally show their full faces in a public school in New Mexico. Schools shut down in March 2020, and that was the end of the 2019-20 school year. Online school began in August 2020. Schools reopened in April 2021 with families given the option to have their child attend in-person masked or online via Google Meet, and teachers were expected to manage both the in-person and online students’ learning. We took the regular summer break starting at the end of May. In-person school resumed in August 2021, still masked, and this time with families who wanted an online option being directed to sign up for a separate program.
And then today, February 17, 2022, I was filling up my water bottle and absentmindedly browsing Instagram when I came across a post sharing that MLG had dropped the mask mandate. I didn’t even finish filling up my water bottle as I ran down the hall hollering to a colleague who I knew would be as excited as I was. I found myself kneeling on the floor in her classroom, overcome with emotion. My students have not seen faces at school in 23 months, but tomorrow, they will see mine, I will see many of theirs, and we can begin the process of helping students heal from the deep fear many have developed of showing their faces to the world.
And then today, February 17, 2022, I was filling up my water bottle and absentmindedly browsing Instagram when I came across a post sharing that MLG had dropped the mask mandate. I didn’t even finish filling up my water bottle as I ran down the hall hollering to a colleague who I knew would be as excited as I was. I found myself kneeling on the floor in her classroom, overcome with emotion. My students have not seen faces at school in 23 months, but tomorrow, they will see mine, I will see many of theirs, and we can begin the process of helping students heal from the deep fear many have developed of showing their faces to the world.
I think this is happening to a less obvious degree in many classrooms, including at my school. My students know they can unmask in my classroom because I don’t wear a mask, but I think many are scared to unmask in certain other classrooms if the teacher is more on the paranoid side.
https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/eldorado-hs-teacher-separates-masked-students-from-un-masked/amp/
https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/eldorado-hs-teacher-separates-masked-students-from-un-masked/amp/
We have been masks-optional since mid-February. Today my kids told me that my colleague is still making them pull up their masks if they are wearing one. I checked with my principal about this.
I let my students wear their masks on their chins. I think for many, the mask will come off in phases, with first the nose showing, then the whole face showing with the mask under their chin, and then finally no mask. While it’s hard to understand as an adult, I can see how suddenly removing the masks they’ve worn for two years is scary for preteens and young teens. We should allow them to transition, rather than requiring masks either completely on or completely off.
I let my students wear their masks on their chins. I think for many, the mask will come off in phases, with first the nose showing, then the whole face showing with the mask under their chin, and then finally no mask. While it’s hard to understand as an adult, I can see how suddenly removing the masks they’ve worn for two years is scary for preteens and young teens. We should allow them to transition, rather than requiring masks either completely on or completely off.
My team is planning a fun field trip at the end of the year for our 7th graders. The question of who should get to go was raised, and they suggested that any kids without a disciplinary referral should be eligible.
I proposed requiring the students to have no Fs to attend, but my colleague said that’s not fair to kids who are trying but just can’t pass.
This is 7th grade. Everyone can pass their classes if they have good attendance and do the work. Starting in high school (9th grade), students must pass their classes to get the credits needed to graduate.
I proposed requiring the students to have no Fs to attend, but my colleague said that’s not fair to kids who are trying but just can’t pass.
This is 7th grade. Everyone can pass their classes if they have good attendance and do the work. Starting in high school (9th grade), students must pass their classes to get the credits needed to graduate.
I submitted my grades for the third quarter this morning. Of my 71 7th grade math students, 22 finished with an A or B (80% or higher) and 28 with an F (under 60%). Regardless of performance in their classes this year, they will all go to 8th grade next year and then high school, and only when they reach 9th grade will they start having to retake failed classes to be able to graduate. I hope it won’t be too late by then.