Will There Be a 2020 Football Season?

[teachercd]

Right or wrong, the Nebraska state athletic association (NSAA) literally said they'd do this

https://lexch.com/sports/nsaa-fall-high-school-sports-could-take-place-even-if-students-arent-in-school-buildings/article_81c9f92e-96eb-11ea-a4a0-c3d01cc0292b.html

Yeah, Bellar is hoping for the best, like everyone.  They can do, of course, but I just don't see it happening in the end.

And I still don't know how Bellar got that gig!  Man, what a sweet deal for him.

 

[Decoy73]

Football is all about mitigating risk - pads, helmets, tackling rules, etc, because it's an inherently dangerous sport. I think we have to understand that COVID is just going to be another managed risk.

But how is it managed?  What’s done differently to mitigate the Covid risk?   More pads won’t help.  Forget masks.  So those players (and I’m talking HS only) are at a much greater risk to transmit the virus among participants than virtually any other non-contact activity (you can distance in band).  So they then spread it throughout the school and therefore effect everyone else’s education.   And that’s just plain irresponsible.  

 

[knapplc]

But how is it managed?  What’s done differently to mitigate the Covid risk?   More pads won’t help.  Forget masks.  So those players (and I’m talking HS only) are at a much greater risk to transmit the virus among participants than virtually any other non-contact activity (you can distance in band).  So they then spread it throughout the school and therefore effect everyone else’s education.   And that’s just plain irresponsible.  

They won't be spreading it through the school if they're doing remote learning. The kids not in the locker room will be at no greater risk of catching it than normal.

 

[Decoy73]

They won't be spreading it through the school if they're doing remote learning. The kids not in the locker room will be at no greater risk of catching it than normal.

I think we went full circle with this. My whole original post was based on the premise of that remote learning would not co-exists with football.   Now I could be wrong about that.   Time will tell.   But if the existence of mitigation-challenged activities like football force schools into remote learning, that would be a travesty.  

 

[knapplc]

I think we went full circle with this. My whole original post was based on the premise of that remote learning would not co-exists with football.   Now I could be wrong about that.   Time will tell.   But if the existence of mitigation-challenged activities like football force schools into remote learning, that would be a travesty.  

Football won't force schools into remote learning.  I'm not sure where that's coming from. It's not as if kids will be out of the classroom so that we can have football.

It's entirely possible we have remote learning and zero football. But if there's no football there's no band, no club or team activities of any kind. And that's not because of football, but because of the virus. 

 

[RedDenver]

As a teacher I will flat out agree that in person is way better than remote.  It is not even close.

Yep. If we learned anything the last few months, it's that remote learning was a disaster.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

I was walking my dog past our high school yesterday, and gotta admit I was shocked to see a full on football practice.  40-50 kids running the stairs, doing agility drills, weightlifting. No masks (of course,) no social distancing (it's football!).  Ran into one of the coaches, who I know a little. He said it was the standard June practice regimen, but the 40-50 kids I saw doing different tasks had been put into cohorts of 12 that wouldn't interact with other cohorts. Unless, of course, they did. Or when practice ended and they went back to intermingling, because they already had other cohorts that hadn't been assigned to them. The coach shrugged. Who knows if we'll have a season, but for now we're doing this. 

Very few COVID cases in our county, so we may get away with it.  But if early re-opening of businesses, bars, restaurants, churches, and casual unmasked gatherings creates a spike --- and Texas, Florida, Arizona, Alabama and So. Cal are raising serious flags -- we may be heading back to square one. 

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Football won't force schools into remote learning.  I'm not sure where that's coming from. It's not as if kids will be out of the classroom so that we can have football.

It's entirely possible we have remote learning and zero football. But if there's no football there's no band, no club or team activities of any kind. And that's not because of football, but because of the virus. 

Don't think he's saying football will force schools into remote learning, just that football probably can't co-exist with remote learning. And yes, at our HS it's understood that band, orchestra, chorus, drama and other classes or activities requiring physical proximity will suffer the same fate as team athletics. 

 

[Decoy73]

Football won't force schools into remote learning.  I'm not sure where that's coming from. It's not as if kids will be out of the classroom so that we can have football.

Football (among other factors) most certainly could force remote learning if school begins in classrooms and then has to change to remote because of a spike.   Now, I admit my line of thinking on this is more “worst case scenario “.  More likely they would just shut down football.   But who knows?   
I agree that they wouldn’t start remotely just so we can have football.   

 

[knapplc]

Don't think he's saying football will force schools into remote learning

I rather think he is saying that.

Football (among other factors) most certainly could force remote learning if school begins in classrooms and then has to change to remote because of a spike.   Now, I admit my line of thinking on this is more “worst case scenario “.  More likely they would just shut down football.   But who knows?   
I agree that they wouldn’t start remotely just so we can have football.   

I don't think football will be any greater risk to forcing remote learning than Band or Speech or Drama. Those kids interact without practicing social distancing as much as any other activity, sports or not.

What will most likely make schools revert back to remote learning is classrooms. They can't double the size of schools in the next several weeks, so kids are going to be sitting in the same desks they were last year in the same proximity as before.

Forget extracurricular activities. Just having students in the building will be the greatest risk of spread.  They could ban all sports & clubs & still have to go back home.

 

[Decoy73]

I rather think he is saying that.

Could.  Not will.  But anyway,  moving on....

 

[teachercd]

Yep. If we learned anything the last few months, it's that remote learning was a disaster.

Ha...I heard horror stories about it at the K-8 level.  I could not even imagine.

 

[knapplc]

Yep. If we learned anything the last few months, it's that remote learning was a disaster.

As implemented on the fly with zero pre-planning last Spring, it was not successful in some places, or for some kids. And certainly kids and teachers would prefer to be in classrooms.

But remote learning has worked the world over, and can work here, with proper planning and execution. 

 

[teachercd]

As implemented on the fly with zero pre-planning last Spring, it was not successful in some places, or for some kids. And certainly kids and teachers would prefer to be in classrooms.

But remote learning has worked the world over, and can work here, with proper planning and execution. 

The planning is simple.

You do remote learning like you do the regular school day.  Your classes are at the same time as they would be if you were in the building.  Everything is the same, expect you are not in the building.  Then, the teacher uses their discretion when it comes to how long to keep the students online in the virtual classroom.

Tests, might as well do them with all the kids online incase they have a question and might as well make it open note/book.

Use discussion boards to cut down on "look at me on Zoom" time and let the kids post and respond to each other on the topics.

Keep in touch with counselors when students stop showing up for class.

Make one day of the week a "check in day" no classes, maybe a homeroom type thing that lasts a few minutes and give that time to the kids to email if they have questions or get work done.

And sure, remote learning has been done for years...but because it is a last resort...not because it is the most effective way to teach or communicate.  

Think in business, how often you have a remote meeting and how much time you spend dicking around while on that meeting.  

 

[hunter49]

The planning is simple.

You do remote learning like you do the regular school day.  Your classes are at the same time as they would be if you were in the building.  Everything is the same, expect you are not in the building.  Then, the teacher uses their discretion when it comes to how long to keep the students online in the virtual classroom.

Tests, might as well do them with all the kids online incase they have a question and might as well make it open note/book.

Use discussion boards to cut down on "look at me on Zoom" time and let the kids post and respond to each other on the topics.

Keep in touch with counselors when students stop showing up for class.

Make one day of the week a "check in day" no classes, maybe a homeroom type thing that lasts a few minutes and give that time to the kids to email if they have questions or get work done.

And sure, remote learning has been done for years...but because it is a last resort...not because it is the most effective way to teach or communicate.  

Think in business, how often you have a remote meeting and how much time you spend dicking around while on that meeting.  

the remote gig is not a good long term solution, no academic discipline or atmosphere for interaction and real learning.....

fill inn the blank education, not so good.