I was disappointed that so many high schools have opted to give pass/no pass grades during this spring 2020 semester. Then I just heard something even more ridiculous: San Francisco has proposed to give all middle and high school students A’s for this semester. As a college advisor, I’m concerned that students will not get the foundation in their academic classes that they’ll need next semester, and that they will be at a disadvantage when they apply to colleges because many of their peers will have real grades for this semester on their transcripts.
I do realize that school administrators are facing pressure that some students don’t have access to high-speed internet or computers. This socioeconomic inequity in education needs to be changed – I agree wholeheartedly — but we can’t do it in the middle of a pandemic. For elementary and middle school students, grades aren’t essential and won’t affect their future the way they will for high school students.
When high school students know that they will receive A’s in all classes regardless of their attendance, homework completion, and ability to show knowledge of subject matter, it certainly won’t inspire them to learn or do the work. Seriously, why would students crack open a book or join Zoom classes if they didn’t have to? How will college admissions officers know the difference between a “D” student and an “A” student when they both receive the same “pass” or all students receive “A’s” on their transcript?
Some high schools have announced that they will give letter grades to all students in all classes. These students will have an advantage in the college-admissions process if they receive A’s and B’s. It shows that despite the shelter-in-place orders and the transformation from on-campus classes to virtual classes, these students better managed their academics and personal life challenges than students who didn’t get high marks.
I’ve also noticed that class-instruction time has dropped during the past month. At first, many students went one-to-three weeks without any instruction as teachers and administrators were thrown into chaos as they set up their zoom or virtual classes. Then some teachers created YouTube pre-recorded lectures for the students to watch every day and gave students homework to complete every night. Other teachers offered real-time classes with students using Zoom or other virtual platforms. This gave students time to interact with one another and have some sense of a regular school routine. I was impressed by these teachers and their students appreciated the normalcy this provided. But, soon after, I’ve watched school districts restructure class schedules. Now, most of the clients I see have maybe 30 minutes of actual teacher-led classes per week. Some teachers have online classes once per week and the students work independently the rest of the week. One thing is for sure: students are NOT receiving the instruction or personal guidance they need, and they will definitely enter future classes with less knowledge and a weaker foundation.
This will cause a kind of social graduation. Why? School districts and families don’t want students to retake this semester, and I understand their reasons. But, if the students are not learning the concepts and building the skills that they normally would during this semester, allowing them to take the next class in the series will cause dumbing down of future classes. For instance, let’s take a Spanish 2 high school class that doesn’t complete the last 2 months of real instruction. When students get a “pass” or an “A” in that class, they move on to Spanish 3 in the fall. The Spanish 3 teacher will expect incoming students to have a Spanish 2 foundation, which they won’t. That requires the Spanish 3 teacher to introduce the Spanish 2 concepts that the students missed in addition to all of the Spanish 3 concepts for the year. That’s not really possible, so teachers continue to pass students to the next level without the foundation needed to be successful.
The problem doesn’t stop in high school. College professors complain that students enter as freshmen without basic skills like reading comprehension, essay writing, science foundation, and more. I’ve talked to professors who say they feel like they’re teaching remedial classes in college. By passing students who haven’t learned the concepts on to higher-level classes, we are setting up an educational system that produces poor quality students.
There is a solution. We don’t have to drop our expectations for all students because some don’t have access to the internet or computers. Before the 1990s, we didn’t have internet or computers in every home. Let’s get books – yes, real books – out to students who can’t join Zoom classes. Let’s bring back the pencil and paper so students can write essays. Let’s snail mail these essays and homework assignments to teachers. Students can write research papers in lieu of taking final exams. There are many ways we can continue to teach, engage, and grade our students.
I was disappointed that so many high schools have opted to give pass/no pass grades during this spring 2020 semester. Then I just heard something even more ridiculous: San Francisco has proposed to give all middle and high school students A’s for this semester. As a college advisor, I’m concerned that students will not get the foundation in their academic classes that they’ll need next semester, and that they will be at a disadvantage when they apply to colleges because many of their peers will have real grades for this semester on their transcripts.
I do realize that school administrators are facing pressure that some students don’t have access to high-speed internet or computers. This socioeconomic inequity in education needs to be changed – I agree wholeheartedly — but we can’t do it in the middle of a pandemic. For elementary and middle school students, grades aren’t essential and won’t affect their future the way they will for high school students.
When high school students know that they will receive A’s in all classes regardless of their attendance, homework completion, and ability to show knowledge of subject matter, it certainly won’t inspire them to learn or do the work. Seriously, why would students crack open a book or join Zoom classes if they didn’t have to? How will college admissions officers know the difference between a “D” student and an “A” student when they both receive the same “pass” or all students receive “A’s” on their transcript?
Some high schools have announced that they will give letter grades to all students in all classes. These students will have an advantage in the college-admissions process if they receive A’s and B’s. It shows that despite the shelter-in-place orders and the transformation from on-campus classes to virtual classes, these students better managed their academics and personal life challenges than students who didn’t get high marks.
I’ve also noticed that class-instruction time has dropped during the past month. At first, many students went one-to-three weeks without any instruction as teachers and administrators were thrown into chaos as they set up their zoom or virtual classes. Then some teachers created YouTube pre-recorded lectures for the students to watch every day and gave students homework to complete every night. Other teachers offered real-time classes with students using Zoom or other virtual platforms. This gave students time to interact with one another and have some sense of a regular school routine. I was impressed by these teachers and their students appreciated the normalcy this provided. But, soon after, I’ve watched school districts restructure class schedules. Now, most of the clients I see have maybe 30 minutes of actual teacher-led classes per week. Some teachers have online classes once per week and the students work independently the rest of the week. One thing is for sure: students are NOT receiving the instruction or personal guidance they need, and they will definitely enter future classes with less knowledge and a weaker foundation.
This will cause a kind of social graduation. Why? School districts and families don’t want students to retake this semester, and I understand their reasons. But, if the students are not learning the concepts and building the skills that they normally would during this semester, allowing them to take the next class in the series will cause dumbing down of future classes. For instance, let’s take a Spanish 2 high school class that doesn’t complete the last 2 months of real instruction. When students get a “pass” or an “A” in that class, they move on to Spanish 3 in the fall. The Spanish 3 teacher will expect incoming students to have a Spanish 2 foundation, which they won’t. That requires the Spanish 3 teacher to introduce the Spanish 2 concepts that the students missed in addition to all of the Spanish 3 concepts for the year. That’s not really possible, so teachers continue to pass students to the next level without the foundation needed to be successful.
The problem doesn’t stop in high school. College professors complain that students enter as freshmen without basic skills like reading comprehension, essay writing, science foundation, and more. I’ve talked to professors who say they feel like they’re teaching remedial classes in college. By passing students who haven’t learned the concepts on to higher-level classes, we are setting up an educational system that produces poor quality students.
There is a solution. We don’t have to drop our expectations for all students because some don’t have access to the internet or computers. Before the 1990s, we didn’t have internet or computers in every home. Let’s get books – yes, real books – out to students who can’t join Zoom classes. Let’s bring back the pencil and paper so students can write essays. Let’s snail mail these essays and homework assignments to teachers. Students can write research papers in lieu of taking final exams. There are many ways we can continue to teach, engage, and grade our students.
Just delivered 150 3-layered cloth masks, face shields, and bottles of wine to the nurses, doctors, and technicians at Valley Med today. When my daughter asked me to sew masks because she and her co-workers didn’t have the PPE they needed to protect themselves, I started sewing masks during every free moment I had.
I wanted to give her whole staff these cloth masks that have 2 pockets for filters so they know that we – the public, the patients – appreciate that they still go to work every day even when they are immersed in coronavirus without enough masks and shields. Thanks to social media, my friend Michele Roush has joined me in sewing even more masks. My IT has both of his 3D printers making face shields around the clock. My husband Rob thought that we should put a bottle of wine in each gift bag to ease the healthcare workers’ stress (for one night) so we did some research and got an amazing deal on 300 bottles!
We loaded our RV with the gift bags and all of the additional contents. It must have been quite the sight to see us filling gift bags as dozens of healthcare workers got off their shifts this afternoon. Nicole made sure we stayed in the RV – far away from everyone – and reminded us not to touch our faces even though we were wearing masks and gloves.
I didn’t expect the healthcare workers to be so grateful to receive the gift bags. I made the gifts to thank THEM for their service. It was a little gesture to make to make them feel appreciated. But they all came up to the RV door (that was manned by Nicole) to thank us. It’s like thanking someone for a thank-you gift.
I’m back at my sewing machine. New goal is to make 150 more masks and shields. We already have the wine. Until I know that all healthcare professionals have the PPE they need to protect themselves, I’m going to do what I can to lift their spirits and give them masks and shields. Want to join me? Please sew masks and 3D print shields! Have connections at wineries? We can do this! They need us!
One by one, nurses got coronavirus at a Silicon Valley hospital while management kept quiet
Why can’t administrators be transparent and tell the truth? When they hold back statistics and information from their staff and the public, people will get infected and die. This affects everyone. We shouldn’t have to worry about protecting healthcare workers from their own administrators!
While this is a local story, this is happening all over the country. Hospitals in this country are BUSINESSES first, and they prioritize income over everything else. Anything that could possibly increase costs or decrease profits is something to be avoided or swept under the rug.
Sitting on information that could cost people their lives isn’t just morally bankrupt – it’s effectively murder, and it has to stop.
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Worried about your UC applications? You’re not alone! There’s a lot of confusion with UC admissions, so I’ll clarify what is going on here. These are just temporary measures to help students who are dealing with closed high schools and cancelled SAT/ACT test dates.
1. Letter grades are NOT required for UC A-G courses for spring and summer 2020. So if your school has opted to offer only pass/fail marks, instead of grades, you’re still eligible.
2. UCs will calculate your GPA based on the grades you received in 10th and 11th grade (and the summers after 9th, 10th, and 11th grades).
3. SATs and ACTs will NOT be required for students applying during the 2020-2021 school year. This is only for this group of applicants (students graduating in 2021).
4. May 1st is still the deadline to accept offers to attend a UC this fall 2020.
5. If you need an extension for your final transcript (graduation 2020), UCs will be flexible. The deadline remains July 1st, but no student’s admissions offer will be rescinded for missing this deadline.
6. UCs will continue to give credit for students who have AP scores of 3, 4, or 5.
7. If your family is suddenly in a difficult financial situation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, contact your financial aid officers to discuss options.
What does it mean for your child now that their classes will not return to school campuses for the rest of this spring semester? It means that you need to become both teacher and guidance counselor to ensure that your child stays on track.
Teachers and administrators have scrambled to learn how to conduct lectures in an online group setting. They are struggling to test students to determine if they understand the concepts covered in this new classroom venue. Some students don’t have access to high-speed internet or computers to partake in these classes. This isn’t fair to anyone – especially those students who don’t have laptops or teachers who don’t have the technical support to set up Zoom or Hangout classrooms.
As final exams loom over every high school teacher, schools are making difficult decisions about how to assign grades for courses taken this spring semester. College-bound students need strong GPAs and transcripts to be competitive in the college admissions race. I’m hearing that many high schools are succumbing to giving pass/fail marks instead of letter grades.
Average students benefit from pass/fail because colleges won’t know if they’re an A or a D student. For students applying to selective colleges, these pass/fail grades create a question mark about these courses. These students need to do other things to stand out in the college admissions process.
In addition to the problem with pass-fail courses on student transcripts, students really aren’t going to learn all of the concepts that would normally be taught in these classes. They lost several weeks of instruction due to the chaos that the shelter-in-place order caused in every school. Many classes have been reduced to just once zoom class per week while all other interaction with teachers consists of turning in homework assignments.
The problem with this scenario is that the students are expected (and need) to know all of these concepts in order for them to transition into the next class in the fall. That means that they’ll be starting the next level of instruction with a gap in their knowledge and skill set. This isn’t fair to their future teachers who will then attempt to teach those skills that weren’t taught this year along with all of the new concepts and skills they were planning to teach during the next school year.
Here’s what you can do as parent, teacher, and guidance counselor to your child:
1. Talk to your child’s teachers to determine what concepts will NOT be covered this year. Then look for resources that will help bridge this gap. Consider online lectures, videos, textbooks and other materials.
2. Use a planner to help your children organize their time so they can be sure to cover the additional reading, videos, or projects to supplement each of their academic classes. It’s easy for them to skip these extra steps amidst the lack of normalcy at home.
3. Insist that courses receive grades (not pass/fail) and work with your school to find solutions.
4. Hire a tutor who can teach concepts that your child is having difficulty with. Don’t let this snowball into a big problem next year.
5. If your children aren’t learning in one or more of their classes, consider enrolling them in accredited classes taught one-on-one with a real teacher (using Google Hangouts). They’ll have customized classes that focus just on your child. These courses will receive real grades (not pass/fail) and your children’s GPAs will be more favorable to college admissions officers.
So we’re staying at home, not going to work, and facing the biggest pandemic of our lifetime. We’re stressed and anxious. Nobody really understands how this coronavirus is transmitted, and we’re all worried about getting COVID-19 or giving it to our family and friends. So take this time to write or update your ADVANCE DIRECTIVE.
An Advance Directive lays out your end-of-life decisions. It took me years to write mine, and I only did it when my daughter Nicole pressured me to while she was in med school. While it might be difficult to consider, you really don’t want your loved ones to make these difficult decisions for you. It could cause unnecessary strife between your children and your extended family.
Nicole and fellow med school friend Anna Krawisz wrote a music video “Ode to Advance Directives” as a Stanford Med School project. Using humor, they sing about historical cases that will get you off the couch and at your desk writing your advance directive. Watch their music video and share with your loved ones.
While sheltering in place for another month, write your advance directive. It will be a gift you give your family should they need to make end-of-life decisions for you.
When men defended our nation during WWII, the women manned factories making munitions, building ships and plane, and stepped up to support the war effort. Today, women (and men) are stepping up their support for our healthcare professionals who are fighting a war with the coronavirus, by making surgical masks that can be used over the N95 masks to add more protection. We have a huge deficit of N95 and surgical masks that our frontline workers need.
I have designed a 4-layer mask that houses a filter that can be washed and reused. Without leaving my house, I found enough cotton fabric, elastic, and wire to make dozens of masks. My friend Mario brought me the filters when he heard I was sewing masks so I wouldn’t have to leave the house. Rob, my husband, also joined me in cutting fabric and picking up more fabric. I love the support we’re getting as we ramp up our efforts to provide the backup masks that hospital staff definitely needs.
If you have a sewing machine and you’d like to help, I’ve made a YouTube video to show exactly how to make these masks. They’re easy to make and it’s rewarding to know that doctors, nurses, paramedics, and all frontline workers will be safer. Here’s the link to my YouTube video and a link to the pattern.
Our healthcare professionals feel demoralized when they don’t have the PPEs they need and they feel like nobody cares. Giving gifts of homemade masks will help build morale while they face the most physically and psychologically challenging times of their careers. Please send these masks to your local Emergency Departments. Check to make sure they’re accepting homemade masks. You can also send masks directly to me, and I’ll distribute them to hospitals that need them. This is who we are – and thank you for your support!
Did you know that many scholarships disappear after freshman year? Make sure that the scholarship is renewable each year for 4 years to cover you throughout your undergraduate education.
Here are some red flags to watch for:
- One-time scholarships for visiting the college campus or interviewing with admissions officers
- Others require that you maintain a certain GPA or other codes of conduct
- Colleges could replace a grant (free money) with a loan after freshman year when the students have higher federal student loan limits
- Family finances change: siblings graduate from college or move out of the family home (increases parents’ ability to pay)
With a 4-year undergraduate degree costing between $100K-$300K, make sure that you can afford to complete your education BEFORE you start. Meet with your financial aid officer to discuss your financial aid offer. Because college tuition increases about 3% each year, consider how you plan to pay for tuition, room and board, and other expenses.
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As California Mother of the Year, and mother to a 35-year-old ER doctor, we have a serious problem when healthcare professionals do NOT have the basic PPE they need to protect themselves from the deadly coronavirus that has killed over 30,000 people.
Where is OSHA? They are supposed to protect healthcare professionals with even more protections than standard workplaces because protecting doctors and nurses also protects patients. If a classroom has mold on the walls, the teacher and students are immediately removed from the classroom until the school removes the mold and OSHA inspects the classroom to ensure that the teacher and students will be safe. So why isn’t OSHA enforcing these guidelines and holding hospital administrators, state and federal legislatures, CDC, and the President accountable?
Doctors and nurses are reusing N95 masks for their entire shift, and given paper bags with their names on them to hold their masks until their next shifts. This puts them at very high risk of getting the coronavirus. These N95 masks were designed and engineered to be a single-use mask. They are supposed to discard them after seeing every patient. So when our frontline healthcare professionals are required to use the same mask between several patients, they risk their lives and the lives of all of the patients they see.
In a huge humanitarian effort, the community has stepped up to sew cloth surgical masks for healthcare workers to use when they run out of masks. My daughter asked me to make cloth masks with HEPA filter inserts so she can wear it over her N95 mask. Her hope is that these cloth-and-filter masks might prolong the life of her N95 to give her some extra protection. My husband and I have been sewing around the clock to make masks for her entire ER staff. People all across the nation are pulling out their sewing machines and making all kinds of masks for local hospitals.
Over the weekend, I contracted a courier service to deliver the masks we made to the hospital, but found that the hospital administration had put a stop on homemade mask donations. Seriously? Just last week, I spoke with the hospital foundation and they welcomed homemade masks of any kind. Their website even included links to YouTube videos and patterns for masks, and they gave the address where masks and other donations could be dropped off. But the links were gone and homemade donations information were removed. My daughter confirmed that hospital personnel were NOT allowed to bring homemade masks to work over the weekend.
If the hospital won’t provide enough N95 masks to protect their employees from getting COVID-19, how dare they demand that healthcare professionals work without proper protection? Forcing them to leave their homemade masks and other safety devices at home is both unethical and criminal.
Hospital administration has also stipulated that ER doctors can only give coronavirus tests to very sick patients who are immunodeficient, on chemotherapy, or on dialysis. This sets the doctors up for potential lawsuits from patients who claim that they were sent away without testing and proper diagnosis. By not testing patients who are probably sick with COVID-19, their statistics will be inaccurately low so administrators will not be able to sufficiently order PPE, beds, and the facilities they will most likely need in the coming weeks.
Just a few days ago, Dr. Lin was fired in Washington state for posting about his fears and frustration on the lack of safety equipment and worker protections on social media. I believe there are many healthcare professionals who are fearful of retribution if they speak out. After his public outreach elicited demands from his community, the hospital administrators started giving temperature screenings to staff entering the building and plans to separate staff from infected patients and outside screenings in temporary tents. So now hospital administrators and others are firing whistleblowers?
As California Mother of the Year, I am reaching out to mothers, fathers, and everyone to demand that the doctors, nurses, paramedics, staff, and other first responder professionals receive ALL of the PPE (including test kits) they need to protect themselves from the coronavirus. They risk their lives — literally — every day to take care of all of us. Please sign this petition to demand that our hospital administrators, OSHA, state governors and legislature, CDC, and the President do their jobs to protect our frontline professionals.
If ever doctors (and all frontline healthcare professionals!) need to hear our appreciation, it is today. I’m thanking all of Nicole’s Stanford Medical School Class of 2013, Harbor UCLA Residents Class of 2017, and UCSF Fellowship members Class of 2018 — and every healthcare professional! I hope you’re taking care of yourselves both physically and mentally during this pandemic. You’re all the best doctors and we’re grateful to you for being there for us. We know you’re putting your own safety aside — even without proper PPEs!
