What would be a reasonable approach to classroom teaching in the fall?

[Caracal]

My employer has announced a mask requirement when indoors on campus, which will have no effect on student behavior outside of classroom/lab buildings (Covid-19 cases in the 2020-21 academic year invariably occurred after holidays and instances of socializing en masse off campus). Now I'm looking for a mask that won't slip down my face while I'm talking. I'm hoping a duckbill N95 meets this criterion.

We have a vaccination requirement also; to date about 5% of the undergrads who are supposedly arriving soon for the fall semester have not provided proof of vaccination and have not requested an exemption from the requirement.

[. . . ]

Well, the point I was trying to make is that because of the inevitable noncompliance, once the class is sufficiently large, and the classroom is sufficiently densely packed, then exponential growth is inevitable, and it would be irresponsible to have large classes when the baseline rate of infection is sufficiently high.

Demonstrated by church choirs, funerals, the Biogen conference in Boston, and, most recently, Provincetown, MA.

Those aren't really very comparable examples. The funeral and conference are examples of events held over a period of time involving lots of close contact of people in multiple indoor spaces. The choir practice seems closest, but if you think about it, singing isn't really a comparable activity to what happens in class. Student (hopefully) don't talk almost continuously in class and all at the same time.

There's a reason there are (to my knowledge) no college classroom super spreading events. Obviously, it's quite possible for covid to spread in a classroom, and I can see an argument for moving 100+ person classes online. (Dangers increased, less lost from recorded lectures, the ability to move other classes from smaller rooms into the bigger lecture halls, as well as the difficulty of monitoring general compliance with mask wearing.)

[spork]

I was referring to the tendency of communicable disease to spread exponentially. R0 for the previously-dominant strain of SARS-CoV-2 in the USA was ~ 2.5. For the Delta variant, R0 is in the 5 to 8 range. People are more likely to contract and transmit the Delta variant. If you put 200 unmasked, unvaccinated people shoulder to shoulder in a lecture hall, chances of transmission are higher than with four vaccinated people sitting in the backyard drinking iced tea.

People who have sufficient antibodies from vaccination or prior infection are highly unlikely to get seriously ill.  I probably had a mild case of Covid-19 in spring 2020. I have a compromised immune system. I'm now vaccinated and know my antibody level. If I get Covid-19 (again) and test positive this fall, I'm quite happy to tell my employer that I'll be following the same policy it imposes on students -- quarantine. I'll teach via Zoom like I did last year, until I'm told I'm no longer contagious. And if a portion of one of my classes is quarantined, I'll teach via Zoom in that situation, too. I'm not going to teach a course in-person and teach the same course at the same time as five or ten independent studies that I'm not getting paid for.

[the_geneticist]

We are approaching the deadline for "show you are vaccinated" for Fall.  The numbers are way, way too low.  Less than 70% for faculty & staff, barely 50% for students.  I'm hoping that just means that folks are going to wait until the deadline to complete the form . . . .
There are unspecified "serious consequences" starting with a stern reminder, then another reminder, and then a THIRD reminder.  Vague mentions of registration hold for students (they have already registered!) or not being allowed access to campus (how?). 
I think saying that if they aren't vaccinated they can't use [campus bucks] at [popular campus fast food or coffee shop] would be a better threat.

[Caracal]

We are approaching the deadline for "show you are vaccinated" for Fall.  The numbers are way, way too low.  Less than 70% for faculty & staff, barely 50% for students.  I'm hoping that just means that folks are going to wait until the deadline to complete the form . . . .
There are unspecified "serious consequences" starting with a stern reminder, then another reminder, and then a THIRD reminder.  Vague mentions of registration hold for students (they have already registered!) or not being allowed access to campus (how?). 
I think saying that if they aren't vaccinated they can't use [campus bucks] at [popular campus fast food or coffee shop] would be a better threat.

I just filled out the vaccination form yesterday, was vaccinated in March. I haven't been on campus and just hadn't gotten around to digging the thing out of my wallet and sending a picture.

[Liquidambar]

We are approaching the deadline for "show you are vaccinated" for Fall.  The numbers are way, way too low.  Less than 70% for faculty & staff, barely 50% for students.  I'm hoping that just means that folks are going to wait until the deadline to complete the form . . . .
There are unspecified "serious consequences" starting with a stern reminder, then another reminder, and then a THIRD reminder.  Vague mentions of registration hold for students (they have already registered!) or not being allowed access to campus (how?). 
I think saying that if they aren't vaccinated they can't use [campus bucks] at [popular campus fast food or coffee shop] would be a better threat.

People might be waiting.  20% of our students actually missed the deadline to complete the form but completed it in a couple days after our administration issued a threat.  Specifically, admin threatened to remove privileges like having in-person gatherings during the fall semester.

That was back when vaccination was voluntary.  We've since decided that it's mandatory.  I think the penalty for students will be de-registration if they don't comply.

[downer]

For September and October, I'd like to take my students outside as much as possible. That would mean no blackboard, no computer, students mostly sitting on the grass or whatever they can find.

It's a long time since I have tried that. There are often distractions. Students can get uncomfortable. I could try 25 mins in the classroom, 30 mins outside, and 25 mins back in the classroom. Lots of time wasting moving around of course, but that's a secondary consideration. I could tell them in the first class to bring something to sit on in future classes.

[dr_codex]

For September and October, I'd like to take my students outside as much as possible. That would mean no blackboard, no computer, students mostly sitting on the grass or whatever they can find.

It's a long time since I have tried that. There are often distractions. Students can get uncomfortable. I could try 25 mins in the classroom, 30 mins outside, and 25 mins back in the classroom. Lots of time wasting moving around of course, but that's a secondary consideration. I could tell them in the first class to bring something to sit on in future classes.

That sounds like a train-wreck in the making. How much time would be left to actually teach?

I just found out that we'll all be masked. I am mulling how best to handle this. I wasn't happy with any of my in-person workarounds last year, and I'm not going to be allowed to do all Zoom.

[PScientist]

For September and October, I'd like to take my students outside as much as possible. That would mean no blackboard, no computer, students mostly sitting on the grass or whatever they can find.

Last fall, I managed to teach entirely outdoors almost every day of our semester.  The few cold or rainy days we had class on Zoom.  The constraints forced a fully flipped-classroom approach that worked pretty well, and I would like to keep that structure even when we can meet indoors again someday.

[Caracal]

For September and October, I'd like to take my students outside as much as possible. That would mean no blackboard, no computer, students mostly sitting on the grass or whatever they can find.

Last fall, I managed to teach entirely outdoors almost every day of our semester.  The few cold or rainy days we had class on Zoom.  The constraints forced a fully flipped-classroom approach that worked pretty well, and I would like to keep that structure even when we can meet indoors again someday.

I do have a class that is going to involve a lot of students working with each other during class. I'll have to think about whether doing some of that outdoors might work. I think it might work better because students would have some room and space to find a comfortable spot rather than having to sit on the ground or something.

[mamselle]

See the "Ventilation and Filtration thread."

We're converging.

M.

[Biologist_]

We are approaching the deadline for "show you are vaccinated" for Fall.  The numbers are way, way too low.  Less than 70% for faculty & staff, barely 50% for students.  I'm hoping that just means that folks are going to wait until the deadline to complete the form . . . .
There are unspecified "serious consequences" starting with a stern reminder, then another reminder, and then a THIRD reminder.  Vague mentions of registration hold for students (they have already registered!) or not being allowed access to campus (how?). 
I think saying that if they aren't vaccinated they can't use [campus bucks] at [popular campus fast food or coffee shop] would be a better threat.

If  your administration can get ITS on board, just threaten to lock students out of the LMS and other computer resources when they don't meet the requirement. That's how some institutions enforced weekly testing requirements last year. Miss a couple of tests in a row and you can't log in to your university account.

[AmLitHist]

I could tell them in the first class to bring something to sit on in future classes.

A friend at another school did that this summer.  Second class, a couple of "characters" in her class showed up in the paved open space pushing a reclining loveseat on a furniture dolly, then settled in and made themselves at home.

[downer]

I could tell them in the first class to bring something to sit on in future classes.

A friend at another school did that this summer.  Second class, a couple of "characters" in her class showed up in the paved open space pushing a reclining loveseat on a furniture dolly, then settled in and made themselves at home.

I'd be thrilled if my students showed such initiative.

[the_geneticist]

I think I'm going to have our students wear name tags in lab.  Between the required closed-toe shoes, long pants, lab coat, gloves, goggles, tying hair back, and wearing a mask we aren't going to recognize any of them.  Or I'll have to train TAs to pay attention to the shape of everyone's eyebrows to tell folks apart.

[mamselle]

Can't see their ear lobes, I suppose, under all that equipment, or ask them to roll their tongues, either....

;--}

M.