Precious Pandemic Products - Part 2: Back to School!

       Well, sort of. The majority of students in our local community, as well as throughout the country and even internationally, have in reality gone 'back' to their bedrooms or an adjacent room in their house. This, if they ever emerged from their bedroom in the first place, in the case of teens. Obviously a different educational reality for most students, teachers, and parents, whether they are experiencing an 'in person' (or, I might argue, 'impersonal', given the distancing and masking), completely remote or the increasingly popular "hybrid" models of learning (the latter including a combination of synchronized/asynchronized, educational jargon on the rise). Collectively, these learning platforms have, of course, dramatically increased reliance on such Online options as Zoom, Google Classroom, Khan Academy, Coursera, etc. This is obvious to all of you and not unanticipated, even prior to this pandemic of ours. What I will concern myself with here is an addendum to August 13th, with a range of additional products I once again wish I would have had the foresight to have invented or at least invested in, before they went 'viral' (a short list of which at least a few readers will undoubtedly add to as this post prompts you...if you end up patenting, feel free to send me just a pittance as a 'finders fee').

       Products for Kids:                                                                                                                                                     -Backpacks with beepers (similar to cars), signaling the wearer as well as those in proximity, when they are treading within six feet (complete with back up cameras, of course)                                                      -"Back off Varmint!" stickers to put on lots of stuff, including backpacks, desk chairs (in the case of in person), and bedroom doors (in the case of remote, instead of "stay out, learning in progress")                 -Six foot rulers with rubber bumpers to gently nudge those getting perilously close to your 'personal space'                                                                                                                                                                 -Binoculars that combine 'seamlessly' with masks, which enable the penetration of plexiglass and thus, view your teacher and visual aids while 'distancing'                                                                                        -Blinking/light-up glasses, so you teacher can better notice you in the classroom on Zoom (Oh, I mean in the class composite, as it's now referred to)                                                                                                 -Moving cut-out of yourself , so the teacher does NOT notice you, when you decide to take a break, to go out and play, while the rest of the suckers continue zooming along                             

       Products for Teachers:                                                                                                                                           -"NO TOUCH" THERMOMETERS! can you imagine what it would be like, trying to take the temperature of all your students with the traditional mercury/mercury free thermometers, with students spaced six feet--by the time you completed the task it would be time for recess!                                                            -Ingenuity, patience, humor, and poise, all of which will be in higher demand this fall (I'm not sure which aisle at Target, Walmart, or Staples you might find any left)                                                        

       For Parents:                                                                                                                                                           -A Time Out or PANIC room, for YOU, not your kid!