Week One Completed!

How I am feeling today: Exhausted. Joyful. Fulfilled. Exhausted.

What I am listening to today: Big Thief –  Masterpiece

What I am reading today: Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

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Welp. I did it. I completed the first week of teaching classes for the Fall 2020 semester. Strange days. I am happy that I am fortunate to work from how and teach remotely. However, it is a bit to get used to for both myself and the students I have had in classes. There have naturally been plenty of tech issues. But we progress forward and do the best we can. (What are our other options?)

The trainings we had last week did well to prepare us for the use of the distance ed platforms, but unfortunately, they did not prepare us for the crazy manic energy of kids back in school after a summer in quarantine. Because I have mostly 9^th graders this semester, I have a lot of kids who are also brand new to our school and its hippy dippy ways. Some of which have been home schooled up until this point. I can only imagine what it would be like to transition from that to a performing arts high school, in the middle of a global pandemic no less. My heart goes out to them and their tenacity to forge through. But this is of course wishful thinking on part. I do hope that they are to acclimate well enough.

So, the three best things about teaching on zoom: 1) I can secretly wear shorts (what I have heard my colleagues refer to a “zoom mullet”, 2) Attendance and participation are much easier to gauge, 3) I can mute the entire class with one click.

The worst things about teaching on zoom: 1) When I am staring at a void of black screens with names on them. No sound. No color. Only zoom, 2) All classes are recorded, so students can goof off and just watch the lecture at a later time, 3) You lose that in person magic of the classroom; I’m a walk around the room while lecturing kind of guy.

Ultimately what I have learned this week is how incredibly adaptable the students and myself are in this new reality. And that is something worth celebrating.

All right. I’m going to take a nap. Bye for now.