I Hate the New "Normal"

To all of you who normally work at home, how do you do it? To all the moms and dads out there, please know that I am working overtime to meet your kiddo's needs. Oh, and to you, COVID-19, you suck!

My school district gave us the choice to work from home or teach in an empty classroom. I am so glad I chose to work from home as my school site's internet has been a complete and total wreck this week. Even with a vastly reduced population - no kids and far fewer teachers, our district-provided internet has been crashing repeatedly. In the spirit of gratitude though, at least my internet works?

I wish I had a window, and I had to order a new chair.

I am not sure what I expected when I asked to work from home, but I am pretty sure I am working more hours from home than I would have had I gone in to school. Although that might not be true. I might have still come home and worked. There is just more to do than there are hours in the day. Besides learning a new online learning system, my district purchased not one, but two new curricula, History-Social Studies and Science. To say I am feeling stressed and overwhelmed is an understatement.

And it's not like it's just me. My students are also being challenged in ways none of us ever predicted. They too are trying to navigate the new online learning system. And lest we forget, my kiddos are TEN YEARS OLD. While my internet has proven capable of handling the workload, for many of them, they're dealing with slow and glitchy connectivity. In virtually every home, there are multiple siblings and at least one parent, all vying for the same bandwidth. Their daily experience has to be so frustrating.

The science teacher's edition arrived at school the other day, so I don't even have a copy here at home.

For my own personal health, I am trying to establish a realistic and sustainable work-from-home schedule. What I've been doing is going to kill me. Right now, I do my blogging and social media check in from 6:00 - 7:00 a.m. while I have breakfast. I take my dogs out for a quick potty, and then I work until lunch time. During lunch, I take the dogs for a quick walk, and then I sit back down until 3:15. So far, I've forced myself to get up and drive out to the ranch for a ride, but it's hard to leave with work unfinished. After my ride, I've been coming home and working for another hour or two. This Wednesday, I worked until 8:30 p.m. That's just too long of a day especially since I can't take a mental health or sick day.

A better view than from an office window.

Speaking of sick days, we've been told that if we need one, we're somehow supposed to pass our classes off to another teacher. None of us know how that would work though as each teacher has her own Google Meet and Zoom codes and passwords. And if meetings are unstable with thirty-five participants, how would it be better with seventy? And yes, I know that thousands can attend Zoom conference calls, but the presenter isn't expected to take attendance by hand or call on participants by name. If (when?) I do need a sick day, I think I will literally just phone it in. There will be a quick pre-recorded video greeting, another video for the mid-day check, and I'll end the day with a see you tomorrow video.

To add insult to injury, I had to order a new office chair. Teachers are well known for being the only professionals who steal stuff from home to use at work. We're also probably one of the few professional groups who spend their salaries so they can work. Sometimes, it feels like I am working for free.

I have never been more grateful that it's Friday.