Day 18 - Mask mandate RESCINDED. We do NOT need to mask indoors.

Last day to withdraw with a “W” is coming up…time to “thin the herd”…

3/21/22. Monday 

Mondays are such long days.

L. is on Spring Break and staying with T. this week. 

8:30-9:00 – I’m up early and I go downstairs to greet the animal. The dog is still asleep so I sit next to her and rub her tummy until she wakes up and grabs her toy. We head to the backyard and I stand around, waiting for her to finish her business. Return inside and coffee for me; cheese for her. I take out my trash cans.

9:00-10:30 – Shower. I sit in the shower, drink my coffee, and ice my eyes. I listen to The Best Laid Plans and Marketplace Morning. Lotion. Make-up. I put on a “Sexy Librarian” work outfit.

10:30-11:30 – bullet journal

11:30-12:30 – I check email right before I leave and get into it with yet another student who CAN’T BELIEVE she is getting a D! More handwringing! The online gradebook is posted to Canvas and available 24/7 – don’t these students bother checking their grades?  And do you have to even check your grades when you failed to  complete 12 assignments?

12:30-1:00 – I start loading everything into the car because I want to be early today, especially in light of the fact that last week the old, male teacher who’s in the classroom before me had a conniption fit when I was 5 minutes late.

1:00-2:10 –Driving.  I listen to The Daily and What Next. I eat my salad in the car.

2:30-5:10 – Class is in session.

“And then there were three.” One of my F2F students dropped after I told her she had a D in the class and that the last day to withdraw with a “W” is 4/8/22.  There are only three F2F students left.  Why do they keep coming?

-To my surprise, there are now TWO computers on the desk and I’m unable to project ANY course content on the screen above.  I email IT and ask for assistance – they usually respond within 24 hours, but how am I supposed to teach RIGHT NOW if the visual content component is broken?

Today’s itinerary is a lecture, video, and video quiz. Eventually, I’m able to project some of the content, but now the audio isn’t working correctly.

-There’s only three students in the class so we end early. An IT employee arrives in person to help me! Talk about customer service! He shows me how to work both screens but, unfortunately, now it’s time to go.

5:10-5:30 – The students leave and I set up the course content for my 6:00 class before I drive home.

5:30-6:30 – Driving. I listen to PBS News Segments and The Culture Gabfest. I eat apple slices and almond butter before stopping at the gas station.

6:30-9:00 – I’m running a bit late for my 6:00 class because I had to get gas, so I log in ASAP and make sure lecture is running smoothly.  So far so good.

-I take Attendance for both classes.

-It’s time for the documentary, which happens to be available on Amazon.  I post the link for the “free trial” on Canvas in case the students don’t have Amazon. The female student who never. stops. emailing. me. says she can’t access the video.  Of course she can’t.  I log onto Amazon immediately and I’m able to access it so what gives? All of the other students are currently watching the assigned documentary without incident.

Just when I think this student is full of s—t, another student screenshots me a picture of an error message that says, “this video is not available in your area.” How odd.  The first student also reported this…it’s as if some strange government censorship is occurring in real time. “Area”? So, these are two female students…one of them is black and the other is Muslim and both of them are denied access to a documentary on terrorism due to their “area”? Says who?  The government? I don’t like this at all…

-I email both students an “Alternative Assignment”, wherein I send them links to a similar documentary with instructions to let me know when they’re finished so I can email them the Video Quiz.

-I have some cheese and crackers.

-Both students notify me that they are finished watching the alternative video so I send them the quiz. They complete the Quiz within minutes and both receive 10s on the quizzes.

-Class dismissed.

9:15-9:45 – I walk the dog and eat one of L.’s Girl Scout cookies.

9:45-10:15 – Return and yet another email comes in from another Core Class student who CAN’T BELIEVE she’s  getting a D in the class when she got an A on the Midterm. I inform the student that she is getting a D in the class because she scored Ds and Fs on 7 assignments, and Cs on 2 assignments. I don’t back down. More wringing of hands! until she finally drops.

-One of the students from Specialty Class 1B failed to sign in on the Discussion Board, but completed all the quizzes. This indicates that the student believes he does not have to be on time and can take the quizzes whenever he wants to, even though this is a Synchronous Class that meets from 6:00-9:00. No.

If you don’t log onto the Discussion Board, you get a 0 on all assignments for that day…you can’t complete work if you’re absent and you’re absent because you never signed in. The student gives me some bulls—t excuse that he didn’t sign in on the Discussion Board because he didn’t see it as an “Assignment” and didn’t think he had to log in. No. You’ve been logging onto the Discussion Board, at 6:00 p.m., for the past 10 weeks every Monday, except today. You know this is how I take Attendance. I never hear from the student again.

10:15-10:30 – I check course content again for my highschool class tomorrow, make sure I have all my supplies, and set them out. I shut everything down.  I just completed 9 straight hours of teaching and related teaching tasks and, yes, I’m going to count driving.

10:30-11:00 – Kitchen duty and I make sure my lunch bag is packed. I take the dog out and lock up.

11:00-11:30 – Nighttime routine. Bed. I set my alarm for 4:45 a.m.