Day 21 of the LAUSD mandate
Office for Students with Disabilities [OSD]…not
9/30/21. Thursday.
9:30-9:45 – I have an 11:00 Zoom meeting with my evaluator to discuss his observations after sitting in on my classes. Up and I go downstairs to greet the dog – she’s awake and leaning on the child-proof gate, wagging her tail. When she sees me, she quickly jumps on the couch and rolls over on her back so I can rub her tummy. I sit next to her for awhile, then give her the prompt to go potty; she grabs her toy and we go outside. I see that she pooped in two locations on the patio so I clean it up. (sigh)
9:45-11:00 – Shower. Lotion. I put on a professional blouse and yoga pants. Full make-up. Full hair. I drink my coffee and have two pieces of Dove chocolate.
I’m ready.
11:00-11:30 – My Zoom meeting goes extremely well!! My evaluator liked how I led my students in class discussion and he commented that they seemed engaged. Additionally, in my Core Class, my evaluator said it was obvious I had created a “safe” environment where the students felt comfortable sharing their personal, political experiences. Yet another positive observation were the Google slides that L. has designed and created – he really liked those and said it made him feel like he should “step up my game” since he is currently being evaluated in accordance with his tenure-track position timeline. He said his own lectures consist of PP slides, with no uniformity, that have been added to, piecemeal, over the years.
It’s nice to hear my Google slides are a hit, especially since I paid L. $3000 and some change to create over one thousand Google slides over the course of a 10-month period.
Next up, the student surveys. Then, my personal self-evaluation is due on 11/19/21, but only AFTER my students have completed the survey regarding how they feel about the class and me. In the Before Times, the evaluator would bring the surveys to the classroom and administer them at the end of class. Then, either I or the evaluator would collect the surveys and make copies. Adjunct – that’s me – was then left on his/her own to interpret the students’ responses, including our own data analysis. NOW, the surveys will be emailed to the student where they have TWO WEEKS to complete them – I won’t see their responses at all - just a numeric, statistical compilation such as five ‘Nos’ for Question 5, etc., so I will have to interpret the responses myself, without having the benefit of actually reading their written comments.
At issue is how unfair it is to allow students the benefit of TWO WEEKS to submit their responses. How is that fair to me, the Adjunct instructor? When the survey is administered in class, the student only has 15 minutes to complete it…this is a snapshot in time of the student’s opinion of the class. When given TWO WEEKS to prepare a response, the student has time to mull it over, establish grievances or harbor perceived slights. What if at the top of Week ONE, when the surveys are first emailed to the student, things we’re going well, but then, during Week TWO, the student gets a poor grade on a quiz and becomes resentful?
At the exact time the surveys went out, I was in the midst of notifying my D and F students [week after the Midterm and halfway through the semester, with the last day to drop with a W rapidly approaching on 11/5/21] that they should consider withdrawing from the class. I can’t change the notification time because the students need advance notice with regard to when they can drop the class with a “W” as opposed to an F.
In other words, a 2-week period is way too long for a student to have the power of critiquing a class they’re enrolled in. Anything can happen in this short window of time and human nature dictates that we focus more on the negative than the positive…
12:00 -1:00 – B. arrives and we leave to pick up my newly upholstered ottoman from “Effrain” because I can’t fit it in my car. I picked a creamy, simulated-ostrich pleather for the new cover and it looks incredible although the body of the ottoman – particle board that resembles fake mahogany - is absolutely filthy and covered in dust and grime. This must be due to Effrain’s work studio which is drafty and open to the elements.
2:00-4:00 – B. and I unload the ottoman and place it in my living room. I’ll have to clean it up later. B. stays for awhile and we talk politics. B. leaves.
4:00-5:00 – I need to leave for class soon so I spend this next hour doing class prep and checking email at Colleges No. 1 and 2. My Dean at College No. 2 asks me to pick up a high school class next semester at the same high school where I’m currently teaching online. Classes start at 8:00 a.m., two days a week. I don’t think Distance Education will be an option…but I accept the job.
5:00-5:30 – I pack a few items in my lunch bag and start loading the car.
5:30-7:00 – Driving. Traffic is terrible. I listen to the Political Gabfest.
7:00 -10:00 – In class, and the students are taking the Midterm tonight.
As it turns out, the suicidal student I mentioned previously is still alive and well. She emails me, demanding extra time on the Midterm, even though it is already “baked” in. OSD students don’t get extra time if I’ve already given EVERYONE extra time. On average, most students complete the Midterm in 20 minutes, but I’ve tripled the time to give EVERYONE 60 minutes. The same with the Chapter Review and Video quizzes – they’re designed to be completed in 10 minutes, but I give EVERYONE 30 minutes.
I can’t tell you how many times these entitled OSD students have approached me, usually with their little arms crossed over their chests, ready to sue my college and I, and disrespectfully say, “Uh, I’m entitled to extra time on the tests.” These OSD kids know exactly what they’re doing and they’re typically smarter and perform better than the “normal” student body. They compile data regarding every ADA violation – actual or perceived - and then use it to sue the college.
Several years ago, an OSD student filed a complaint against me, with OSD, because I didn’t give him 60 minutes to complete a 10-question multiple-choice exam based on a 10-page packet of material I handed out to everyone. It didn’t matter that he finished in 30 minutes, along with everyone else, and got an A on the assignment. Not allowing him extra time was an ADA violation. That same student filed another complaint with OSD because the Stop Signs in the parking lot were too high. These OSD assholes are sooo entitled. I have NEVER had a LEGITIMATELY disabled student approach me and say, earnestly, “I’m having a hard time in the class because x, y, or z and I’m struggling. BUT, I’m going to try my best and I hope you will help me.” If by some miracle that scenario actually occurred, I would bend over backwards to help the student…
Instead, two semesters ago, a disabled, old lady emailed me a paragraph of accommodations she needed, to include not wanting to turn on her Zoom camera, not being forced to participate in class, and all assignments must be prepared in extremely large font. When she discovered that there’s no Zoom in my online classes – it’s all AUDIO – and there is no participation required – she then converted to a contra-arguement and sent me an equally lengthy email complaining that she was unable to learn effectively unless she was able to interact with the other students. She dropped the Font accommodation – all of my assignments are online and are easily enlarged via the student. When I explained that the way I conveyed course content was in accordance with Distance Education protocol and ADA guidelines, she tried to set up a chat room where the students could have discussions outside of class. Nobody joined. She dropped the class.
Yet another OSD student told me, “I have sickle-cell anemia so all of my absences must be approved.” Really? What if you’re out of class for 2 months? Am I still supposed to accommodate your disease? At some point, regardless of your current disability, an absence is still an absence…what if you never came to class? Am I actually supposed to pretend like you were here?
This OSD program is such a racket and it’s been completely exploited by opportunists claiming to be disabled who are smarter than you and I, just so they can get extra time on their test as well as a personal note taker. It’s the equivalent of cheating. The truly disabled student, for whom OSD was designed, has never heard of this program and is NOT a participant.
I love telling the “OSD” student, “Actually, the extra time is already built into the test parameters so you’re NOT entitled to extra time.” Most of them have never heard this before so they just stand there, not knowing what to say, until I turn my back on them and return to whatever I was doing. I have verified this protocol multiple times with our OSD Director…OSD students don’t get extra time if it’s already built into the test.
Or, another favorite: “I need a student to take notes for me.” Yes, OSD students request and often receive, their own personal scribe!!! Can you believe it?! BUT, I verified this with OSD, too. If all pertinent notes are already posted on the PP or Google slides, you don’t get a notetaker…because you don’t have to take notes. I love saying this, too: “The notes are already posted to the Google slides – you don’t need to take notes.” They just stand there, staring, rapidly blinking…”But…but…I need a notetaker.” Nope. The answers to the Midterm and Final are already on the Google slides. You don’t need to take notes in this class.
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Back to the Midterm at hand. As stated previously, while both my F2F and Online students are taking the Midterm, my OSD, allegedly “suicidal”, student sends an email that she is entitled to more time on the Midterm. No. The time is already built in for ALL of the students. You don’t get more time.
A few minutes later, the student emails me that the software on Canvas, responsible for automatically tabulating her Midterm score, is in error. She received an 88 on her Midterm when it should have been a 90. I stop tabulating the surveys that I administered to my F2F students, in preparation for the second half of lecture, to open her exam, on Canvas, and go through the 50 questions, one-by-one, so I can email her the SIX questions that she legitimately missed. I return to my class prep.
Another email from the student comes in – “Did you reply to my email?” Yes. Did you read your email, you f@#%ing b%@*ch?
Yet another email comes in from the student saying she’s depressed over her “court case”. I don’t engage because I don’t want to know. I can only assume that SHE initiated the lawsuit because WHO is going to sue a disabled individual? But is she really disabled? I take this more recent email as the veiled threat that it is in that she is subtly saying, “If you’re not educating me in accordance with ADA protocol I can and will sue both you, personally, and College No. 1.”
You’ll have to find another instructor to take down, Suicide Girl, because I never miss. Bring it. I will never be in violation of ADA protocol and I have the countless emails and email threads between she and I to prove it. She is my most formidable OSD student to date.
Spoiler Alert: The student will go on to email me between 70 and 100 times throughout the semester, always in vaguely accusatory tones, typically culminating in the sentence “Did you respond to my email, yet?” “Did you read my email?” “Did you grade my assignment?” and I will dutifully respond, sometimes immediately, but always within the requisite 24-48-hour period [weekends excluded] to answer the identical questions she poses, over and over again. The student will require so much maintenance she will become the equivalent of a third, part-time job, for which I’m not getting reimbursed.
-I finish lecture and end with a documentary.
-Class dismissed.
-10:00-11:00 – Drive home.
11:00-1:15 – I bring in all of my bags – this takes several trips – take an Advil, and then lie down with the heating pad on my right wrist because it is absolutely killing me. Is this what arthritis feels like? Spoiler Alert: I will later link the pain radiating from my hand to my arm to my new Insanity Max - Tabata Strength video which involves 10 straight minutes of various push-ups. I take a quick nap.
1:15-1:45 – Kitchen duty and I ready my coffee for tomorrow.
1:45-2:00 – I update the Attendance for my Asynchronous class at College No. 2; then
2:00-2:15 – send an email blast to those students who received Ds and Fs on the video quizzes.
2:15-2:35 – I switch to my highschoolers and take Wednesday’s Attendance.
2:35-2:50 – Two of the students submitted make-up quizzes, via email, so I manually grade and post their scores to the online gradebook.
2:50-3:10 – I’m thinking about applying for a Title IX investigator position at a local college in my area. This would involve investigating allegations of sexual abuse or otherwise against female college students and sounds like meaningful work, BUT when I look more closely, I see that the job specs are incredibly specific and exclusive.
In order to apply for the Title IX investigative position, you need to have already served, in some capacity, in the Title IX program. I know a “homey hook-up” when I see one. An employee has already been promised and slotted for this position, but the school has to “canvas” for prospective candidates, and hopefully interview “a legitimate candidate pool”, under the guise of creating a “fair and equitable platform” for prospective new-hires, with the ulterior motive of sliding the secretly anointed employee – probably a man - into this position the entire time, without being sued for an “Illegal hire.”
A job application of this magnitude would take me hours to complete. Not to mention, preparing Letters of Reference for my colleagues to sign, then taking time out of my day to interview for a position I am never going to get. Hard pass on this job opportunity.
I have the LulaRich documentary playing in the background while I review the fake job opportunity.
3:10-3:30 – My Homeowners Insurance is up for renewal [the co-pay increased to $80 per visit and my annual premium is $750 - great!]. I try to pay it online but there is a glitch in the system and it won’t recognize my valid, legitimate, credit card. I write a check instead and prepare the return envelope.
3:30 – 3:40 – I’ve joined a self-help book club as part of my socialization homework with my therapist and the first meeting is on 10/25/21, so I order the book we’ll be discussing – You Need a Budget. How ironic.
3:40-4:00 – I’m still on the hook for this semester’s Continuing Education classes [FLEX events] in accordance with my contract, so I check the calendar at College No. 1 and log prospective classes that I might be able to attend.
4:00-4:20 – As part of my socialization homework, I’m still trying to secure a volunteer position at my local library - there are three libraries in my vicinity and any one will do. I open my email to check the status of my request…nothing.
4:20-4:45 – The two rolling storage racks [chrome/stainless steel] I previously ordered from Home Depot, for L.’s art studio, are in. I print out the invoices and put them in my purse. I’m not sure if the boxes will fit in my car so I’ll have to ask B. to go with me to pick them up in his car.
4:45-5:15 – Nighttime routine. Bed. I set my alarm for 7:30, unfortunately.