Day 24-LA County moves into yellow tier
Similar to my garage (now) minus the floor…
5/26/21. Wednesday
10:00–10:30 - The meeting with my evaluator at College No. 2 starts at 11:30 so I’m awake. I go downstairs to greet the animal and see that she pooped near the front door (sigh). I rub her tummy three times, she grabs her tennis ball, and we go outside. The dog vomited in two spots on the patio so I clean it up (sigh).
It’s that damn rat again! I don’t physically see it, but the dog picks up the scent and runs around the yard, as I’m waiting around for her to go potty. Why does this happen when I’m on a schedule? She finally does her business and we return inside. Salmon salad for her; coffee for me. I go upstairs. I weigh 97.5 pounds.
10:30-11:30 – Shower. Lotion. Professional blouse with yoga pants on the bottom. Full make-up.
11:30 – 12:30-I Zoom into the meeting and wear my new glasses. My evaluator is very nice and very organized. Most men aren’t, but he is. There is question after question about my class. In particular, there is a question about the feedback I get from the students during “office hours.” I note that he asks this same question repeatedly, framing it in a different way each time, because he doesn’t like the answer I’m giving because, honestly, I don’t get ANY feedback from my students. These are online classes using the same weekly format; I don’t deviate from that format because my students like consistency. Any questions or feedback they would have had for me occurred during the first two weeks of the semester. I haven’t heard from the students at College No. 2 in months.
I instinctively know that I’m supposed to tell my evaluator that I’m communicating with the students on a regular basis and I actually do…I send them email blasts like, “Why’d you get an D on that video quiz? Didn’t you watch the video?” OR “Look… you’re getting an F in the class. The last day to withdrawal with a W is in two weeks. You need to drop” OR “You didn’t complete the Chapter Review Quiz and now you have a 0 on that assignment” but I know he doesn’t want to hear these examples although I ease them into our conversation, which, thankfully, is NOT being recorded. My evaluator wants to hear that I have a deep connection with my students, that I’m there for them. I don’t and I’m not.
My evaluator is a Hispanic male, a political science instructor, and he seems very kind. He says he loves his job, College No. 2, his colleagues…he’s been there 15 years and can’t wait to get back to face-to-face instruction. Before that, he worked as an adjunct instructor at various junior colleges throughout southern California. It appears he’s had no problem, whatsoever, finding employment his entire career, even withOUT a Ph.D. I, on the other hand, over the course of my 23-year career teaching at College No. 1, applied to the same colleges where he was hired…sometimes over and over again. Out of all the applications I submitted over the course of a 23-year career, I was scheduled for an interview exactly once and that was at College No. 2 in June 2018. I attended that interview, but didn’t hear from College No. 2 again, until November 2019, at which point I was hired.
Although I try to default to the responses received from the student survey that they completed when asked about feedback concerning me and the online classes [which are quite good – 30 students in two classes agree that the class is well-run, efficient, and organized] it is not enough. Finally, I am forced to bluntly answer “Nothing” and “No” to the question my evaluator repeatedly re-frames: “What kind of feedback do you get from the students? Do they contact you during office hours?”
The questions go on and on – I’ve never had an evaluation like this before. At one point, my evaluator says, kindly, “I hope you don’t mind that I’m asking you so many questions. We’re all doing Distance Education and I like to hear how other instructors are making it work.”
When all is said and done, my evaluator informs me that the Course Objectives and Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) I cited in my Syllabus are incorrect. I wrongly assumed that they are uniform throughout the community college system and used the Objectives and SLOs from College No. 1, but that is not the case. Turns out, he’s the SLO Coordinator for College No. 2 and picked up on this immediately. He says this is not a big deal and he’ll email me the correct information tomorrow, which he does. I am very contrite, respond that, yes, this is important, and I’ll make the changes immediately. He reiterates that this is not a big deal and we conclude the call.
There are only a few steps left in the evaluation process, which has been ongoing for the past 12 weeks – it’s basically over.
12:30-1:30-I have chips and salmon salad and read We Came, We Saw, We Left. I finish the book.
This is an excellent memoir, written by Charles Wheelan (Dad), detailing a 9-month trip around the world (well, at least in the southern hemisphere) that he and his wife, Leah, decide to take with their 3 teenagers. The oldest was accepted to college and is taking a gap year; the two youngest, however, have to be home-schooled during the 9 months of travel. Although Charles details wonderful experiences the family had during their travels, he pulls no punches concerning his kids and freely details the good with the bad. It’s hilarious.
The memoir is really, really funny! As they travel from place to place, their second child – 17-year-old Sophie - refuses to complete her online assignments and is failing everything. The parents battle with her for the entire 9 months. His oldest daughter ends up contracting a flesh-eating parasite and has to fly to Germany for treatment because it is one of the best medical centers in the world for this particular affliction. She stays with a friend for several weeks and vomits constantly from the medication (it’s likened to chemo), but still manages to travel throughout Europe. CJ, his son and youngest child, is in 8th grade and never. stops. talking. Charles goes to a coffee shop – ANY coffee shop – every morning just to get away from his family. In the book, he says he needs this morning time so he can work on his novel, but I have my doubts [I think he just wants time alone from his family], although he does, in fact, finish the novel at the end of the 9-month period.
The author details the squabbles he has with his kids and doesn’t hide the fact that, at times, they all get on each other’s nerves, which is really refreshing and comical. Sometimes, he puts his kids down but these comments are funny, too. Ultimately, he doesn’t sugarcoat the experience and provides a true assessment of what it was like to travel with three teenagers, around the world, for 9-months. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad…Charles tells us everything. I loved this book!
B. expressed interest in We came, We Saw, We Left so I passed it onto him.
1:30-2:30 – Report to the garage and do paint prep on the entire left wall. I also tape off the floor.
2:30- 4:10 – Begin painting the garage, starting with the cement lip on the floor. I’m using a Behr Exterior White Satin paint.
4:10 – 5:00 - B. stops by to check the wall for the “nail project.” He’s going to shoot nails into the wall in my backyard so I can create a wire trellis and start training the new jasmine vines that I potted. B. and I talk politics while I continue painting.
5:00-2:00 a.m. – I paint the entire left wall of the garage, to include the soffits. This was a dirty, filthy job, even though I hosed down the garage yesterday. I also spray paint the light-switch covers with Metallic Silver. I listen to By the Book; Today Explained; Counterclock; Culture Gabfest; and True Crime Garage while I work.
At 7:30, I take the dog for a walk.
2:00-2:30 a.m. – I have apples and almond butter in preparation for my workout.
2:30—3:15 – I do an Insanity – Core Cardio and Recovery workout.
3:30-4:15 – Kitchen duty and I prepare my coffee for tomorrow. Take the dog out.
4:30-5:30 – Nighttime Routine. Bed. I listen to The Daily.