Day 4 - LA County Dept. of Health MANDATES indoor masking

A work day…class prep…

7/20/21. Tuesday

9:00-9:30 – Today’s a work day, unfortunately…especially since my summer class needs some maintenance. I need ‘transition time’, so I lie in bed until 9:30. I’m at 100 pounds today.

9:30-10:00 – I go downstairs to greet the animal. She’s already awake and jumping on the child gate, wagging her tail and waiting for me. She jumps on the couch, rolls over on her back, and I rub her tummy three times. I see that she pooped near the front door so I clean it up (sigh). Outside we go, and I water my potted jasmine plants while she goes potty. Return inside and coffee for her, cut up pieces of chicken for me. I make a plate for myself with my leftover chicken from Republique [it was a huge serving so I’ll be eating it for days] and go upstairs.

10:00-11:30 – I have breakfast/lunch and read Formation.

-L. leaves for work. L. is scheduled to work at the Art Studio for the next 9 days and she is not happy about it.

12:00-5:00 – I go to work (which means I enter my office, downstairs). I take this week’s attendance for my summer class and make a list of every student who missed an assignment last week. Then, I send personal emails to the students, informing them that they received a 0 on the missed assignment. Additionally, I send harsh admonitions to all students who scored low on the video/podcast quizzes.  This means that they’re not watching the video or listening to the podcast - they’re simply guessing at the multiple choice quiz, which is unacceptable. I put them on notice – I want them to know that I’m watching….

Last week, I posted a Discussion Board assignment worth 15 points, BUT the students only get 15 points if they reply to TWO students.  Several of the students only posted ONE response, thinking they could get away with it, but they can’t. I see everything and know exactly what’s going on. The only problem is that it’s very tedious to go through 80 responses.  I have to put each student’s name down and then mark the name with individual ‘tick’ marks to track how many times each student posted – it’s a pain in the ass.

I wrap it up with College No. 2, then move onto College No. 1. School starts on 8/16/21 and I need to start preparing my classes, but first…email.  I haven’t checked email at College No. 1 in about 6 weeks, because I’m not teaching summer classes at this school.  You can imagine the state of my email account and I have to wade through it.

Thankfully, I stumble across an important email – the only important email – that says I have 3 days to submit/acknowledge my textbooks for the three classes I’m teaching in the Fall.  Apparently, our bookstore was commandeered by Barnes and Noble??? and the B&N team are hard at work re-keying all of our textbooks!!! Whose bright idea was this? As usual, there is some sort of issue with “data input” and it is likely that the books assigned to the class will not be listed in the bookstore so the students won’t know what they need until they come to class. All of this is so dumb!  Why weren’t they working on this update throughout the month of July instead of saving such a huge project until TWO weeks before the Fall semester begins?  Typical.

This kind of thing happens all the time. One strategy is to set arbitrary due dates for this form or the other [the forms are always unnecessary] so the “project manager” can blame any/all delays on the teachers in the event a deadline is missed, because it’s a sure thing some of my colleagues won’t submit the requisite form on time because we are buried in paperwork. Everyone knows if a project fails, it was due to someone’s poor planning or general laziness – rarely is it the teacher’s fault. It’s the Administration’s fault every time.

I submit my book-req form immediately.

The above reminds me of Fall Semester, 2019, before Covid hit, when we had face-to-face classes [remember those?]. On the first day of school, I drove to College No. 1 only to discover that Cal-Trans had blocked off several entrances to the parking lot, at peak time [11:00-1:00], so they could paint the lines in the street. Seriously!? On the first day of school?  You had the entire summer to paint the lines and you’re going to schedule it for the first day of school? It was a complete disaster and cars were stuck in the street, unable to move, because we were only able to use one entrance – this includes teachers. Never mind regular motorists who were just trying to get through.

But, I digress.

My Canvas shells are ready for the fall at College No. 1, but they’re empty.  I “course copy” the classes and load the content, then create special images for the home page on two of the classes.

L. sent me an invoice for the google slides she created for Specialty Class 1A, so I review those and email my edits back to her.  Then, I attach my PP slides for Chapters 1, 2, and 7 and ask her to please convert them to Google slides before she leaves for South Carolina next week. Once she completes this last task, the google slide project is complete.

I need to start creating the syllabi for these classes ASAP, but I’m holding back on Specialty Class No. 2. I don’t say this very often, but I hope it doesn’t run - I don’t want the hassle or the extra work. Just working these past five hours was enough to put me in a bad mood.

L returns from work and I’m right where she left me 5 hours ago.  I haven’t moved, bathed, or changed my clothes.  Recall that I went to the beach yesterday and still haven’t showered. Yes, I’m disgusting.

5:00-5:45 – L. and I talk about her day teaching the Star Wars art camp.

5:45 – 7:00 - I have peas and cherry tomatoes for dinner and use dill-flavored potato chips to scoop up the peas. Although peas are a vegetable, they’re still a starch and a carb…maybe as bad as the potato chips. I wonder how this dinner will shake out?  I read Formation.

7:00-8:30 – I read a Money Diary and then do an Insanity Cardio Max workout.

8:30-9:15 – I take a…shower (insert applause here). Wash hair. Lotion. Covid-19 uniform.

9:15-9:45 – I let my hair air dry and take the dog for a walk.

9:45-10:30 – I water my plants.

10:30-11:00 - Kitchen duty. I ready my coffee for tomorrow and prepare snacks for my insulated lunch bag.

11:00-12:30 – I was so successful at tackling emails from College No. 2, that I pivot and move to my personal account, where I have more than 600. By 12:30 a.m., I’m able to eliminate half of my emails.

12:30-1:00 – I work on my to-do list for my upcoming ‘errand day’ (Friday).

1:00-1:30 – I lay out my clothes and move the contents of my backpack into a more presentable purse that will go with tomorrow’s summer dress.

2:00-3:00 – Nighttime routine. Bed.