Day 7 of LAUSD’s vaccine mandate

‘Hyflex’ is total bullshit…

 9/16/21. Thursday

6:00 –8:00 -  B.’s house is near a busy street and the traffic wakes me up. I put my earbuds in and go back to sleep.

8:00-8:30 – B. and I crawl out of the tent and I go upstairs for a shower. He leaves to pick up Starbucks.

8:30-9:30 – TMI – my Shingles sites have scabbed over and the scabs are falling off, slowly but surely. I’ve been covering the sites with regular band-aids and there is much improvement.  Unfortunately, there is also much scarring - not sure if the scars will eventually fade.…

Shower. Lotion. Covid-19 uniform. Light make-up. I pack all of my toiletries and load everything in my car.

10:00-12:00 – B. and I have “patio coffee” and talk politics. I eat a pear then leave.

12:00-12:30 – Driving

12:30-1:00 – Home and I unload my backpack, lunch bag, leftovers, pillow, etc., then collect the dog so we can head to her 1:00 grooming appointment. L. is leaving for work and I remind her that she is picking the dog up from the groomers today [we had this discussion several times over the past month because the groomer is always booked a month out so we know well in advance when the appointment is and each time this was discussed, L. said she would pick up the dog.]

As I am leaving to drop off the dog for her appointment, L. tells me she gets off work at 6:00 and can’t pick up the dog [the groomer closes at 5:00].  I’m at college tonight, so neither can I. All of this is so irritating as L. and I discussed this multiple times over the past 30 days.

L. calls her co-worker of all people and asks if she can pick up the dog when she’s ready. Oddly, with such short notice and the fact that she’s only met the dog once, L/’s co-worker agrees.

12:30-1:00 – Driving.

1:00 – 1:10 – Deposit the dog.

1:10-1:40 – Driving

2:00 – 2:30 – Home and I unpack everything, put my lunch bag and leftovers away, and start a load of laundry.

2:30-5:00 -  I have leftover taquitos and do class prep during this time. I prepare the Discussion Board and ready course content for tonight’s class, then check email at both colleges and respond to students.

I do some personal Admin.  I check my Pasadena College email and note that the counselor responded to my questions regarding my French AA degree. I need to have official transcripts sent from two colleges I attended in the 90s and one official transcript from a junior college that I attended over the summer, two years ago. I log onto the first college, but transcripts can only be requested electronically.  It looks complicated and L. previously ordered her own transcripts so I set this aside so I can ask L. about it.

-The deadline to submit my Continuing Education classes [College No. 1 calls them Flex classes] for approval is in two days so I log onto the Flex calendar, select classes that will coincide with my schedule, and submit my contract.

-I missed the census at College No. 1…the first time in 20 years… This is the official attendance that instructors must submit by week two of the semester and what all Colleges use for federal funding. I was notified of the deadline but completely gaffed it.  I see the email from Admin informing me that they did NOT receive my census right before I need to leave for college, so I quickly complete it and scan as a PDF to the powers-that-be with my apologies. Damn! This had to happen during a semester when I’m being evaluated. One of the criteria of the eval is, “Does the instructor meet deadlines?”

5:00-5:30 – I am really pushing it with the time.  As usual, it’s poor planning on my part.  I recently heard of something called Hofstadter’s Law which says that any activity, no matter what it is, will take longer than the time you’ve allotted for that activity. Hmmm.

I quickly throw a few snacks into my lunch bag, grab my backpack and my school bag, and leave.

5:30-7:00 – Traffic is horrible at this time of day.  I arrive with 10 minutes to spare. L. texts me a picture of the dog from her co-worker.  The “package” [dog] has arrived, save and sound.

7:00-10:00 – In class.  The instructors have lost their shit again and by the looks of the email thread I saw earlier today, are extremely agitated.  They have taken to screen-shotting class schedules from other community colleges where a broad array of Synchronous, Asynchronous, and Face2Face classes are offered.  Here, at College No. 1, the only classes offered are Hyflex.  Hyflex is NOT offered at the other Community Colleges. 

An email blast from our College President warned all Instructors that his office is receiving threats from unidentified individuals and that this constitutes a violation of the following sections of blah, blah, blah.  Threats? I find this hard to believe.  What kind of “threats”?  This is so comical to me…

Are instructors demanding that the President end the Hyflex model “or else”? This Hyflex model was entirely his idea as the President – who is retiring in a few months, of course - insisted that every class for Fall Semester be F2F. But when told that, in actuality, some online classes might be beneficial to the students, then said, “Ok, the teachers can do both…at the same time”….because this asshole couldn’t stand to ‘lose face’ and admit that his stupid mandate – every class must be a F2F class - made no sense.

I’m certain this is a violation of my contract.  I’m doing double work, teaching in two different modes, i.e., two classes SIMULTANEOUSLY, but only getting paid for ONE class. I guess when you f—k with people’s money, the masses get angry.  The president adds in the email blast that “all threats will be investigated in accordance with section blah, blah, blah.” Whatever.

-Tonight is 1½ hours of lecture, followed by a documentary and a Video Quiz. I’m tired and do NOT feel like lecturing tonight, but at least it’s only 1½ hours and not the full 3 hours like I’ve been doing.

-One of my extremely annoying online OSD students who has, thus far, emailed me between 50 and 70 times since the semester started, emails me, yet again, during the video and says she hasn’t been completing her classwork recently because she is spiraling into a deep depression on account of her numerous psych issues and is “in a bad place right now.”

-I send her the link to the Suicide Hotline website, then check my Beets speaker to make sure it’s paired with the documentary I’m showing to my F2F students. I take Attendance while the video is rolling.

Class dismissed. 

10:00-10:30 - I send an email blast to the online students who did not sign in on the Discussion Board, informing them that they were marked absent and have received a 0 on today’s Video Quiz. I send a second email blast to those students who received a 6 or lower on the Video Quiz accusing them of failing to watch the video and NOT “actively participating” in class.  I warn that I will drop them if low Video Quiz scores continue.

I email OSD and relay what the student said to me earlier.  Admin. isn’t gonna pin a student suicide on me…I’m putting the liability right back on OSD.

10:30-10:45 – Walk across the creepy parking lot to my car…

10:45-11:30 – Drive home.

11:30-12:00 – Unload everything and bring it inside. This takes several trips.

12:00-2:00 – L. is home and we spend the next two hours talking about her classes, work, and the new friends she has made at Otis…M. and F., in particular.

2:00-3:00 – I have class tomorrow morning, at 8:30 a.m. [highschoolers] so I ready the Discussion Board and publish course content now so I can sleep in a little bit tomorrow morning. Class is ready to go.  The students will watch a documentary, followed by a Video Quiz.

3:00-4:00 – Nighttime routine. Bed.