School is absolutely insane.
We had virtual "Back to School Night" on Wednesday. We were supposed to send iPads home to all of the in-school learners so that their parents could attend, because I teach in the inner city where not everyone has a device. Part of that involved parents' signatures on iPad liability forms. Anyone that didn't sign ahead of time didn't get a device for Wednesday. Not all of the forms went home on time because the previous teacher misplaced the paperwork, and it didn't occur to my new para that 4 kids didn't get forms. Ultimately, it is my fault because I didn't oversee her work and left it up to her. "If you want something done right, do it yourself." At any rate, I had 6 out of 17 attendees, and some of the people who didn't attend had the iPads, and basically had no excuse...whatever. I thought I was done for the night, when at the last minute one parent joined Teams. She started crying because she is a single parent, and is worried about when we go remote. It was so hard to try to calm her down over the internet. I just wanted to give her a hug.
I woke up on Thursday EXHAUSTED. I was reenergized when my principal invited me to represent Kindergarten on a six-person team working with UCONN on literacy and social emotional development which will result in a grant for the school. It was such a compliment to be chosen being new to Kindergarten while there are 3 other teachers who could have easily filled the role. I guess my philosophy of "fake it till you make it" is working. I'm sooooo overwhelmed by all of the new things I have to learn. I'm seriously compartmentalizing and doing only what I can today..."one day at a time." I know what my deadlines are and I know that I have no idea how I will accomplish it all in time, but every day I accomplish a new thing or learn something new. I'm trying so hard not to freak out. Instead, I'm trying to remain calm under pressure.
Friday was a good day. I learned how to use my document reader using the smart board so that I can teach more from my desk behind the plexiglass. Whenever I'm out and about in the classroom, I have to wear the face shield in addition to my mask. I also wear glasses, and no matter how cold it is in the room with the windows open, I steam up and cannot see. I tried not wearing my glasses, and then everything is steamy and blurry. At my desk, I can wear my glasses and mask and see everyone clearly while doing my job.
We found out this week that we are going hybrid on November 30th. Originally we were going fully remote, but our governor doesn't want that, so...there you go. Workbooks and iPads will be going back and forth, and it's going to be interesting to see who forgets what and how it will affect actual work getting done. I won't mind having only 7 in-person students at a time. The naughties happen to be attending on Monday & Tuesday, getting them over with early in the week; Wednesday will be fully remote; and the good kids will be attending on Thursday and Friday. On Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving, we get to teach remotely FROM HOME!!!!!! I'm only required to teach for 2 hours each day, so it will be awesome. Except for those 4 hours, it will be like I have the week off.
Now I just have to teach 13 Kindergartners how to use their iPads and actually stay on task; do a boatload of assessments; learn how to enter grades; and learn how to do report cards (everything was old-school handwritten in PreK).
One. Day. At. A. Time.