Monday, April 6, 2020

Pandemic Odds and Ends

I still can't get over the fact that I'm writing "pandemic" unironically.

  • Yesterday my neighborhood (which is usually pretty recluse-friendly) had a "social distancing event," which was hard to wrap my head around, where they wanted everyone to come out between 1-2 in the afternoon and walk clockwise, so you could stop and chat with neighbors across the width of the street and connect. I went back and forth and Bryce basically said NO, all it takes is one person not paying attention to distance and BAM, you're exposed, and so I sat on the deck with my book so I could wave and say hi to people as they passed. Which I thought was a good cheat but only 2 people went down the dead end, 1 who didn't live on it, and people seemed to think I was a little odd for not joining in. Not me though, when I saw people totally congregating and some people walking way closer than they should have. Then I was more than happy to be the weirdo on the deck.
  • It's really hard having my dad living alone in California, across the country, with minimal support available in the semi-lockdown. I'm using the power of the internet to try to help him not have to go out for food as he is in the high risk category. It's amazing how quickly this situation amped up worry for my parents that typically would come a little later in life. We worry about them all, but my dad's the only one who's alone. Which is scary.  
  • I had a positive day for school where I ACTUALLY GOT A HOLD OF the one student who has been eluding everyone for three weeks, and I've been calling both parents with no results, and the social worker got the student's dad's accurate phone number and so I connected there first, but then the school social worker actually got the student's number from the dad, which resulted in success! I had an HOUR conversation with him and am getting him set up with a laptop and convinced him that maybe doing some of the work wouldn't be so terrible and it will be good to get on board sooner than later. It was so good to hear his voice and I probably scared him when he called me back and I yelled "______, you're ALIVE! I'm so HAPPY!" So that's good. That's a student who definitely knows his teacher cares about him and meant it when she said she'd track him down if he "disappeared." Thank goodness for social workers!
  • I decided to make the weekend separate from the workweek and preserving that for self-care, by not doing any planning (which is normally a foreign idea, Sundays are for planning), but then a couple of students who hadn't been in touch texted or emailed me work or request for access and I was happy to have the opportunity to engage. I don't want to be "on" 24/7, but I also can't pass up an opportunity to snag a student who is finally initiating some work. I also spent a couple of hours recording and editing my read-aloud of Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelson (I did the proper channels thing to get temporary permissions from the publisher to put the files up on a closed system for educational use only), which is technically work but is also wicked fun and I am learning how to use Audacity as an audio recording program. Pretty cool. 
Want to read some #Microblog Mondays? Go here and enjoy!

7 comments:

  1. I doubt you scared your student shouting "you're ALIVE!" You might have startled him, but I bet it gave him a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling knowing that his teacher cares about him. And I'm sure he'll go back to that knowledge when he needs it most. You're such a good teacher, Jess!

    Hope your dad is okay. It's hard worrying about parents/relatives. Though I have a sneaking suspicion your dad could be the age of my husband or not that much older! lol

    Also, stop calling yourself a weirdo! You found a good compromise that worked for you. That is being sensible, not weird.

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    1. Ah, thank you! I hope it was a warm fuzzy feeling. Please know that I use the word "weirdo" as a term of endearment and not a downer, I actually just bought a shirt that says "Weird Is Beautiful" because I am having a problem with online shopping at the moment. :) My dad is doing okay, he's got a lot going on with his health and this is not a great situation. One of his friends recently passed away from COVID-19, so that weighs heavily too. Luckily I was able to send him some groceries thanks to Instacart, so that is a load off my mind! Eh, age is a number. My family is all squished on one side -- my dad's mom became a grandma thanks to me at 38... so that tells you a little something. Oof.

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  2. Love the story about connecting with the student. Probably had an even bigger impact on him.

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    1. Aww, thanks! I hope so. It was definitely a high point of the past month for me!

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  3. I love the bit about your student, too ... I hadn't thought about K-12 teachers looking for students, but of course you are doing that now too! I had a similar experience the other day with a college student ... they are more likely to go MIA.

    And our neighborhood had a "happy hour" on Friday that was pretty much what you'd expect. Supposed to be social distanced, but ... not. You are not a weirdo. You are trying to keep other people healthy who might otherwise be at risk. <3

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    1. Oh yes, I bet some college students are sleeping right through their lives right now. It is very strange to have communication get so squished with school, handing out your cell phone willy nilly can initially cause a lot of anxiety (thankfully no one has ever abused it to date, hallelujah). But now it's a lifeline. Oh man, that "happy hour" sounds terrible. I'll tell you the same thing I told Mali -- "Weirdo" to me is a term of endearment for sure. And unfortunately I have 2 high risk factors so it's every bit for myself as much as for others. It was crazy to see how many people had family over for Easter this past weekend...like the virus takes a holiday too. Yipes.

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  4. I'm with you on the "social distancing event"... ummm, no. Just... no. Glad you are having some success connecting with your students! & letting them know that it's not just about the work, you really want to know they're OK, too! And as someone who is 1000 miles away from her aging parents, I am finding this very frustrating too -- especially when I know they're not taking this quite as seriously as they should (grrr...). Hang in there!

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