Let me see if I can explain how my job works right now. We’re teaching “hybrid,” which means something slightly different in every school district that is doing it. For me here’s how that goes.
Group A shows up Monday and Tuesday, while group B works remotely. I still have to take attendance for group B, so I have to jump on a Zoom call for them, while the in person kids filter in. Then I have to take attendance for all of them, the process for which I shit you not has changed like a dozen times already, each time taking more time, and we’re only a month into the school year.
Group B shows up Thursday and Friday, while A works remotely. That process flip-flops.
Now, some students are AB students, they come everyday but Wednesday. These are kids who are either special ed, or ELL (english language learners).
Everybody is remote on Wednesday.
Oh, and then there are the kids who are fully remote. Now, in functional school districts with leaders that know which end of their schwance to hold, those students get assigned to teachers with remote only assignments. We don’t have any of those in our district.
OK, so come Monday-Tuesday, and some come Thursday-Friday, and some come Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and some don’t come at all ... AND THEY’RE ALL IN THE SAME CLASS AND I HAVE TO TEACH THEM ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!!!!
Everybody got that? Good. There will be a quiz later.
Yeah fucking right, the last thing I need is more shit to grade.
OK, now the good news is I get to build things with kids again. I sorely missed this and am very much enjoying having them back in the building.
The bad news is my classes are only 31 minutes long. A good 5+ minutes gets eating by the cockamamie attendance procedures. Another 4-5 minutes gets eaten up by cleaning up at the end, because all the hand tools have to be wiped down, and all the tables have to be wiped down too. I’ll round up and say we get about 45 minutes of work time in person PER WEEK.
I’m having to cut shit right down to the bone. Make a ton of videos for instructions, because we do NOT have time for me to gather the whole class around ... not that we’re allowed to gather around anyways. I’m also having to do a ton more material prep work, because we don’t have time for the kids to do all the steps I would normally have them do.
I didn’t finish working tonight until 10:00, and I am not done for the weekend.
TL-DR: This blows!
Hammer Loaf for your time. He’s really thinned out on his low-carb diet.
