Day 15 - LA County enters Red tier for the first time
Mondays are my busiest day…
What a coincidence. I was just talking about my HOA’s archaic pool rules when I received a notice in the mail that the HOA Board of Directors called an emergency meeting to discuss the current state of affairs concerning the pool. It’s official – the pool will be capped at 65 people, but residents must register online, in advance, for a ONE-hour slot. After ONE hour, you must leave or be walked off grounds [it doesn’t actually say that last part, but you can’t stay past the hour]. Recall that I saw 8 lounge chairs at the pool yesterday…where will the remaining 57 residents sit? Lastly, the Board instructs us to bring our own Clorox wipes so we can wipe down all surfaces before we sit down. Who is deciding this bullshit?
3/29/21. Monday.
10:00 – 10:30 – I typically work from 1:30-11:00 on Mondays - they are always so exhausting. Wash face. Brush teeth. Dress in Covid-19 uniform.
10:30 – 12:30 - Downstairs and I say good morning to the dog. She rolls over on her back so I can rub her tummy three times. Then, she grabs her toy and we go outside so she can do her business. The dog pees in the red-rock flower bed and we go inside for her salami and my coffee. I grab my coffee and my book and return to my patio table outside.
I read Daffodils.
The dog is so annoying, jumping in and out of my lap. I’ve finally determined that she is the equivalent of a 2-year-old…”Mom, look at me. Give me attention. Play with me. Pet me” and her vocabulary is just as limited: “Ball”; “Toy”; “Go for a walk”; “Mommy” [that’s L’s name]; “Sit” The only problem is that the dog will never advance out of the “terrible twos.” She will remain this age for the rest of her life and she’s still not toilet-trained.
-L. leaves for work.
12:30-1:30 –Blog post.
1:30-2:30 - I make scrambled eggs and steam the left-over asparagus from L.’s pasta bake, then read a Money Diary while I eat.
Class starts at 2:30 so I check the Discussion Board and class content, make a few changes, and get ready to deploy. The Extra Credit essays are due and the students are emailing them to me, fast and furious. I start printing them out and emailing the students “Received.”
2:30 –5:30 - Class begins. The students are listening to a long lecture, followed by a documentary, and a Video Quiz.
-Top of my To-Do List is to contact Office of Student Disabilities [OSD] regarding a scam that one of my students is pulling. This student has absolutely REFUSED to complete any assignments in the class and his attendance is poor. I’ve been emailing him continuously regarding his missed assignments and the only time he responded was when I informed him that he had an F in the class and the last day to drop with a W is 4/9/21. THEN, he emailed me back, asking if it was possible to raise his grade before the semester ends. Uh, no. I said if he gets As on all remaining assignments, he might earn a D in the class.
So what does he do? He applies for OSD eligibility. I have no idea what his disability is because he scored a 74% on the Midterm, one of the few assignments he bothered to complete. Yesterday, OSD emailed me his Letter of Eligibility, instructing me to make accommodations for him to “ensure his success.” I don’t think so. He’s not SPED – this is a lazy student who refuses to do the class work and rarely responds to my emails. There is nothing wrong with him other than the fact that he is trying to game the system.
I compile a lengthy email detailing all of the dates where I reached out to the student concerning attendance, coming late to class, failing to complete his assignments, etc. I told the OSD coordinator that the student currently has an F and there is nothing he can do to raise his grade this late in the semester. If the student thinks OSD is a safety net, he’s sorely mistaken.
This ‘project’ takes an hour.
-I check emails from College No. 2 to see if any of the students responded to my “Welfare Check” email. Only five out of sixty kids replied with some questions. Good. I reply and then take attendance for my two classes based on whether or not they completed the assignment for last week’s Module. Six students were remiss, which is pretty good considering there are sixty kids total. I emailed the six in question and reminded them that the assignment was due yesterday at midnight and they failed to complete it. Score = 0.
One of my high school students failed to complete a single assignment for the month of March and she has not responded to any of my emails. I email the high school liaison and let her know.
-It’s time to post the documentary in the class that’s in session so I open the link. Then, I take a paper attendance.
-Technically, I’m paid for the hours of 2:30-9:05, which is when I’m mandated to teach my synchronous classes at College No. 1. Since I’m already getting paid for these 6.5 hours, it’s an excellent time to double-dip so as not to use my personal time for work projects. The next Module for my DE#2 class posted and there are several readings and assignments that I’m supposed to complete so I get started.
-I post the Video Quiz for the class that’s currently running.
-I complete several online readings for my DE#2 class, then get started on a task that involves “adjusting my Navigation column” and “creating Folders and Sub-folders” in my Canvas sandbox. (15 points).
-Class ends but I hang around in case the students have questions. A few Extra Credit essays come in, so I print them out. I send an email blast to those students who were absent, informing them that they received a score of 0 on the Video Quiz. One of my students responds, saying he was in a car accident at 2:15 and couldn’t access the Video Quiz. Can he take it now? Of course. I’m a b—tch, but I’m not heartless. I email him the quiz and he takes it late, but scores a 10 out of 10. He says he’s a little banged up but will recover. OMG.
5:30-9:05 – Specialty Class 1A is going to run in 30 minutes so I check the Discussion Board and class content, make a few changes, and get ready to deploy.
-I continue with my DE#2 Module assignments. Recall that there’s a $2000 stipend on the line. Other than this incentive, there is no point in trying to master the content as I will never implement or use this material again due to the fact that us Instructors are now mandated to report to the classroom in August. What a waste!
6:00 –9:05 - Class begins. The students are listening to a long lecture with a Chapter Review quiz, followed by a documentary, and then a Video Quiz.
The students are occupied so I work on the next DE#2 assignments – the next task is to create an ‘Announcement’ in my Canvas sandbox and then email the evaluators that I did it. I finish the task and let them know. (5 points).
-Specialty Class 1A students are still listening to lecture.
I move onto another DE#2 assignment - $2000 dollars, people!! Now, I have to email the evaluators from my Canvas sandbox and discuss the pros and cons of Canvas email vs. Gmail. Luckily, Professor W from DE#1 at College No. 2 already did that, so I cut-and-paste his comments into the email and press send (10 points).
-7:00 -7:30 - I have to post the documentary for my current class at 7:45 so now is an excellent time to take the dog for a walk. Also, I’ve been sitting all day and need to clear my head.
7:30 – Check email and the OSD coordinator emailed me back!! He took the student to task, telling him I will either give him an F or he can withdraw with a W. The kicker is, which I suspected, that the student’s financial aid will be f—ked up if he withdraws and he will be forced to pay the college back for that class. However, the Catch 22 is he will have difficulty qualifying for next semester’s maximum financial aid package with an F on his transcript. What a dilemma – boo hoo. Who do you think is funding the financial aid? You guessed it – these are your tax dollars, hard at work, funding a student who was too lazy to even ‘guess’ on a 10-question, multiple-choice quiz.
The OSD Coordinator is on it! In 20 years of teaching, this is the best customer service and responsiveness from an Administrator that I’ve ever received. I’m not exaggerating.
7:45 – I post the link to the documentary.
-L. returns from work. She said today was a good day.
-Moving onto the next assignment in my DE#2 Module…now, I have to upload a Word Document, wherein I answer the evaluator’s survey regarding the online course they’ve created. When all is said and done, the class is actually good. For $2000 ‘bones’, it’s amazing! Again, evaluators, none of us are going to be able to put any of your class content to good use because we’re back in the classroom in 4 months…very unfortunate and a true shame…
-The students are still watching the documentary. I take a paper attendance and am surprised to see no absences. This class has whittled away to virtually nothing – just 12 students – but it doesn’t matter because once the third week is under my belt, I get the same base pay no matter how many students remain. Less papers for me to grade, BUT, if this is any indication, Fall Semester is going to be “slim pickens” in that my niche classes will probably be canceled. There’s not enough interest and the “academic pandemic” changed student priorities. I already know I won’t have the enrollment numbers. C’est la vie. (‘Them’s the breaks.’)
-Moving onto the next assignment in my DE#2 class. Now, I’m supposed to watch an educational video about online communication, then prepare a post for the Discussion Board – no more than 400 words – commenting on the video and how I communicate online with the students. I start working on my post. (15 points)
-I deploy the Video Quiz for the students.
-I finish my summary and post to the DE#2 Discussion Board. Unfortunately, I realize that I didn’t follow the directions in that I forgot to comment on the video that I watched. How embarrassing! I wrote 400 words about my communication style instead. There’s 50 fellow colleagues enrolled in this class and all of them are going to witness my oversight. Oh well. I’ll never see these people again. I’ve actually never seen any of them before…
9:05 – Class ends, but I hang around in case students have questions.
9:30-10:00 - I move onto the next DE#2 assignment. Now, I have to complete a closed-captioned, introductory video. I’ve already done that and this is the last assignment in the module so I go upstairs and tell L. we need to post the video immediately. She is NOT happy, as I gave her no notice and am encroaching on her personal time – she’s eating dinner and watching Bojack Horseman. She grudgingly complies and this activity takes 15 minutes. I email the evaluators that I completed the task (25 points). I finished this week’s Module.
-I update the online grade book for both classes.
-I check my French Cinema class. My professor graded my Discussion Board post – she said she liked my comparison of Jean Baptiste in the film Indochine to John the Baptist in the Bible. She gave me full credit and I feel pretty good about her comments.
10:00 – 11:00 - What a day! I’m glad it’s over. If I didn’t have papers to grade, I would be done for the rest of the week (minus my Thursday evening class from 6:00-9:05). Mondays are when I try to do ALLLLLL the work for the week in 10 to 12 hours. I’m not always successful, but I sure do try.
I eat raspberries and apple slices (for the sugar and quick energy) then do an Insanity workout. This one is called Pure Cardio.
11:00-11:30 – Recover. I read Daffodils.
11:30-12:00 – I’m ready for Cardio Abs. This is next in the Insanity rotation. Complete.
12:00-12:30 – Recover. I drink a glass of champagne.
12:30-1:30 – Kitchen duty and I prepare my coffee for tomorrow. Take the dog out. Lock up. I snack on left over scrambled eggs and asparagus while I wash dishes. I also listen to a new true crime podcast – Lost Hills - featuring a shooting in Malibu.
1:30-2:00 – Night time routine. Bed. I can feel my muscles starting to lock.