Day 30 of rollback-California Covid-19-Governor shuts us down

L. enrolls in 12 classes…

Tuesday. 8/11/20

7:30 – the dog starts barking but I refuse to go downstairs. I listen to The Daily – Cancel Culture (Part I).

8:15- I go downstairs and take the dog out. Cheese. I get my coffee and go back to bed. I am not. feeling. well. Bad stomach cramps but it might have to do with my anxiety over preparing my classes for virtual education and the fact that school starts next week.  I listen to The Daily – Cancel Culture (Part II) and read a Money Diary.

10:00 – 11:30 - I think I have Covid-19 so I go downstairs and smell L.’s honey-basil-whatever cream cheese in the fridge -  it smells disgusting so I think I’m good, although I still feel sick. I make an almond butter, strawberry, and avocado smoothie and sit at my patio table in my backyard. I listen to AirTalk. It really starts heating up out here so I go back inside and ask L. to take my temperature with our fancy forehead thermometer.  97 degrees.

11:30-12:30 – I check the Aboretum for available times to reserve tickets and read online news.

12:30-1:30 – Still sick, I go upstairs and lie down. L. emerges and I tell her I think I have Covid-19.  She takes me through the checklist. Do you have your sense of smell? Yes. Do you have a fever? No. Do you have a cough? No  When I tell her that my stomach has been hurting all morning, she dismisses it, saying: “Stomach pain is not one of the symptoms.” What if it’s the stomach flu, though? L. says people only get the stomach flu during the winter months. I don’t think this is true, but…ok.

1:30-2:30 – I lie in bed, but the day is now half over and I’ve done nothing!  This is ridiculous. Up and dress in shorts and a tank top.

2:30-6:30 – I pick up the dog poop and spray down the astroturf.  Then, over the course of four hours, I remove and power-wash 8 screens from my downstairs windows. I spray them down on the astroturf first, then lean them against the stucco for the final rinse.  I also power-wash the windows themselves, then wipe down the tracks, followed by Windex.  What a disgusting, filthy job!  I asked L. if she would help, but she said no.  L. said that she is too stressed out to help, but did point out that she washed four dirty dishes sitting in the sink.

4:30 – 4:45 - I take a break to have some of the Italian macaroni dish I made last night.

I do more intensive yard work than usual, while I’m in-between window screens, waiting for them to dry.  I’m able to power-wash most of the patio and pick up additional leaves that I typically have difficulty reaching since I have to move the patio furniture all over the place to access the windows. I sweep and clean the red-rock bed and pull leaves out of the pots, watering my plants along the way.

6:30-7:30 - I move everything back, return the cleaning supplies to their rightful places, then wipe down the windowsills on the inside of the house as debris entered the tracks when I power-washed them from the outside.

I ask L. to sit outside with me at the patio table. I have a glass of champagne and survey the yard while she reads.

7:30-8:30 – I mention to L. that having all schools switch to virtual education is unprecedented and suggest she enroll for 12 classes this semester at two junior colleges.  It’s a big load, but doable as she doesn’t have to drive ANYWHERE. If she’s able to complete 12 classes, she will need just 8 more classes to fulfill her 60-unit transfer requirement and she might be able to take the remaining 8 classes online, again, in Spring 2021.

In the era of Covid-19, there is no stigma associated anymore with attending a community college for the first two years – everybody is doing it now – but I think a lot of students don’t understand this is the one opportunity for them to take as many classes as possible to knock out that 60-unit transfer requirement and save on college expenses and time  because ALL classes are held online now.

L. is on it and enrolls in 6 classes at Community College No. 1. She will also apply to Community College No. 2 and enroll in another  6 classes because College No. 1 caps the number of classes per semester at 6.  Getting these 60 units out of the way, when compared to the cost of Parsons New School, in NY, is a $32,000 savings. It’s unclear if all units will be transferable but, if not, L. can transfer to a California college like so many of my students do.  New York, as we know it, no longer exists – the cache is gone and it looks like Parsons no longer offers dorm housing.

L. is so used to virtual education she innocently asks, “Why don’t all students enroll for 12 units a semester?” Because just six months ago students were forced to “suit up and show up” to their classes for EVERY class, unless it was online, and online classes have never been offered at the same rate as regular classes.   Imagine being a young person, at the poverty level and food insecure, coordinating three classes a semester while still maintaining a 30/40-hour job.  I teach in a socio-economic compromised district and most of my students are POC. It’s extremely difficult for them to take more than four classes a semester, especially when they’re employed - I really feel for them, as they work so hard coordinating work and homework so they can show up on time to three or four college classes a week. 

HOWEVER, this model is over.  I think, conceivably, L. is capable of getting 2 years of transfer units under her belt in just 8 months.  She doesn’t have to get straight As – she just has to get 60 units.

My hope is for L. to graduate debt-free and hopefully with a bit of a nest-egg from the college money she has from my parents and I. We’re using my parent’s contribution [529 account] first for college expenses; HOWEVER, my contribution to L. is in a regular savings account and isn’t tied to college expenditures like my parents account. L. can do whatever she wants with the money I’ve saved for her.  It would be nice if she could somehow use what I’ve saved to start “adulting” AFTER college, maybe to get a bit of a jump start on life.

I’ve been counseling my students on transfer requirements this semester and suggesting classes they might need as they are having difficulty reaching their academic counselors online.  L. is no exception so  I pull the transfer requirements from my College Catalog and show her how it works, how you select 60 units worth of classes from nine categories in order to effectively transfer to a 4-year.  She pulls the College Catalog from the junior college where she’s enrolled and, after a few hours of research, enrolls in 6 online classes. She will sign up for Community College No. 2 and enroll in 6 more classes tomorrow.

9:00 p.m.-5:00 a.m – It’s crunch time now, so I get to work. I re-design Specialty Class No. 1, complete the syllabus, update the PPs, and find and load all the links to Canvas for the supplemental material for each week of the semester.  I post all of the review quizzes, video quizzes, Socratic Seminar questions, etc., and set the new due dates accordingly.  I pronounce Specialty Class No. 1…(drum roll, please)…almost done. A bit of a let down that it’s not finished, but this class will be the blueprint for my remaining three classes [that is, if Specialty Class No. 2 runs].

I think some people might feel that virtual education is easier for teachers but, in some instances, it is more work.  In the past, I could just play a video or a podcast during class for supplementary material.  But now, the links to videos and podcasts need to be inserted into Canvas so the students can access them. Unfortunately, I’m unable to load videos into the Canvas shell, which means I need to find a streaming platform for the video in question – often, I can’t – or I need to find a new video and create an accompanying video quiz. This is a lot of work for me.

I have a salad while I work and binge listen to 20 episodes of Radio Rental.  These are true-life, 20-minute nuggets of everyday people having some kind of bizarre experience (not necessarily paranormal), and recounting it in their own voice. It is so good! Highly recommend.

Wednesday. 8/12/20

5:00-5:30 – Night time ritual and bed. I can’t believe I did this to myself and really need to schedule some time for self-care.  Unfortunately, I’ve always been my most productive between the hours of 10:00 pm and 3/4:00 a.m., which is not conducive to normal life. I vow to approach the rest of today differently.