Day 55 of Governor Newsom’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy”

Coffee outside with B.

Wednesday. 10/21/20.

7:00 - 8:00 - I’m up and I take a shower and drink my Hydroflask. I’m trying to get more wear out of my work clothes that are currently hanging in my closet. They don’t have to be worn solely for work so I’m breaking out some of my tops. Light make-up.

I wipe down my bathroom counters then wash my floor mats.

8:00-8:30 - I say good morning to the dog and we go outside. She pooped in several places on the patio and I clean it up. Back inside for cheese and coffee. I go to work.

8:30-10:30 - The two classes run themselves, but we’re in the last third of the semester and there are emails today from students who are asking why they received 0s on their assignments. In order to respond, I have to research this information so I can prepare a cogent reply and this takes time - wasted time. In every case, the student received a 0 because he/she didn’t sign in on the Discussion Board and was marked absent. I know that the student knows this, but it’s almost as if the student is forcing me to place this stupid game on the off-chance I will become flummoxed and say, “Hmmm, I really don’t know why you have a 0. It must be some mistake so I will adjust your grade.”

That never happens. I know exactly why they have a 0 on an assignment and the student does too. When I spell it out for them, in no uncertain terms, they almost never email back, other than to say, meekly, “thanks for the clarification.” Most of the time they say nothing, too embarrassed to reply.

The same student from the new class continues to have difficulty completing the smallest of tasks. He can’t get the audio lecture file to play and he can’t seem to figure out how to click on the big sign directly above it that says “Download.” Our email thread has grown quite long with our constant back and forths - he either needs to click the arrow fr play, or click on tthe work “Download” above the arrow, but he can’t figure it out. I’m not exaggerating when I say that this might be the dumbest student I’ve ever taught.

I go outside and clean the fountain. I also try to take apart one of my Halloween candelabras so I can put batteries in it.

11:00-2:00 - B. arrives with coffee and we sit outside and talk politics.

2:00-3:00 - B. and I watch Episode 4 of Ratched. B. leaves and I will, ‘as God is my witness’, finish grading the papers TODAY. I am absolutely sick of this project.

3:00-8:00 – grade papers

8:00-12:00-I scan the students’ papers to them, with my edits and comments, and continue grading those papers I haven’t finished.  I post their grades to the online gradebook as I scan their papers.

12:00-2:30 a.m. – I coordinate my PP slides with my “script” (lecture), then select podcasts to incorporate into lecture.

3:00-5:00 a.m.– I record lecture for tomorrow afternoon’s Specialty Class No. 2.

5:00-5:45 a.m. – I lock the house and do my night time routine. Bed.