Day 7 of Governor Newsom’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy”

Thursday. 9/3/20.

8:30 – 9:00 - I’m in a rush, today.  I still need to record tonight’s 7:00 lecture, which I’ll split into two sections for my Wednesday and Friday classes. BUT, I rely on L. to ‘air drop’ the course content to her laptop so I can post it to Canvas and she has a lot going on today with her college classes and work. I’m beholden to her schedule and really need to complete the lecture by 11:00.

I take the dog out then give her cheese.  I grab my coffee and go to work (enter home office).

9:00 – 9:40 - I’m caffeinated and take this time to listen to the lecture I recorded last night for my 2:30 class.  I put a lot of work into it and there are several moving parts.  Unfortunately, I sound boring and lackluster even though this is a topic that I’m extremely passionate about.  How disappointing!  I stop 40 minutes in, discouraged.

9:40-12:00 – I record my Core Class lecture for tonight’s 7:00 class and split it into two parts for my Wednesday and Friday morning classes. L. has a free moment so she air drops everything and I post to Canvas.  Then, she emails me the lectures so I have them ready to email to my highschoolers.

12:30 – 1:30 – I clean the kitchen and have a salad for lunch.

1:30 – 2:30 - Return to work and I check emails and get ready for Specialty Class No. 2.  Even though lecture does not sound especially dynamic, today’s chapter is one of my favorite topics so I’m still excited about it – I hope the students like it (fingers crossed).

N. emails me and says she wants to drop Specialty Class No. 1 but doesn’t know how.  I give her instructions, but offer to drop her personally for her convenience and she agrees. When I check my roster, she’s gone, which means she dropped herself. She later emails me and says, “I dropped the class.  Are you going to drop me?” I don’t respond.

2:30 –5:00 - Class starts and the students sign in on the Discussion Board then open up the PP slides, the Chapter Review Quiz, and start playing the Audio lecture. So far so good.

5:00 – 5:30-The students start emailing me, en masse, upset that they were timed out of the quiz prematurely.  Most of them had at least two more questions to answer and they want that time back. The class is “synchronous, synchronous” and tightly packed with content today to keep them moving at a fast clip, BUT I underestimated the time it would take – it’s completely my fault and I start doing damage control, responding to several students, then finally giving EVERYONE the extra time they deserve and notifying them in an email blast.

Meanwhile, because I gave them extra time to answer the remaining questions on the Chapter Review quiz, they are behind on a surprise assignment and pop quiz that I introduced the last 30 minutes of class. I had the sneaking suspicion that some of the students have been taking the quizzes and not bothering to listen to lecture, so I introduced the pop quiz at the end.  I can assume that those students who DO NOT take the pop quiz did not listen to lecture.  If they do not listen to lecture, they are technically not in class and absent.

It’s a good strategy IF I give everyone enough time to COMPLETE the pop quiz, which I didn’t. A new flurry of emails comes in around 5:30, berating me for the confusing podcast I assigned – some of the students can’t seem to find it - and the fact that they also did not have enough time to complete the pop quiz.

I send ANOTHER email blast giving everyone more time on the pop quiz and, for some of the students, class doesn’t end until 6:00, which is unfair because they’re supposed to be out at 5:35.  On top of everything, a few of the students live chat with me, discouraged that they can’t keep up, when it’s not their fault at all. I reassure them that it’s not them, it’s me, then send an email blast to the students who went the distance and were actually there for the pop quiz that THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.

Tonight was supposed to be such a good class…(insert sad face emoji)

5:30-6:30 - I see that TEN students didn’t bother to take the pop quiz, which means they baled and probably left class right after it started.  I send individual emails to each of them, addressing them by name and informing them that they will be marked absent because it’s obvious they didn’t listen to lecture.  If they had, they would have completed the pop quiz.

A few students, chagrined, email me and apologize; HOWEVER, some of the students said they actually did listen to lecture in its entirety, but were too confused as to how to access the podcast link I provided.  They didn’t listen to the podcast so they didn’t bother to take the pop quiz. What a disaster! I give the students who emailed me extra time to listen to the podcast AND take the pop quiz.

I check the gradebook and everyone’s scores are slowly increasing to 10 as they answer the questions  they missed.  A few students thank me for the “awesome class” today.  I’m not sure what they’re talking about.  My adrenaline is through the roof and I can’t wind down.

7:00 – I report to my kitchen and pull out everything I need to make Minestrone soup, then “publish” the content on Canvas for my Core Class students. I set my Netbook up in the kitchen and start cooking. A few students live chat with me while the pasta is boiling. I listen to A to B - Simplicity, Organization, and Fun and By The Book.

7:00-9:30-The students listen to lecture in conjunction with the PP slides. I’ve also assigned a podcast.

8:00-9:00 – I finish the soup and clean the kitchen. I have soup for dinner and share with the dog while I listen to PBS News segments. I live chat with a few students from the class.

9:30 – The students watch a 30-minute video and the video quiz deploys simultaneously. They take the quiz without incident.

10:05 – Class is over. This class is also fully automated.

10:30 – 11:00 – I take Attendance from both Discussion Boards.

11:00-12:00 – I do class prep for my Friday morning classes and ready my Draft emails.

12:00-1:00 – L and I listen to Radio Rental.  I’ve done absolutely nothing today!  No reading, no exercise, not enough water…nothing.  I’m pretty disgusted with myself.

1:00-2:00 – Night time routine and bed.