Day 77 of Governor Newsom’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy”

Thursday. 11/12/20

7:30 - I wake up a little before my alarm and it. is. hard. to get out of bed.

8:00 - Running late, so I go downstairs. The dog is already up and we go outside so she can do her business. Back inside and I still have to make my coffee. My Discussion Board is ready to go - I just have to push some buttons. Cheese for the dog, my coffee is ready, I go to work.

8:30-10:05 - Today is the Midterm and it is blissful silence. The students are too busy working on their Midterm to email me with their stupid complaints. What a relief. I update attendance and finish two blog entries. Then, I make sure everything is ready for my 2:30 class.

Two emails come in from students who completed the Midterm and want to know if I think they should stay in the class. I say “No” to one student, but “Yes” to the other, who is well on her way to getting a B (76%) and it would be a shame to see her drop. She emails back, “Thanks for not letting me give up on myself” - I thought that was nice. I never hear from Student No. 1 again.

11:00 - 11:30 - L. is in bed, listening to an Art History lecture. I ask her to airdrop two lectures for me and then we go over some slides that she formatted for today’s lecture.

11:30-12:30 - Lunch time so I eat my calamari leftovers from Plate 38 and read Money Diaries.

12:30-1:30 - Shower. Spa day. Covid-19 uniform. Light make-up.

1:30 - 2:00 - I pack an overnight bag and start loading my car.

2:00-6:00 - Back in my office and I check email, then log onto Canvas and publish the Discussion Board and course content. I’m pretty excited about this lecture - best ever!! - and I’m curious if the students will comment on it. L. also finished formatting the slides and they look amazing. It’s a nice, polished product, all around.

By 3:30, the students haven’t commented on lecture at all, EXCEPT for one - the “Fed-Ex student who I can’t stand” who says he likes the poem I recorded at the beginning of lecture. At 3:45, a flurry of emails come in because I accidentally marked FALSE instead of TRUE on Question 3 and they are all up in arms about it. I make the correction and regrade the students’ tests - OMG! You’d think it was the end of the world. Nobody says anything about the lecture, the poems I incorporated, the cool Google slides, and the podcasts that I embedded. Nothing.

At 4:00, a student complains that she missed Question 6, but says that her answer is correct. I refute this and explain why her answer is actually incorrect. The student lies and says, “That’s not what the slides say, but ok”, then has the audacity to forward my own slide to me, which actually asserts MY point. No. I don’t think so.

I respond that 14 students have taken the exam thus far and only one student missed the question. I push back hard on her assessment that the information is incorrect on the slide. It’s not. I assert my position and tell her that I disagree with hers. She thanks me for the clarification. I don’t hear from her again. Good riddance.

Nobody gives a shit about my lecture.

At 5:00, I post the link to the 25-minute video. A student refers another book to read.

5:30 - 6:00 - I put on make-up and pack my lunch bag.

6:45-7:15 - To B’s house

7:15-12:00 - B. and I sit outside with his special heaters. We have Happy Hour - margaritas for him, champagne for me - and chips and dip. Then, B. grills kielbasas and we add potato salad and pork and beans to dinner