Day 78 of Governor Newsom’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy”

Counseling on student performance…

Friday. 11/13/20

7:45 – I go downstairs so I can pull up Canvas on B’s computer. I post the Discussion Board early – it’s two classes today and they have to watch a documentary and take a video quiz. I go back to bed.

9:30 – I post the video quiz.

-One of my students emails and says, after 13 weeks, she doesn’t understand how the attendance works. Really?  After 13 weeks?  I reply, “Attendance works like this: class starts at 8:30 a.m. Sign in on the Discussion Board at 8:30 a.m.” I don’t hear from her again.

9:30-10:30 – I take a shower. B. gets Starbucks.

10:45 – 12:30 - B. and I sit outside on his patio and have pumpkin pie and coffee.

12:30 – 1:15 - I leave in preparation for my Zoom call with my colleague, J., regarding a discussion over Action Plans for my Specialty Classes Nos. 1 and 2.

1:15 – 1:45 – I Zoom in with J. and he starts the “meeting” with small talk about L., which is typical.  Then, we talk about his three kids and how they’re coping with remote learning.  J.’s wife is a 3rd grade teacher. Then,  J. “shares his screen” with me and shows me the SLOs – student learning objectives – for Specialty Classes No. 1 and 2.  “Meets Expectations” and “Exceeds Expectations” has to total 70%.  Everything is fine for Specialty Class No. 1. Unfortunately,  Specialty Class No. 2, which I’ve taught ONCE, a year ago, is deficient. These two columns do NOT total 70% - the scores are low.  I suddenly understand the reason for this call and why I’m here.

J. goes on to say that “nobody is looking at you” and he “will write the Action Plan without specifying my name so there is no stigma” but I’m the only instructor who teaches this class, so everyone knows it’s me.  When you’re told by “Management” – and J. is Management in that he is one of the only tenured-track instructors in our department –  that “nobody is looking at you” and “this is merely a path for improvement”, any teacher knows instantly that he/she is under scrutiny. And, as it turns out, J.’s not really writing the Action Plan – he wants me to write it.  That way, the “powers that be” can use it to burn me if I fail to implement my own plan or if my students’ scores are still low. Of course, J. doesn’t say any of this.  He’s incredibly ‘encouraging.’

This is the age-old question for all teachers.  If I’m teaching a student population from rural, diverse, economically-depressed areas, who have graduated from high school after attending some of the worst public schools in California and cannot even write a complete sentence, what am I supposed to do now?  Their education is over – I can’t undo 15 years of a sub-par, public school education in ONE semester. In fact, at this stage of their education, scores and rankings shouldn’t apply anymore.  These students spent their entire lives, ostensibly, preparing for college and here they are.  What are we “assessing” at this point in their educational career? How on earth are we able to improve upon anything?

1:45-2:30 - I write the Action Plan for J. wherein I say that I’m going to use a “Direct Curriculum” approach by introducing supplementary material from additional non-fiction and other literary works to provide a more well-rounded “educational experience.” Like I said earlier, I’m teaching the class right now, but it’s over in 2 weeks, so I’m assuming it’s too late to implement the Action Plan I just wrote??? And I won’t teach this class until Fall Semester 2021, an entire year later.  What is the point of an Action Plan at this point in time?

I should say I agreed to teach this class for Fall Semester 2019 as a favor to my Dept. after the previous teacher retired. Although she gave plenty of notice, like most administrations, my Dept. was scrambling to find an instructor a few weeks before the semester began even though they knew for an entire year that Dr. B would be retiring. A new tenured-track instructor was hired a few months ago…let HIM teach it.

2:45-3:45 – I return to B.’s, but get gas along the way.

3:45-8:30 – We watch Tehran and the Undoing since I don’t get HBO at my house. I bring my own food and eat dinner – pork chops and sweet potatoes – while I watch TV.

8:30-11:00 – Home and I take a nap.

11:00-11:30 – I read a Money Diary.

11:30-12:30 – Kitchen duty and I have some potato salad.

1:00-2:00 – I do a 1-hr HIIT full body circuit with 5-pound weights.

2:00-3:00 – Night time routine. Bed.