Reflections on Week 10, Term 1, 2020

Week B is usually my 4-day week but I don't think such a thing exists anymore - not with the constant pinging of notifications from my students and my clearly terrible instructions that no-one is able to understand and even though we don't have class today, because I don't usually work today, they were just coming at me all day. I will have to manage this differently next term. I cannot cope with the barrage and the constancy.

My colleague found an amazing article to share with our Year 12 Standard English classes recently 'We are using the same words but are we speaking the same language?' and the words of the writer are echoing around my brain. They ring true.

So what has the past week been like? We are currently on a rotational roster of supervision so we only need to go in 1-2 times in the last two weeks of term. I also went in Monday and smashed out numerous things on the to list, one of which was organising copies of the modified assessment, and then getting modified criteria printed up and put into envelopes after organising a system for record keeping marking online. I drew up a timetable for the meetings and then we had the meetings all day Wednesday and then on Thursday the decision was made to cancel all junior assessment. The guilt that swallowed me - wasting all that time on Monday and Wednesday - is massive. This time period is hard enough and there's so little extra to give and I just worked for nothing and made my staff work for nothing. Not much can be done now but I am sad about it.

I have been collecting data and trying to work out a way forward that is not going to burden the staff in my faculty. I really do need to go into school to speak with the senior executive to clarify some aspects of online teaching because if I am feeling the pressure with four classes, what are my staff dealing with when they have five or six classes?

I have asked for an extension for my university assignment - it is due in 5-days and they are giving students whose workload has been impacted by Covid 19 an extra 5-days. I watched the census date drift by and paid the course fee so I am committed but I am so distracted. I am looking forward to pressing 'submit' but it is going to be a struggle to get there.

I just organised priority delivery for my grandmother so she is able to get supplies. My brother and sister in law recently visited her and mentioned that she was out of toilet paper - something she didn't mention to me so I need to put something in place to ensure she has the things she needs. I will call her local fruit and veg store to get them to do a delivery for her as well. If she has been living off her freezer store she will be missing fresh fruit and vegetables. It is times like these that I do wish I lived closer - not because I would go visit but just so I could shop for her and leave things on her doorstep.

I hope this is all over soon.

Reflections on Week 9, Term 1, 2020

Week 9 was one of the biggest weeks of my career. Not for any reason worth celebration but because we systematically, in the space of 7 days flipped education from face to face to online. We all had a crash course in Google Classroom and we are, almost, officially online.

I have been working enormous days and caring for my partner and child while getting everything established. I joked, and I regret this now, that I would appreciate a little break to catch up on everything because I was tired. While there is a break from face to face teaching time now, the alternative, our online 'revolution' seems almost like I am shouting into a void and as for spare time. There's none of that.

I have modified assessment for 7-12 and have converted everything so it works on Google Classroom and students will be able to hand in their tasks online. Instructions have been written, hundreds of Google Classrooms notifications received and it is safe to say that this situation is less than idea. 

We are contacting families next week to ensure students are accessing materials. I really, really hope that maybe after a few days off last week that students will now get online to access materials and get on with the work I have put together. 

A few parents have asked to be part of the classrooms which I have no problem about, especially now that everything is set up and ready to go. I wasn't happy to add them last week when I was still trying to work out how to use Google Classroom but now, I am feeling a bit more confident.

I have made a few errors - using Google Forms to collect information for an assessment task. Forms makes information so easily collected, however, it also dumps the information in one area. When staff are marking their own classes this is not helpful - now everyone is going to have to flick through all of the student responses to find their own. Class lists are arbitrarily organised so it is not possible for me to collate the information into classes without sitting and doing it manually. I just do not have the time or mental capacity to do that at the moment.

The future looks interesting and I am not sure I am ready.