First Week of Online Schooling
/“How’s it going?” said through a grimaced mouth and raised eyebrows is the way parents are greeting each other this week. What’s unspoken is, “Are you even surviving whatever radical disruption to our lives this new schooling schedule has brought??”
First Day of School! They were excited to buy matching shirts for this special occasion.
I’m not here to discuss the merits of various options, but our family has chosen to participate in online, synchronous schooling. Which is to say, my 7th grader (Lily) and 10th grader (Eden) are at home, they log onto their classes as they are being taught in the building where most of their classmates attend 5 days/week. Very little was known before we began this adventure about how it would exactly unfold. I did my best to drill into the heads of my girls to expect that the first 2 weeks would be rough. And to offer and accept abundant grace to all parties involved.
We’ve had a few hiccups, but overall I have to say that the process is going very well! Here are a few observations:
This sums up a good portion of my day: I’m trying to work on something, Eden calls me on FaceTime from her study room in the basement, I try to change gears in my mind to address her question.
I promise you this tiny desk is not her typical study spot. But since it sits next to my sewing table she used it when she needed help with vocab.
Waking up at 7am is WAY better than waking up at 6am! AND I am still able to go for my jog at 7am instead of putz after kids to make sure they get ready and on the bus on time.
1a. No school bus! Can I get an AMEN?
You technically don’t need to get dressed. But one child discovered after 2 days that it probably is prudent to get out of bed before class actually begins. The corollary here is that that same student has 6 classes, one right after another, with only a 30 minute break for lunch. That SAME student learned that trying to make pancakes DURING class is not a great idea.
Gym class is interesting. Eden is supposed to change clothes. This is kind of funny to us, but she does it anyway. We’re grateful that Eden was placed into the half of class that is doing yoga and not the other half of class that is doing golf! Lily begins her gym classes with warm ups. She’s admittedly half-hearted about the warm ups but I try to chide her on (“Your old mom already ran/walked 4 miles today. You can do a few lunges!”). And then I have to show her how to do a push up. I mean, seriously. She rolls up the rug in the living room and warms up there. Since she can’t do whatever the rest of the class does when they go outside, she goes next door and runs intervals up and down grandma’s and grandpa’s driveway for 15-20 minutes. I do admire the girls’ attitudes about this.
Honor’s classes are no joke. Eden has a loaded schedule this semester and I was a little bit concerned about how she would handle it. The first few days I sat in on a good part of her classes so that I knew what was going on and I kept waiting for the meltdown (“This is too much work!!”) that never came. She is handling it like a boss! Yesterday she worked all day long during the school day, all afternoon, and after supper, all evening! At bedtime she told me, “You know I like having something to do.” <mom picks jaw up off of floor>
Technology can be finicky. One day Eden missed most of her lecture for History. I emailed tech support telling them it must be their issue. They emailed back saying it’s most likely our issue. I recalled back in April when we were having internet issues with 6 people online all day long and Comcast told me to turn the router off for 10 minutes. With 6 people online all day long when does one turn off the router?? So I never did. But the other night I turned it off for 10 minutes and our problems have resolved! For now.
Kids love to ask “When are we ever going to need to know this??” I now have the answer: Thirty years from now there may be a global pandemic and your kids will be doing school from home. And they will come to you with questions every 30 seconds and you will need to answer them. You will need to know the rules for multiplying with exponents. You will need to know how to annotate an article (guessed wrong on that one…). You will need to know vocabulary (score!). You will need to know the ins and outs of the Underground Railroad (Thank you, American Experience!). You will need to figure out the rhythms of the band music (thank you Band!). Sometimes I feel like I’m in a very long psychological experiment. As I go about my day, laundry, cooking, canning, cleaning, running a business, paying bills, etc. I get questions thrown at me—”Mom, what’s -35+12-14?” “Mom, can you help me understand what Frederick Douglass is saying in this essay?” “Mom, how do you do a push-up?” I keep looking around for the hidden camera. Maybe it’s one of those tests they give to air-traffic controllers. Can you safely land the planes that are swirling above your head while distractions keep coming across your screen and people belt out “Hamilton” lyrics in your face?
You can’t do that in a classroom! Even with flexible seating!
My online students are rocking it! Lily didn’t go so far as to say there are advantages but Eden is beginning to see some positives. The pace of her daily schedule is a bit more relaxed than Lily’s, even though she has more work. She also gets a long break for lunch (>1 hour). Living so far from the schools, the girls always had a long bus ride. Lily’s day has been ending around 1:45 and Eden’s ends sometime after 2:00. And that’s it! They don’t need to endure a bus ride home after that. Having them keep busy all day is a plus. It’s not like summer vacation when they wandered around looking for someone to irritate. I know they are working hard. We’re figuring out our rhythm. I need to create boundaries when I am not available, even though I may be in the next room. Constantly being “on call” is exhausting, as I discovered a few days ago when I had a meltdown. I’m happy to be able to grocery shop alone again. But then I received a text 45 minutes later asking me when I’ll be home again… So yeah, we’re figuring it out. As all parents are. We are abundantly blessed and I recognize the privilege we have to make this choice for online schooling. I am indebted to those individuals who are going above and beyond their job description to make it possible (I’m looking at you teachers, administrators, tech support, and staff!). We pray for the health and safety of everyone and we hope to return to the buildings sometime this school year.