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Yule Blog Prompt #15: How I Prioritized My Own Health and Self-Care in 2020
This is an important topic, for obvious reasons. Remaining healthy was a clear priority for all of us, and "self-care" reminds us that while we teachers strive to take care of our students, we must make sure to take care of ourselves first.
Exercise has always been important to me. In high school, I ran on the Cross Country team, and ever since I graduated, I continued to jog two miles every Saturday. But ever since then, running would sometimes cause me to start sneezing and coughing -- a mini-cold that often lasted through Monday.
But a cold is the last thing I want during the pandemic, when everyone is on edge. I don't want to run on Saturday, have a mini-cold that lasts through Monday, sneeze upon my arrival at school -- and then be asked to go home and quarantine for two weeks. I'd be forfeiting ten days of sub pay over something that's easily preventable.
Therefore, my new plan is to jog just one mile on Saturdays, rather than two. I find that I'm less likely to sneeze or cough after this shorter run. Actually, my original plan was to make up the lost mileage (since I still want to stay in shape) by running a half-mile on all weekdays when I'm not called in for day-to-day subbing, when there's nothing else to do. I'm usually called about three times per week, and so that would be two half-miles plus one mile on Saturdays, adding up to the original two miles.
That fell by the wayside once I landed this long-term assignment -- suddenly I was working five days a week, and so I was running only one mile per week on Saturdays. I ran two miles on Super Saturday and Boxing Day, since it's winter break and there's no chance of sneezing at work. But today, I returned to one mile, to make sure that I don't sneeze when school resumes on Monday.
Since today's "self-care" prompt occurs at the start of the year, it inevitably leads us to start thinking about New Year's Resolutions. Last year, I wrote some resolutions, which I labeled "New Decade's Resolutions" to celebrate the start of the 2020's. But for those resolutions, the teacher in me took over -- all are taking care of students, not myself.
In theory, I'm supposed to follow those New Decade's Resolutions for the entire decade. But then the pandemic happened -- and yes, so far, the pandemic is defining the decade. Some of the resolutions I wrote don't make sense during a pandemic, and so I changed some of them.
And so instead of New Year's Resolutions, the pandemic version of the New Decade's Resolutions are still in effect. New Year's Resolutions often fail because it's hard to change in a year. New Decade's Resolutions give me more time to reach my goals:
I also rediscovered some New Millennium's Resolutions that I wrote back in the year 2000. These resolutions are in effect for the entire "millennium" (in reality, the rest of my life). These are sort of related to "self-care," but they're mainly about maintaining relationships. I notice that some of the other Yule Bloggers also mention relationships in their challenge posts, and so these are relevant:
A. Each day when I am in contact with fellow students, I will try to begin a conversation. In order to fulfill this resolution, I will wait for someone to ask me a question, such as "What are your classes like?" Then I will "perpetuate" the conversation by attempting to give a full, detailed answer.
B. If the first resolution does not lead to a conversation, then I will "initiate" a conversation. The best way to do so is to repeat a commonly asked question, such as "What are your classes like?" to another student distant from the one who originally posed the question.
C. I will maintain these secret files each day by writing a long story of my game. By doing so, I finally reveal to myself and others the reasons for my silent personality.
And so I really have eleven resolutions to follow -- the ten New Decade's Resolutions to encourage my students to learn math, and the eleventh New Millennium's Resolution to focus on making and keeping relationships with my students and fellow teachers.
What If? COVID-86
As tough as it is to be a teacher right now, I know that it's even tougher to be a student now. I'm fortunate to be a middle-aged adult who has already completed all my education before the start of the current pandemic. To be a young child or teenager when all of this is happening is just unimaginable.
Over Thanksgiving break, I came up with an idea to place myself in my students' shoes. I will write several "What If?" scenarios -- what if the pandemic had occurred years ago, when I was younger? And for this last winter break post, I will revisit these "What If?" hypotheticals.
For example, in the COVID-86 "What If?" the pandemic began in 1986. Notice that just as COVID-19 didn't really affect anyone outside of China during the year in its name (that is, 2019), the COVID-86 pandemic doesn't affect any Americans in the year 1986. Instead, 1987 is the year that schools close -- and these closures extend into 1988. In general, in the COVID-n "What If?" all schools will close on March 13th of the year n+1.
And so the year analogous to 2021 is the n+2 year -- the year when schools (we hope) start to reopen. In particular, since Dr. Fauci suggests that things might return to normal in time for the holidays, we might guess that schools will completely open by November 1st of the year n+2.
In the COVID-86 "What If?" the schools close on March 13th, 1987, when I was in kindergarten. The pandemic continues through my entire first grade year, and things return to normal by November 1st, 1988, when I was in second grade.
In all these "What If?" scenarios, schools employ distance learning during the pandemic. But what constitutes distance learning must match the technology of the actual years of the pandemic. Thus I can't say that all schools would have used Zoom or Google Meet for distance learning in COVID-86, since Zoom didn't exist back then. The only computers we had were Apple II, Atari, or the old system on which the Mocha emulator is based. These computers couldn't connect to the Internet.
Instead, distance learning in COVID-86 consists of weekly packets, created using those old ditto machines where everything comes out purple. Parents go to school each Monday to pick up the next week's packet, and they are due on the following Monday.
Is it possible for there to be some sort of hybrid schedule where students attend part-time? Well, since all the schools I ever attended as a student were in Los Angeles County, I should return in person in 1988 during COVID-86 exactly when LA County schools open in 2021 during COVID-19. But with the way the virus numbers are going here in LA, I wouldn't be surprised if COVID-19 forces schools closed for the rest of the 2020-21 school year.
Thus following the pattern, COVID-86 would have me stuck in distance learning for my entire first grade year. To me, this isn't interesting, and so I'm tweaking it for some of these "What If" stories. For now, I'll have schools open after winter break, on January 4th, 1988. We can assume that even if the virus numbers are as high for COVID-86 as they are for COVID-19, the public wouldn't tolerate distance learning as much in 1988 (packets) as they do in 2021 (Zoom). Thus the thresholds for reopening after COVID-86 are weaker than those for reopening after COVID-19.
But Governor Newsom has announced financial incentives for elementary schools to reopen around February or March. It remains to be seen whether any LA County schools will open, though. I will closely follow the actual elementary school that I attended -- if it reopens in a month or two, then I'll modify this COVID-86 story so that my school opens during the matching month in 1988.
Hybrid at most elementary schools means dividing into AM/PM cohorts five days per week. For now, let's assume that these cohorts are alphabetical, and so I, as a Walker, am placed on the PM cohort for first grade.
What If? COVID-91
Each of these "What If?" scenarios takes place in a separate universe. So when I say COVID-91, I don't mean that there was a pandemic in 1986 and then another pandemic five years later in 1991. The universe of COVID-91 is completely separate from the COVID-86 (and the real COVID-19) universe.
For the next three COVID-n scenarios, the n+2 year will be a year that I graduate from some school -- for COVID-91, I complete my K-6 elementary school in 1993. I could have set up these "What If" scenarios so that I graduate in the n+1 year (like 2020) rather than the n+2 year (like 2021). But in many ways, I identify more with the Class of 2021 than the Class of 2020. My current eighth graders during this long-term will of course graduate from middle school this year, and the eighth graders I had at the old charter school are scheduled to graduate from high school this year. On the other hand, I only interacted with the Class of 2020 during day-to-day subbing.
And so I consider COVID-91, where schools close on Pi Day Eve 1992, when I'm in fifth grade. The schools remain closed as I start my sixth grade year, and so I start wondering whether I'll get an actual graduation ceremony.
In the original timeline (that is, the real universe where the pandemic doesn't start until 2019), my school implemented the Path Plan in the 1992-93 school year. I was placed on the Preparatory Path, where most fifth, sixth, and some advanced fourth graders are in my homeroom, and we had different teachers during the day. But under COVID-91, I'm assuming that implementing the Path Plan during a pandemic would be awkward, and so I assume that the Path Plan is scrapped. Instead, I'm placed in a class with only sixth graders.
Once again, Governor Newsom's incentive means that the elementary schools might reopen in February or March. And so schools should reopen on the same day for both COVID-86 and COVID-91. There's a possibility, though, that some elementary schools might reopen for lower grades only -- which may include the actual school that I attend. As for what effect will that have on my COVID-91 "What If?" -- well, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
Even if the schools reopen, many activities such as sixth grade camp are likely to be cancelled. I must admit that I didn't go to sixth grade camp in the original timeline, but I did have one at-bat in our annual teacher-sixth grader softball game. I'm not sure whether such a game would be played with COVID-91.
And, of course, even if the schools reopen, there won't be a sixth grade graduation -- certainly not one where spectators can attend.
What If? COVID-93
This is my main "What If?" since I'm currently teaching in a middle school. Under COVID-93, the schools close in March of my seventh grade year, and the pandemic lasts until as late as November of my freshman year.
And because this scenario matches what my current students are experiencing, I'm tempted to have this "What If?" schedule match my current school, even though my Orange County middle school opened much earlier than any LA County school did. And if I'm arbitrarily saying that hybrid starts in October under COVID-93 (again due to distance learning being only packets rather than Google Meet), then why didn't I do the same with COVID-86 or COVID-91?
At any rate, my school does close from mid-March until the end of my seventh grade year. It's my eighth grade year that will change based on whether I follow my current school's model or not.
Well, my current school has announced the schedule change, from block to all periods. If I really want this "What If?" to be representative of how my current students are feeling, then I should include this schedule change in this story as well.
In fact, that's it -- I'm just following my current school's schedule for this "What If?" scenario. Forget about LA County or the fact that schools might not reopen at all in this county if virus levels in 1994 under COVID-93 are as high as they were in 2020 under COVID-19. I'm saying that they're opening.
This means that I'm following my current school's schedule. I'm making no attempt here to represent the school I actually attended, or what its schedule is. (Once again, the real school is in LA County, and so it doesn't need to declare a hybrid schedule as it's nowhere near reopening in 2021.)
In September, my school continues with distance learning, which for us means we pick up packets on Monday and turn them in the following Monday. But in October, we switch to a hybrid schedule. Here's the schedule that I will follow:
1. Advanced Science 8
2. Advanced History 8
3. Geometry
4. French I
5. Advanced English 8
This matches my actual eighth grade schedule, except that I changed Geometry from sixth period to third, since there is no sixth period on the new schedule.
Also, on the original timeline, I had regular Science 8. Once again, the reason I didn't qualify for Advanced was the C that I'd earned the fourth quarter of Science 7. But under COVID-93, the schools are closed before I ever receive that C. The policy at the end of 1993-94 is that no fourth quarter grade can be lower than what was earned in third quarter at the time of the closures. Thus I get to keep my third quarter B for Science 7 and make it into Advanced Science 8.
For hybrid, Mondays under COVID-19 are distance learning, and the same is true for COVID-93 -- we continue to pick up packets on Monday. The difference is that now we work on those packets during the week, when we attend our classes in person.
At my current school, those whose last names are later in the alphabet attend Tuesday/Thursday while those earlier in the alphabet attend Wednesday/Friday. So as a Walker, I'm a Tuesday/Thursday guy. On Tuesdays, I attend first (Science) and third (Geometry), and on Thursdays, I attend second (History) and fourth (French). English is the class that I attend at the end of both days. In real life, this was my smallest class (about 16 students), and so ending my days with it reminds me of my current Math Skills class, which is also my smallest.
On the original timeline, I was suspended on November 30th for hitting my P.E. teacher, and I was forced into independent study P.E. for the rest of the second quarter. But under COVID-93, all students have independent study P.E. -- and since I never see my P.E. teacher, I don't hit her. (Moreover, the kids who dared me to hit her were in my regular Science and P.E. classes, but now I have neither class.)
Now let's reflect the January changes at my current school. Blocks are gone. It's possible that the order of the classes might still change -- again, it's plausible that my old school would also have a teacher who worked part-time on both campuses and needs a schedule change. If the new order matches my current school, then here's my new schedule:
1. Advanced History 8
2. French I
3. Science???
4. Geometry
5. Advanced English 8
But when should these changes take place? My current school is changing this Monday, but that's because school started in August and Monday starts the third quarter. My old school started after Labor Day, and the new quarter wasn't until the last day in January. It's likely that any schedule changes would have occurred at the quarter, and so that's when I get the schedule change.
The reason for "Science???" above is that at my old school, Science 8 was only for one semester. In the original timeline, I'd sign up for Keyboarding, but it was switched to Library Aide once I'd returned from the suspension. It's likely that neither class would have been available during COVID-93 -- Keyboarding involves shared computers (and there were no Chromebooks in 1995), while most school libraries are closed during the pandemic.
For now, I'll just say Library Aide since that was my actual third period class on the original timeline, but it's possible that I would have taken a completely different elective that I never took in real life.
There's one more thing I want to say about the COVID-93 timeline. In real life, my current school is also demanding that students attend Google Classroom on their days off, since the former asynchronous days were being wasted. I'm not sure whether there's any way to simulate that change in COVID-93 using only 1995 technology. The Internet was in its infancy, and most students didn't have access to it yet, so there's nothing the school could do to compel work on the days they aren't in person.
What If? COVID-97
For this "What If?" the schools close on Pi Day Eve of my junior year, and the closures will extend into senior year.
Since this is high school, there's a good chance that my real high school won't reopen at all in 2021, and so my school might not open at all in 1999 under COVID-97. I might also follow the same pattern for COVID-86 and COVID-91 and say that schools do reopen on January 4th, 1999.
Also, I wonder what distance learning would have looked like back then. By now I did have a computer that could access the Internet. Still, I'm not sure whether enough students had Internet access for the schools to require some online component, such as submitting assignments via email.
The one thing I really wanted to do for the COVID-97 What If? is reimagine my senior year of running Cross Country. Originally, for COVID-19, it was stated that competition could begin on December 26th, and that the State Meet would be at the end of March. But unfortunately, the virus numbers just haven't been going down the way we thought they would in September and October. In fact, the State Meet has already been cancelled, and no competition can start until January 25th. Only certain sports can be played in counties in the purple tier (which is almost all counties now) -- fortunately Cross Country and Track are two of them.
So this What If? won't be as fun as I thought it would be. It's likely that if any races are held at all, they will be dual meets -- one school vs. another. (Think back to the Clovis dual meet from McFarland -- Coach White describes a dual meet as for "only us and them.") Dual XC meets vs. league opponents were still common in 1999. By 2021 they've been largely replaced by "cluster" meets where all schools in the league participate. I wouldn't be surprised if league dual meets are restored due to COVID-19.
In fact, the What If? for which I might actually run XC could be COVID-93 instead, since that pandemic might extend into my freshman year of XC.
The bell schedule for hybrid should match my real school's block schedule, which in 1999 still had all classes on Mondays, odd classes Tuesday/Thursday, and even classes Wednesday/Friday. Therefore a hybrid schedule would likely have Tuesday/Wednesday and Thursday/Friday cohorts (odd periods on the first day and even classes on the second) -- but once again, I can't be sure until high schools in LA County are allowed to reopen. Since then, my real high school has switched to a pure block schedule with no all-classes days and the odd/even schedule no longer tied to the day of the week. (If hybrid ever comes to LA County, that schedule will likely remain, so that students attend class two days and then stay home for two days, with no connection to the day of the week. Also, it would mean that there are no full online days.)
The trickiest part of COVID-97 isn't the prospect of losing my high school graduation -- it's what I'd do about college. Current Class of 2021 seniors aren't sure what to do about college -- and some students are considering waiting until students are allowed on campus before attending.
As usual, my COVID-97 What If? should be based on the actual college I attended, UCLA. And so UCLA will open for the Fall 1999 quarter under COVID-97 if and only if the real UCLA opens for the Fall 2021 quarter under COVID-19.
What If? COVID-08
For this pandemic, the focus switches from me as a student to me as a teacher. Also, since the Internet is becoming more widespread, I want to be stricter about the dates -- in particular, LA County schools reopen in 2010 under COVID-08 on the same dates that they reopen in 2021 under COVID-19.
I still remember what I was doing on Pi Day Eve 2009 -- nothing. I'd just gotten in an argument with my master teacher, and we parted ways a few days before March 13th. On the original timeline, I was placed in another school for student teaching for Fall 2009, and that's when I completed my credential.
Over Thanksgiving, I wrote that to make this story more interesting, we'll just say that somehow I made it to March 13th under COVID-08, still in good standing as a student teacher. This is because all teachers in the middle of their credentials are granted their credential when the pandemic starts. But I'm not sure whether I would have been granted my credential if I'd quit tantalizingly close to March 13th.
OK, so under COVID-08, I receive my credential, but now what? On the original timeline, the effects of the Great Recession meant that not many teachers were being hired, which is why I wasn't hired as a teacher after earning my credential. It may be tricky to think about what schools would have looked like if a pandemic happened before a recovery from the recession.
The actual school where I had my second chance at a credential was an LAUSD high school. Under COVID-08, I don't need to go there for student teaching, since my credential is complete -- and since it's in LAUSD, we know that the school is in distance learning only (which now would meant Skype, which was commonly used in 2009-10 rather than Zoom or Google Meet).
Here's something interesting that could have happened that year under COVID-08 -- I still teach at this LAUSD school, but as a regular teacher, not a student teacher. After all, it's possible that some teachers may choose to retire during the pandemic, and so there are more teaching positions open than there would have been on the original timeline.
My would-be master teacher was fairly young, just a few years older than I was. Eventually, on the original timeline, she became an assistant principal at another school. So for our COVID-08 What If? we'll say that she becomes an AP much sooner (when an older AP retires), and then instead of being her student teacher, I become her successor as a regular teacher.
She taught three sections of Algebra II and two sections of Algebra I. A week or so after school started, she took on a third Algebra I class for extra pay, but it's unlikely that a first-year teacher like me would be given such a class. And so my schedule would be three Algebra II/two Algebra I classes.
(Notice that here I'm ignoring the "foundational" credential problem that I had back then. For this What If? let's say that I never lose the paper that showed me passing that third CSET -- after all, I'm granted the credential in the spring, so that's six fewer months for me to lose that paper. So I have a full math credential now.)
I teach Algebra at this school for the whole 2009-10 school year, likely all distance learning (unless LAUSD high schools suddenly open for real in 2021). But still, I'm a first-year teacher with no seniority during the Great Recession (which is now extended due to the pandemic). And so under this What If? I'm given a pink slip on March 15th, 2010 -- I only teach here for one year.
What If? COVID-14
This pandemic begins on Pi Day of the Century. It's the first year of this blog, and I'm a substitute teacher in two LA County districts (one of which I still employed at now but rarely get called to, the other being the one where I got most of my calls).
I'm also a tutor. I'm not sure how much tutoring I would have received once the pandemic begins in March 2015 -- on the original timeline, tutoring dried up by June 2015 anyway. And so I wouldn't be missing much if I said that tutoring would end as soon as the pandemic begins. Some people may argue that the opposite would have happened -- with all schools in distance learning, there might have been more demand for a face-to-face tutor, and so instead, tutoring would have lasted well past June 2015.
Actually, I decided to take a peek at the website for my old tutoring company. Apparently, they are now offering a 30% discount during the pandemic. So perhaps it's possible that under COVID-14, I do continue to tutor beyond June, into the 2015-2016 school year.
Meanwhile, day-to-day subbing disappears due to distance learning. But perhaps some teachers retire and positions open up, or maybe there's some long-term subbing just as I have now under COVID-19.
In fact, if we go back to the first year of this blog, recall that I subbed at a high school for six days in May 2016, covering three sections of Algebra II and two sections of Integrated Math I. This is the sort of teacher who might take extended time off during COVID-14, so let's say that I do end up subbing for him long-term, starting much earlier than May.
If we assume, as with all our other What If? scenarios, that the pandemic lasts until November of the year n+2, then that takes us into the year I taught at the old charter school. If the real COVID-19 pandemic really does affect the 2021-22 school year, then the old charter school will become part of the COVID-14 What If? scenario. That school is now closed, so I can't check to see how that school is reacting to the pandemic. But I might look at other K-8 charter schools in LA as a comparison -- it could be that this fall, LA County elementary schools reopen, as do charter elementary and K-8 schools, while middle and high schools remain closed. If this happens, then I could wind up working at my old charter school, with some sort of hybrid schedule, under COVID-14. But once again, let's cross that bridge when we get to it.
Links to Other Challenge Participants
Today I link to Jennifer Fairbanks, a high school teacher who also writes about self-care:
https://8ismyluckynumber.blogspot.com/2020/12/how-i-am-surviving-teaching-in-covid.html
She writes:
Setting Limits - This has been huge in helping me not get more stressed out or more depressed. I have a daily routine. I wake up each morning at 5 am to do a Beachbody workout. I have a group of friends on a text that we all do this and send pictures each morning to keep us motivated. Then, I am into school by 6:30 each morning. I am a morning person, so this works for me. I get about an hour of work done in the morning, without interruptions. I rather work an hour before school than an hour at the end of the day. School goes until 2 pm and then I have Monday teacher meetings on Zoom, Tuesday Extra Help time on Zoom, and Wednesday math team on Zoom. I also tutor 6 kids on Zoom, for 5 hours because I tutor two friends together. I try to keep tutoring to Tuesday and Thursday evenings. So, even though I am teaching hybrid, there is still a lot of zoom in my life. After my meetings, I go for a walk. Usually 2- 4 miles depending on my time. I listen to an audiobook as I walk. It helps clear my mind and get school out of my head. When I come home from the walk, I do one or two school things if needed, mostly recording my videos. Then, I am DONE with schoolwork by dinner time. I make family dinner every night, while listening to music on Alexa (not the news). And, my final limit is NOT checking school email after 8 pm. I go to bed at 9pm, so it is reasonable, that I can go one more hour without dealing with school stuff. If I read email, there will be something I have to deal with, but it can wait to morning and I can get a decent night's sleep.
And I can't end this without acknowledging Shelli, the leader of the Yule Blog challenge. She writes that instead of New Year's Resolutions, she has a "one word challenge" -- that is, one word to live by during the entire year:
http://statteacher.blogspot.com/2020/12/mtbosyuleblog-one-word-challenge.html
Conclusion
Well, that's it for the Yule Blog Challenge for me. I completed eight posts, which was my goal -- I wanted to break my old record of seven winter break posts. I wonder whether any participant actually made it to twelve Yule Blog posts.
On Monday, I return for the last week of this long-term and deal with the new schedule. I'm still trying to decide what my blogging schedule will be.
Well, I'll post on Monday, since that's the first day of the new schedule. And I'll post on Tuesday, since that's the first hybrid (as opposed to online) day of the new schedule. And I'll post on Friday, since that's the last day of this long-term assignment. Some of these days might also count as "special days" -- I'll write them in "A Day in the Life" format so you can see what the new schedule is.
Those might be the only three days I'll post, since Wednesday's lesson will be a repeat of Tuesday's and Thursday's lesson will be repeated on Friday.
We might be starting the geometry strand in the Math 7 classes. If we are, then I might post a fourth day next week, and the focus will be on Math 7, since this is a Geometry blog. If not, then I'll stick to just three posts and highlight some of Math 8 as well as Math 7.
I end with one wish -- may your new year be filled with happiness and (sorry, Shelli) joy!
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