8 Days- Countdown to Re-entry

Tension rises as the day to re-enter our public schools gets closer. While I am ready to get back to the routine of going to work and interacting with others, I am terribly afraid that it won’t be safe. I need to keep my mind sharp and critical, so that I can pull out and take the Family Leave Act at the first sign of unsafe conditions for this pandemic. I know I have the ability to do most of my work from home, as I did it in the spring. Even though CDC recommendations promote working from home if you can, I am doubtful that this will be allowed.

I took this picture today as I was leaving our WalMart parking lot. Starting this Monday, they are requiring mask wearing of all shoppers. In preparation for that, they have only one entrance open so that they can monitor who enters. They are also trying to keep the number of shoppers in the store at a lower number. They are holding a line of people waiting to get in. There is someone now stationed at the carts, disinfecting them before they are touched by shoppers.

I have been working on my Google Classroom in preparation for my students who have opted to do remote learning. Today I played with “screencastify”, which allows me to make videos and easily save them in Google Drive. I immediately learned that I need a lot of practice and maybe some makeup. Right now my face is broken out from a combination of allergies and the intense heat. If I don’t position myself and the webcam just right, I look like I am talking to the air. I feel ok about being on camera, but it is not one of my favorite things to do. I am going to play around with the background, so that my bedroom isn’t up for the world to see! Actually, Little AoA’s doll collection lives in half my room, and makes an interesting background. Anyway, I have some ideas for background that I want to play with. I found a cute little chart about how kids might think about zoom meetings. Many of the things on the list have indeed, proven to be true in my experience.