Now that we are quarantined at home and teaching virtually, my morning routine has certainly changed.
6:30- Alarm goes off. Hit snooze.
6:39- Alarm goes off again. Debate hitting snooze a second time, but decide I have to be an adult.
6:40- Get up. Begrudgingly.
6:41- Bathroom. Wash hands. Wash face. Apply eye patches to the puffy, dark circles under my eyes. Brush teeth. Brush hair. Get dressed.
6:55- Head into the office (AKA my living room/dining room/kitchen).
6:56- Make a cup of tea.
6:58- Fire up the laptop and open MS Teams just in time for my meeting.
7:00- Video conference call with the Academic Leadership Team.
7:01- “Good morning! How’s everyone today?” my boss asks, in his chipper, I’m-a-morning-person voice. Great! I’m good! Excellent! Fantastic!, my colleagues reply, as they, too, are morning people. “I’m here,” I say, still wearing my eye patches and clutching my cup of tea. I don’t pretend to be a morning person.
7:02-7:29- Continue the meeting, addressing any concerns, issues, etc. that have arisen the day before. Discuss what needs to go into our daily updates to parents and staff. Talk about other ‘admin-y’ things. Finish my first cup of tea.
7:30- Log into Seesaw and release my Daily Learning Overview (the document that outlines my students’ day of learning with a schedule, learning objectives, and assignments) and my Morning Message (a video where I outline the day, give reminders, etc.)
7:31- Start receiving messages from students on MS Teams chat, as they check in for the day. Respond to their messages to see how they are doing, if they understand the goals for today, and remind them to reach out if they need anything.
7:35- Release all of the lessons (videos, links, notes, instructions, etc.) for the day on Seesaw.
7:40-8:00- Respond to the barrage of Teams messages and Seesaw notifications that come in, as quickly as possible.
8:00- Run back to my room, remove my eye patches, and apply make-up so I don’t scare the kids.
8:10- Make my second cup of tea and respond to the messages I’ve missed.
8:14- Send a good morning text to the Primary teacher WhatsApp chat with a morale-boosting message.
8:15- Call my Teaching Assistant to check in and chat about the plan for the day. He will reach out to students I’ve identified as needing more support, keep track of who turned in what on Seesaw, and help approve Seesaw posts throughout the day.
8:25- Quickly eat some breakfast. Typically a bowl of fruit or cereal does the trick.
8:30- Have my first 1-on-1 meeting of the day with a student, where I’ll check in with them about how it’s going, what progress they’ve made on Exhibition, give suggestions for various aspects (their action, their art or math components, etc.), ask how their research is going, see how I can help them, discuss next steps, etc.
8:52- Catch up on missed notifications and emails, respond to questions, check on the Primary teacher WhatsApp chat to see if there are any questions I need to address.
9:00- Second 1-on-1 student meeting begins.
My mornings sure are busy, but I’m getting into a routine. Some mornings are more hectic than others, but each day it gets a little bit easier to manage.
As a fellow anti-morning person, I did always enjoy the commute of a few steps and the ability to make endless cups of tea. And my teams always did meetings without video, so it did not matter how scary I looked!
Glad you understand…and a meeting without video would be nice! I should suggest it. 🙂
Yes! Then you can sip tea in peace while you meet until you feel all the way alive!
I continue to benefit from your sharing your DL experiences. Thank you so much! From one whose school just decided to close. You make me consider that I can learn to do what I will need to do, and also to hold myself to a higher standard than I would have before knowing what you do 🙂
Thanks Fran. I hope that the window into my situation gives a glimpse of what’s to come for you. Sorry you guys are closed. Are you doing virtual school? What’s the plan?
Haha, glad you can joke about the routine. Specially loved this slice’s humour and your description of your boss and colleagues who ARE morning people. I am a morning person but I do appreciate those who aren’t (my daughter for example!)
My main worry at this time is how do we serve all those students who are NOT connected to the internet, aka my students, if we have to close… the learning gap is only going to widen in all societies…?
You’ve got to see the humor in these situations, even if just a little. 😉
Glad you understand people like me.
That’s a real concern. I work at an international school whose tuition is a lofty price tag, so most have access to a device and the internet, but there are a few who still don’t have it. I’ve sent my personal laptop to a student who didn’t have a device, but she has spotty internet, so she’s still struggling. A few others have inconsistent internet. It’s a real struggle. Those without it continue to fall further and further behind. But what can we do?
Great way to document your day during these times. Weaving in some humor is a perfect way to capture the disconcerting nature of these quickly changing times we are living through!
Thanks Paula…a little humor goes a long way! 🙂
Busy you are but it seems like you are doing it seamlessly. Keep up the good work with your new normal.
Thank you!
Such a serious subject matter, of course, but I love the dry humor interwoven throughout. Thank you for sharing what your routine is. I’m still trying to figure out how this distance learning is going to work.
You’ll find your way. It’s tough and weird and altogether not what we want, but you’ll make it work for you.
Loved the humor and voice in this piece! I was thinking about what new routines I need to establish so that I can be productive and stay centered. Learning from your example!
As someone who isn’t a fan of working at home (i.e. finds it hard to concentrate), finding a way to be productive was my biggest hurdle.