It finally happened: we went to school today. Yesterday morning, we opted to stay in bed. This morning, we got ourselves up and out. Hannah even woke up early enough to go for a run.
Things are different, of course, but it felt like nothing had changed. Two months isn’t a very long time in the grand scheme of things, but it’s a sixth, 16.7%, of an entire year. In the smaller scheme, it matters.
I got in, found my computer, and checked my email. There was nothing I needed to respond to. I archived all the emails that were older than a week, making me feel like I’m finally on top of my correspondence. And then, it started – the requests.
Teaching is a team sport. I’m not sure which sport is most analogous, however. Thing is, it’s near impossible to run a successful program entirely by yourself. My role has organically become the keeper of the technology. Essentially, people come find me if they need something techy, like a computer, speakers, or a document camera. The end of last year was a bit chaotic so getting things sorted out for the beginning of this year is going to be a little bit of a mess. It’ll get done, just not as quickly as people might like.
Teaching, too, has to run on time. Bell times. There is a certain urgency that pervades everything we do. Even the never-ending projects have deadlines. As things have become increasingly digital, computer access has become crucial. I find that people are very particular about their technology, too, liking things to be a certain way. I want it my way, Backstreet wants it that way.
Overall, today was a reality check. It was good to go in, get a sense of where things are at, and then leave at the end of the day. Tomorrow, the plan is to go in for only a few hours to focus on getting myself set up and ready for the first day of school. Whenever someone asked me how my summer went, I told them that I started renting a workshop, probably because that’s where I would rather have been. It would’ve been much easier to wake up to go there.
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