They were remote for most of the year but both went back full time at the end (and both did much better)! Here’s looking ahead to more normal fourth and seventh grades!
Look at the furry photobomber!!
Last day of 3rd and 6th grades!
Category Archives: School
Covid teacher appreciation gifts!
Teacher appreciation week was last week but I changed my mind at the last minute and did school-colored Piper Lou tumblers instead of my usual bottle of wine. I was going to do a Binny’s [alcohol store] gift card but figured this would last a lot longer!
Owen had fun picking which one went to which teacher!
Look at who I see playing Among Us?
The PTA held another Among Us game night so off course the kids were totally excited! This picture was posted on the Facebook page!
And in case you can’t easily see them:
BOTH KIDS ARE AT SCHOOL! WOOOHOOO!!
She had a great first day back!
Owen’s first in-person day of 6th grade!
We had not planned to send the kids back to school but due to unforeseen circumstances, we changed our minds.
This is definitely not what we had anticipated for his first day of middle school but we’re rolling with it!
And waiting at the bus stop! Normally his stop would be in front of our house but with remote learning plus hybrid and whatnot, everything is abnormal.
Crazy Hair Day
Owen’s 6th grade yearbook picture!
We were tasked with sending in a school picture for the yearbook. We don’t have any blank walls with good lighting so this was the best one I took (and then I removed the background).
No one can push in a damn chair.
One guess whose desk this is.
It’s a never-ending battle to have her keep her desk area picked up. It’s horrible. And frustrating beyond belief. You ask her to pick it up and 30 seconds in she’s off doing something else because she thinks she’s done. GRRR.
Back at the table already.
Yep, I’m back to babysitting the kids at the kitchen table because they were both caught watching YouTube instead of being in class. Again. After just two days back in school after holiday break.
We thought Owen was in class. Had the chromebook out and looked busy. As usual. Then we got the email from attendance asking where he was. And the email from his teachers asking where he was. After some questioning and change of heart, Owen finally admitted he had been watching YouTube for two straight days.
So he got assigned to the table.
Katie felt all high and mighty because she didn’t have to sit at the table (the known punishment) and then got caught on YouTube an hour later. Hence them both being at the table.
Yes I am thankful that I have an at-home business where I can work at the table with them. Or at the very least walk through the kitchen or by their desks throughout the day. But this is exhausting.
I posted in a Facebook group and I am not alone. By a long shot.
Woodland Book with an Educator
Tonight was a fundraiser for the food bank—Woodland teachers and administrators read their favorite books on Google meets! Every 15 minutes you’d switch to someone new! We listened to Katie’s current teacher and her second grade teacher, Owen’s third grade teacher, the Elementary Principal, and a friend who is a teacher! We loved it, and the past teachers remembered them and loved seeing them, too!
You guys. Today was a day.
I had grand plans then life happened.
- I spent too much time refereeing kid drama (today proved they get into trouble when I’m not sitting at the table with them). Plus learned they’ve both snuck their devices which should be an instant loss for a week but…I was so overwhelmed with everything else I forgot.
- I spent 4.5 hours with Apple tech support (chat and phone!) trying to figure out a bizarre password issue.
- I had multiple random technology and business spreadsheet issues (that necessitated asking a math teacher friend for help).
- Discovering WHEN I WENT TO PLACE MY MONTHLY ORDER at 10pm that my business credit card was expired and the new card supposedly arrived a month ago but I’ve not seen it (so I got to hunt for that—unsuccessfully I might add—tonight).
- And then I discovered that one of the kids iPads is literally covered in something sticky.
The best part about today? It’s over in 21 minutes.
Lunchtime dog walker
Katie has started taking Maggie out for quick walks during her lunchtime. She even has to pick up poop!
Sigh. Babysitting remote learning.
Yep, I have to work at the table and babysit this kiddo since she’s not been in class as much as she should be. It’s a good thing I can pretty much work from anywhere.
And today was a phone call from Katie’s teacher.
She said she just wanted to touch base because Katie hasn’t been showing up for class and when she is there she’s often not paying attention. WAIT, WHAT?
She said they can see how long kids are logged into class each day and it should be between four and four and a half hours. And she’s been getting 1-3. Most days are 2 or less. UM EXCUSE ME WHAAAAAT???!!
I mean we know she spends too much time farting around and we are constantly telling her to get back to class, but I’m here with her all day and she appears to be in class. Except apparently not. Her teacher said that she often doesn’t pay attention in class—half an hour in she gets called on and doesn’t even have her book open. So what is she doing???
Of course I’m home but I’m working and doing stuff so don’t pay close attention to her (just like I don’t with Owen) and yes we’ve had some internet issues but not hours worth. Or weeks worth. So it looks like for the near future she will be sitting right next to me at the table and I will be working on my laptop again so I can keep her on track. Just what I want to have to do, right?
The worst part of all this is that she’s waaaaaay behind on school work. She doesn’t do it in class when she’s supposed to OR in her asynchronous time in the afternoon (when she literally has a list of assignments from her teacher) so we’re trying to get her caught up. And that’s a complete joy as I’m sure you can imagine.
We have told her that we know this year is weird. And it sucks. And it’s hard. But none of that is an excuse to skip schoolwork.
Heaven help us.
I just opened an email from owen’s teacher.
I wanted you to know that Owen is struggling to attend math class. Lately, he has been coming to class, turning his camera off and not responding when I check on him. For example, his icon is in my class right now but he is not responding to me when I am trying to help him. Anything you can do to encourage him to stay with the class would be appreciated.
UGH.
That was from 9:19am when I was putting on my shoes right behind him. And saw it on the screen. But couldn’t see if his camera was on or what he was listening to with headphones on.
So needless to say we had a HUGE discussion with him about it. Especially after his poor grades last marking period (two As, two Bs, a C, and a D). He hasn’t been doing his homework, he hasn’t been asking for help, and apparently he hasn’t been active in class.
I don’t want them in school because that’s just not safe but this remote learning sucks 100%.
Halloween parade Covid-style
The Primary and Elementary schools had a drive by parade today—teachers and staff dressed up and parents could bring their costumed kids through.
Sounds nice and easy right? Whoa. It was a traffic nightmare. The school is less than five minutes away and it took us an hour round trip! I think the turnout was much larger than they expected PLUS they had both schools (across the street from one another) at the same time.
The kids also made me shake my head in frustration. I thought it would be totally cool to let them sit in the back with the gate open so everyone could see their costumes. Nope, neither wanted to do it. Like AT ALL. And once we got there Owen refused to put his mask on because he was afraid people were going to make fun of him. And I told Katie she could hang out of the window to wave and she refused. Ugh. Kids!!
I took “school pics” this morning since it’s that time of year.
Owen came downstairs in a brand new blue shirt and jeans. Bestill my heart. Of course there was hair and outfit drama with Katie…so that was fun.
She was in such a state that I told her we’d try her photos another day and then headed out in the yard (I made him take one photo with the collar up)…
And then it was down the street to the park.
Where Katie finally joined us. In a different outfit and a much better mood!
I told Katie to tickle him…
Tried to get them both jumping. It was a riot.
Her turn…
Back at home…
Cuddling during class.
She assured me she was listening to her teacher even though she was playing with her doll during class. GRRR. It’s so hard because you want them to be comfy but it’s also school. And you wouldn’t do that at school. But this is also unprecedented. You pick your battles…
6th grade physical
The required sixth grade physicals were still required even though they aren’t technically at school…so off we went. It was really almost eerie walking through an empty hospital. Especially since the parking garage was as full as usual—where was everyone?!
Owen also had to get three shots which he wasn’t thrilled about but at least he just sucks it up and does it without issue.
His turn…and now he gets it.
Tom was home for the long weekend so I told him he got ALL tech questions and school issues today. He kind of said WHATEVS and planted himself on the couch playing video games.
School starts at 9.
8:55—Owen discovers he has no power on his entire workstation. No lights, no Chromebook charging, nothing. Katie (across the room) is fine. Whaaaaat?! Tom looked at me like AYFKM? I just smiled, chuckled, and said welcome to my Life.
While he was troubleshooting, I was getting Owen set up on my laptop (I kinda wanted to make Tom do that as well so he could truly experience what my days are like, but I didn’t want to be that cruel). Then, because he was messing around with the breaker box, he cut power to Katie’s station (and Chromebook!) so the WiFi went out and she was dropped from her class. And of course could not reconnect. SO PANIC AND DRAMA ENSUED.
Time? 9:03am
Me: Yep. That’s about right.
Hubby: ——
Turns out one half of the wall outlet Owen was plugged into just up and died. Completely random. You can’t make this shit up.
Then there was drama with Katie’s headphones (every damn day) and Owen was caught watching YouTube. 臘♀️
Needless to say Tom has newfound respect for me and promises not to complain about my daily texts I send him when he’s not here.
The story of the day.
So this was the tech issue I had to deal with today. Katie connected just fine in the morning but after lunch… nope. Long story short, I ended up putting her on my laptop. Turns out Google is having some unknown issue plus these school-provided Chromebooks aren’t great…so this happens. And is happening across the country. Good times.
It took just four minutes.
Well today started out okay with me waking up before my alarm and I got to have some nice leisurely quiet time before the kids got up.
And they showered without much drama and they ate breakfast without much drama and we took school pictures without much drama… And then the shitshow started.
Owen had some technical difficulties dealing with an external monitor and Bluetooth headphones and Google meets and when I asked him if these were the same headphones that he used last year he said yes but they didn’t work for Google meets then either.
YOU THINK YOU MIGHT HAVE TOLD US THAT AT SOME POINT BEFORE THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL?! (What I was screaming in my head—not what I said to him.) But he was completely losing it and this was him just four minutes in to Remote Learning. /cry/ Even though I wanted them home to be safe…THIS. JUST. SUCKS.
But things have gotten a little better since 9:04 AM when it was the worst and I think we might make it through this day without me needing to drink a gallon of margaritas.
I went outside to enjoy the weather in my egg chair…and Owen came out on a break and he seemed much better.
The first day of Remote Learning school!
Even though the kids weren’t going to school buildings, we still dressed for first day of school pictures!! (I made them shower and make their lunches, too!)
It’s the Friday before school starts so why not margaritas?
School supply pickup? Check!
Normally it’s school supply drop-off…but not this year.
Waiting in line to pick up Katie’s Chromebook.
Owen’s turn.
I was today years old when…
I took a picture of [a Chromebook model number] text because it was too small for me to read. 😭 I guess it’s time to start wearing readers around my neck. 😂
Remote learning 2.0 this year!
Our school district (Woodland Community Consolidated School District #50) announced tonight that we will have full remote learning until October 30 at a minimum. Honestly I’m relieved since I had decided to keep them home (but was STILL secretly wondering if I’d made the right decision) so I’m glad they actually made that decision for me.
Lots of people are upset and I feel badly for them. And don’t get me wrong I’m not looking forward to remote learning (even if it is 2.0) but the health and safety of the students and staff are of the utmost importance. I’d rather have my kids be behind a bit in school but be alive to catch up. (And, frankly, all kids are going to be behind since we’re all in this together.)
We just have to remember this is all new and we’re all doing the best we can. We will survive.
The kids’ PTO calendar submissions
I finally got the kids to make pictures for the annual calendar contest…I loved both of them but unfortunately they didn’t get selected.
