First Day Back - The Reflection

As much as I wish I could say I was 100% prepared for today, I can't. As always, something was bound to not quite go as I planned (that breakfast I'd prepped the day before? Forgot at home....). I couldn't fit everything I needed to bring to my room into my rolling cart (#assistivetechprobs). But, overall I felt ready and prepped to begin the new school year.

Miriam's Bitmoji, which has long wavy brown hair and glasses, is sitting next to a dog and both are covering their faces with their hands.

While I likely won't post a reflection every day, I want to try and post on days when noted things happen, or when I spend time working on a variety of issues, work-arounds, or creative projects. Today I am posting to discuss (again) the questions from this morning as well as nearly all of the things listed. 

The Questions

1. Who's wearing masks? Turns out... it's a mix. I wore my mask 99% of the time. The only time I didn't was when I was alone in my room or when I was eating. For others, I am not sure I can say the same. I saw some people wandering without masks, sometimes alone, sometimes with others. What was most disturbing to me, however, was after school.  I stopped for gas on the way home and went inside to grab a drink (that afternoon slump is real y'all). The only people wearing masks were myself, a female customer, and the two attendants. Countless others, all white, had not masks, made feeble attempts at social distancing, etc. I don't know if I can say this loud enough... but, your mask protects the rest of us. When you don't wear one, you are saying " I don't care if you get sick". 

A purple circular shape on a black background that says: When you don't wear a mask, you are saying you don't care if others get sick.

2. Do I need to take extra precautions? Yes. I believe so. While those who entered my room wore masks, at one point multiple people entered at the same time unexpectedly. Similar to an experience I had a few weeks ago, I would rather be safe than sorry. I am thankful that my department all wore masks and socially distanced during our meeting. I am thankful for my Latin colleagues who are taking this pandemic seriously. I wish others would too. 

3. What are the requirements? Can I be me? There are requirements for our digital learning platform and I came in today knowing what most of those were and having already set them up. However, and I give full credit to my mom for this, I will also find ways to be me and be creative and fun. I certainly do not have time to discuss them all here, but I will link what I can and ensure that I post later on other topics. So far I've: set up my google classroom and included a Bitmoji GIF, used amazing resources created by my colleagues and administrators, starting working in my Bitmoji Classroom, and worked on creating a virtual meet the teacher and a virtual "all about the students". 

The rest of the questions are still unanswered. While some of my physical symptoms of anxiety dissipated, others remained. I still don't know just how many meetings I'll have this and next week or how much time I'll get to put things together. But... I'm going to remain hopeful for the best.

Miriam's bitmoji with long wavy hair and glasses looking confused with a question mark above her head.

I want to close with the answer I gave to my department head's question: If this year were a fruit or vegetable, what would it be and why.  My answer? The English pea... Very few look at the English pea and think "yum" (yes, I'm one of them), but just about everyone likes the English pea or eats it at some point. You just have to be creative about what you put it in: fried rice, chicken pot pie, mac and cheese. Whatever it is, get creative, find the right context, and work it. ​