Expecting

I was just reading the meeting minutes, a friend and colleague texted this afternoon, I see you took your new line about expectations out for a walk.

I couldn't resist! I texted back.

And I couldn't, because sometimes those moments of clarity just have to be shared. As I was explaining the new camera-on policy to my class this morning, one of the students unmuted and asked (off camera), "Are you going to enforce that?"

It was his use of the word "enforce" that made me pause and consider the situation. 

"Well," I answered slowly, "if it was a requirement? I would enforce it. But this is an expectation-- it's your job to live up to it; as a member of our community, you have to enforce it for yourself."

There was silence, and I congratulated myself for finally finding a way to explain what "expectations" mean.

My proud moment was quickly cut short. "What if we don't?" he asked.

"Then your community will be verrrrry disappointed," I answered, leaning into the camera and wiping an imaginary tear.

All of the People None of the Time

"The superintendent is going to announce the return-to-school dates today," I told my students this morning, "so I'll finally get to meet some of you guys in person." 

Our system is opting for a hybrid model with concurrent instruction, so at any given time, 2/3 - 3/4 of the students will still be learning from home while their classmates attend school for 2 days a week. It's going to be a lot to juggle, and there will quite likely be something for everybody to dislike. 

"What about our break?" asked one student today. "How will that work when we're in school? Will we just be allowed to walk around the halls?"

"Your break?" I asked in return.

"Yeah, when we work asynchronously," she clarified.

"Um," I shook my head. "We're not going have those."

"I'm glad I'm staying home!" one of her classmates chimed in.

Shutter Lag

After months of not requiring students to turn their cameras on, last week we received guidance on the latest policy, which is that students are expected and encouraged to turn their cameras on, but not required. Such a shift, midyear, promises to be a hard transition to manage. Even in the early days of distance learning only a small number of middle schoolers chose to turn their cameras on, and that number has definitely dwindled as the days have passed. 

To be honest, as much as I want to see some faces, my some of the sights I've already seen have been far from camera ready. This new policy will require some direct instruction and reminders about expected on screen etiquette, which may be a bit of a hard sell to those students who never wanted their cameras on to begin with. 

Will being onscreen increase engagement? From a certain segment of our learners, probably. I know myself some of the shenanigans and distractions I engage in during this meeting or that, but when my camera's on, I am the very model of attentiveness (if you call staring at my own thumbnail image attentive). Still, a solid majority of my students answer me when I call on them, and I know they are paying attention, even if they are hunkered down on the bottom bunk with hanging sheets and blankets creating a little learning cocoon which may not transfer to the image they want to project to their peers.

Practically speaking, it takes a lot of bandwidth to have your camera on and access the learning management system and whatever other apps might be required, especially if you are using your phone as a hot spot. And for those with whom I would like to check in with more directly, there are always breakout rooms; I can pop a kid in there, have a heart to heart, all the while monitoring the main class on my iPad. In that one-on-one space I often ask for the camera to be turned on, so that our connection is more than just vocal.

For my convenience and ease as a teacher, it would be great to see that expanded Brady Bunch view of every child smiling and looking right at me as I impart all my wisdom, but there is no studio audience and we only have one take to get it right. And so I guess what I'm saying is that I have changed my mind about the kids and the camera-- 

just in time to be on the wrong side of the policy.

Guru

Every weekday morning for the past five weeks I have risen in the dark and crept silently downstairs to join a live stream Kundalini Yoga class. I always make sure to pull the door behind me so that my chanting will not disturb Heidi. The cats are curious about the computer and cushion and candle; they often prowl around as I mindfully breathe and twist, but Lucy is always still upstairs snoozing with Heidi.

But this afternoon when I joined a different live session online, Lucy was awake and ready to join my practice. My prana was her panting; we executed cat-cow shoulder to shoulder, and savasana with dog resting on leg was even more relaxing than usual. 

Oh we didn't actually get to downward dog, but no worries: Lucy is always in the present moment, and it didn't bother her at all.

Sat nam.

The Now

This moment I am in my chair looking at the fire, dinner in the oven, a glass of beer on the table beside me. Today I practiced yoga, baked bread, read a book, coached Annabelle on ratios, and sketched Bulbasaur for a rock I've been requested to paint. All good.

These days at home have been comfortable and restorative in so many ways, but they sure make it hard to find anything new to write about. 

Royal Pain

Does the queen like The Crown? I googled last evening. Admittedly late to the tea party, we have been watching the popular Netflix series about the English royals for a couple of weeks now, and the first season Queen Elizabeth is so smart and likable and sympathetic that I couldn't imagine the real queen could object. I also wondered what it might be like for a person in their 90s to see the life they led when 20-something recreated in such detail.

My research indicated that the queen did indeed like season one quite a bit, although Prince Phillip would have none of it. Later episodes were not quite so appealing to Elizabeth, and word has it that this past season, the one about Charles and Diana is scorned by the whole family, except, of course, Camilla.

Gentle Reminders

Seasoned teachers know that it frequently happens that a new student will come mid-year and disrupt the whole class dynamic you've been patiently nurturing since September. It makes sense when you think about it-- that kid doesn't have any allegiance to you, and they really want to connect with their peers. Taking on the teacher in even the smallest way is an effective technique to make an impression on everyone. 

So I shouldn't have been surprised at all when, even though we are still virtual, both of the girls who recently joined one of my classes gave me a little bit of a challenge yesterday. 

As I've mentioned before, every class starts with a question of the day, and students are expected to post their answer in the chat. I read their replies out loud and usually engage each student in a very brief conversation which is meant to be a way to build our personal connection before we dive into the lesson. 

The question yesterday, What is an important lesson you have learned in your life? was crafted to serve the dual purpose of conversation and springboard into writing a fiction piece where the main character learns something important. As I read through the replies, I praised the ideas and encouraged the students who hadn't answered yet to do so. 

idk wrote one of the new kids. 

I reminded the class that there were no wrong answers, that everyone has learned lots of lessons, that no example was too small. 

i can't think of anything she posted. 

"No problem," I said. "You can stay on the call once everybody gets started and I'll help you." 

The chat dinged immediately. i thought of something, she wrote. 

"Great!" I replied. "Go ahead and put it in the chat."

its okay not to know something, she typed.

Ouch!

Later as I was giving directions, the other new student was busy in the chat posting greetings to her classmates. I was still explaining when she started writing questions. What do we do? Where do we go? and when I didn't answer immediately, she followed up with a hellooooo?????

I let it slide and explained what she needed to know. Later on, she ran into another problem and again began peppering the chat with questions, finally ending in HELLOOOOZZ???!!!

I replied to her in the chat. The helloooo thing is a bit disrespectful.

Sorry she responded. I needed to know if my messages were getting through!

You can always unmute and say "Excuse me" I reminded her.