Zenaida Arroyo

Done with another week of school.  Was it easier?  A little.  But it is still challenging and lots of work.  Our District got the bright idea to have the students take the MAP test.  Umm, it is difficult to administer it when in the classroom so can you imagine how it will be now?  

I knew it would get easier once I had a routine set up for them.  I spent all day on Monday working on my lesson plans to post in Classroom.  Every morning I showed it to them and also referenced it so they would get into the habit of doing that instead of asking “What do we do now?”  

I did not lose power so that is a win.  However, a few of my students said they lost their Internet connection.  I’m not sure how since they all have a Hotspot.  Do all 27 students log in?  Not all at once but total throughout the day they do.  They come and go as they please and I don’t like it because I teach a lesson and then they log in and have no idea what we just did.  

My complaints with remote learning is the number of students I have and the fact that they’re online for 6 hours.  It is a long day for me and for them. I do give them breaks and independent work but that is also online. Oh and there are so many technology issues. I can only help them so much but it takes up so much class time.

In some exciting news I received a keeper for my watch.  Mine broke and I had to use a hair rubber band to hold the band in place.  

Even Mateo missed her!

It was my mother’s birthday on Wednesday. My younger sister came over with a cake.

I live 2 blocks from a fire station and as I was heading back home during my run, I saw a couple of firefighters and fire trucks outside. I stopped for a few months. It was an emotional moment. I cannot believe it’s been 19 years.

WordPress Update: I think I have figured out this new format. It isn’t that bad. I still like the other format better. However, what I have not figured out how to do is copy an old post. Anyone know how to do that?

Linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.

Running went well this week but going back to work left me tired and exhausted.  And like the title of this post, I do feel like quitting.

Our first day was on Monday.  I was up late Saturday and Sunday preparing and I though I was ready.  I mean I was ready in that I had lessons/activities ready to go but not ready to do online teaching to 27 students.  The most I’ve had in a room was 29 but that was in the classroom and not all 29 were in my room since the beginning of the year.

On Monday I ran 3 miles.  I came home and wrote a few messages on the sidewalk with chalk.  That was fun!

I was doing OK till about 11:10am and then my power went out.  Yep.  I could not believe it.  I used my phone to check ComEd’s website and sure enough there was an outage that would not get resolved till 6pm.  There was nothing else for me to do so I went to Wendy’s to get lunch and then went to Target to some some blue light filtering glasses.  I’ve heard pros and cons about wearing blue filtering glasses so who knows.

Tuesday went much better in that the power did not go off but it was very chaotic.  So many students.  I think that it when I got a new student.  Total 28 now.  I was furious!  Why in the world would I have 28 students in my classroom…especially during this time?!?!?!?  My sister went to the store and I asked her to get me wine.  I didn’t care which one but just to get me wine.  I made some instant mashed potatoes and had that with wine.  Not the best meal, I know.

On Wednesday I was in a bad mood.  I was so tired and exhausted.  Maybe the wine had something to do with it.  I was mentally exhausted.  I did not think I could keep doing this.  I honestly did feel like quitting.  It is harder and more work than I anticipated and I don’t think the District really cares.  I cried.  I posted the quote on the left on Facebook and many people replied to “hang in there” and that “it will get better”.  A friend posted the one on the right and it made me cry.

By Thursday morning I was very tired and did not want to run.  I told myself to do the workout but not do it exactly as I was supposed to (2 sets of 3:15/80).  I like doing this workout but did not want to do 2 sets.  I did the best I could.  I was very shocked with how I did.  It wan’t “fast” but better than I thought it was going to be.

Oh how I love Fridays!  My favorite day of the week.  It was payday too.  I ran 2 miles with a great 80s playlist.  I sang and smiled.  Isn’t it an awesome playlist?  Oh and the school day went so much better.  🙂  That evening my sister and I watched “A Madea Family Funeral”.  I laughed so much and felt better.

You know what I am going to say about Saturday, right?  Yep.  Woke up even more tired.  I had to run 6 miles but I did not want to do it.  I stayed in pajamas and watched TV.  I needed to laugh some more and watched 2 more Madea movies/plays.  They were different but still funny.  That evening I ran 2 miles (Sunday’s workout) and then did laundry.

Today I ran 6.20 miles and completed the California Coast 500 Virtual Challenge.  Ran 250 miles in 3 months.  Yay!

Well that was my fun and interesting week.  Thank you for reading.  Running went well but work did not.  I am tired of working so many hours and having all of the technology issues.  One of my students transferred to GE (English classroom) so now I have 27.  Not all of the students log on or log on on time.  I find myself always repeating instructions which is distracting to the rest of the students.  Some parents don’t let the students do the work.  A sibling was doing it for him and I told her to stop and let him do it.  (I also wondered why wasn’t she in class?)  I am so happy we are off tomorrow.  I know I will spend most of the day working but at least I can concentrate and will not be logging in with the students.

I am glad the cameras are on for the students.  I can see what they are doing.  I’ve had conversations with a few parents to let them know what their child is doing (they’re not doing what they are supposed to).  Hopefully I can get their permission to take pictures so I can send it to them.  

Anyone wear blue filtering glasses?  Do they work?

Linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.

Thank you so much for your comments, thoughts, prayers, and support.  I was in tears reading them.  It was a difficult and scary time (still is but not as much) but now I feel better.  Now what is stressing me out is going back to work.  It is still remote but there is so much work to do and I am not ready for tomorrow. 

I continued with my Peloton cycling classes.  I had been doing the 45 minute classes but on Thursday I couldn’t do another one.  I was just so T-I-R-E-D and did a 20 minute class.  On Wednesday I did the Billy Joel Ride and was excited for the playlist but it was disappointing.  There were 11 songs and I knew 2 of the songs.  Not the lyrics but at least I had heard the songs before.  It is my fault because I should have paid more attention to the playlist.

The rest of the week was busy getting ready for school.  We had three Institute Days and I was very annoyed that we got so little time to work on our stuff for school.  I mean do we need to know about grading NOW?  No, that could have waited since grades are not due till October. 

I am still not ready for tomorrow or this week.  The rest of the day today I will be working on my Google Classroom and figure out what exactly I will be doing.  My teammates decided that we will spend the first week going over rules, expectations, assignments, etc.  Also, I have no idea how many students will join me in the morning.  I have 27 students and only 13 are in my Classroom.  Today I will I reach out to parents again to have their child join my  room.  I know, I know.  I need to be patient with them.  🙂 

I went to the doctor on Friday for my yearly physical exam.  She told me I could run outside and no bloodwork would be needed to check my glucose, cholesterol, and all the other fun stuff.  She said that last year’s numbers were really good so I can skip it this year.  I did get a Tetanus shot and a referral for a mammogram.

I went out on Saturday for a run.  It had been almost 2 weeks since my last run.  It felt HARD.  Could have been the wind or the fact that I was very tired.  I have not been sleeping well these past couple of weeks.  Regardless I was very happy to run outside.  I was supposed to run 4 miles but stopped at 3.25.  I simply could not keep going.  Mentally I was done.  

Today I ran 3 miles.  It did not feel as hard as yesterday but it didn’t feel easy either.  Did I lose that much fitness while running and I were on a break?

Remember how last week I wrote about how I didn’t think I would complete the California Coast Challenge?  Well, before I knew I could run outside I got the following message from the race organizers.  Good to know I have the extra time!

Linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.