Life in the Time of Covid-19: Journal Entry 4

Thursday, March 12th was the day we were told that our school was closing because of Covid-19.  Therefore we’ve had 11 days of a new normal. 

Today I scanned solutions to the questions I set for one class last week and posted them on our school management system.  Yesterday I prepared an independent learning lesson plan for another class.    A 40 minute lesson took hours to prepare.  You see, I had to write about stuff I would normally elicit from the class.  Or write about analogies that I would come up with during the lesson to drive the point home.  There’s always the unexpected question or the Eureka moment when I or the students understood what the sticking point was.  The dynamic of class teaching is ever changing, fluid and provides constant feedback.  Distance learning is a completely different ball game and is taking some getting used to. The jury is out on how effective it is.  It doesn’t help that we went from classroom teaching to distance learning overnight.   I must say that I very much miss the banter and the dynamic of a lively classroom.  

We’re trying to limit the amount of shopping trips we have to make.  Apparently slots for internet shopping delivery are currently available two weeks away so today I bit the bullet and did a much needed food shop for mum and us.  My temperature was checked before I entered the shop and sanitiser was availed of.  People wore masks and gloves, and kept a wide berth.  In a matter of days shopping has become an altogether surreal experience.

Today my world was small – family, shopping, mum, school work, chats with colleagues…  I thought I’d have a lot more free time on my hands but today I found myself falling asleep on the sofa at 8:30 pm.  Time to consolidate, regroup, concentrate on the essential.