High Noon
Anyone who knows anything about me knows of my affinity for the Arkells. I have seen them in concert (I miss concerts!) something like 10 times, I own all their albums. I even have a friend who occasionally plays in their horn section (she's the coolest person I know). So, because my day started in a funk I chose my favourite Arkells album to kick things off for my work day.
Unfortunately, I didn't make such a stellar choice with my early morning listening. Today was my daycare (actually my parent's house) drop-off day and on the commute I decided to listen to This American Life, one of my favourite podcasts. The episode this week centred around 4 stories of Coronavirus experiences and they were devastating, to say the least. It's been on my mind ever since and has really brought my biggest fears to the forefront, the ones I've successfully pushed away for the last few days. I'm going to give myself some time, at the end of my work day, to sit in those feelings for a bit before I move on.
It's important to move on though.
I've tried shaking these feelings with some fresh air and exercise. The community is eerily quiet with the combination of COVID isolation and a fresh snow fall. The fresh air helped a bit, the silence did not.
Working from home is not helping this frame of mind today. The work-load is becoming quite overwhelming. Every time I sit down to mark the stack of pre-covid papers I need to get through something comes up, an urgent email, an unplanned email, a student having any number of problems that I need to help solve. It's feeling endless right now. Working from home, I've also realized, has the ability to be endless. Leaving a physical space provides important closure for physical and mental tasks that are being worked on. When your work space is the dining room table in your small house with an open floor plan it's pretty hard to leave. I tidy up my work space and close my computer every evening but that doesn't seem to be enough to check my brain out of it. I need to find some strategies to help with this.
I'm sure things will become more smooth and better balanced as the weeks progress. I need to be kind to myself and remember that we are only one week in. I approach teaching with the philosophy that we shouldn't punish kids for what they don't know, rather reward them for what they do. Now it's time to provide myself with the same grace.
The President suggested yesterday that American factories producing medical supplies should stop supplying Canada (specifically) as well as other countries (much more generally) with things like face masks and ventilators. The Canadian in me is absolutely horrified by this and it's probably what's spurred many of my anxious feelings today. The Social Studies teacher in me is eagerly working through the possibilities of a current events project that focuses on isolationism vs. internationalism and the implications of each in times of crisis. So... balance??
I'm not sure if I'll continue with updating this blog on weekends. I think I need to start providing myself with some more true breaks in my week. But, we'll see.
Unfortunately, I didn't make such a stellar choice with my early morning listening. Today was my daycare (actually my parent's house) drop-off day and on the commute I decided to listen to This American Life, one of my favourite podcasts. The episode this week centred around 4 stories of Coronavirus experiences and they were devastating, to say the least. It's been on my mind ever since and has really brought my biggest fears to the forefront, the ones I've successfully pushed away for the last few days. I'm going to give myself some time, at the end of my work day, to sit in those feelings for a bit before I move on.
It's important to move on though.
I've tried shaking these feelings with some fresh air and exercise. The community is eerily quiet with the combination of COVID isolation and a fresh snow fall. The fresh air helped a bit, the silence did not.
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| Juno is still loving work form home/isolation life. |
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| If you ever really want to feel like it's end times, I'd recommend finding a taped off playground. |
Working from home is not helping this frame of mind today. The work-load is becoming quite overwhelming. Every time I sit down to mark the stack of pre-covid papers I need to get through something comes up, an urgent email, an unplanned email, a student having any number of problems that I need to help solve. It's feeling endless right now. Working from home, I've also realized, has the ability to be endless. Leaving a physical space provides important closure for physical and mental tasks that are being worked on. When your work space is the dining room table in your small house with an open floor plan it's pretty hard to leave. I tidy up my work space and close my computer every evening but that doesn't seem to be enough to check my brain out of it. I need to find some strategies to help with this.
I'm sure things will become more smooth and better balanced as the weeks progress. I need to be kind to myself and remember that we are only one week in. I approach teaching with the philosophy that we shouldn't punish kids for what they don't know, rather reward them for what they do. Now it's time to provide myself with the same grace.
The President suggested yesterday that American factories producing medical supplies should stop supplying Canada (specifically) as well as other countries (much more generally) with things like face masks and ventilators. The Canadian in me is absolutely horrified by this and it's probably what's spurred many of my anxious feelings today. The Social Studies teacher in me is eagerly working through the possibilities of a current events project that focuses on isolationism vs. internationalism and the implications of each in times of crisis. So... balance??
I'm not sure if I'll continue with updating this blog on weekends. I think I need to start providing myself with some more true breaks in my week. But, we'll see.
I miss those Friday afternoon drives home where you seem to fly away freely knowing a few late nights won't throw of your game off entirely. I sometimes wonder how many of those Fridays I have left in my career, will Friday afternoons carry the same meaning in retirement, isn't every afternoon a Friday? Counting the ways in which to make each one count. Thanks for your sharing Claire.
ReplyDeleteI never thought I would say this but I find myself missing my commute. Desperately.
DeleteDo I love driving 45 minutes each way everyday? No. But man am I craving that time to myself right now. Just to listen to a podcast or some music, call a family member, or just work through my feelings. Might have to factor a daily long drive into this new routine... we're saving way too much money on gas right now.