I used to have a job where I could choose to work from home if I wanted. It was often hard to get motivated because I had no meetings or scheduled events.
Now, working from home I know I have to be online at X time on this day so it helps to be ready and motivated. I'm also making sure I'm prepared for that event the day before. Makes my stress level so much less!
I feel this! My district just announced that all staff have to work from home and I just like it. I feel like home was my 'no working' space and now I'm really struggling with that mindset shift. It's harder to set boundaries with myself like not checking emails after a certain time. Basically, home and work and blurring together a lot.
After the chaos of in person learning this fall, I have to admit I'm enjoying working from home. I have so much more free time and so much less stress. Even time to be surfing PT during my work day! Yesterday morning one of my students decided to throw a full on screaming tantrum over progress monitoring, which would have taken one minute, at the end of her session . At school, that's my problem for who knows how long. On zoom? Sorry, I need to move on to my next session. See you tomorrow- and remove from meeting!
I know that long term, it's better for my mental health to have more structure and to be out and seeing people in person, since I live alone. At least zoom teaching is providing more interaction and structure than the spring where everything was asynchronous, but zoom is just not the same as actually seeing people. I'm sure that in January, especially after two long holiday breaks, I'll really be ready to go back in person. They're trying their hardest to get K-2 back in buildings, and that's me, so I expect to be going back soon after winter break.
Oh Greyhound Girl. I feel the exact same way.
I’m in NYC and we went all remote again on Thursday. We were supposed to be allowed to work from our classrooms if we wanted to. But now our union isn’t allowing us. It’s only been 2 days and I’m losing my mind.
So I feel your pain.
I actually do better. I feel like things are pared down more to basically lesson planning and basic school housekeeping items. Normally, I feel like so much of my time is taken up by nitty gritty paper work and time wasters for things needed to be turned in to the office, but didn't benefit students any....it was just something for admin to cross off on their check list.
Now, I spend almost all of my work time focusing solely on lesson prep and instruction, which is as it should be.
I really struggled with it, to the point I was considering taking a long leave and giving up trying to teach. Then we were sent back to school. I'm still not sure it was a wise decision state wide, but it was for me. We have been back since late May, but also haven't seen a case of Covid in our region since April.
That's why I like working from my classroom because I am in work mode there. I don't want all my work/classroom stuff at home. I also realize not everyone can or is able to. Our building is open and I'm one of a few that are going in. I'm not as work dressed as I usually am and that feels great. I'm starting to love the peace and quiet and am in total work zone. A few are still in building so I also enjoy seeing them daily and chatting. I also realize it gets me out daily and I like my drive in listening to the radio and all that. Puts some normal in the day for me.
I feel the same way, GG. My level was ordered home last weekend for close exposure of one of our kids. The plan was home Monday & Tuesday; we are digital on Wednesdays. That would give us time for his test result to come back. Thankfully negative.
I liked being dressed down a little. I wasn’t school-productive; you can only do so much when your materials are at work. But I was home-productive. I got the laundry & dishes done on my planning periods. I did some online shopping. I did get some correcting done on Tuesday, but my to-do list was at school, so not much else got done. My calling cards, attendance lists, etc. was all at school since this was unexpected so each class took longer to get settled into a routine. I forgot how nice it is to see people.
I get it! My district has been remote since September and we are not scheduled to go back until February 1. I set up my older ds bedroom as my classroom so I had an official workspace. That made a big difference. I had to separate work from home. I am lucky I had an extra room in the house. Many of my colleagues are taking over their living/dining rooms.
We have the option. My wife and I both teach elementary grades and we’ve been working from school since September. I like having the desk space, the extra monitor and materials there vs in my house. It’s also nice seeing other adults. A lot of people are working from home. I’m only 1.5 miles from school and my wife is about half a mile so that helps.
I’m lucky to be working on campus, with many safety protocols and students still at home.
Working from home absolutely destroyed me when lockdowns started. My mental health suffered greatly and I fell back into some very self-destructive behavior.
Up until a few weeks ago kids were remote and I was teaching from the building (We had a choice). Then Pritzker said those who could work from home should, and so now we are all working from home.
I am so much more productive in my classroom. I like having access to all my supplies and if I have to tweak something for one of my students I'm close enough to do a porch drop on my way home.
I have so many different materials for groups that I can't have duplicates of everything. So I moved everything home to my dining room. When we can go back, it's going to be a big job to move back.
It's only been a couple of weeks and I'm already getting that isolated, disconnected from school feeling I had last spring. When I could go to the building, there were only a few of us there but it was enough that I wasn't feeling so isolated. I teach special ed, so I don't really have other teachers that I plan with except for the homeroom teachers. That's usually through email or hangouts.
I need to be in the building. It's better for my mental health :-)
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11-20-2020, 07:25 AM
. At school, that's my problem for who knows how long. On zoom? Sorry, I need to move on to my next session. See you tomorrow- and remove from meeting!
I got the laundry & dishes done on my planning periods. I did some online shopping. I did get some correcting done on Tuesday, but my to-do list was at school, so not much else got done. My calling cards, attendance lists, etc. was all at school since this was unexpected so each class took longer to get settled into a routine. I forgot how nice it is to see people.
