Good evening, kibitzers. This is my last Monday evening with you, and I’m sorry I’m not going out on a stronger note. I’m hastily cobbling this diary together as I wait for my dinner to heat up. I severely underestimated how busy I would be today, and this diary is paying the price.
What a day. Today was our first day returning to in-person learning—and my first time in a classroom in something like 18 months. I titled this diary “Back to ‘Normal,’” but of course there’s nothing normal about it. We’re wearing masks, we have to go through screening to get inside, I’m behind plexiglass. And we’re all walking on eggshells, having not been on campus for so long. To be honest, I’m still kind of reeling from the day. I thought it was all going to be fine, and it was for the most part, but it was way more overwhelming than I anticipated. My brain nearly broke about halfway through the day, and fortunately I was able to step away and get some exercise (which helped), but it was all just...a lot. I’m glad we’re back, and I think it’s going to be a good thing for us, but the transition is going to be rocky.
Some takeaways from the day, in no particular order:
- I had a 100%—ONE HUNDRED FREAKING PERCENT—masking rate in my classes. And we don’t even have a mask mandate (we’re not allowed). Not only that, but masks were all fitted properly and over the noses. The only person whose mask was slipping was my own!
- Lecturing in a mask sucks. Holy shit I hate it. Between my glasses fogging up and my constant need for sips of water, it’s not great. Maybe I’ll get better at it.
- I really missed seeing students in person. When I only have students online, I can be a little quick to anger when I ask a question and just get silence from the other end. I could see today that most of them really were trying to take notes and were actually invested in the class. It’s also nice to get just a little facial reaction from somebody (anybody) when I try to inject some of my humor.
- Going along with that last point, some students are just really, really sweet, and that can get lost in the virtual environment. A student came up to me after class today (I struggled in class, and visibly so) and gave me a candy bar and a little packet of Nutella as a “first day of class” gift (maybe it was actually for her and she just felt sorry for me, lol). I really missed these little human interactions and acts of kindness.
- I really did not miss seeing some of the other faculty and staff members. I’ll just leave it at that. I could have gone another 18 months...
- Putting on real pants is a struggle after 18 months of being able to go to class in shorts or pajama pants. Seriously, when I look ahead to tomorrow, I’m dreading the pants first and foremost.
That’s about all I have for tonight. I’m sorry this wasn’t more interesting. Tell me about what’s going on in your life. As always, it’s an open thread. What do you want to kibitz about tonight?