Home schooling

Aaaaaack! It's started! Today was our first day of online school and it was EVEN WORSE than my wildest dreams.

The day began late, because it was a school day. The twins only get up early if it's not a school day. I didn't sleep well and was awake by 5:30, finally got out of bed at 8 am after making sure the iPads were well hidden (I would use them as a bribe -- no iPads until you finish all your classwork). But the twins slept on. At 8:30 I went in to wake them up and they insisted I lay out their clothes. "I don't need to do that," I argued. "You've chosen your own clothes every day for the last two and a half weeks." "But it's a school day!" True, it was a school day. I laid out some clothes. I wonder if I'll still be doing that when they're in high school. Probably.

Kid A demanded scrambled eggs. Kid B refused them and later claimed that he had changed his mind and I just hadn't heard him, so I had to make scrambled eggs twice. We had decided to start school at 9 am, but at 9 am Kid B was just starting to eat his eggs. "It doesn't matter," I said. "Your first class is Check Schoology for daily assignments, make plan. We can start a few minutes late."

So we started a few minutes late. But when we tried to sign on to Schoology (all of us -- them on their Chromebooks, me on my parent account on my laptop), we couldn't get on. We all checked our email and here was one from the BVSD IT department: "Schoology is down." I started laughing.

Schoology, one of BVSD’s main classroom management tools, is currently experiencing a nationwide intermittent issue. The vendor of the product is aware of the issue and is working to resolve it as soon as possible. 

The email recommended that we try refreshing the web page, so we all did that, over and over. Meanwhile, I read some more of my and their email. There was one from Kid B's social studies teacher, saying he was going to hold online classes twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays at 9 am, starting this week. "Ack! Your social studies class is going on right now! You have to sign on immediately!" Signing on involved invoking Zoom, so I had to help, but pretty soon Kid B was on and the formal class was actually just starting then, about 20 minutes late, so we were OK.

"What do I do?" Kid A whined. He and I moved to their bedroom and sat on the loveseat. His first period class (Kid B's too) is Band. The Monday assignment was to sign up for something called SmartMusic. To sign up, Kid A had to provide his email address and then the website would send him a confirmation. But it didn't come. "Wait a minute," I said. "Did you use the right email address?" Of course he hadn't, so we signed up again, but now he needed a new username, since the website insisted there was already an account with that username. Of course there was -- his, with the wrong email address. We made up a new username involving our big white cat.

Kid B's social studies class ended, but for some reason the Zoom call itself didn't, and most of the kids stayed on to talk to each other and introduce their pets. Kid B got into the act and introduced Chester. Finally the Zoom call ended and we got Kid B signed up for SmartMusic (also with a cat-related username).

I was tired already, and it was only second period -- Science! Schoology was behaving better, so we were intermittently able to get on and do assignments. Science was complicated, though, with a video from their teacher to watch, a unit description to review, a website to visit, a YouTube video on the difference between mass and weight to watch, and finally a short quiz to take and submit. We did what we could.

Then it was time for Language Arts (Kid A) and Math (Kid B). I thought this day would never end! Math involved making a little video of yourself saying hi. Kid B took this opportunity to introduce Chester to his math class.

After a break, it was time for P.E. Their assignment was to exercise for at least 20 minutes, so we walked to the park/school, played gaga ball and frisbee, and then walked home. That took us 30 minutes, so we were good there, but after we got home they had two more classes!

When school was over, a little before 2 pm (the scheduled end time), I was a wreck. And, understand, this was the "get acquainted with the new system" day. They didn't really have much in the way of WORK. In subsequent days they'll have to write essays! Take math tests! Do science projects! I really understand why some parents just do their kids' schoolwork for them -- it's so much easier than helping. But I must resist the urge to take over. I must say, "Have you looked at this yet?" "Have you submitted your draft?" "Have you studied for the test?" And they will say, "No. Can I have the iPad?"