Crazy Cat Lady Chapter 4 - The Aftermath

crazy_cat_lady

Baileys_Babe said:

Are the panicking pupil's able to access the work you have previously set?

Oh yes. And that is exactly where they will be directed. I've upheld my end of the bargain and done my job. I'm not their private tutor - and I have my own (two) jobs to do and my own children to look after. I know it sounds harsh but I can't be responsible for everyone all of the time - there has to be a stop point.
I've been out for a walk this evening to try and clear off the last few cobwebs of this headache. 3 miles and I felt quite a bit better afterwards. Stupid ankle is playing up again but that goes on the list of things I can't be bothered to ask the doctor about because it's more fuel for the fat shaming fire. It was raining really heavily and blowing a hooley - plus it was really muddy, but I had good company and a good chat. Just uploaded my lessons for tomorrow and now I want to crack on with knitting my mam's jumper. It's such slow going though...

Baileys_Babe

It doesn't sound harsh in the slightest. I think it sounds very fair. Even if you didn't have children or a second job. The point is you have done this job.

I love the word hooley and often use it myself 😄

CRANKY40

My son should have been taking his GCSEs this year and for one lesson before half term he was the only pupil online. No wonder some of them are starting to panic. I have to say I can't fault my son's teachers. They've all been absolute stars in the face of what has been a very steep learning curve. I did threaten to kiss his maths teacher if he passes (he has dyscalculia) but he said I'm an embarrassment    

Baileys_Babe

CRANKY40 said:

I did threaten to kiss his maths teacher if he passes (he has dyscalculia) but he said I'm an embarrassment    

Who said this the teacher or your son? 🤣

foxgloves

Yep, you've done your job as required, CCL. If your pupils have been skiving off their responsibilities....... & I would say there's the obvious parental role here too, regarding enforcement (i.e ensuring  getting up at a reasonable time on a weekday & a leisure activities only after school work rule) then there are consequences to that, as there are for every other personal choice. If your pupils haven't engaged with the work, that's not your fault, you've set it as required. I'm not ignoring the fact that there are a lot of issues around remote learning, esp for kids with difficult, chaotic lifestyles, though. 
F x

ladyholly

If your pupils are panicking it their own fault. They knew what was expected if they couldnt be bothered tough. Certainly for those in exam years it may teach them some personal responsibilty and what happens when they cant be bothered. The teachers this year have done an amazing job under very tough circumstances.

crazy_cat_lady

Morning all
I'm pleased that you all understand my point of view about drawing a line with the teaching. I feel very guilty a lot of the time, because it is my job to help - but it has to stop somewhere. I can't break myself because the kids can't be bothered. I've just spent the past 2 hours in a 'disagreement' with a very unmotivated ds about his lack of effort today. I have a live lesson in just over half an hour as well so am already a bit stressed about that because I really hate doing them. I know that teachers get an awful press and everyone thinks that we spend all day every day sitting on our backsides enjoying loads of time off, but I've worked so hard to try and make remote learning work - I'm perhaps even more tired than I would be actually being in work. Hence the four day migraine.
Thankfully that seems to have gone this morning. There's not much going on. I'm not happy with the state of the house, and I need to do some housework, plus my school work, plus nagging of ds.
Plus it's my niece's 18th birthday today. How did I end up with an adult niece? Where has that time gone? Today's walk will be taking her presents over to her and delivering from a safe distance.

ladyholly

Enjoy visiting your neice even if its distant. It will get you away from your computer for a bit. I think many youngsters are very demotivated at the moment (assuming they are in the first place) and are struggling with the situation but it appears we may be coming to the end of teachers trying to motivate students from a distance and parents having them 24/7 and also trying to motivate them. The teens must feel they are being pushed from all sides even though it is important that they do the work and really they know that. To be fair I am not sure how I would have coped with being a teenager at the moment even though I was a loner at school.

Keep going you are all amazing and I am so glad I dont have children at the moment and even my grandchildren have ended education.

Toni'sfriend

Anyone who knows anyone who is a teacher must know how hard they work and that they do not spend their time sitting on their backsides doing nothing and having lots of time off. I should add that I am not a teacher but I have so much respect for them. I had a friend who was a Head before she retired - in just after seven in the morning, rarely finished before seven at night and then there were all the out of hours meetings and parents evenings. Educator, motivator, social worker - the list is endless. Where would we be without you all? Very undervalued profession in my opinion.

crazy_cat_lady

Well I have been wondering about starting a new diary but why do I feel the need for a fresh beginning today? No clue. Anyway - I've thought better of it. I've had a quiet few days (ish) as in doing the bare minimum online and getting on with stuff at home and trying to psyche myself up for going back to work in the classroom in just over a week. All of it kicks off from tomorrow though when dd has to go to school for a test then come straight home again, and Tuesday when ds has to go to school for a test then come straight home again. Plus I have an appointment with the tres expensive naughty tortie at the vet tomorrow. It is allegedly just for her boosters but she normally turns up a couple of unforeseen expenses (broken leg costing £2k, cancer twice costing £1k each time, dental treatment costing hundreds) and she is my only uninsured cat because she has a digestive system issue that the insurers used as an excuse not to pay out for anything at all - so I was paying insurance and vet fees. She's definitely slowing down as she's getting older but I don't think there's anything wrong with her other than she's an elderly lady (dd has got me paranoid that she's at death's door) and she costs me a lot of money every time I take her to the vet.
So I really need to get tomorrow's lessons online sooner rather than later so I don't have a mad panic getting everything sorted first thing. 
DS has had some sort of epiphany. I don't know what has happened to him really but something happened overnight between Thursday and Friday. He was moaning that we had run out of squash by Thursday night but I refused to go to the shops before I got paid on Friday. Anyway, I got him up for morning registration as usual and said I'd taking him shopping as soon as he was finished there - which we did. It was an absolutely glorious day, and the shops we went to were at the beach - so I suggested a walk on the beach after shopping - fully expecting ds to say no, but he said yes. So we walked down to the seafront together, just for half an hour, and then headed home where ds picked up the laptop and started working whilst I was unpacking the shopping. And did all of his work. Without any nagging from me at all. 
Then I was on the phone to a friend at about 5pm when ds mouthed that he would like to go for another walk. I presumed that he meant on Saturday but he meant as soon as I was off the phone to my friend. So off we went for another walk on the same day. DS told me that he was fed up of playing on his Xbox now and wanted to start doing other things like work, getting healthier, walking etc. I don't know what has prompted the sudden change but I'm making the most of it while he's the nice boy that I remember him being. We did just over 3 miles and then he went in the bath and had an early night. I presumed that he must have fallen out with all of his friends online and all would be well by yesterday... but he got up yesterday morning and wanted to go out for another, shorter walk (as he was aching a bit). So we went out for half an hour then came home and I tidied the kitchen, hoovered through and mopped and made a banana cake with my old bananas. I prepped and meal planned for the week ahead - apart from the stupid godforsaken aubergine. I hate aubergine and some fool thought that would be a fantastic addition to my veggie box - I have never, ever had a tasty aubergine dish in my life.
Then ds went back onto his Xbox and I thought that was it all over and normal service would resume. He was his usual self for a couple of hours, then came downstairs and wanted another quick walk. So off we went, then got home and had porridge. I settled down to watch tv with dd and he went in the bath again. He came and watched Casualty with me then went to bed and was asleep by half past nine. He woke me up at 8am and asked me to take him for a walk on the beach again. So off we went for another 3 miles (quite slow today because he's really aching) and then we headed off to see my mam for lunch. I've told her we're not bubbling once I'm back in at work - I daren't take the risk, vaccinated or not. Lovely lunch, and now home for me to catch up on here and get ready for work tomorrow. DS came to visit his granny with us and has not been on his Xbox all day. Wow is all I can say.