The first day of third grade is here! This year’s start of school looks quite a bit different than previous years. Our county is starting back with a fully online program for now and will determine in October whether to switch to a hybrid option.
There was no ‘back to school’ shopping for particular notebooks or color-coded folders. I didn’t buy Jack any new clothes. There was no need to buy a new lunchbox or water bottle. Instead, we got the spare laptop updated and loaded it up with his Google Classroom.
In the spring, I had Jack work in my home office with me each school day. While it was easier to keep an eye on him and help him with his assignments, the fall will have actual classes happening in real-time over video. So, we set him up with his own desk in his bedroom. He’s right across the hall – so I can still hear what’s going on – but he has his own space with a laptop, whiteboard, and notebooks.
For now, I’m still working from home but may need to return to the office at least a couple days a week starting in October. I’m hoping that I can get Jack into a good ‘online school’ rhythm, so if I have to drop him at my parent’s house on days I need to drive to Baltimore, it’s like a well-oiled machine (all my fingers and toes are crossed on that one).
On Friday, we had three separate Open House meetings in Google where we had the opportunity to meet his different teachers for the year. It was an absolute mess. The teacher’s slides stopped working, every kid was given time to share a few words – which was all kinds of ridiculous, and everyone had trouble accessing the proper Google MeetUp rooms.
So yeah. First day of school is today. Good luck everyone!