The school district for whom I work has been closed due to the coronavirus/COVID 19 since March 17th. This means that I moved to working from home.
I have always been interested in working from home. I’m very much an introvert, although I do enjoy the social exposure I get at work. I have often said that the people I work with are largely why I like working–I got enough social exposure during the day that I could recluse by night.
I remember attending a conference when I was in graduate school, and a woman I was sitting next to said that she left a job where she worked from home preparing documents (did page layout, for example) for customers–and made more money doing it. As a person who worked doing proof-reading and some page layout while in grad school, I couldn’t understand why someone who did this–and made more money than she did as a school psychologist–would give up what I considered a very desirable job.
(She had the best reason of all–she wanted to make a difference and work with kids).
So these last couple of weeks have been a different experience. Schools, if you’ve never worked for one, place a huge premium on “being there.” For students, we call it “seat time,” and you can lose credit for the school year by missing too many days, or, if you’re younger, courts can fine you for not sending your child. Absent teachers cost money in the form of substitute teachers, and there are clear instructional implications for absences, so again, attendance is a big deal. And for those of us, like me, who provide some level of supervision, being on-site and visible is the difference between being useful and not. When I left my 14-year-long job as a school psychologist for my first job in administration, an assistant principal I worked with advised: “Be visible.”
Visibility is different in this brave new world. I set up meetings via Google Meet to discuss challenges that teachers are having. Our leadership team met with direct service providers (speech therapists, for example) to discuss moving to an online service delivery model. I’ve created tutorials and screencasts to provide assistance for teachers.
Some miscellaneous observations, in no particular order or end of the good/bad spectrum:
- I can make coffee the way I want; cup number two is no longer from a K-Cup.
- I can read the news in bed before I get up, because (see number 3)
- The time between “I better get up” and “I have to start working” is measured in seconds.
- There’s food around (bringing a light lunch to the office precludes bad decision making, nutritionally speaking).
- I don’t use my iPad very much for work, which I kind of miss; however…
- … I get to use my desktop rig all the time now.
- T-shirts and shorts replaced shirts and ties.
- I can get up a little later.
- My phone doesn’t ring.
- Saving mad bank on gas.