Tomorrow begins the second semester for most Ontario school boards (some Northwestern Ontario boards began a week ago), and I’m trying not to stress about it too much. I’m pretty well-prepared, with e-Learning courses mostly created last June or this fall, Blended Learning courses about 80% ready in November.
But there are a few courses left to complete, a host of e-Learning student accounts to create/maintain, and several hundred emails to send (mostly mail merges, thankfully). I made promises to have things ready for people this week that I wasn’t able to deliver when I said I would, and I really hate that (I imagine the people counting on me hate it even more). And just like F2F classes, there are always last-minute shuffles (for us, two teacher changes) which increase everyone’s stress level.
So I’m trying to be calm about the whole thing, to recognize that some things won’t work, that some email addresses say “.com” when they should say “.ca”, that messages will be missed or misunderstood.
And I’m hoping everyone else will do the same. Be very patient with the people who try to keep the system running: guidance counsellors, school leaders, IT technicians, administrative assistants, eLCs, and so on. It’s hard work, it’s complicated, and everyone’s doing their best.
Be gentle with us. We’re trying.
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I agree… be patient with everyone you come in contact with.
It always works out in the end. Don’t unnecessarily sweat it. Good luck for your last semester.
Thanks, Doug. So far the day has been pretty smooth (lots of bounced emails, but that’s normal). Remembering that this is the last time I’ll do this sort of helps :)