Weird Teacher Tales from the Weirdest School Year
Interviews by Kaylee Chamberlain
Mr. Hayashida:
It's Wednesday, start of Block 1. That means I've got kids in front of me and kids on zoom. Short block, so limited time. Because of quarantine and the PRHS March Madness days, the in-person kids are behind the kids on zoom. The zoom kids have HW I really want them to check over so they get instant feedback on it. But I can't take too long because then the kids in the room will get restless. So I carefully and clearly explain to both groups that I'll read through the HW answers to the zoom kids, and then we'll all proceed on the lesson I have planned for everybody that day. I read the answers. I make eye contact with the computer camera. I announce each number to the camera as we get to it. "Number 3a: the answer is 4x - 7. Number 3b: the answer is 4 times the quantity 5 - 3x". That type of thing. I am doing an amazing job of reading these answers at the perfect pace - slowly enough so the zoom kids can keep up, quickly enough so we can get through them and get to the lesson. I read off the last answer. We are ready to start the lesson. That's when I get a comment from someone in the class, "Mr. H., did you know you're on mute?"
I WAS ON MUTE THE ENTIRE TIME I ANNOUNCED THE PLAN FOR THE START OF CLASS AND FOR ALL OF THE ANSWERS. GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! HOW... WHY... WHY DID THE ZOOM KIDS NOT ALERT ME TO THIS FACT? DID THEY NOT SEE ME TALKING RIGHT TO THEM WITH NO SOUND COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH AND THINK THAT SEEMED PRETTY PECULIAR? AND HOW DID ZOOM MUTE THE PERSON WHO STARTED THE ZOOM CALL - THAT. NEVER. HAPPENS!
To my great credit, I kept all the swear words blasting through my head inside my head. I did hop around a bit to let out some of the frustration. The kids thought that was pretty funny. And then... what could I do? I did the whole thing over again, this time not muted.
We did not get through the entire lesson that day.
Mr. Wright-
I did have my daughter sweetly bat her eyes at me last spring and ask if she could get some chickens.
So, I went through my own Senior Celebration project and taught myself how to build a chicken coop, and now I enjoy fresh eggs whenever I want them.
Ms. Medd-
My brain is quite cooked these days so this is all I could think of ...
Last spring, my adult son and college age daughter were back home working and going to school remotely. My husband is a teacher at Oxford Hills so with me home as well we were constantly texting each other from four different corners of the house complaining about who was "sucking all of the internet" when one of our zoom calls got glitchy. We ended up calling out which hours we could have zoom meetings each day to try to work around it.
Mr. Chutchian-
About two months into the pandemic, someone I know well, but not a family member, gave me an unsolicited hug. About a year later, maybe late March 2021, someone else I know well (also not family) gave me an unsolicited hug. On both occasions I panicked inside, but managed to stay cool on the outside.
The first hug came from a retired guidance counselor who had worked at Mt. Ararat High School, where my kids had attended. She had moved to Florida. She travelled to Maine last spring to attend a celebration of life event (outdoors) for her late husband. We were close, but ... when she hugged me, I thought "My god, you've been living in Florida! They don't do masks or social distancing down there!" My wife had a similar reaction. But what do you do? You hug, then freak out later in private.
The second hug came from a young man named Isaac, who trains at Cugno Boxing Gym in Lewiston, where I've been a member since 2012, or when Isaac was training there while in middle school. I made my first visit to the gym in over a year recently, fully vaccinated but not yet ready to work out. I wanted to see what kind of safety protocols they had. I wasn't in the gym more than a few minutes before Isaac shouted "Hey stranger!" and gave me a bear hug. He was wearing boxing trunks, no shirt, and he was sweating. I said, "Are we really doing this?" He had a big smile and told me how happy he was to be finished with two tours of duty in Afghanistan. So I put my fears aside to fully appreciate his welcoming gesture. Besides, I was fully vaccinated. But he freaked me out anyway.
Interviews by Kaylee Chamberlain
Mr. Hayashida:
It's Wednesday, start of Block 1. That means I've got kids in front of me and kids on zoom. Short block, so limited time. Because of quarantine and the PRHS March Madness days, the in-person kids are behind the kids on zoom. The zoom kids have HW I really want them to check over so they get instant feedback on it. But I can't take too long because then the kids in the room will get restless. So I carefully and clearly explain to both groups that I'll read through the HW answers to the zoom kids, and then we'll all proceed on the lesson I have planned for everybody that day. I read the answers. I make eye contact with the computer camera. I announce each number to the camera as we get to it. "Number 3a: the answer is 4x - 7. Number 3b: the answer is 4 times the quantity 5 - 3x". That type of thing. I am doing an amazing job of reading these answers at the perfect pace - slowly enough so the zoom kids can keep up, quickly enough so we can get through them and get to the lesson. I read off the last answer. We are ready to start the lesson. That's when I get a comment from someone in the class, "Mr. H., did you know you're on mute?"
I WAS ON MUTE THE ENTIRE TIME I ANNOUNCED THE PLAN FOR THE START OF CLASS AND FOR ALL OF THE ANSWERS. GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! HOW... WHY... WHY DID THE ZOOM KIDS NOT ALERT ME TO THIS FACT? DID THEY NOT SEE ME TALKING RIGHT TO THEM WITH NO SOUND COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH AND THINK THAT SEEMED PRETTY PECULIAR? AND HOW DID ZOOM MUTE THE PERSON WHO STARTED THE ZOOM CALL - THAT. NEVER. HAPPENS!
To my great credit, I kept all the swear words blasting through my head inside my head. I did hop around a bit to let out some of the frustration. The kids thought that was pretty funny. And then... what could I do? I did the whole thing over again, this time not muted.
We did not get through the entire lesson that day.
Mr. Wright-
I did have my daughter sweetly bat her eyes at me last spring and ask if she could get some chickens.
So, I went through my own Senior Celebration project and taught myself how to build a chicken coop, and now I enjoy fresh eggs whenever I want them.
Ms. Medd-
My brain is quite cooked these days so this is all I could think of ...
Last spring, my adult son and college age daughter were back home working and going to school remotely. My husband is a teacher at Oxford Hills so with me home as well we were constantly texting each other from four different corners of the house complaining about who was "sucking all of the internet" when one of our zoom calls got glitchy. We ended up calling out which hours we could have zoom meetings each day to try to work around it.
Mr. Chutchian-
About two months into the pandemic, someone I know well, but not a family member, gave me an unsolicited hug. About a year later, maybe late March 2021, someone else I know well (also not family) gave me an unsolicited hug. On both occasions I panicked inside, but managed to stay cool on the outside.
The first hug came from a retired guidance counselor who had worked at Mt. Ararat High School, where my kids had attended. She had moved to Florida. She travelled to Maine last spring to attend a celebration of life event (outdoors) for her late husband. We were close, but ... when she hugged me, I thought "My god, you've been living in Florida! They don't do masks or social distancing down there!" My wife had a similar reaction. But what do you do? You hug, then freak out later in private.
The second hug came from a young man named Isaac, who trains at Cugno Boxing Gym in Lewiston, where I've been a member since 2012, or when Isaac was training there while in middle school. I made my first visit to the gym in over a year recently, fully vaccinated but not yet ready to work out. I wanted to see what kind of safety protocols they had. I wasn't in the gym more than a few minutes before Isaac shouted "Hey stranger!" and gave me a bear hug. He was wearing boxing trunks, no shirt, and he was sweating. I said, "Are we really doing this?" He had a big smile and told me how happy he was to be finished with two tours of duty in Afghanistan. So I put my fears aside to fully appreciate his welcoming gesture. Besides, I was fully vaccinated. But he freaked me out anyway.
