Coping with Distractions

 Beginning in February, my husband and I volunteer to do taxes twice a week on top of our Co-op classes three mornings a week. Rob and I are in charge and opened a new site.  (We sub for our church’s Religious Ed program, too.  Our parish has over 600 kiddos in RE with two sessions Sunday morning, one Sunday night, and another Wednesday nights.  It’s a lot!) Our new site opened Saturday on an hour’s delay.  We were greeted by about 20 people with only a little hostility.   Yikes!  Happily, in another life I had experience with chaos.  The Admin stuffed 40 teens with every imaginable learning difference in one class and labeled it Conceptual Chemistry.  

What are a few ways to cope?  First, have a good plan.  Rob and I have invested many, many hours preparing, staffing, training, and equipping our new site. (We had printer issues and had to use our back-up.)  Similarly, I stay on top of my Co-op lessons.  I mapped out the Modules last summer.  Before class, I update notes and slide decks.  I keep an outline as a safety net.  I put hand-outs on the list, where I can glance and see exactly what I planned for class.  I plan the entire unit.  Then I try to print copies of the hand-outs a week in advance.  (We have a back-up EcoTank printer; the library offers free printing.  I try to plan ahead and do it at the library.). 

Next tip?  Have back-up.  For example, I have an article about endocrine hormones with questions, as back-up.  I mapped out three POGILS and  some histology—just in case we finish the videos and dissection early next Tuesday.  We have two Wi-Fi connections for taxes.  I keep Bingo, candy prizes, and a craft with the RE class plans in case the lesson runs short.  Truthfully?  I have back up for my back up.  The power went out on Thursday.  I just made a plan to work upstairs in better light.  Thankfully the power came back on; there was a region outage. I love to add a five minute video; I have POGILs ready if the Wi-Fi goes out.  (I mean you, Xfinity!)  Why?  Especially in the public high school, I couldn’t rely on the Wi-Fi to work in order to use the interactive white board.  I learned to punt.  Worse case scenario?  The lights are out?  We use the textbook and go over questions  in low light.  

My last tip is to start right on time and keep things rolling.  Last Saturday, at Taxes,  I pulled out clipboards and made sure everyone was completing forms.  I sorted clients by their time of their appointment.  I pulled out a bowl of candy and told the group we would do our best to get everyone’s tax returns finished today. (We did, even though the library closed early. Arrrrgggghhhhh!)  I start Co-op on time.  Is everyone present?  Usually not.  I just start a review of bones, muscles, lobes, etc. The kids on time benefit with penalizing anyone late.  I pull the dissection or lab materials in advance, ready to go.  I try not to lose time during transitions.  If you aren’t ready for the next activity, you’ll lose the kids.  Keep things moving!  My chief management tool is to keep kids busy with something meaningful.  

You cannot avoid chaos.  You can have strategies in place to cope.