Fool’s gold school year backpedals from fulltime in-person instruction

vacillates between hybrid and remote teaching

asynchronous pre-recorded lessons and/or synchronous live streaming

use Zoom

don’t use Zoom-

don’t share scissors, pens, pencils, rulers, markers,

microscopes, beakers, calculators, graph paper, textbooks,

do hand out photocopied assignments

don’t hand out too many photocopied assignments

don’t collect student work

collect student work but don’t touch papers for three days-

wear a mask but not a gaiter

face shields are not approved

face shields are acceptable with a mask but are not required

never remove your mask

only remove your mask for mask breaks,

or for eating or drinking or physical activity

or if suffering from asthma, allergies, anxiety-

classes are split into two cohorts which meet independently

on consecutive days alternating every two days

unless it’s a flex Wednesday

or a holiday on a Wednesday

or a holiday attached to a weekend

when there is no flex Wednesday

but be sure to cover the entire curriculum in half the seat-time

and please

just in case

the worst occurs

leave sub plans.

WAYNE MENNECKE teaches high school biology in Islip and has written two chapbooks, Pencils Down and Hypochondria.  He is a member of two local writing groups, South Bay Sundays and Seatuck Writer’s Group.