Back-to-school time is more stressful than the holidays, a mammogram, and an extended visit with the in-laws COMBINED for most moms I know. My September breakdowns have been well-documented here. The unfortunate fundraiser meltdown of 2011. The carpool catastrophes. The scavenger-hunt supply lists, the endless forms to fill out. I was hoping to breeze through back-to-school this year. After all, I’ve been doing this awhile now. Didn’t happen.
In my defense, my older son just started middle school. He’s got 4 main teachers, not including his teachers for art, gym, library, Spanish, and technology. He switches classrooms throughout the day, somehow navigating his way through the labyrinthine hallways clogged with students, backpacks, Axe body spray, and general mayhem in 4-min. intervals between classes.
I know this because I followed his schedule at Back-to-School Night. Which is now referred to as “#B2SN,” apparently.
Listen. I am all about embracing technology to enhance learning, connection, and efficiency. I love my smartphone and social media. But THERE ARE LIMITS. Get a load of this tech overload, will you?
Each teacher provided the parents with no few than 4 ways to contact them. They all have email addresses, of course. Yet, there is no consistent email format at our school, and most of the accounts were set up with the (now-married) teachers’ maiden names. It’s not confusing at all.
Some teachers provided their Facebook and Twitter pages, along with their cell phone numbers. They also let us know about several web-based platforms where we could check on our students’ grades, behavior, and assignments. All require different login codes and passwords. That sounds easy. {eyeroll emoji}
Then came the forms. Oh, the forms, forms, forms, FORMS. You might think that, given this shift toward technology, maybe we could fill out those dreaded medical forms online now? Maybe we could even save the data from year to year or have it autofill in siblings’ parent contact info and addresses? Nope. We’re not there yet. Paper forms for all, sometimes in duplicate or triplicate. On recycled paper, naturally.
The school principal did a video welcome message, which was intended to save time. But the individual teachers still could not get their AV equipment to work properly. Some were stymied by sound issues, or beleaguered by buffering. Powerpoints perplexed many. Some things never change.
The school lunch menu? There’s an app for that.
Weather cancellations? Sign up for text alerts.
See? Everything is so much SIMPLER now, thanks to technology!!! Wonder what my next year’s back-to-school breakdown will be about… #B2SB2018
LINK O’ THE DAY {Sponsored}: Speaking of paper and trying to cut down on it, have you seen Paperless Post’s attractive online invitations? And they actually do paper stationery now, too. Who knew? When they invited me to peruse their back-to-school invitations, this design caught my eye.
