Dual laptop screens light up at oh-seven-thirty-a-m
Emails to read and respond
Presentations to record and tweak
Numbers to check, accounts to balance
Virtual meetings of ten, twenty, one hundred
The faces get tinier as the numbers grow
Straining to see who's talking
This one frozen, that one glitchy
I take breaks every hour, away from screens
A load of laundry here, a walk around the block there
A three minute solo dance party in the living room
A short trip to the bathroom to reapply lipstick
The timeouts help.....but by oh-four-thirty-p-m or so
The eyes have had it
And not even a book can hold their gaze long.
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As a school librarian, I (like most teachers, I imagine) am not used to staring at laptop screens all day. My eyes are usually focused on students filling a learning space or up close asking for a book, focused on a teacher's face a foot away or the pages of a picture book at arm's length. I even purchased blue screen reading glasses; they help a little, but can't seem to erase the exhaustion of "close reading" all day long. Summer break will be a break for my eyes!
I can relate! The screens have been the most challenging and following the break after 30 minute rule has not been possible. Today my blue light glasses arrive and I hope they help!
ReplyDeleteYou have documented your day in this time well. I especially like all the specific vocabulary you use - glitchy, blue screen reading glasses. And now instead of you needing a summer break, your eyes need it. Hopefully, you can return to reading books again. It's been hard for me too. My new routine is listening to podcasts as I take a daily walk. Hang in there.
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed. I don't have the responsibilities you do, but I spend considerably more time on screen than I used to BQ. I understand your need for a break. Glad to hear the glasses help some; I was thinking of purchasing a pair.
ReplyDeleteThat image of the faces getting tinier as the numbers grow - perfect description and even a metaphor for not being able to give as much attention to each student. My eyes have been blurring this spring. Too much reading - I never thought such a thing was possible, but the arrival of my birthday reminds me, yeah, you can't always do like you used to ... alas. Here's to resting your eyes as much as you can and all this being OVER. As always you capture the very heart of things so concisely.
ReplyDeleteThis has been a real struggle. After the recommendation of a teaching colleague, I bought clip on Gamer glasses that fit over my regular glasses and cut the blue light screen glare. It doesn't solve the problem of glitchy internet, but I feel better.
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