BACK TO SCHOOL EVE & A PEEK AT OUR WORK SPACES

 Happy Wednesday, friends!!  It's Back to School Eve over here and although life is about to get so much more hectic, I must say that we are all ready for it! Am I going to miss all the lazy days of puzzles and family movie nights? YES. But goodness, y'all. My kids need some structure and between you and me...it honestly wouldn't kill them to pick up a book every once in a while. It's time to get back to school!

But before I go any further, I want to give a big shoutout to all you teachers! You guys are amazing and I am so very thankful and appreciative of you!! I know that this year is going to be weird, crazy, stressful and a little scary at times but please know that I am praying for you, I am grateful for you and I promise that we'll give extra good gifts this year. 😉 THANK YOU, TEACHERS!!

Now I know everyone's school year is starting off differently so I wanted to explain what are situation looks like here in Mckinney.

Everyone in Mckinney ISD is starting out with online classes only for the first 3 weeks. After 3 weeks, (as of now), the schools will open and you can choose to send your student back in person or continue virtually. We had to make our choice a couple of weeks ago but it will only be a commitment for the first 9 weeks. If we'd like to change it after the first 9 weeks, we can. My kids will be going back in person as soon as they can. They both perform 10 times better in a true school setting with a teacher standing over them than they do at home. Now if this had happened when I was a kid, I would have thrived with virtual learning. So it really does vary with each kid and their personality and learning styles. I certainly don't judge anyone who chooses to keep their kids home and do distance learning through the school or follow a separate homeschooling curriculum. We are all just trying to make the best decisions that we can for our own kids.

Masks are mandatory for kids 10 and up. Desks are spread out and heavy-duty sanitizing and handwashing will be going on all day. There will also be temperature checks twice a day. (Mckinney mamas, correct me if I'm wrong on any of this. I'm trying to remember what all I read in the info they sent out.)

Hahaha...that was too funny not to share.

But for now, each day the students will log on to their computers and will follow a regular school day. Each student in grades 3-12 was issued a brand new Macbook (woohoo!!) that they will use until they graduate. I'm pretty sure they are also available for younger kids too if they need them as well. You just have to request one. I'm honestly not sure how it works with the little ones though.

 They will have to log on to their zoom class meeting by the time the "bell rings" and the teacher will teach from their classroom as though they were standing in front of the students. I think at some point during the class, they'll be instructed to work independently on whatever they just learned through links and assignments that will be there for them on Canvas, which is the platform they are using. Matthew (7th grade) will change classes for each subject so he'll log in to different classes following the same bell schedule that they'll use for in person school. All of the students will be able to see each other as well as the teacher but the students will stay on "mute" unless they have a question/comment. There are "passing periods" between classes, recess, lunch, specials...all of it just like a normal schedule. I'm sure there will be a few bumps along the way but I was actually really impressed with the improvements they seem to have made over the summer.

I know in Mason's grade, they have put all students who will be returning to school in classes together and those who opted to continue on with virtual learning in others. So after 3 weeks, there will be some teachers who teach in person to their students and some who will do virtual teaching only.

But again, that won't start until 3 weeks from now and there's always the possibility they'll push back the reopen date even longer.

As far as sports go, both boys will be playing baseball and football this fall. We don't usually do 2 sports at once but that's just how it worked out this year so we'll see how it goes. We chose not to play any this summer so after not playing a game since March, these boys are ready!

 Mason is back with his (beloved) baseball team and is also on a tackle football team for the first time.  And Matthew is on a new baseball team and will also be playing tackle football for his school this year for the first time as well. Practices have already begun for everything except 7th grade football and we don't really have much info on that yet.

Last weekend, we got Matthew's mandatory physical completed (nothing like waiting until the last minute!)...

...and the next day we headed up to the school to get him fitted for his helmet and pads and get assigned a locker.

He's definitely a little nervous about this whole tackle football thing. Baseball is so much more his speed. A lot of people assume that because Craig was a professional football player then his boys will automatically love it (and be good at it) as well. And maybe Matthew will. But if he doesn't or he's not--that's ok too! If he decides one day that he doesn't want to play baseball or football anymore and wants to focus on band instead--again--totally fine. We just want our kids to find at least one thing they are passionate about and stick with it. (Preferably not Fortnite. 😜)

Anyway, Monday night was Matthew's Meet the Teacher night and they ran through their entire day in a very condensed version to make sure everyone understood how to follow their schedule and find their correct zoom link, etc. 

And then last night Mason had his! He was excited to see who all was in his class and to "meet" his teacher but he was most excited about...

...his new desk! It's nothing fancy and it certainly won't be getting passed down to his grandchildren as an heirloom but he thinks its awesome and basically the ultimate school supply. He's pumped. He's also pretty pumped about his new laptop. McKinney ISD issued new laptops to every student (3rd grade and up) and they are nice!

I probably should have done this a whole lot sooner since finding desks right now is about as hard to find as toilet paper was back in March. But last spring when we went to online school, Mason just used Craig's office when he wasn't using it because they were able to do the classwork at their own pace. Since it's all live this year, we realized he needed somewhere all his own where he could shut the door and focus. So I jumped on Amazon at about 5pm on Monday night and this desk was the first one Mason saw. So I checked and it was the perfect size (literally one inch longer and it would be too big), it was under $100 and it could be here in 2 days!! Score!!!

I scrolled through the rest of the first and second pages of options before realizing that this desk was like a gift being handed to us. The others were all too large, too expensive, too ugly, or wouldn't ship for weeks or months. So I grabbed this one pretty quick!

Funnily enough, later that night I went back to look at it again so I could start visualizing how to get him all organized and saw that it was now showing it would be available for next day shipping! So I canceled my first order and re-purchased it so that it would come a day earlier! What?!

Sure enough, it arrived yesterday! I got it put together in about 20 minutes and we had just enough time to drag one of our kitchen table chairs upstairs before Meet the Teacher started. (I ordered him this chair but it won't be in until next week. It also comes in blue and black.)

When I posted the picture of his desk on Instagram stories last night, several people DM'd me asking for the link and when I went to grab it, I saw that it was currently back-ordered! Keep checking back though if you want it. (UPDATE: It's back for quick shipping!! GO!!) It could switch to in stock at any minute. It also comes in several other colors.

We are supposed to go to the school (drive-thru style) to pick up the school supply packs we pre-ordered at the end of last year and once we do that, I'll get him fully organized. I think I'll eventually add some shelves above the desk too but for now, we just hung up the superhero "M" I made for him several years ago.

UPDATING to add in pics of his new chair. He loves it because it spins fast. haha

And I know I showed y'all Matthew's little desk area back in January but here's a reminder of what his looks like. You can find his desk HERE and his chair HERE. As of last night, they were both still in stock in certain color/size options.

The brown part on the right lifts up for some storage.

This one is the 39" option which they aren't even showing anymore so it must be unavailable. We needed something small since his closet door opens up along that wall but they have 2 other longer lengths.

So if you are still looking for a desk, be sure to check Amazon! I saw that this one and this one were in stock with fairly quick shipping but this one is the quickest!

I'll be sure to show you how we decide to get them organized once we get the school supply situation figured out and Mason's chair comes in. :)

But for now, we are as ready as we can be! Early bedtimes tonight! It's been a LONG time since my two have been asleep before midnight. And it's been a LONG time since they were up before 9 as well. So that should be fun. 😂

When do you start back to school and what does that look like for you this year? It's so interesting to hear how everyone is doing it! 

Have the best day, friends!

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