The Coronacation Diaries, Episode 8

Zoom Zoom Zoom

We knew it was coming. We just weren't sure when. But it happened today. The "Stay home, Stay safe" Executive Order was issued by Governor Whitmer. Starting at midnight tonight, the State of Michigan becomes a "Shelter in Place" state.

So what does this mean? Zoom, Zoom, and so much Zoom. 

I've Zoomed a lot in the past, having completed my doctorate online and attended weekly classes in Zoom. And I used Zoom all last week to hold class with my AP Lit students. And now, because of the Executive Order, the kids are Zooming their music lessons. 

When I set up the music lessons through Okemos Music Academy, it only made sense that the kids had lessons at the same time. Monday nights, Sam has piano and Helena has voice. Wednesday nights, Sam has guitar and Helena has piano. What makes sense F2F (face-to-face) becomes a lot harder when we can't leave the house. Problem 1, Zoom takes a lot of bandwidth; Problem 2, our house is not very big. Problem 3, it is also decidedly not soundproof. 

But I am a problem solver. 

I set Sam up at the piano with my geriatric Chromebook and connected him to the wifi. We apologized profusely to his piano teacher for making his ears bleed with our horribly out-of-tune piano, figured out how to prop the Chromebook so that the teacher could see Sam's hands, and his lesson began.

Helena was banished to the basement with my newer Chromebook and my phone. We connected her to my hotspot, apologized profusely to her voice teacher for making his ears bleed with the loud piano playing banging through the ceiling, and her lesson began.

And then I escaped out the door, to walk the dog around the block repeatedly in relative silence. Michael disappeared upstairs, I assumed to cover his head with a pillow and attempt to nap. And 30 minutes later, it was all over. 

Tomorrow, I will Zoom yoga with a friend, Helena will Zoom her social studies class, and I will Zoom with students. By the end of this Coronacation, Zoom will be verbed just like Google, and will forever after be an understood word accepted and spoken all over the world, (except by the Académie française).

Drink tonight, my friends, for tomorrow we Zoom.