I'm not great at responding naturally to "How are you?", as I distrust blithe bullshit, and know at some level that no one wants one's real, authentic response.

I had the best exchange with another alt school teacher on Wednesday.

Her: Hey, how are you?
Me: Doing okay, you?
Her: Hanging by a thread.
Me: Oh thank fuck, me too.

I should invite her out for a beer sometime this century.

A low last week... I dunno. I feel uninspired, teaching right now. Kids are very unengaged, and I keep getting new (unengaged) kids, which is hard when I am teaching all three damn grade levels. One of my new students came for three days and then I got an email after I enquired about her subsequent two day absence from Zoom, from a counselor at a community intervention service, that she is in the hospital because she tried harming herself. So that sucks.

I'm sorry. That's been my experience all year and it's so demoralizing. I try to bring the energy for the kids but at a certain point I'm just spent.