Items

• 
  2020-08-03

  U.S. History Classroom 2020

  When I came home from my last deployment in December 2019, I began to look for teaching jobs- I was for the first time preparing for the teaching job market. Suddenly, when Covid-19 hit the streets, most business and shops closed their doors and were only open for carry-out. In May 2020, I was worried because most school corporations announced that they would presume classes virtually or through a mix of hybrid days that would consists of both synchronous and asynchronous learning for the first portion of the school year. I thought that this would be a learning curve for me if I ended up getting a position. By August 2020, I got a position as an 11th-grade high school teacher in my hometown. Before the bell rang on 03 August 2020, I put the rubber gloves on that the school’s office gave me and sprayed each desk down with bleach. The tight latex gloves did not fit my hand properly but worked for its purpose. The disinfectant left an aroma in the air, similar to a hospital. Brinnnnng, the bell sounded, and the students began marching into the building as I watched them from my window. My forehead began to bead up with sweet (I was nervous for my first day). Then, I put on my mask and stood outside my door. As I waited at the door, I remembered the old days when I was a student at that same school, I was now a teacher. Back then, the hallways were filled with my peers, there were lots of hugging and other high schoolers interaction going on. Everywhere I turned, my peers were smiling and excited to share summer stories. In a blink of eyes, when I looked at the hallways, my peers were no longer there. Neither was the high schooler me. Now, I look through the hallways and it is filled with faceless students. The unnatural phenomena brought forth by Covid-19. The wearing of a mask in the U.S. society is unnatural. The students tried to stay six feet away and tried not make physical contact with anyone. The masks covered their faces, and many wore gloves to open their lockers. As I greeted my students entering my class first period, they seemed happy to be in school in-person since all surrounding corporations had announced they would have online instruction. As they seated, they soon realized that each desk was coated in residues from the cleaning products. I then went to the front of my class and tried to write my name on the board. The marker streaked the board. The cleaning products from wiping each room down from the cleaning staff had left a clear coating that made it impossible to write on. This was a common theme for each class that entered my room. By the end of the day, the room was filled with body and cleaning supplies odors. The coating on the board ruined my marker. My hands shriveled from the gloves, and my ears were red and irritated from the mask. I thought to myself, “this is the new norm now. I must get used to it, so students do not feel overwhelmed.” I chose this story because I felt that this was a challenging year for all first-year teachers. I wanted to bring insight on how difficult it was to try and keep calm and push students to strive to their potential without making students have the extra worry of Covid. This story shows how Covid affected not only adults but everyone in our society.
• 
  2020-08-04

  U.S. History Classroom

  When I came home from my last deployment in December 2019, I began to look for teaching jobs- I was for the first time preparing for the teaching job market. Suddenly, when Covid-19 hit the streets, most business and shops closed their doors and were only open for carry-out. In May 2020, I was worried because most school corporations announced that they would presume classes virtually or through a mix of hybrid days that would consists of both synchronous and asynchronous learning for the first portion of the school year. I thought that this would be a learning curve for me if I ended up getting a position. By August 2020, I got a position as an 11th-grade high school teacher in my hometown. Before the bell rang on 03 August 2020, I put the rubber gloves on that the school’s office gave me and sprayed each desk down with bleach. The tight latex gloves did not fit my hand properly but worked for its purpose. The disinfectant left an aroma in the air, similar to a hospital. Brinnnnng, the bell sounded, and the students began marching into the building as I watched them from my window. My forehead began to bead up with sweet (I was nervous for my first day). Then, I put on my mask and stood outside my door. As I waited at the door, I remembered the old days when I was a student at that same school, I was now a teacher. Back then, the hallways were filled with my peers, there were lots of hugging and other high schoolers interaction going on. Everywhere I turned, my peers were smiling and excited to share summer stories. In a blink of eyes, when I looked at the hallways, my peers were no longer there. Neither was the high schooler me. Now, I look through the hallways and it is filled with faceless students. The unnatural phenomena brought forth by Covid-19. The wearing of a mask in the U.S. society is unnatural. The students tried to stay six feet away and tried not make physical contact with anyone. The masks covered their faces, and many wore gloves to open their lockers. As I greeted my students entering my class first period, they seemed happy to be in school in-person since all surrounding corporations had announced they would have online instruction. As they seated, they soon realized that each desk was coated in residues from the cleaning products. I then went to the front of my class and tried to write my name on the board. The marker streaked the board. The cleaning products from wiping each room down from the cleaning staff had left a clear coating that made it impossible to write on. This was a common theme for each class that entered my room. By the end of the day, the room was filled with body and cleaning supplies odors. The coating on the board ruined my marker. My hands shriveled from the gloves, and my ears were red and irritated from the mask. I thought to myself, “this is the new norm now. I must get used to it, so students do not feel overwhelmed.”
• 
  -0021-06-29

  Deli Smells and Sounds

  This story tells of the dramatic shift in "normalcy" that the pandemic interrupted.
• 2020-10-27

  The New Smell of Walmart

  Walmart. Not known for being the cleanest and best smelling place on Earth. In the past, I’d walk in and there would be always be an odd stench. One that smelled of old moldy bread and burnt bacon. However, I was very used to the smell given that I’d usually stop by here once a month after lacrosse practice to pick up gatorade for the following practices. Once COVID-19 struck. Walmart’s smell has changed significantly. The employees are constantly cleaning, wiping down registers, mopping the tile, and spraying down the carts. Now a distinct smell of bleach fills the entire store. The mask that I wear in the store isn’t enough to block out the strong smell of bleach. It’s so strong that it stings my nose. I hope that the smell of bleach can die down and oddly enough return to the regular old smell.
• 
  2020-10-12

  Tik Tok

  I resisted joining Tik Tok, and working on the archive I saw that some of the submissions were from this application, but I wasn't interested in learning a new platform. Then, when NPR started reporting that President Donald J Trump was going to ban downloading the app, I decided to download it and see what it was like. It's a funny amalgamation of short videos, sometimes music, that ranges from bizarre to hilarious. I keep seeing videos from the member TreyTV who does hilarious impressions of DJT, this one is a spin off the Idaho man who make a Tik Tok to a Fleetwood Mac song while drinking Ocean Spray. I have to say, as bleak as thing are right now, it feels so great to laugh.
• 
  2020-05-25

  An Essential Worker Shares His Experience Of Working At A Clorox Plant

  Clorox is a company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have a close friend that works for Clorox and they shared this interview with me. The interview captures the realities that COVID-19 is having on Clorox and its employees. The interview highlights the experience of Larry Wheeler, a senior packaging operator who has worked for the company for 29 years. Clorox employees are playing an essential role in stopping the spread of COVID-19. Wheeler's dedication and commitment to working as hard as possible for the common good is commendable.
• 
  2020-05-05

  Coronaland: 1927-29 N. Rampart St.

  1927-29 N. Rampart St., DON'T INJECT BLEACH, GEAUX VOTE INSTEAD
• 
  2020-05-26

  Covid-19 Cartoon: 100k US Deaths

  This cartoon depicts a New York Times news article printed May 24, 2020 listing just 1,000 names of the nearly 100,000 who had died from the coronavirus since January 2020. In the bottom right corner, Trump is shown attempting to wash away the list of the dead with bleach. Trump had previously made the absurd suggestion that people who contracted Covid could cure the virus by ingesting Bleach. This comic illustrates Trump's desperate, disrespectful, and foolish attempts at solving the pandemic.
• 
  2020-04-10

  Analyzing the Coronavirus Rumor Mill, news story

  Jon Lee, English, examines social phenomena such as conspiracy theories and fake "cures" that arise during times of widespread illness. "We essentially have two different narratives running in an epidemic," Lee says. "One is the official medical narrative, which tells you where [the disease] came from, when a vaccine might be possible. But you also have the cultural narrative, which runs alongside--but often counter to--the medical narrative."
• 2020-04-10

  Gab Grieco's personal experience with the archive

  I have been consistently posting material on the archive since we started contributing the archive as a class. I’ve given my interpretations of events or personal experiences throughout my posts, and I think my posts point out some small but important parts of this pandemic that would have otherwise been brushed under the rug. I aimed to focus on the ways the live music industry was affected by Covid. Since many of the venues I go to in New York have been closed down and are in jeopardy of never reopening, I thought it would be best to give my thoughts on those examples while I also wanted to show the rippling effects the governmental lockdowns had on a number of industries. The shutdowns of these venues really affect many other industries — there are entire businesses, bartenders, performers, comedians, artists, and activists who are negatively impacted by these shutdowns. I've seen people who work at my internship get laid off because the company, an events booking company and publication, is not making any money at the moment. Yet, while I notice that a lot of my friends or artists I like are not making a lot of money during this time, I’ve seen so many great fundraisers put together by these musicians to help other groups of people who are disproportionately affected by the virus and shutdowns. I searched for new content through social media, news sites, and personal accounts. I found myself actively and coincidentally finding material to post, whether it be reading an article or hearing about an “online concert” from friends and coworkers. I tried to diversify my material while attempting to stay in the realm of the live music business. For example, I gave an account of my purchase in support of the Groundswell Rapid Response Fund through the music-buying site Bandcamp (almost like iTunes), while I also posted an article explaining how California lawmakers had amended laws in favor of the gig economy, which directly affects musicians and artists. I wanted to post pieces from both large publications and small publications to hear diverse voices and to understand the pandemic through different perspectives.
• 
  2020-04-22

  Clorox as medicine meme

  Many shocked jokes, late night comedy skits, and more about Trumps remarks. Traditional role of the nations leader is to give advice about how to protect the entire country and to show that he cares about Americans. Instead, Trump suggested something deadly and showed he doesn’t care at all. This meme is particularly good because Clorox bleach is upside down as if attached to an iv and turned into an inhaler and pills. In the current pandemic, disinfectant products like Clorox or 409 can be hard to find. Public health agencies are scrambling to teach people not to use bleach or Lysol internally because some might try the President’s ideas. It’s dangerous and it never was a joke as we all know. The memes help us cope by laughing at the utter horror of covid19 deaths and the terrible federal response led by the president.
• 
  2020-04-25

  Just a Spoonful of Clorox

  YouTube parody of "Just a Spoonful of Sugar" based on President Trump's suggestion that household disinfectants could be used to treat COVID-19.