The First Day of Hybrid School, as Told by The Office Gifs

The first day of school is equally the most daunting and exciting day of the year. It's an awkward build-up of tension and suspense waiting to meet your new students and create a new family together. It never goes quite as planned. There's always some unexpected nonsense, but it's a beautiful and terrifying mess that I look forward to every year.

Unfortunately, hybrid learning has thrown a wrench in the gears --- I don't know about you, but I'm way more anxious about going back this year. There's so much uncertainty and so much I can't control or plan for. I'm a lot less certain of what my class and classroom are supposed to look like this year.

So to avoid trying to plan for the unplannable, I thought we could all laugh at what hybrid learning would look like on the TV show The Office.

"Summer Had To End Sometime"

"I suppose summer had to end sometime. It's sad though because I had a great summer. I got West Nile virus, lost a ton of weight. Then I went back to the lake. Annnd I stepped on a piece of glass in the parking lot, which hurt. That got infected. Even though I peed on it. [pause] Saw inception. Or at least I dreamt I did..."

It's late August, and you're still trying to live your best summer life.

Then, all of a sudden, school is about to start, so you try to squeeze that last bit of joy in before it's over.

Then you ask your admin to explain all the new social distancing rules again.

So now you understand all the rules, but you still have no idea how they are going to be enforced.

But you're just like:

Finally, it's the night before the first day of school, and you still don't know what you're doing, how you're doing it, or honestly, who you are anymore. . . or what day it is.

"OK. Let's Do This Thing. Wish Us Luck."

"And I knew exactly what to do. But in a much more real sense, I had no idea what to do."

It's the first day, so you try to give yourself a pep talk in your bathroom mirror.

Your first class starts coming in and you didn't even finish your coffee yet.

A kid comes in with a Halloween mask on that doesn't cover his nose or mouth . . . and it's the thing nightmares are made of.

Another kid refuses to wear a mask and insists:

It's at that moment that you realize just what kind of day you're going to have.

As students move to their seats, they try to maintain social distancing in an impossibly small classroom. They get creative.

Your only thought is, "Well, we lasted 5 minutes without devolving into complete chaos."

So, you try to just power through. You carefully explain the classroom rules to your students.

The kids on Google Meet (oh, yeah, totally forgot about them) apparently couldn't hear anything you were saying, so they're all just sitting there like:

It feels like you've been doing this for weeks, and then you realize, it's only noon.

On the bright side, one of your old students stops by to see you even though they had to ninja sneak their way through multiple social distancing checkpoints. You should be mad, but it's nice to see them in-person after six months.

Admin stops by your room to check-in and asks how hybrid learning is going.

The bell finally rings! You made it!

"Good News. We Get to Go Home?"

"Every office needs an end of the day tradition. Something to tell you the day is over. Otherwise, you go home and the night just feels like more day. It’s weird."

You reflect on what sort of impression you made on your students today.

Your spouse asks what you want to do for dinner.

So you eat whatever's easy to microwave or give up and order delivery.

By 8 o'clock, you're out-cold on the couch while you rewatch The Office on Netflix. Sleep tight and don't let the teacher nightmares bite.

Hey, good news! At least you know it can't go this badly. This year is going to be so different from the previous years. Don't stress what you can't control. Remember, your class is a family — except for Toby — so focus on building compassion, empathy, and patience within your classroom. That's the best you can do.

Good luck on your first day, everyone! Don't let the Sunday Scaries get you down.