ONBOARD DIARY. THE YEAR 2020. FROM A PUBLIC SCHOOL IN THE CITY OF TAGUATINGA-DF / BRAZIL. PLANET EARTH TAKEN BY THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. THE COUNSELOR ADVISOR, AND PSYCHOANALYST, KENNYA FERNANDES: ONBOARD RECORD-1

By: Kennya Fernandes

Counselor Advisor and Psychoanalyst

I am an Educational Counselor / Counselor at the Primary Education Center number 10 in the city of Taguatinga, Federal District, Brasília, Brazil. Our school welcomes more than 500 students, divided into two shifts (morning and afternoon) from 6th to 9th grade of primary and secondary school.

In this age of social isolation, we are all at “home office” work, in a hectic routine of activity and action. All segments of the school are developing their activities and trying to contemplate the best possible teaching and learning of the students.

In this JOURNAL I tried to describe my daily routine as an Educational Counselor and Clinical Psychoanalyst, and the actions I took at this time of pandemic and social isolation.

DAY 1 – MONDAY.

My husband and I usually wake up at six in the morning, but today I woke up at 6:20. I called my two sons (João and Pedro – teenage twins, 14 years old) to wake up because they start their class on the platform of the school where they study at 07:10. While the class was being organized, I made a quick breakfast with scrambled eggs. I took a shower and went to Águas Claras Park to do my morning walk.

I finished the walk at 8 am with great enthusiasm and went home to start the workday planning the activities of the SOE (Educational Guidance Service).

My partner, also an educational advisor, Alessandra Ramalho, sent a message via video call via WhatsApp to start planning and actions for the week. We made the call through the same communication system and finished our planning around 11 am. In this planning we deliberate actions for the attendance of students, parents, collective sessions, contact with speakers to promote conferences for students and teachers. We prioritize the theme “Yellow September Socioemotional Skills and Suicide Prevention” and Self-mutilation, with the aim of promoting moments of reflection and discussion on the emotional health of students and teachers.

At 11:30 a.m. I entered the Google-Classroom platform in the icon, Coordination Room, a platform used for work at home Office. I read and studied the documents and reports of the school’s management and administrative team published on the virtual platform.

Reading of circulars and messages from the group of teachers and management team and analysis of the demands of teachers.

At 12:00 I stopped the activities to make lunch. It was a rush because my children were in a week of exams and all the time they called me to help them with their doubts.

At 2:00 p.m. I re-planned the actions to promote a talk for the group of teachers, by specific area in the individual coordination and for the group of Educational Advisors of final series, at the invitation of the intermediate Coordinator, María Juliana.

Topic preparation, emotional health / emotional triggers. During this period I prepared content, I researched articles, images, materials on the Internet and course materials taken during the study day, I prepared a part of the “slides”.

At 4 in the afternoon, I saw the Live Promoted by EAPE (School for the Improvement of Education Professionals) “The role of Emotions in labor relations”. It was a very interesting concept. Although my “internet” “went down” a few times due to network instability. So is the Brazilian “internet”. They promise all kinds of packages that don’t fall off and don’t crash and in the end, they fall and crash all the time! The service is expensive and the quality is terrible!

At 5 in the afternoon, I began to prepare and travel for my other shift at a psychoanalytic clinic in the commercial tower of a “shopping center” where I work as a Clinical Psychoanalyst.

At 6 pm I started the first date ending the last one at 10 pm. The analyses were very different from each other with cases of depression, anxiety, and anxiety neurosis. I could not have lunch because it is a day when all the patients are very assiduous and punctual.

At 10 PM I finished my appointments, went home, took a shower, had dinner, and finished the slides for the next day’s lecture. I love to give lectures and I like to work in visual language.

I went to bed at 1:10 in the morning. Zzzzzzzzz

DAY 2 – TUESDAY.

I woke up at 6:30, woke up my children, made breakfast, and again went to the park for a walk.

I returned at 8:30 am, I entered the platform to check emails, messages from the management and administrative team of the school.

9 am I saw live the “Reception and listening in situations of suffering in times of pandemic” of the School of Happiness through the Facebook channel Professor Lacerda.

At 11 am I joined the individual coordination meeting of teachers of the Exact areas for a “Talk: Emotional Health / Emotional Triggers and predispositions to disease” Reflection and active conversation on the subject through Google Meet.

12:00 pm I made lunch, on this day I received a visit from my father who had lunch with us.

2 pm I received a list through the school office of some students who had not yet been inserted into the virtual classroom platform, I began to make calls to parents, with the aim of guiding them in the process of entering the student in the platform.

Many phone numbers were out of date, others did not respond to calls, and many said they were working and could not speak at the time and would be in touch at night.

I realized that in many families there was no “internet” access due to lack of financial resources and lack of electronic equipment, lack of information (only one cell phone per family). Several difficulties were perceived for these students to be inserted in the virtual classroom and even the lack of interest of some parents in knowing how to proceed in the process of inserting the student, among other issues.

I returned the calls to the tutors of the students who were not inserted in the platform, I did the orientations for some with success, for others without return.

I assisted the mother of a 7th grader and a 9th grader who shared in a long conversation their difficulties in demanding greater responsibility from their children in carrying out the activities, who were all very anxious about the pandemic, discouraged, and asked for help with follow-up and psychological assistance.

At 4:30 p.m. I entered the Google Classroom platform with the time available to serve the students by a video call from Google Middle (6th-grade students).

At 5:00 pm, I started preparing for my second shift and went to the Psychoanalytic Clinic.

I started the appointments at 6 pm and finished at 10 pm going home.

When I got home, my children were waiting for me to help them produce a text on the Post-Pandemic Life Project. They are in the ninth year of high school.

I took a shower, I had dinner.

I finished my evening attending a class in the Postgraduate Course in Cognitive and Behavioral Neurosciences. At 1:30 in the morning, I slept. Zzzzz

To be continued…