The third day of anything is, in my experience, always the most difficult. When my kids were little, the third day of vacation was always "meltdown central" - and the kids would get cranky, too. The third day of any diet modification that I've attempted has invariably ended at the Freddy's drive thru. And I remember - very specifically - the third day of my first drum corps tour. I was exhausted after the third consecutive day of 10-hour rehearsal days that began at 6:00 am with a swift jog to parts unknown, and ended with our second or third run-through of a show in which I'm sure I clocked more than 10,000 steps (per show!).
But now here we are in our third day of online learning. Or wait? Monday was kind of a wash because we didn't officially start online until yesterday? Is tomorrow the third day?? Ugh. No. Forget it. I call this third day back. Regardless, I'm feeling like people are starting to get into a groove of sorts. I'm still putting out the occasional fire (My Class Dojo code doesn't work! How many entries do we have to do? Can I write my entries as a cat? ) Ok, so no one has posed that last question...yet. My greatest accomplishment today was the creation of the 8th grade pictures page. As I've pored over pictures during the last few days (and yes, that's the correct version of "pore"; it's not "poured over pictures" - I'm not liquid), I found that my desire to share these with you outweighed my ability to wait. I also realized how much I miss seeing everyone. You should see them now as a reminder that yes, school can be fun and that you have changed A LOT in just a few years. Wyatt, check out the 6th grade pictures when I was actually taller than you! Don't worry, Caleb - I'm still holding onto the "Single Ladies" video. Gotta keep something for the 8th grade slideshow/dance. I'm looking forward to reading the journal entries (due Friday, BTW) and I will take time to comment on them. There is another assignment posted on your respective grade's page, so don't delay. I can't wait to get started on the novels. I'm wondering if people would be up for signing up for small group discussion times. Hmmm...something to consider. But not until Day 4...
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Oh man, do I miss seeing everyone's faces. I love getting a notification in my inbox telling me that someone has shared a journal entry with me, and it feels good to be doing SOMETHING. Therefore, I'm not going to dwell on what I can't control, and instead be excited for this new way to teach and learn.
The website has a few more goodies. I've added a page with "non-curricular" links and pictures. Feel free to check out that page when you have a chance. (There's a link to a video of Nick Gallardo singing - make sure you check it out.) There are also pages for the novels we're reading and AN ASSIGNMENT that's due early next week. Ewwwww - you mean we have to WORK?! Yes. Yes you do. This will be a rather brief entry, as I have to shift my focus to doing stuff for my mom. However, I leave you with a question that I pondered today as I watched a family of quail toddle across a street: Why do all male quail move like they're flustered and late for a meeting? For anyone not familiar with the title, I borrowed (ok, directly ripped off) the title from a song entitled "Feelin' Good" from the little-known musical "The Smell of the Greasepaint, The Roar of the Crowd". I've never seen the musical and don't know more about it than the song was in it - it could very well be the worst musical ever conceived - but it's a great song. Look it up. Or, if I can find a version of it that I like, I'll post it.
I don't know about anybody else, but yesterday was ROUGH. While I loved seeing everyone, I hated all of the uncertainty that surrounded it. When will I see you again? (Another song - not from a musical, but still a good one - again, I digress.) This whole process is new to everyone and it's going to take a while for us to get our bearings. We'll all make mistakes, I'm guessing, but we'll keep moving forward. Tears almost started flowing when Hanna Gomez brought in a single, yellow rose. Such a simple gesture. But it was so genuine and so heartfelt. I saw others walking around with the roses, and it reminded me how one simple act of kindness can spread. May we all spread kindness (and nothing else!) during this time. Today is a new day, though. I'm trying to not leave the house, but little things creep up and I find myself having to go out to run an errand or two. I am being uber-conscious of distance, surfaces, and the like. There's plenty to do around the house, for sure, and in terms of preparing for distance learning - oh BOY is there a lot to do. Stay tuned... Awesome. Day one and I already don't know what to write. Perfect.
Well, when in doubt go completely stream of consciousness. I am going to write for three minutes straight and see how it goes. 9:07pm. Let's run through what I did today. That will give me a sense of how this week has gone. I didn't nap today - that's a big accomplishment. Yesterday was a big nap day. Three hours. Oh no - wait. My eye got super heavy around 11:30 this morning. I don't know if that counts as a nap as I'm not completely sure I ever lost consciousness. Today was a "prep" day for the days and weeks to come. I got this website back up and running. It had been a while since i had last posted, and I've never attempted a blog. Ahhhhhhhh - keep writing. It's 9:09. I'm almost done. I can do this! My sister called and we caught up. Her husband has been "doomsday prepping" for a couple of weeks so their cellar (they live in Northern California) is packed with canned goods - tuna fish, Spam, and veggies. She told me that she had made cookies to relieve stress, and I followed her lead. Chocolate chip cookies were on the menu tonight at our place, as was our traditional Sunday soup (Chicken Noodle - my standard recipe). Hey, maybe we should do a recipe swap?! Tomorrow will be a tell-tale day and I'll have a better grasp on what the next few weeks will look like. Fingers crossed for smooth sailing. I have never been good about keeping a diary, and this is my first attempt at a blog. But, since I'm going to ask that my students journal about their experiences during this time, I figured "why not?". I've always operated under the idea that I would never ask my students to do something that I, myself, am not willing to do, so here we are.
We are in uncharted territory, as the saying goes (an idiom or cliché, if you're a student and you're reading this - but you should have already identified the terms!). I will be the first to admit that I have NO CLUE how to structure an online class. (This is where you say, "You hardly know how to structure an IN PERSON class!" *rimshot*) I don't want to add more stress onto an already mega-stressful situation, but I want to bring some "normalcy" - if there is such a thing - back into all of our lives. As I've said ad nauseam since the minute you (the collective you - my students) stepped into my room - reading and writing is something that you will do throughout your lives. Well, now it's time to see how right I am. And I love being right. So I'll be blogging/journaling "on the daily" (I'm putting it out there and I'm trusting on you (my students) to keep me at my word) with the expectation that my students will do the same. And yes - I realize that I started a sentence with the word "so" - but let me say, in my defense, that I did so because this is an informal writing situation, it fits the voice that I'm trying to establish, and I didn't want three paragraphs to start with "I". Please feel free to question, comment, throw out an idea or two, share a poem, correct any error (and there WILL be errors, I assure you), etc. The learning doesn't stop because we're not in the classroom. To my students: start a Google doc entitled "(Your Name)'s Journal", or something equally catchy, and share it with me. This will be your way to keep up with me, let me know how you're doing, respond to whatever goofy prompts I can come up with, etc. I will not share it with others, I will not criticize what you're writing, but I will use it as an opportunity to help you with your writing. I may point out things like 'you're starting all your sentences the same way' or 'you used a lot of fragments - maybe try varying the lengths of your sentences' or 'good use of Merriam-Webster's word of the day' (yep, that's coming!). From my end, I'll try to keep things light: I'll tell you how my dog and cat doing, share what's happening in my little corner of the world, and emulate the type of work/work ethic I expect from you. Know this: I miss you all and I can't wait until we're all back together again...because I'm really not good at this blog stuff. |
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