Social Distancing part 42

 August 17, Monday

First Monday back to school. I overslept, but not fatefully. Then I worked, and worked, and worked in Canvas. My learning curve was steep. I got some things graded today, in Canvas - my students had been sending me e-mails, and will continue, as that was the assignment - but I FOUND them in Canvas, and graded, and gave points - and other feedback - as appropriate. I will get more done tomorrow with that, I'm sure.

I actually got a video made in Canvas studio last night. It only took me reading the whole thing 5 times over 3 days, and realizing I wasn't recording, or wasn't logged in, or some other disaster to get it right (a very loose definition of "right" here). Today, I actually got it posted into at least one class (5 more to go). Another goal for tomorrow. Then, there's reading the next chapter. The book I'm recording myself reading is Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

All this camera time is new to me, and I'm not used to looking at myself like that while I'm talking, and it's a little disconcerting. My make-up department is definitely lacking. I'll probably fire the lot. I made the first of my instructional videos. Not sure I'm satisfied with it, so I will probably end up recording a zoom meeting this week. Sigh. I should probably attempt one on Thursday and another on Friday, in case there's a record button or something else I miss. There's another one to make, and lots of adding into the modules to be done, to be done... (why do I feel like breaking into Gilbert and Sullivan?) ... a teacher's life is not an easy one. 

Second meeting with today's classes, and the meetings were short and sweet check-ins. Questions asked and answered. Thanks for them catching problems/mistakes that I didn't. And not as much stress - at least for me - as the meetings last week. Of course I need to get ready for the instructional meetings for this week, and I'm working on it! I'm working on it! Our Monday/Tuesday zoom meetings can be drop in office hours for students to come in as needed. I may be the one who needs them to drop in. They were good for my heart today.

Tomorrow's learning curve will be about collaborations in zoom. So I can get it set up, and use it Thursday and Friday. It's nice to be able to take a break and get something done in the house, but, it's hard to feel like you leave work. 

Social Distancing Part 41

 August 13, Thursday

First day of students "at" school. Because we aren't AT school. We are electronically sharing a space of time. It was... not encouraging to look at all those black rectangles where I would have liked to have seen faces. I can't fuss at them, though. They may not have a camera, or the bandwidth or a background they want to show to anyone else. I get it. But I miss their faces. I miss them in person, all those personalities. Even - dare I say - the freshman drama.

Still the class zoom meetings went well. I am not a zoom expert, nor a Canvas expert. I told them they may have teachers making it pretty, but I'm just doing well to make it work. As the semester goes on, I might have the energy to put into making it look... at least not so plain. I did invite them to just "drop by" during office hours just to say Hi! I hope they will.

Even my stress dreams, leading up to the start of school have not been the normal ones, where I step out of my classroom for a moment, and then can't find my way back. I wander through school buildings and hallways, and - even though I KNOW the principal is waiting for me in my classroom - I never seem to find it. This year, my stress dreams were trying to get Canvas to do what I wanted. I would struggle through some set-up again and again and again. I hope I at least worked through some of my worries with that dream, but I think it was more a sign of things to come...

Three classes today, and each zoom meeting was only 45 minutes long at best. But it was tiring. I will definitely have to figure out my recharging. Maybe my craft room will help. I got out some different fabrics from my fabric hoard... uh... stash and ran them through the washer yesterday. I got some requests for masks from friends, my sister in law, and even Rain had a favorite or two. Cutting next and then time at the sewing machine. One thing about the masks is that they are quick to finish, once the prep is done, so there is a sense of accomplishment.

Think I will try making an apple and pear pie this weekend. Cooking is also on the agenda, it would seem. Now that I'm thinking about cooking, some homemade crockpot spaghetti sauce may be in our future. Brats go in spaghetti sauce, right??

Social Distancing Part 40

 August 11, Tuesday

On the "school is starting" front, I went on campus today to get Canvas help. I think we got my current issue solved. I found classes with students, yay! On the other side, though, Canvas was rather unstable all day, thanks to some updates they were trying to make. I understand the need for updates, I really do, but it is very frustrating when you are really trying to USE the program so you can be ready on Thursday for your students! More to do tomorrow.

I did spend some time in my classroom. Got a desk in place to use, and a bookshelf moved back near the wall. I dug out some books and started the process of moving them back to the shelves. I also found "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" so now I can read that to my classes.

Speaking of school starting, Onate did a cool swag bag meet with incoming freshmen. Much like our senior sign deliveries, we picked a few freshmen and delivered their bags to them. We got them to sign a commitment to graduate as well. It was nice to get to meet them, and feel like there are real people at the other end of all those online classes this year. I hope they will feel that way too. I picked students from my homeroom class, and I enjoyed meeting them.

Commit to graduate!

I got two lovely thank you notes today. One for helping with the 9th grade curriculum. Thanks Jamie Baker. One was for a basket full of masks that I made for my friend's daughter. She loved them. I've got a few "on order" from my sister in law and one of my oldest friends, and some October themed masks to put together as well. I have a batch the really needs to get finished up and returned to Cruces Creatives as well. Somehow, my time is shorter than it was. 

July went by so fast. Time for chile roasting is here. Alberson's has their roaster set up, and boxes of chile to choose from.

looking forward to some roasted chile

I posted a lot of flower pictures in the spring and early summer. Today I'd like to include an interestingly gnarly mesquite "tree" that I saw this week. About as green as the desert gets.

beautiful blue skies and Organ Mountains in the background

Social Distancing Part 39

August 4, Tuesday

I'm not sure where July went, or how it got to be August, but it is. Teacher work days start tomorrow. We'll be doing our professional development online. I'll be helping my team present the Canvas shell we've been working on to other 9th grade teachers. I was at school yesterday, helping out with the check out of computers and books to students. I'll go back tomorrow, to pick up swag bags to hand out to some of my new Freshmen advisory students later in the week. Kind of like what we did with the Seniors in May. 

Word came out today, that Onate High School will evidently be renamed Organ Mountain High School. (I won't have to worry about not typing the nyeah n any more.) It is a controversial change, and maybe, all things considered, not the best timing. On the other hand, hopefully it is a sign of bigger changes in an area sorely needing reform. Lives of color matter.

I went into my classroom yesterday, while I was at school. I was hoping to pick up a book that I just knew right where it was. Was being the key word. They cleaned. I mean took books off the bookshelves, everything off the walls, moved all the furniture and cleaned. I didn't find my book. It was in a crate of books, with other crates of books stacked on top. Not what I was willing to deal with at that moment. I need to go back and put things into an order. I've been trying to decide whether to work from my classroom, or work from home. Several of the teachers in my hall will be there. It would be nice to have some socially distanced company. Teachers to talk over the successes and failures. Get out of the house a bit. I just have to figure out how much and which days.

I've made more masks, of course, trying to get ready to go back to school, and this happened:

before and after mask making

OK, OK, no I didn't really used all that thread on making masks. But definitely a significant amount. Thanks to my friend, Cindy who gifted me the new one for my birthday because she knew I was worried about running out while Joann's was closed.

We had a run to the vet. Kaliegh was licking her paw a lot and we could see it was irritated, but neither Ron nor I could find a wound, a sticker, or anything. She wasn't limping, but there was something wrong. Turns out, she had stepped on 

extra love needed

something that had a stinger that got left between the pads of her foot. A tube of ointment, and a few days wearing the cone of shame and everything got better. Of course the cone of shame brought its own trauma, and Kaliegh had trouble getting past furniture, and through doorways. Getting a drink of water was even a challenge. She definitely got the extra encouragement she needed to make it through her tribulations.

The state campgrounds are all day use only, still. But we really wanted to get out in our RV. I mean, that's why we got it and all. But, we have to work within Ron's requirements for work, and stay in a certain distance of home, and such. We decided to KOA it, and made a reservation at the one in Silver City. It was clean and nice, and they are operating at less than full capacity. It was a nice couple days.

ask for a patio site

The patio was nice in the morning, and late afternoon. The first morning I was sitting outside with the dogs, and a skunk came strolling around the front end of the RV. The dogs had a moment, then the skunk had a moment, but everyone safely avoided disaster, and the skunk certainly ran with tail up, ready to blast, but he didn't!  Whew! We also had some nice rain that evening, mixed with a little hail.

just for the hail of it

We were snug in the RV, and no problem. Cooled everything off a bit, and that was nice.

But now, it's back to the salt mines. Getting to bed, so I can get up and function in the morning by 8. Glad I have a job to do. More secure in my own situation online than I would be in person. I will miss the kiddos. I will be glad when we can actually have a class full of students again. It can wait, though, until it is safe. Until we don't run such a risk of loosing some, and some teachers.

Social Distancing Part 38

July 20,  Monday

Life has been kind of busy for the past week. I am still working on the Canvas shell curriculum for 9th grade. The team I'm working with is a good one. We have been able to cooperate, and negotiate and suffer through our learning the Canvas platform together. I think we are creating something we can be proud of, despite the inevitable push-back we will get from teachers who don't want to do what we created... and wouldn't want to do anything anyone else created, either. I hope that those teachers who - like those of us on the team - are struggling with being overwhelmed with teaching online only, health concerns about COVID-19 and everything else that we would be overwhelmed by as the beginning of school nears, will appreciate that we have created some curriculum that they can run with. There is room to individualize to the strengths and teaching styles of individual teachers, and we are also being careful to include options to fit a diverse student population. I'm pretty proud of the work we are doing, and I will be much less stressed being familiar with the curriculum ahead of time, and being more familiar with how it will work in canvas.

Last week, I also started some professional development with NMSI. It is geared to getting students ready for AP classes, so I'm working with strategies to get students doing some higher level thinking. My colleagues who did the training last year came back with some useful strategies, and I am being introduced to them this year online. I know I will benefit from the training, but there is a "conflict" as well. Not exactly a conflict per se, but here I am working on a curriculum that everyone in the district at the 9th grade English level will theoretically use. AND I'm learning strategies that (should?/shouldn't?)  be used by "everyone." I feel like they are best practice strategies, and I'll probably put in what I can at least as options/optional activities. I will be able to utilize them more - and willingly! - when we are back to regular school attendance.

By Friday, I was mentally exhausted, and took some time to do some sewing. I'm making some happy, colorful masks for my best friend's younger daughter to take to college in a few weeks. I also made a fabric basket for her to keep them in. Actually I made two, but the first one was rather larger than I really had in mind. Here's the set so far...

Fall semester mask starter set

I have two more masks to finish and send along. I may send the bigger basket along, if she wants it. The green one is 6 inch squares, while the elephants are 8 inch squares. The elephant basket is bigger than the box I'm using for mailing, but it would squish down and mail just fine.

Elephants marching

I have to say I enjoyed the sewing time. The masks come together quickly at this point, as much practice as I've had. I could accomplish something that didn't take too much brainwork.

The other project I worked on this past weekend was baking pies. I have a good crust recipe - two actually - passed down from the grandparents. One makes 3 crusts, and the other makes 5. I made the three crusts, and two of them went to make an apple pie. Ron really enjoyed the first one, and requested another. Now that I've been practicing more in the kitchen, these crusts turned out generally better than the first batch.

Crumbly crust apple pie

The last crust was for an experimental tomato pie. I've been wanting to make a tomato pie since my aunt shared that she made one last year, and how good it was! I went searching for a recipe, and found on on the Food Network website. This is the one I made, from Paula Deen. It was pretty easy to follow, generally and here's my tomato pie...

tomato pie fresh from the oven

It turned out tasty and delicious. But I had moisture issues. I let the tomatoes drain like she said, but they were still pretty wet. I think letting them sit on paper towels might work better than the colander she suggests. Tomatoes can be pretty wet, generally. The topping is one cup of cheddar (I probably used a little more), one cup of mozzarella (again, I probably used a little more) combined with one cup of mayonnaise (I think I could have used a little less). The topping is reminiscent of the way my family makes pimiento cheeses, and I'm not sure this recipe would suffer from pimiento cheese on top, actually. 

the slice? not so pretty, but tasty!

Carl and I discussed it, after he tried some of it, and we also thought, especially if you have to use store-bought tomatoes instead of garden fresh, that a few sliced up sun dried tomatoes in the mix might brighten up the flavor a bit, and maybe the dried tomatoes would soak up a bit of the moisture. We also thought that adding some sliced mushrooms would be tasty and also soak up some moisture. See, there are variations that need to be tested! Now, if only Ron and Raine would eat tomato pie AT ALL. Once the pie was cooled, I put it in the fridge, and carefully poured off the juice in the bottom of the pie pan. The pie was firmer after some time in the fridge, so it cut more easily and didn't fall apart like the first slice did. It warmed up nicely in the microwave in about a minute, and was yummy even a couple of days later. Perhaps like many dishes, it tasted better having had time to meld the flavors together.

Social Distancing Part 37

July 8, Wednesday

52 more cases of COVID 19 in Dona Ana County yesterday. 20 NMSU athletes and trainers tested positive, causing a shut down of summer practices of several sports. Hospitals are reaching (or have reached) capacity in Texas and in Arizona. Harold can not get needed cancer surgery scheduled in El Paso because of the COVID numbers in the hospitals there. El Paso has pushed back the opening of school buildings until September, even though school will start in early August. I'm expecting a similar announcement for schools in Dona Ana County - if not all of NM - to come any time. And President Trump announces that he wants all schools to open normally at their regularly scheduled time. No reduced class sizes. No social distancing. No face coverings. Kids need schools, parents need schools, business needs it's babysitters (schools). More important to cram all those kids into schools, where they will expose each other, and be exposed to every illness that is going around, including COVID 19. 

There are stories going around that the young are less likely to catch it. I'm wondering if not as many kids have caught it because WE KEPT THEM OUT OF SCHOOL!!! Even if the kids aren't as likely to get sick, what about the ones who do. What about the parents/grandparents/medically fragile siblings they take it home to. What about those of us who are teachers. What about those of us who are teachers, who also happen to have one or more of the conditions that make COVID more likely to become serious or deadly. Teachers like me. Trump, and his minions? (questionable) cohort? (maybe) evil overseers? (ah, that seems closer) the 1% - who's kids won't be going to public schools anyway - yeah, them. They don't care whether the kids get sick (the kids aren't voting OR paying taxes) and they don't care whether I (or any other teacher) gets sick. We are replaceable. We are of no consequence. 

I hate to be ranty, but it does hit me where I live. It's like they think we don't WANT to go back to school, to have everything like it was. We DO. But it isn't. You know when it comes down to it, how many student deaths are too many in one school year? How many teachers need to die? Is this the way we "make way" for the new teachers? (There have been teacher shortages in so many places all ready, we don't need to "make way.") Our promised 4% (one of the highest raises I can remember in my 25 years of teaching) is back down to 1% (oh yeah, that's more like what I remember). I want to trust my district, and my state governor NOT to listen to Trump, or follow his wishes, but if they do, I will not. That will be my line that will not be crossed. I'm having a hard enough time feeling safe with the plan that is in place now.

In the mean time, I keep on keeping on. Cleaning up the kitchen, vacuuming, going for walks. This evening my brother and I walked through my neighborhood, and saw a hawk up in the top of a mulberry tree.

Beautiful hawk

Someone driving down the street saw us looking at it, and taking photos with our phones and went around the block to get another look. A couple of smaller birds were harassing it, though, and it flew off.

I'm still working on my cross stitch project, and another panel is almost complete. I am ready to make more masks, and get myself, Raine, and my friend's daughter all ready for the new school year. 

Social DIstancing #36

July 4, Saturday

Another holiday milestone in the year. This, as others, marked by family gatherings all through my neighborhood, and I doubt that my neighborhood is much different than most neighborhoods in that regard. 

Our numbers of COVID cases seems to climb and climb, and so many people seem to be unable to follow the guidelines to keep themselves, and their loved ones as safe as possible from the pandemic. I still see facebook posts that imply - or state outright - that the pandemic is a hoax, or a conspiracy or even an excuse to take away our rights. I'm reminded of a news story from a couple months ago, of a widow, speaking of her husband who had protested the stay at home orders, and contracted COVID. She said if he were still alive, he would understand that how important the guidelines are and he would not protest any more. Of course, the only way he would believe any of it was to experience it for himself. I think he represents many, many people who just have to have first hand experience for the seriousness to be real. 

Surrounding states like Texas and Arizona have had record breaking daily new cases. I read a news article that two hospitals in TX had reached capacity. Even here in Dona Ana County, we had over 50 new cases yesterday. And we are still getting ready to open schools for students. 

I'm conflicted. I want to go back to work at school. I WANT to see my new students, and meet them, and talk to them in person. I also want not to catch COVID. It worries me because I am in that age group that should be careful. I have diabetes and high blood pressure, both of which could indicate I might have more issues, as well as weight. So, I worry about my chances. I certainly don't want to spend my last days fighting for breath in a hospital.

So, we spend the 4th of July in the house, listening to the neighbors shoot their fireworks. Actually, we spend many 4th's like that. So, in some ways, I guess, quarantine - and the social distancing - is easier for us than it is for some.