Hello, Out There -- Re-opening this Blog
A letter to parents and students,
I am dusting off this blog as a way of staying in touch with you during this time of separation.
The first thing I want you to know is that I am thinking of you. I miss you. I hope that you and your family are well. I want you to know that I am well and trying to figure out what this social distancing means for learning.
After the first rush of uncertainty and confusion, I am feeling a sense of grief for our lost week. To be honest, I'm not unhappy about missing the ISASP test scheduled for this week (insert evil laugh here), but I am sad about not having your delightful energy and enthusiasm for learning in my daily life!
So, what does this social distancing mean for a learning-life?
Unfortunately, we won't be able to do distance learning. From what I can understand this is mostly because of equity reasons for students with disabilities or those without devices or the internet at home. I'm still not sure how Minnesota can do distance learning but Iowa can't, though.
Despite this caveat, I have checked to see if I can provide some ideas on this blog for things to do and I'll try to walk the (fine) line. My way will be to highlight some things that intrigue me, or books and websites that I find interesting, or projects that I will be doing or am learning about. Please understand that I am not teaching or providing feedback or assessing or any of that school-learning stuff. I'm thinking of this as just a curious guy offering some out-loud thoughts on what he's thinking and learning.
So, let's give it a go.
OUTDOORS ACTIVITIES
Social distancing doesn't mean we can't go outdoors. In fact, being outdoors is a great way to counteract "the blues" that naturally come with isolation and loneliness.
I love regular "visits" to familiar places to watch the seasons change. I have favorite trees and places on our land that I regularly visit to get the perspective of the season. Time at home might allow you to do a similar kind of thing. Here is one ongoing activity that you might want to do over the next several weeks, to collect some data, and to practice your artwork.
Twig Tracking. I'm going to tag a twig of a couple different species of trees in my yard and keep track of them over the next few weeks. I've made sure that I create a data table. I am taking photos and using this opportunity to practice my sketching.
I'm taking note of how much sun each tree gets and from which direction the sun can reach the tree. I'm paying attention to this because I know that sunlight causes some trees to "wake up" earlier than others.
I'm keeping track of the length and width of a particular bud, I'm taking a photo of the bud when I visit, and I'm noting the temperature and sunlight. I'm also trying to teach myself how to sketch by looking at a photo of the bud and then trying to sketch it.
I'm hoping to visit the twigs every day. Here is what my twig tracking journal looks like so far. I could easily make this an analog journal if I wanted, substituting simple sketches for the photo. (Sketches are better, in fact.)
I'm curious to see how the twigs change over time. Will they open at the same time? How much bigger will the buds get? When will that happen? What other changes to the twigs will I see?
I also will sketch the photo of the hickory bud regularly because I want to learn how to sketch!
DAILY JOURNALING
Despite the uncertainty, these are historic times that we live in. I'm nearly 60-years old (I know...ancient, huh?) and I have never seen a time like this.
Keeping a daily journal could be a great way to preserve what this time was like for you and to process thoughts.
Yet, I've sometimes found that it is hard to begin regular journal writing, so here are some hints about what to write about from my own experience.
Big overall PRO-TIP: Start every day with easy writing, then move toward more reflective writing (if it comes to you.) Easy-writing helps the words begin to form, then others follow those out like a slinky marching downstairs.
via GIPHY
I am dusting off this blog as a way of staying in touch with you during this time of separation.
The first thing I want you to know is that I am thinking of you. I miss you. I hope that you and your family are well. I want you to know that I am well and trying to figure out what this social distancing means for learning.
After the first rush of uncertainty and confusion, I am feeling a sense of grief for our lost week. To be honest, I'm not unhappy about missing the ISASP test scheduled for this week (insert evil laugh here), but I am sad about not having your delightful energy and enthusiasm for learning in my daily life!
So, what does this social distancing mean for a learning-life?
Unfortunately, we won't be able to do distance learning. From what I can understand this is mostly because of equity reasons for students with disabilities or those without devices or the internet at home. I'm still not sure how Minnesota can do distance learning but Iowa can't, though.
Despite this caveat, I have checked to see if I can provide some ideas on this blog for things to do and I'll try to walk the (fine) line. My way will be to highlight some things that intrigue me, or books and websites that I find interesting, or projects that I will be doing or am learning about. Please understand that I am not teaching or providing feedback or assessing or any of that school-learning stuff. I'm thinking of this as just a curious guy offering some out-loud thoughts on what he's thinking and learning.
So, let's give it a go.
OUTDOORS ACTIVITIES
Social distancing doesn't mean we can't go outdoors. In fact, being outdoors is a great way to counteract "the blues" that naturally come with isolation and loneliness.
I love regular "visits" to familiar places to watch the seasons change. I have favorite trees and places on our land that I regularly visit to get the perspective of the season. Time at home might allow you to do a similar kind of thing. Here is one ongoing activity that you might want to do over the next several weeks, to collect some data, and to practice your artwork.
Twig Tracking. I'm going to tag a twig of a couple different species of trees in my yard and keep track of them over the next few weeks. I've made sure that I create a data table. I am taking photos and using this opportunity to practice my sketching.
I'm taking note of how much sun each tree gets and from which direction the sun can reach the tree. I'm paying attention to this because I know that sunlight causes some trees to "wake up" earlier than others.
I'm keeping track of the length and width of a particular bud, I'm taking a photo of the bud when I visit, and I'm noting the temperature and sunlight. I'm also trying to teach myself how to sketch by looking at a photo of the bud and then trying to sketch it.
I'm hoping to visit the twigs every day. Here is what my twig tracking journal looks like so far. I could easily make this an analog journal if I wanted, substituting simple sketches for the photo. (Sketches are better, in fact.)
I'm curious to see how the twigs change over time. Will they open at the same time? How much bigger will the buds get? When will that happen? What other changes to the twigs will I see?
I also will sketch the photo of the hickory bud regularly because I want to learn how to sketch!
DAILY JOURNALING
Despite the uncertainty, these are historic times that we live in. I'm nearly 60-years old (I know...ancient, huh?) and I have never seen a time like this.
Keeping a daily journal could be a great way to preserve what this time was like for you and to process thoughts.
Yet, I've sometimes found that it is hard to begin regular journal writing, so here are some hints about what to write about from my own experience.
Big overall PRO-TIP: Start every day with easy writing, then move toward more reflective writing (if it comes to you.) Easy-writing helps the words begin to form, then others follow those out like a slinky marching downstairs.
- Note the date and time. I also add the weather (temperature, sky cover, wind)
- Start descriptive. Describe what you did in the recent past, even the really small stuff. Be as descriptive as you can about what you did. This is the stuff that will be interesting in a month as these are the things that get lost in our memories.
- Become reflective. Your thoughts and feelings might be important to document. Here are some questions you might ask yourself to think about.
- When did I feel grateful today?
- When was I nervous or scared?
- When was I happy or content?
- What do I wonder about?
- What do I think about ____?
- What will I do tomorrow?
So, I hope you have found this blog post to be interesting. My goal is to post fairly regularly with some things that I'm thinking about, some new learning that I'm doing, some ways that you might take advantage of this time to do a different kind of learning at home.
In no way are these posts intended to be "assignments" to do! I'm just offering these ideas up as a way for you to engage your brain if you so choose.
If these posts get too much for you, please know that you can opt-out by unsubscribing. Just follow the directions in the email that brings each update.
Take care! Be well!
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