Go Find Some Place New

Last weekend, my son had an outdoor adventure with a buddy that took me to a regional area I don’t frequently go. It got me off my regular path, and given it was possibly one of the last nice days of before the weather shifts, I decided to find my way to a nearby nature park. 

My sights & senses included a multitude of scampering squirrels, crunchy leaves beneath my feet, the earth smell of wetlands, the color contrast of red berries on green vines against the mostly-barren trees at this point in the season. My trail led me beside a tidal marsh, a view of Chesapeake Bay Bridge, and barefoot in the sandy beach shore (where a few youngsters were building a sandcastle). Toe dipping in, the water of the Chesapeake Bay was certainly chilly!

While walking, I was also reflecting, ruminating, and pondering the last several months and the bulk of this past year. It reminded me how much I get from this nature connection, and how surprisingly infrequently I make time for these novel experiences... even in a year of novel coronavirus when calendars have opened to time I could spend this way, if I so choose. The hunkering down of quarantine doesn’t actually have to mean "hunker down." I think sometimes we forget that. We don’t just need to stay safe indoors. And this is coming from someone who has said it before: nature is the foil to all our technology. It’s our mental, spiritual, and emotional chiropractor. We just need to remember to go.

One observation from this year is that it’s the novelty of things is what seems to be missing thanks to Covid, where every day is Groundhog’s Day. There’s nothing new and different outside of possibly carryout and the different pair of sweatpants. But that’s what my meandering about showed me: that it's wrong. There is different everywhere. We just need to make the time to find it. Sometimes that seems to take energy and creativity, and when stretched to our bandwidth, those are hard to access. But what trekking the trail showed me, it was really just a matter of turning the car down a different road. Maybe surprise adventures like a day in a different park are the exact thing necessary for opening our creative and expanding our bandwidth.

Don’t be your own worst indoor enemy. Go find some new place to go—preferably outdoors. May just be the best thing to do this Thanksgiving weekend!

Photos from my camera at Terrapin Beach Park.

Thanksgiving 2020

With another holiday here in a pandemic year, things might be a tad different from your typical Turkey Day Traditions. 

Regardless of how Thanksgiving finds you this year, take time to connect with your loved ones, friends, and family as creatively as you can. Take time to be grateful for all that's in your life, even if it seems hard to find during difficult times. 

Here's some turkey tidbits and Thanksgiving fun facts to enjoy this holiday season. (And, if you need a smile, feel free to flashback to my GTG Thanksgiving tribute & annual tradition that I posted last year.)

Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Videos from https://youtu.be/i0qFGC-U9mI and https://youtu.be/sZjV7klZDCI, Image from https://www.the1thing.com/blog/the-one-thing/this-thanksgiving-make-gratitude-your-highest-priority/(which is an excellent article as well in helping you revisit the importance of perspective!)

School Decisions in the Time of Covid

This week—midweek—for a multitude of reasons including a few Covid cases, our Head of School & the Board of Trustees decided that yesterday (the Friday before Thanksgiving) we would “put a pause” on our hybrid school schedule. We have been in hybrid since the beginning of the school year, which has looked like this:

- Preschool to Grade 1 have been fully in session with the exception of a handful of families that opted to go remote. 

- Grade 2-5 have been in either as  Monday-Wednesday cohorts or Tuesday-Thursday cohorts, with every-other-Fridays (again, with some opting to go full remote)

- Grade 6-12 have been strict every-other-day cohorts of A & B in addition to the few full-remote-ers.

My colleagues and I (along with much of America) have been watching the Covid curve and the counts. Many of us educators who have been "going in" daily gave a little “hallelujah” when the decision was made--mainly because we are slightly "Covid-creeped out." Additionally, our few positive Covid cases combined with the contract tracing has really hit our teacher coverage hard, as some teachers were forced into quarantine along with students. Looking at the curve/case count now versus where we were in March  when everything shut down, our country has frighteningly surpassed where we were in lockdown by at least three-fold!

I will admit in my house, we are a science-following family & we “trend cautious” when it comes to Covid, mask wearing, distancing, & the like. Thanksgiving is less than a week away. (Mind-boggling!) As a family, we have already canceled our traditional, larger FamFest gathering due to the numbers & the late-breaking regional restrictions which are calling for indoor gatherings of less than 10. 

As I was leaving school both Thursday (with one of our Lower School hybrid cohorts) and Friday (with the other), knowing that Friday would be our last in-house day for awhile, I was struck in many ways. I glanced at my wall calendar, reminded of how it felt to walk in this August and see my wall calendar still welcoming March. As students were leaving both days this week, I wondered when they truly would be returning. As faculty and staff, we have been scurrying the last two days to prep the kids with all of those last minute tech skills and send the kids home with copious learning packets, ready for the unknown.

As teachers, we will be using our two pre-Thanksgiving days as planning for full-time remote, and (as of now) we are planning to be remote for the week following Turkey Day. Sadly, with Covid and the jadedness that comes with age, I have become a cynic. I do not trust people to do the right thing at Thanksgiving.... just as my social media thread has shown me “they” didn’t do the right thing at Halloween. I predict we will be in remote learning longer than just that week. I feel the Covid numbers in general will grow--in the same way we saw our local cases crop up following Halloween, largely due to rumored out-of-school events, often unmasked. Luckily, I have remained “quarantine-free”—though some of my colleagues who had to enter their second bout of quarantine based solely on the behavior of others to whom they were exposed. For some, the late timing of their "quarantine sentence" has now affected their own personal, family Thanksgiving.

This fall has already been so hard, exhausting, and often very much up in the air for teachers. For those of us physically in school, we were juggling our students zooming in from home with those masked in class around us--all while feeling like we were in the middle of a hot zone. My heart goes out to our health care professionals who are facing a similar situation as essential workers, though made more difficult to matters being ones of  life and death. As a very divided country where mask wearing has become political, it’s frustrating to those of us who are following every rule carefully to flatten the curve. But not everyone is. I found it is especially striking recently while discussing the Bill of Rights with our fourth graders. We looked at those first 10 Amendments through the relevant lens of recent news... including mask wearing in the time of Covid. 

I'm reminded of our transition to the remote learning of the spring, when it was so hard then. And yet, now we see, hybrid teaching is even harder, and we have chuckled upon that realization--who would have  thought in March we would ever have said anything could be harder! Now, 8 months later, at the end of our Fall trimester, we realize how lucky (and surprised) we have been to have made it to this point of the school year--making it all the way to Thanksgiving! We managed to stay in session with our hybrid format and our protocols far longer than many of us ever thought we could. Many schools were not able to open in person to any degree this fall. THAT certainly garners some gratitude. 

I pray for grace for us all for the winter ahead with Covid and its germs looming here in the middle of cold and flu season. May the verminous germs stay at bay. And, may we collectively make decisions that take us all into account, helping us all take care of each other until the vaccine goes into effect!

Stay safe out there!

Crossroads meme created at https://imgflip.com/i/4ncxhc, mask cartoon https://momentousinstitute.org/blog/how-to-help-students-adapt-to-wearing-a-mask, Covid curve https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/09/01/816707182/map-tracking-the-spread-of-the-coronavirus-in-the-u-s, mask from https://www.pagodaapparel.com/product/give-thanks-mask/

Planning For a Zero Waste Thanksgiving

Food waste in America accounts for approximately 30-40% of our food supply. With Thanksgiving ahead and while you are planning your feast for 1 to 21, here are some great thoughts for shooting for a zero waste Thanksgiving this year.

For more ideas on this, check out my GTG post from 2 years ago.

An additional note on Thanksgiving:

In many communities, Covid cases are at record levels (as they are for us in America as a nation). In my local area, our county council has limited indoor events to 10 or under (outdoor events to 25) due to Covid counts. If you celebrate Thanksgiving, please go forward as safe as possible. Masks, distancing, and maybe even rethinking your typical traditions to follow suit to your own local restrictions. Let's go forward thinking about our over-saturated hospitals overloaded with too many Covid cases and weighing down our health care workers. Let's do it thinking about our loved ones, who hopefully we can see at Christmas rather than risking them. Part of Thanksgiving is being grateful for all we have--let's be thankful for our freedoms while also taking caring of each other. That's what our Veterans, who we just celebrated last week, would do.

Video from https://youtu.be/-E4242LSJWg, image from https://www.wastewiseproductsinc.com/blog/recycling-tips/how-to-go-zero-waste-this-thanksgiving/ (where you'll find more good tips!)

Pixton EDU

Bitmoji classrooms have been all the rage since the start of remote learning this spring. 

From there, teachers started looking into avatar-izing their students to create more digital fun for everyone. But, Bitmoji, with it's tie in to SnapChat, creates some issues with teachers of the under-13-year-old set. That's where Pixton comes in for the rescue. Not only is it a great way to have students build their own avatars, but it also opens up the creation of a comic classroom or digital storytelling. 

Might be a fun way to have students create a digital citizenship comics, illustrate their writing, make visual signs of your classroom, or more.

Video from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NV2H7fv8K0, pics created using Pixton.

Veterans Day 2020

Veterans Day is always a big deal at our school. My previous one as well.

This year with the Covid, we are in hybrid mode at my school, and numbers are restricted to have the typical Veterans Day Assembly. Therefore, our fifth graders who typically run that assembly, moved to creating a green screen video. All 36 of our students individually spoke their lines in our Maker Lab (with the exception of students who opted at the beginning of the year to be our full time remote learners). 

Included in our script: background about the history of the day, the military branches, how our school has ties to the military, and the Cheryl Dyson poem "Veterans Day," which I have included below. We placed historic headlines, Armistice Day &Veterans Day photos, and flags as the backdrops behind the students to fill the green of the green screen. The compiled film will be shared with our school community on Veteran's Day to honor and pay tribute to all veterans. Additionally, our 5th graders wrote letters to veterans who have touched or been connected to our community. 

As this year's Veterans Day passes and we can see our own personal sacrifices that we have paid this year of quarantine and pandemic, may it mean even more to us as we realize and remember the supreme sacrifices our military has endured as a way to honor and protect our country throughout time.

Images from https://www.hfcc.edu/news/2019/what-veterans-day-means, https://aihub.org/2020/08/27/new-ai-research-institutes-announced-in-usa/, https://ojt.com/military-ojt/, and https://www.supplyme.com/products/veterans-day-part-1-a4097

David Attenborough: A Life on our Planet

Sir David Attenborough has a voice like no other. It's richness and distinction have become the voice of animal activism and environmentalism. 

At 94 years old, he has dedicated the majority of his life as the voice of environmentalism. He's at it again with both a new documentary on Netflix: "A Life On Our Planet." Likewise, he has a new book out earlier this month by the same name with the subtitle: "My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future."

Here is the trailer for his Netflix documentary, where he shows the depth of importance humans need to put on our planet--now: 

I haven't watched it yet, but after watching the trailer and his September 28th, 2020 sixteen minute interview with Anderson Cooper on "60 Minutes," it's definitely on my list. 

“We can once again become a species in balance with nature and restore the rich, healthy and wonderful world that we inherited... We’ve come this far because we are the smartest creatures that ever lived. But to continue, we require more than intelligence. We require wisdom.” ~ Sir David Attenborough

Video Trailer from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64R2MYUt394, Image from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11989890/ 

Snarky Tea For Me

About 3 weeks into the new school year, when pandemic-style hybrid back-to-school teaching this fall felt like running triage, a girlfriend of mine sent over the exact perfect gift for both my mood and that moment. 

It was the Sassy Sampler from Snarky Tea. (Language warning ahead!)

I'd recently run across their Facebook advertisement prior to this...perhaps the algorithm had discovered that "snarky" is indeed one of my favorite words. 

Aside from the well-timed and much-needed comic relief, it also spoke to my 3+ years of caffeine-infused tea-addiction as I had moved on from a lifetime of Diet Coke drinking. It was indeed a perfect back-to-school teacher gift, and precisely suited for 2020!

As I made my way through the sampler, putting an extra smirk behind my daily-masked-self, my day had a little extra "oomph" to it during tough times. Amazing how far a smirk and a smile can take you, especially with each sip of tea from my stainless steel straw.

The sad part of a sampler pack is that eventually you land on that last one, a dozen days later. So of course, it led me to their website with the desire to order more. Who knows, it might also make it to my Christmas gift-giving list down the line. 

As I was perusing their site, I came on some extra love when I learned that their lovely little tea sachets are also environmentally friendly. They are 100% biodegradable, made from SOILON, a corn starch and plastic free material that actually allows for excellent water flow through the tea leaves, which totally benefits your tastebuds. It has been startling to learn along my tea journey that this is not the case for many teabags (including high end brands) because a majority of tea companies "use polypropylene, a sealing plastic, to keep their tea bags from falling apart. This plastic is not recyclable or biodegradable."

Snark AND great taste AND comic relief AND environmentally friendly tea?!? Yes, this is nirvana! Not to mention, the company has a great "girl power" vibe behind the entire company. Can't argue with female empowerment! 

I happen to like their "Profani-tea" series shown above in their Sassy Sampler, but they also have wellness and cold brew teas, as well as a pumpkin spice tea just in time for fall and a pepperminty one for the December holidays ahead, all available at their shop. 

As their tagline succinctly puts it: "Health. Humor. Happiness." That's all you need! That and maybe a cup of tea!

Photo from my camera of my very own Sassy Sampler from Snarky Tea: https://www.snarkytea.com/collections/snarky-tea-samplers/products/snarky-tea-sampler-12-pyramid-bags

Halloween 2020

Viruses don't tend to consult the calendar when it comes to best timing of when to show up. They also don't take leave near soon enough--as 2020 has show us. Covid in particular doesn't seem to care that Halloween is this weekend. 

In light of all of that, here are some safe ways to enjoy Halloween for you and your kids, so there's still holiday fun for every one.

• Good Housekeeping's "Is Halloween 2020 Canceled? These Cities and States Have New Trick-or-Treating Regulations" (This includes a list, ranking the risks from low, medium, and high as well as some other things to consider.)

• RetailMeNot's The Real Deal: "26 Ideas for Celebrating Quarantine-O-Ween"

• The Los Angeles Times' "We Won’t Let Coronavirus Take Halloween. Here Are 7 Ways You Can Celebrate"

• CNN's "31 Ways to Celebrate Halloween This Year

• We Are Teachers' "31 Spooky and Educational Halloween Videos for Kids"

• Natalie Stein's post at Lark Health: "Safe Ways to Celebrate Halloween and COVID-19"

• The CDC's Holiday Celebration Page (which also includes thoughts for Día de los Muertos [Day of the Dead], and Thanksgiving, including activity risk assessment for all)

Image from https://www.lark.com/blog/safe-ways-to-celebrate-halloween-and-covid-19/

Show Up. Vote.

I've been watching a lot of The West Wing lately. For whatever reason at the time, I never did watch it first go around (now 2 decades later). It certainly seems better than watching the news most days. I've always remembered the abrasive cacophony of political clamor in the weeks prior to election, but the last few presidential elections have seen noisier (and more divisive) than ever before. The one silver lining is that at least it seems to have raised everyone's interest in civic involvement.

Given that, this seemed like the best post I could post one week prior to Election Day. If you haven't taken part in early voting or mail-in voting (we did the latter, dropping our ballots off at the Board of Elections) or making a game plan to go in person, do so. Vote. Take advantage of making your voice heard. Take part in your civic duty. Make a plan. Vote.

Don't take it from me, take it from the folks at The West Wing. Both here below and in their HBO Max "A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote." This remake (done in play-style with a lion share of the same actors, here 17 years later) of Season 3: Episode 15 "Hartsfield Landing" was part of a special to bring more voters to the booths. Special cameos include former First Lady Michelle Obama, President Bill Clinton,  & Lin-Manuel Miranda. It did not disappoint!

Video from https://youtu.be/ICCLdjQch9s; Quote from https://ew.com/tv/tv-reunions/west-wing-cast-reunion/ and created in Canva.com

Netflix's Documentary: The Social Dilemma

Several health podcasts I've been listening to lately have referenced the Netflix documentary "The Social Dilemma," calling it one of the most important documentaries of our time to watch. Hearing that in multiple places, that's what you tend to do. 

Poignant phrases in the trailer alone include: "Using your psychology against you." along with "This is checkmate on humanity." This is especially powerful here in an election year--particularly THIS election year during THIS pandemic.

Watch the trailer here....then get to Netflix and watch the documentary in full! It will open your eyes and cause you to take a long pause in your parenting and your lifestyle choices.... Not to mention your ability to be so easily manipulated by the powers that be and that mobile device in your hand.

This documentary serves as an interesting companion to follow up Dig Cit Week and to the current book I'm reading by Vivek H. Murthy (the former Surgeon General under President Obama) entitled Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World. All of the above certainly leaves this girl pondering a lot both personally (as I can be far more tech-connected than I should be) and professionally (as my Lower School Technology Specialist, in an increasingly more tech-centric world with Zoom School and more).

Video trailer https://youtu.be/uaaC57tcci0 and image from https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LFDNM9K/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 and https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11464826/

DigCit Week: October 19--23, 2020

Students at my elementary school this year have become familiar with the often-attributed Superman quote "With great power comes great responsibility." I've been using that as the umbrella of digital citizenship this year of hybrid & remote learning with increased tech time via zoom (& zoom chatting), emails, learning management system, shared Google documents, Seesaw assignments, and more. Every session we stress the importance of being safe, being respectful, and being responsible. Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs) have been signed by students and parents alike. 

With Digital Citizenship (or DigCit) Week upon us this week (October 19th--23rd), after 6-8 weeks of school, it's somewhat the perfect time to revisit and remind now that we're all in our "new normal" routines.

Common Sense Media, the go-to for digital citizenship, puts it simply: "This year more than ever, we are all digital citizens."

I turned two of my favorite videos of Common Sense Media into Seesaw activities, encouraging them to reflect on how we all need to be Tech Superheroes. This, along with my Superman quote, resonated with all students, kindergarten to grade 5.

During this week, take some time to help your students find their inner DigCit hero. With the more we are on tech at all ages, the more safe and responsible tech use needs to be a focus and a priority.

Here are some resources geared explicitly for Digital Citizenship Week! 

• Common Sense Media's Free Lessons on DigCit
• Common Sense Media's YouTube Channel
• Free Lessons from Nearpod 
• EGUSD Digital Citizenship Resources 
• PBS Learning Media's Technological Literacy Resources 

Videos from https://youtu.be/LIuQyI2URwY and https://youtu.be/-N7lRYMmbXU and images from https://twitter.com/sylviaduckworth/status/590262309567668225?lang=en and https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship-week

Falling for Fall

I was traveling to Western Maryland and West Virginia the first weekend of October. The drive was gorgeous as colors started popping up in the growing three-dimensional-drive as I went from relatively flat to rolling hills to the mountains. Still heavy on green, but more colors kept popping the further pest I traveled. The sky was the crispest of blues. With podcasts streaming through my stereo along the drive, I was certainly in my happy place.

Along my travels, I landed at Cooper's Rock outside of Morgantown, WV.  

Fall is beautiful...though I will say that Spring is still my favorite season with it's awakening and being a season of hope after the cold cloistered winter. Fall brings me back to school, but also to a layer of melancholy that we are circling back round that seasonal cycle again with winter ahead. But it circles me back to the beauty and brilliance of color too.

As I was basking in the shock of golden hues and red leaves amongst the greenery, I was marveling at how with every tomorrow it will look a little tad differently. Next weekend and the weekend after this, the vista will be vastly varied from today's view. 

This all had me thinking about these two Free Tech For Teacher's posts by Richard Byrne:

• "Why Do We Have Fall--A Post Inspired by My Daughter" ~ A sweet post where Richard details why he was led to research some edtech tools due to 4 year old conversations with his daughter.
• "Resources for Teaching and Learning About the Colorful Leaves of Fall" ~ According to the 2020 Fall Foliage Prediction Map in Richard's list of resources, I was on the line of "partial" & "near peak" in West Virgina that weekend. Good videos also are included in this post.

The wind is whipping a bit around me today as I write this--a sunny yet cooling day. A shower of colorful leaves drifts downward, bristling about, like autumnal confetti. I think that means Fall is here.

Photos from my camera from the weekend of October 3-4 in West Virginia.

Nonpartisan Election Resources

It's definitely an election year--there's evidence of it everywhere. Not to mention, this year seems heated like never before.

Regardless of your political stance, it is always good to know what is going on when it comes to candidates, platforms, and civic engagement. Especially when it's just under 3 weeks away.

Here are some nonpartisan teaching resources for this year's election to help students get a greater understanding on the importance of voting and some of the terminology that bounces around this time of the year. 

• Richard Byrne's Free Tech for Teachers: Common Craft Explains Disinformation

• Screenager's "How To Think Like a Fact Checker" which links to Stanford's Civic Online Reasoning Curriculum.

• Free Tech for Teachers: Every US Preseidential Election through 2012 Explained with a link to Keith Hughes YouTube Channel with 5-20 minute videos doing just this for every election.

• Free Tech for Teachers: A Handful of Videos to Help Students Understand the Electoral College

• PBS Learning Media's Electoral Decoder: An interactive electoral map where you can not only see the electoral breakdown of past elections, but you can use it to predict future outcomes for 2020.

• Enchanted Learning's Election Vocabulary Word List

• Crash Course's Election Basics: Crash Course Government and Politics #36 

• Crash Course's Gerrymandering: Crash Course Government and Politics #37

• My Green Team Gazette Nonpartisan Election Classroom Resources from the 2016 election.

Image created using Canva.com

Ready Resources for Remote & Hybrid Teachers

Two posts ago, I shared some reflections and resources about how to mentally and emotionally survive these crazy Covid teaching times. I talked about sustainability not in my typical “green” and “eco” sense, but from a mental health perspective of making it through what might be our hardest year of teaching (collectively speaking on behalf of the whole profession).

This post is sort of a companion piece. I have more resources here, but these are from the edtech perspective of how to make life a little easier for you if you are teaching in a remote or hybrid learning environment. 

• Simpletivity's 7 Zoom Meeting Tips Every User Should Know!
• Buzzfeed's 7 Teachers Share Their Best Tips On Remote Learning
• Emma Pass' The Hybrid Teacher: Survival Guide
• Teachthought's 25 Remote Teaching Tips to Engage Students in Distance Learning
• Common Sense Media's Best Tools for Virtual & Distance Learning
• Common Sense Media's How to Plan for Hybrid Teaching and Learning
• ClassTag's Edtech Toolkit for Remote and Hybrid Learning 
• Richard Byrne's Practical EdTech Handbook

Image created using Canva.com

TED's Countdown For Climate Change

10.10.2020

It's a poignant combination of memorable numbers, making for a memorable date ahead for this Saturday, October 10th, from 11 am -- 5pm EST.

TED is sponsoring their Countdown for Climate Change. This is a virtual event & global initiative to highlight the goals to building a better future by 2030. #JoinTheCountown is their hashtags to open communication for a cleaner, more resilient future based on creativity & innovation. One of their main points: "It's a movement open to everyone."

Detailed in their plan is to answer these 5 interconnected questions:

Among the 61 speakers planning to speak on Saturday at Countdown, here are just a few of the scientists, engineers, activists, leaders, educators, authors, researchers, policy experts, entrepreneurs, social justice advocates, conservationists, entertainers, and more. Click here to see the full line up of speakers.

• Chris Anderson, Head of TED
• Angel Hsu, Climate and Data Scientist
• Al Gore, Former Vice President and Climate Advocate
• Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge
  António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations
• Severn Cullis-Suzuki, Environmental Educator
• Jane Fonda, Actor and Activist

To learn more about Saturday's upcoming event, check out their website: https://countdown.ted.com

Video from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osy5qtx9R4M, Images from https://countdown.ted.com

Thoughts a Month Into Hybrid School

This summer when I was introduced to the idea of "hybrid school" (where half of the kids are in class and half are remote), my first instinct was it had to be like juggling knives.

I was not wrong.

Hybrid for me at my school means that most of our preschool through 1st graders are in school in person (with the exception of those students who’s parents opt to keep them home full time). Our 2nd through 5th grade students also have a handful of “full-time remote learners,” but otherwise they in person at school either Monday-Wednesday or Tuesday-Thursday, and every other Friday. It’s definitely mental juggling trying to remember which Friday is which! We bring in our home kids daily via Zoom and Swivl to create a full class experience for our kids. We are using technology more than ever before with Seesaw, our learning management system, online resources like Google Drive, and online reading & math platforms. Our specials teachers either zoom into the classrooms for the littler ones, or travel by cart to the classrooms for our every-other-day kids. We are masked and socially distancing, the latter of which is tricky given the whole nature of being educators… not to mention it’s totally in the nature of kids to come close and be near each other.

The post “I’m a Hybrid Teacher, and I’m On the Verge of Quitting” on the Marvelous Teacher Musings website nails the difficulties of this style of teaching in so many ways.

Now that I have been in hybrid-style school for a month, entering our fifth week, I’m still finding it exhausting. We are the frontline workers. We are going in daily into what feels like a hot zone.

Daily, there’s a degree of “gearing up” to “go back in there” that I face—when getting out of bed as well as getting out of the car in my school parking lot. Lots of deep breaths and some internal monaloges of “you can do this.” (Sometimes they are interspersed with other soliloquies about hating life.) In some ways, It is getting easier. Often times, it still just as hard as it was on day one. It is just hard, and hard for everyone. I can see the struggle is real for all of my colleagues, who are buckling in and doing the best they can midst all of these crazy times. As the elementary school technology integrator, I have had lessons that have felt like my worst teaching experiences ever as I wrestled with keeping my in class kids engaged while I’ve wrestled (almost individually) with my at-homers. I’ve also had lesson sessions where it actually almost felt like “the good ole days!” I’ve also noticed that the students are completely remarkable—patient and perhaps even grateful, realizing how it feels to be back in school after 6 months at home given both our spring remote learning season and a long socially distanced summer afterwards.

The more I am living this hybrid learning model, the more I'm noticing that it is going to be "the marathon" versus "the sprint." The spring remote learning was the sprint. Everyone was in the mindset of “just get to the end.” It’s definitely a different race here and now. The end, from this vantage point of start of October, is a long way away. From this place, we are in a marathon. We need endurance, stamina, and longevity to make it to May or June. We can't keep going at an unsustainable pace. Pace—steady and slow--is the only thing that will win the race of the 2020-2021 school year.

Likewise, it reminds me of the flight prep on a plane that we get from the attendants: in case of emergency, put your own oxygen mask on first. Teachers, by nature, are planners, and there’s really nothing you can plan or control midst a pandemic. It’s a lot of uncertainty and flexibility, and adapting as things change around us. That’s tough for a lot of us to grapple with… and it is exactly why we need to put on our own mask first. (A near pun, in today’s times.) We do that through going easy on ourselves and making sure we providing space for us to catch our breath, sleep, and heal from the exhaustion of these times. The definition of resilience is having the capacity to recover from difficulties. It’s about mental toughness and adapting to the adversity that surrounds us. It is gleaned in part through self care. Those two pieces are the only thing that's going to get teachers through this time—perhaps our most memorable year as educators.

Teachers notoriously are terrible about self-care. There’s always lessons to plan, papers to grade, parents to email or call. Their own life, families, friends, and other responsibilities get smushed around all of that. But now, more than ever, we need to make sure to find the time for it. Our sanity and ultimate health need us to do just that. Here’s a list of resources that I hope you find helpful, so that these crazy times can begin to feel just a little bit more bearable and ultimately sustainable.

• Vicki Davis' 10 Minute Teacher Podcast: "Don't Fall Out of the Boat" Episode 700
• The Counseling Teacher's 50 Self-Care Ideas for Teachers (I absolutely love this printable list in either color or black and white for you to "zen color" yourself)
  
• The Counseling Teacher's 20 Self Care Quotes for Teachers
  
• The Resilient Educator's COVID-19: Resilient Educator Toolkit
• Walden University's article "The Resilient Educator: Recognizing the Signs of Teacher Burnout"
• The Atlantic's article "Our Students Are Depending on Us: Teaching Through Covid-19

Last but not least, here are the 2020 Teachers of the Year and their thoughts & self-care coping strategies. 




Images from https://marvelousteachermusings.com/2020/09/12/hi-im-a-hybrid-teacher-and-im-on-the-verge-of-quitting/, https://imgflip.com/i/2l7kzh, https://www.popupbusinessschool.co.uk/uploads/1/0/5/2/10525779/charlotte-3_orig.jpg, https://akchristianwomensministry.com/2019/09/10/put-your-oxygen-mask-on-first.html,

Video from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3pdoe1hfuE

The World Is Your Oyster: Marylanders Grow Oysters Program

There's a saying that goes like this: "The world is your oyster." 

It means you can go anywhere and do anything, you've got opportunity galore ahead.

It's interesting, because oysters do just that for the Chesapeake Bay. They are pretty remarkable and powerhouses on their own accord. This infographic gives a quick visual overview:

About a week and a half ago, I got to be a part of some oyster opportunity in the making. As one of the Board of Directors of Maryland Yacht Club Maritime Foundation (MYCMF), I got to see some environmental stewardship in action. The vision of MYCMF is to "inspire and motivate communities to connect with waterways through interactive life experiences." Our mission:

"The Maryland Yacht Club Maritime Foundation Inc. DBA as MYC Maritime Foundation dedicates itself to advancing education, preservation, restoration and investigation efforts through collaborative maritime programs and projects. These efforts benefit a wide and diverse range of individuals, community members and groups. The groups we serve include schools, environmental organizations, at risk youth and engaged curious individuals. The various facets of STEAM, ( Science, Technology, Education, Arts and Mathematics) are incorporated to provide the greatest benefit and impact to all involved parties."

Taking part in the Marylanders Grow Oysters Program, Maryland Yacht Club was the staging center on Thursday, September 17th for a giant drop off of nearly 100 bags of oysters, with MYCMF members keeping it running like a well-oiled ship. With the help of a local school and their battalion of 5th graders, these bags of oysters were deposited into the waters of Rock Creek off the Patapsco River, which flows into the Chesapeake Bay. I was not there that day, but it stirred up memories as a delightful throwback to my days at Eagle Cove School when we got to see the kid-side of our oyster crew, with them in action.

Two days later on Saturday, the oysters were again "on the move" on a sunny, windy, feeling-like-fall kind of day. These baby oysters were destined to exchange their 2-day home in the creek at Maryland Yacht Club for their home for the year ahead. Marylanders who wish to donate their time, effort, and their docks sign up to be part of the Marylanders Grow Oysters Program. Currently, over 1,500 volunteers who own water-front property hang oyster cages from their docks to help grow these baby oysters. This protected aquatic environment is vital for their first year of life. In June, these oysters will be relocated to oyster sanctuaries.

We were the oyster pick-up point for folks who live on Stoney Creek, Nabbs Creek, and Rock Creek who signed up to harvest the baby oysters. Really, a small cog in the wheel of the whole program for the entire state of Maryland. For about an hour and a half during the 4 hour Saturday pick-up block, I was there to lend a helping hand if needed. However, I must say, it was a pretty smooth process, already underway! 

Fun Facts from the day:

• Baby oysters are called spat once the oyster larvae has attached to empty, cleaned reclaimed oyster shells. Several oyster spat can attach to the same shell.

• One bag of oysters is the equivalent of 3 oyster cages.

• One cage holds approximately 150 oyster spat.

• Once they have been harvested for the year, the spat will be approximately 1 inch in diameter. They will be planted in local oyster sanctuaries (often called oyster beds or reefs) where they will go to work filtering the tributaries and becoming home to many marine species. 

• Oysters can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day.

• Numbers from the day:
• Stoney & Nabbs Creek had 26 oyster growers with 82 cages hanging from their piers.
• Rock Creek had 71 oyster growers with 197 pier-hanging cages.
• Come June, that means we will plant approximately 42,000 oysters on the Ft. Carroll reef (the "forever home" of these li'l guys.)

• Speaking of guys, oysters begin as males, but can change their gender as needed over their lifetime.

• The Marylanders Grow Oysters Program is a part of the Oyster Recovery Partnership. Check out their website to learn more.

   

May the world be your oyster... and thanks to the 97 area folks who are helping to grow oysters locally, taking that opportunity to be part of something bigger than themselves. Such gratitude for these environmental stewards who are raising oysters which will filter the bay. By volunteering like this to do something bigger than themselves, they have made it possible for all of us to go forward and enjoy the beauty and benefits of the Chesapeake Bay.

The world is our oyster, indeed!

Oyster infographic from https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/infographic/infographic-value-chesapeake-bay-oyster-habitat, photos from my camera.

Climate Change, Coronavirus, & Katherine Hayhoe

There's a line from the 1996 movie "Jerry Maguire" where Renée Zellweger's character says, "You had me at hello."

Much in that same way, climate scientist Katherine Hayhoe (who I've written about before) had me at "Global Weirding." Truly, what could be better terminology than that for both global warming and climate change.

Here are two pieces she did at the end of March 2020 when the pandemic started growing exponentially five months ago.  In the first video, she shows how climate change is not a causation of Coronavirus but but certainly a contributing factor connecting the two as a threat multiplier.

Her second video shows how the pandemic is affecting carbon emissions and air pollution. 

Video from https://youtu.be/ruOl1R5cpnw and https://youtu.be/62IzyebP1_o

Global Weirding logo from http://www.rewire.org/pbs/not-sure-global-warming-try-global-weirding/

Honoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been heavy on my heart and mind since her passing last Friday night. She really has become such an American icon over her 87 years. It's been inspiring seeing the tributes to her on both social and mainstream media. 

A friend of mine went to lay flowers at the Supreme Court to honor both RBG and to dedicate a flower to special women in her life. I was touched to be one of the women she chose to include in that. 

When I think of the powerhouse that RBG was, I am a bit in awe. Another friend posted this list on social media, along with the comment that no matter which side of politics you are on, all women owe a lot to the trailblazer we call Justice Ginsburg. 

Looking at this list, I'm reminded of the many times, even now in 2020, women still struggle for true equality, despite how far we have come. What comes to mind are the number of times I've called about some account for our family, however the account happens to be in my husband's name. On those calls, I can't tell you the number of times I've heard "Since the account is in his name, can you put him on the phone so we have him verify that we can speak to you?" I get the idea of account verification and appreciate it to a degree, but it frustrates me and makes me feel like a second class citizen every time... especially since they seem to have no problem cashing the checks when I write and send them in! 

I grew up in the '70s & '80s and saw my own mom as a trailblazing working mom, ahead of her time. I recall times she talked about getting criticized for that and the rise in her position which she worked hard to achieve. 

I remember when I just had my first born and was looking for a "mommy and me" group, and some chastising I heard from stay at home moms about being a working mom myself. I remember thinking, "Parenting is hard, shouldn't we all just be on the same team?"

Ruth Bader Ginsburg fought for all of that. And much much more. We thank her for her many years of service to our country and all of us for her time on the Supreme Court and every fight that she fought to allow us our human rights and privileges!

For my teacher friends out there, here are some digital resources if you are wanting to honor the legacy of RBG in your classroom.

• Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Supreme Court Justice Mini Bio video (3 minutes) created by Biography.com
• Myhero.com's Multimedia Resources & Lesson Plans on Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• Newseum's "Women Who Shaped the Supreme Court" lesson plans
• There are many RBG links & lesson plans at Resources for History Teachers  
• Bookroo's list of "14 Kids Books About Ruth Bader Ginsburg"

A final word: It's been overwhelming and disheartening to see how quickly our loss of "The Notorious RBG" has become a political conversation given her passing & ultimate replacement so close to the election. To that, I say the best way to honor her is this:

RBG quote created by @Eco With Em at https://www.facebook.com/ecowithem/posts/3598148363580564--she has a very poignant and insightful post about the loss of RBG on her Facebook page from September 20th, equating the current times with the Australian wildfires from January and how perhaps we all have the seeds of change inside us that take so much upset to have them come to grow. It was a powerful nature metaphor for dealing with difficult times & can be found at https://www.facebook.com/ecowithem, Screenshot list from unknown, Letter block photo credit @Ann Mooradian

Blue Mind Days & Hours Outside, Summer 2020

This is my 3rd summer counting up hours outside, and my 2nd summer monitoring my "Blue Mind Days."  

The former is pretty straight forward, and it stems from a website promoting 1000 hours outside during the course of the year--so 250 seemed like a reasonable goal with a straight seasonal division by 4. 

My "blue mind" days are days I've purposefully spent by or in water. Sitting just next to my backyard pool doesn't count--I have to be in with that. Bathtubs and kitchen sinks also don't count. 

Summer seems optimum for this little personal experiment because time opens up in different ways during the teaching days of the school year.

Both numbers for me were down this summer, due in large part to orchestrating a lot of tech PD and set up for this Covid-centric school year that we're embarking on. Many weeks were 9-20 hour work weeks during my "summer off." (Already a misnomer for teachers!) Add in, it was pretty steamy midsummer, making my outdoor work habits an indoor activity. But, I was surprised to see how respectable they were in comparison to the last two years (check out the two links above). 

I know for me (as I was outside almost the entirety of the 3 days of Labor Day weekend just last week) are the great equalizers for me. The breeze in the air, the vibrancy of color, the scampering and fluttering of wildlife, and the buoyancy and reflectiveness of the water do all the things that physiologically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally they are supposed to do. It's always a sad goodbye when temperatures start to drop because I haven't transitioned the magic of all of that into the mindset of winter quite yet. But lucky for me, we've got a lovely fall days ahead. With these Covid classroom teaching days, I plan to be outside as much as possible!

Photo compilation created with my photos of my calendar tallies & the PicCollage app.