Catchy title don’t you think? So due to what seems to be the plague of this century, school districts across the country, including mine, are closed. I completely understand the reasoning and the Science. I just hope we took this seriously in time to make a difference. So what does this mean to me, a healthy-ish 50-ish public school teacher? Right now, not much. Friday was our first day off and we’re getting information as decisions are being made so slowly. I just can’t see why global pandemic wasn’t part of the districts emergency management plan… maybe alien invasion, but… well actually while some people saw this coming, most didn’t or ignored any warning signs. I was visiting China during SARS and thought the panic here was silly- amazing what a few more years of experience does to you.
I treated Friday like a snow day- without the snow. I did laundry, vacuumed, spent some all important kitty time, basically caught up with a lot of stuff I can’t do regularly during the school year. The weekend has been pretty normal with the exception of consciously not going out. We did go to get supplies and pizza, but I now see that even though we tried to social distance ourselves, the best thing to do is stay home unless there is something you absolutely need (pizza & ice cream do not count, no matter how important they seem).
So what are my plans for the next few weeks? I’m hoping to get more done, but also take this gift of time & catch up on things I have wanted to learn about or do – starting with a long time missing blog entry which you are reading now.
Let me catch you up on what has happened since I last posted anything. Then again in the immortal words of Inigo Montoya “Let me ‘splain. No there is too much. Let me sum up.”
Since my last major entry (not in any order)-
– I left the 3rd grade classroom to become the Robotics & Design Teacher at my school (over 700 kids grades 1-6). The first graders call me “the LEGO Teacher.”
– The school was renovated (if this happens to you- just remember Architects lie- budgets are too small for their grandiose plans)
– I was moved into a new room (post renovation) that has large windows into the hallway so I cannot hide.
– We got another cat – his name is Issigonis but we call him “Issi”
– My mother passed away. Lots of baggage to unpack there, but it’s my baggage so don’t worry about it.
– I was named a LEGO Education US LEGO Master Educator. Yes, that is the official title and yes, it is long. I currently am the only one in Indiana.
– At the end of the 2018-19 school year I was named my school’s teacher of the year (an honor)and then my district’s teacher of the year (a shock). I was not named the state teacher of the year (understandable). Two out of three ain’t bad.
– I visited Paris (France, not Illinois or Texas) and attended ComicCon Paris plus a few other touristy things.
Those are pretty much the highlights. I actually started blog posts about some of them, but never got them posted.
Over the next couple weeks I’ll try (and probably fail) at going into a little more detail and talk about my view of this crazy planet most of us live on and get into a habit of posting stuff here since social media platforms are getting weirder and weirder.
Before I start on anything let me begin with my view towards COVID-19. Wash your hands and whenever possible stay home. “This is the way,” “Science has spoken.” For those paranoid and thinking that this is all a hoax, or conspiracy- even if it is, don’t you want to at least do whatever you can to support your community? Even if it means curling up in a pile of toilet paper reading a book, playing a video game, or spewing vile opinions not based on fact or logic in social media. Even if there is a 1% chance that the conspiracy theorists are right, I care about enough people who this could be life threatening that I don’t want to take the chance. “It’s the end of the world as we know it- and I feel fine.” So if you one of those people who think the entire world has ganged up against the current US administration- I respectfully agree to disagree (a new concept in this day and age – respect). Now go wash your hands. I’ve got to go out and buy more hand sanitizer & toilet paper, there’s still room in the basement.