Day 8, March 24, 2020

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Day 8, March 24, 2020

Hello Everyone,
It is a wintery landscape out there. It was a beautiful bright sunny day, but the touted heat never materialized so the snow is still out there, a good five inches or so. When I went out this morning to feed the chickens, I noticed an interloper had circled the chicken enclosure, then made its way down the slope into the gully that leads to the Saw Mill River following the path I annually rake from the undergrowth. 

Some time in the early morning, two deer investigated the neighbor's yard, circled the chicken fence, maybe smelling the feed, and headed down to the river for a drink. I like thinking that we had visitors and it makes Franklin's sometimes random barking a little more intelligible. 

I also had good timing with my egg check. One of my favorite things is to retrieve a still warm egg from the coop. There are few things in life as pleasing as holding a chicken-warm egg in the palm of your hand. It is up there with kissing baby feet and sleeping on a sunny beach.

This morning I was writing about visiting my grandfather in Korea when I was five years old. My brother was just born and we were bringing him around to show the relatives. The flight over was on a Boeing 747, TWA. We sat at the front of the coach section where there was a little more leg room, and a stewardess seeing the baby, brought us an empty Coke case to use as a bassinet so my mom could rest her arms.

But it wasn't the flight over, I was remembering, it was more my Uncle John, or Big Uncle, as we called him, because he was tall, about 6' and had an overbite that reminded me of Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was young, maybe in his late teens, early twenties, it must have been before his military service. He loved ketchup, and slathered it on everything, on his eggs in the morning, on his rice at lunch, and looking back on it, it must have seemed exotic, like putting Sriracha on eggs and mixing it with mayo. He had a mischievous grin that lured me in, and later proved to be problematic for his marriages, but he always had a passion for fun and enjoying life. 

I remember watching the only English language shows in that house, Sesame Street, where they were teaching the language I already knew how to speak, and the debates between Ford and Carter... it is funny I remember that. 

The house was an old style Korean home, with a high wall surrounding the main house and a courtyard with smaller little cottages set around the perimeter that housed the uncles and aunties. There was a peacock, and a couple of guard dogs (I was told I was ruining them by climbing into their dog houses and snuggling too much), and in the main house my grandmother was convalescing in the bedroom. Back then there were still dirt roads in Seoul.

All that is gone now. I don't think there are any dirt roads left in Seoul, and I hear there is a skyscraper where my grandfather's house stood. I wonder about what they witnessed in their lifetimes, what they lost. The disease that ravaged the countryside after the war, tuberculosis before there was a cure. My grandfather lived until he was a 104, and basically witnessed a preindustrial Korea transform into the modern Asian Tiger (dated, I know) technologically advanced economy that we all see today... along with compulsory COVID-19 testing, heat sensing cameras, and geo tracking by phone of sick people. I think of my grandfather and wonder what we will witness in our lives, from the advent of the internet and cellular phones... and so on. What will be the stories we ramble on and on about when we are old?

Perhaps this will be one of them.








Online Teaching Tips

Boston Public Library eCard

Any resident of MA can get a BPL eCard which includes access to lots of stream and downloadable movies you can use for classes (or for long stints at home).

The Best Zoom Tips & Tricks Everyone Needs to Know | Digital Trends
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/best-zoom-tips-and-tricks/

Common Problems with Zoom Videoconferencing, How To Fix Them | Digital Trends
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/common-problems-with-zoom-and-how-to-fix-them/

Online Discussion Tips from UMass' Teaching and Learning Site:

Online discussions can be a great way to help your students stay connected when learning remotely. Offering your students opportunities to discuss course content creates an interactive social learning environment for shared exploration. 

This includes a good reminder:
Consider Issues of Access, Inclusion, and Equity
Since working in remote learning environments is new to many of us, we need to be aware that some students may struggle more than others. Also, keep in mind that not everyone will be able to work remotely from a comfortable, private, and quiet space. In addition, some of your students may have:
  • Unreliable access to the internet
  • Only their cell phones to access your course 
  • Technology that is shared with family members 
  • Limited data plans
  • Responsibilities to care for others
To help you identify your students’ unique needs, check in with your students individually or consider sending them a survey to find out what is doable for them during this time of disruption. 

Tips and Tricks for Teaching on Zoom


From Inside Higher Ed: 3 Small College Advantages In the COVID-19 Sudden Shift to Remote Education



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