Day Five (7), March 21, 2020

Day 5(7), March 21, 2020

Hello,

I guess I don't know how I should be counting the days since I didn't write over the weekend. So is today day 5, or is it day 7? Maybe it would be better to keep track of all the days... So, officially this is the Day 7 blogpost.

It is snowing as I write this, and just moments ago the woodpile tried to murder me by collapsing as I bent over to load my log carrier. Luckily, I had my big winter coat and gloves on, so it felt more like a linebacker trying to shield a quarterback, but it did take me a moment to realize what just happened. My instinct was to roar in anger at an unseen aggressor (there was the loud noise darkness of the tarp, in addition to all the logs), then another moment to make sure I was ok, nothing broken, no punctures, and I paused to regain my composure, bend back down to fill the log carrier, and make my way back to the house. I was lucky. So the remainder of our wood is now in a collapsed and chaotic tumble, but maybe it is less dangerous that way.

So, freshly enamored with life and the living, I dive back into the blog.

This weekend I was able to have a Zoom meeting with my three kids, my ex, and Debbie, and from time to time, various dogs. It was wonderful to have a nice long talk with all of them and catch up. Plus, it was an opportunity for some of them to practice using Zoom, since they hadn't used it before. Nothing is like seeing them in person, but it was a wonderful salve to be able to spend time with them.

One of my kids is researching making fabric masks for hospitals and is sending my doctor brother her prototypes so he can select the one that seems to work best. Apparently, there are all kinds of little tricks of the trade, like embedding a twist tie over the bridge of the nose so the mask can be shaped appropriately.

Debbie and I then took Franklin for a hike on Mount Toby where we did a little loop on the Robert Frost Trail (for a portion) and passed by a stand of young birches. I was reminded of a poet friend of mine, Hector (Craig) Denninger (he changed his name in memory of his cat's passing, for a time), who took me for a hike in Sunderland, and recited Frost's poem "Birches" from memory, and then proceeded to emulate Frost's imagined boy and swung himself from birch to birch. Here's an excerpt:

When I see birches bend to left and right

Across the lines of straighter darker trees,

I like to think some boy's been swinging them.

But swinging doesn't bend them down to stay

As ice-storms do. Often you must have seen them

Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning

After a rain. They click upon themselves

As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored

As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.

You can read the whole poem here. With snow now covering the landscape, it seems even more appropriate. When I was in high school, I had two thick anthologies, one with all of Robert Frost's poems, and a collection of New Yorker poems. Before bed each night, I would read one of each. I guess that gives you a little insight into my formation.

The snow is now falling in large cotton ball size clumps now. A fairly rapid clip. Today, Governor Baker issued an emergency order closing all non-essential businesses in Massachusetts. In any other time this would seem like an extreme action... but today, it seems no different from the day before it and we are just falling into line with other states. I worry about all the people deemed essential and their increasingly harried existence. The woman helping at self checkout at Stop and Shop frantically tried to help customers with temperamental scanners, wiped down touch screens and conveyors, all while wearing a bandana for protection.

But I don't think anyone reads this blog to be reminded of those things. So I'll leave you with these things:

This is the sweetest hen. She always climbs back into the coop when I'm cleaning to see what I'm up to, and I give her a little pet.

When Debbie and I got married, she painted a bunch of river stones to give as gifts on each of the guest tables. I warned her about Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," but she paid me no mind, and it turns out my fears were unfounded. But there were some rocks left over, so every once in a while I find one tucked in the corner of the garden or flower bed.

I hope you are all doing well and are staying safe. See below for updates from friends, and more online teaching tips.

Take care,

Leo

Email I Added to an Email Thread for Community Economies

(The CERN was asking about updates from our various locations around the world of community economy activities)

Hello Folks,

In the US community colleges often have some of the most vulnerable college students, so at Greenfield Community College (GCC) we’ve been working hard to maintain services via phone and videoconferencing for essential services like counseling, financial aid, and advising as we transition to fully online learning. We have created networks of volunteers to deliver “to-go-bags” of food from our food pantry, and are working to restock our Technology Lending Library where students can check out laptops, chrome books, and wifi hotspots for free (and we assume at this point for the remainder of the semester). These will also be delivered by staff from the library directly to students’ homes.

I have to also mention that GCC’s faculty and staff have been working non-stop in an incredible display of solidarity and dedication to our students to move courses online and set up online services. I recognize that this is happening all over the world, but that in itself, is an incredible communal civic action.

In the local community, the local currency organization Common Good has created a Mutual Aid Offers & Needs page where people can post either. 

A new network, the Western Massachusetts Community Mutual Aid (WMACMA) was started to connect volunteers with people in need and an attempt to organize the community into neighborhood pods with a point person for each neighborhood.

There has been an amazing outpouring of support for food security, particularly for school children, a very important issue since Franklin County is one of the poorest and most rural counties in the state. You can see evidence of that here, a Google Doc with locations for free meals.

So amidst the concern everyone is feeling, there is also an incredible welling of communal good will. A desire to help one another and do what’s best for our students and our community.

I’ve also been writing a Blog, focused mainly on my colleagues at the college, but feel free to read if you are curious about Western Massachusetts in the US. https://deanathomethepandemicblog.blogspot.com

Hope you are all doing well and staying healthy and safe,

Leo

From Our Friends:

This was posted on Facebook by one of our students:

I’m so sad that I probably won’t be able to see the professors/my friends that made GCC so meaningful and special to me. I have decided to start making cards for these people that have showed me what community means & supported me through my time at this wonderful college. I have many more to make, but so far these are what I have. 

What are y’all doing to pass the time/take care of yourself in this social distancing time? Any other art enthusiasts here?? (I’m a STEM major but love crafts and painting, so it’s been nice to get to play around with this extra time!)

Claire Itterly 

A Sign One of My Daughters Left for the Package Delivery Person

Resources for Teaching Online

Explore resources and tools created by Google to inspire creativity, encourage hands-on learning, and equip your students with digital skills.

Tips for Moving a Class Online Quickly

From Pearson, a publisher.

Shared by Anne Wiley: The Rule of 2s

Let’s boil this down. What’s most important for us to rethink as we use our precious hours and days to redesign our courses for online and/or remote learning? Work with a colleague, friend, instructional designer, or student to talk through your answers after you fill this out! Are you stumped? Take a look at the example we’ve attached!

Support for Moving Your Class Online with OpenStax:

We’ve collected resources that we hope will be helpful to anyone who is teaching their courses remotely, including tips for moving courses online, online homework software that’s being offered for free this semester, and curated community resources.

This page in particular has a lot of free math and science options!

Shared by Kate Walker:

Tips for Inclusion and Equity in Online Teaching with Professor Chris Barcelos of Think Again Training & Consulting geared toward teachers of college and high school classes Thursday, March 26, 3-4pm Central