Day Four, March 20, 2020

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Day Four, March 20, 2020

Hello Folks,
Well, I just completed the most epic marathon Zoom session ever. From 10:30 am to 6:44 pm, with breaks for lunch, and a few other 10 min. breaks. After that marathon I feel like I need to join a union. Even after moving my office chair from the basement, my butt is sore and my eyes are blurry. That said, it was a very nice meeting and wonderful to meet with colleagues from across the country. People were in good spirits and it was nice to be immersed in work outside of the deep day to day stuff (though I did try to answer emails when I had a chance). 

So, I'm pretty much toast at this point, though I am excited I learned how to make custom Zoom backgrounds (we had fun randomly changing them during the duration of the meeting).

For those of you curious, here's my basic set up in a corner of our eat-in kitchen. For today's tech heavy meeting, I had my iPad setup as a 2nd machine to the right... and a cup of tea seems to be the new constant on my left.

I've been using my old wired earbuds as my main Zoom and phone conferencing tool. I kind of wondered about investing in AirPods, but then read that battery time drops pretty dramatically when using the microphone function, so given amount of time I'm staying connected these days, maybe that isn't such a good idea. It seems like a silly time to spend money on such things anyway, but if anyone has any suggestions... I'm all ears. 

So unless there are drastic changes, all my weekend meetings have been cancelled and I am really looking forward to unplugging and practicing focusing on objects further than 3 feet away from my face. I'm looking forward to doing some normal things like, sweeping up the wood chips I've tracked into the house bringing in the firewood, washing the downstairs bathtub (I've been doing the bathroom piecemeal and already did the toilet one day, and the sink yesterday). I'm looking forward to a long walk with the dog, maybe a bike ride if the nice weather sticks around.

It has been wonderful hearing from you all. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I haven't decided if I'll continue to write over the weekend... but maybe I will. I have been feeling a deep sense of appreciation and love for my family, my friends, and each one of you. It is truly amazing how much I value everyone in my life, so please stay safe out there.

Shared from our friends:

From Charlotte Gifford (written by her mother):

Spring Song

Blossom, blade and leaf
speak to the heart which long
waited in blind belief
that these could still belong.

Now come whistle and song
of bird, the sweet relief
of sunlight lasting long.
To temper all our grief.

Alice M. Gifford

From Community Member Jen Audley:

Franklin County Food Resources including free lunches for kids!

How to Get Emergency Text Alerts for Greenfield

Tips for Teaching Online

Here's a Tutorial for Using Google Docs 

We hope to have all faculty given access to GCC's G Suite by midweek.
This probably has more information than you need, but it does highlight commenting, sharing, etc.): https://www.howtogeek.com/420971/the-beginners-guide-to-google-docs/

From Prof. Deborah Cohan from Inside Higher Ed 

(Full Article Here):"I want this moment to be an opportunity for my students to pause and think about how they might be better and healthier selves, citizens and leaders in the face of uncertainty, crisis, fear and change. I want them to think about how and where they can be of the most service and how they can channel their energy to effect change. I will urge them to think about what they want to hold on to and what they could let go of, and I want them to think about how they want to be remembered. I want to encourage them to dream about how they can chart a course for and about hope, even and especially when it feels like there is none. Aren’t these the eternal questions of the human condition and lessons we want to impart on and off campus? It just might be that this current emergency prompts us to re-evaluate our real purpose in teaching."

From Alyssa Arnell: 

For those of you who may be thinking about holding live seminars online, I want to suggest a quick read for tips on creating an engaging online experience. This is a short article from the American Historical Association. I know that the focus is outside of your disciplines, but you may find some of the author's suggestions helpful.

From Shannon Compton:

FA Davis has resources for Nursing and Health Occupations "F. A. Davis is an independent, family-owned publisher of educational solutions for the Nursing and Health Science professions":
In an effort to support instructors and students as they transition to distance education, F.A. Davis has granted students free access to open resources on FADavis.com. This will allow students who don’t have Access Codes to make use of all relevant resources by following the steps below:  
  1. Log in to FADavis.com (or create an account using “.edu” email address)
  2. Navigate to a specific product listed on the Occupational Therapy page
  3. On the product page, click RESOURCES and select the “Open Access” tab to view all available resources

From Lillian Ruiz (and Laura Garcia):

I believe most unit members know this, but if not, you can activate the new GCC office phone answering machine from your home, retrieve your phone messages from your home phone, and block your personal phone number by dialing *67 before calling a student from your home. 

Setting Up Voicemail
1. Call main campus number: 413-775-1000
2. When you hear recorded greeting, press *7
3. After the prompt enter your extension and #pound key
4. Enter the default password and press pound# key again
5. Follow prompts to set up voicemail.

Retrieving Phone Messages
1. Call main campus number: 413-775-1000
2. When you hear recorded greeting, press *7
3. Follow the prompts

The voicemail menu does not include a prompt to change your password. However, after you have set up your voicemail, you can change your password from the default password by navigating to the main voicemail menu - as Lillian said by pressing *7 after dialing into the main number - and then pressing 5 for additional menu options and then 4 to change your password.

We have a web page with detailed instructions at https://www.gcc.mass.edu/phones which also includes a video you can watch on how to set up your voicemail. You can always also feel free to email helpdesk@gcc.mass.edu for help if you need it.


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