Day 163, August 26, 2020
Joe Pass Level
Today's soundtrack: Joe Pass, Jazz Baltica 1992
I think I'm a little sick. A few days ago I had a lot of sneezing that felt like allergies. Today, I've had a headache all day long and I'm feeling tired. I don't think it is COVID-19 because I can still taste the balsamic vinegar that was the base of the salad dressing I had for dinner, so hopefully it is just allergies, or a cold.
I was writing a welcome back letter to the faculty and staff in my area today and started thinking about how this summer is unlike any summer any of us have ever experienced. It is unique in our lifetimes. I wrote that it is like we are all living in our own personal dystopian novels. Cormac McCarthy's The Road seemed so much more tolerable, and a certain degree less frightening, a few years ago.
And then, simultaneously it seems like things are getting better. There are moments of normalcy where for a moment it feels like there is no pandemic, that it is another summer set between seasons, that an ordinary day exists once again in what was once ordinary. But for now, I find myself realizing I am standing facing the wrong direction in a supermarket aisle marked with tape on the floor. I sometimes have to turn around after pulling out of the driveway because I forgot my mask. I dream dreams that wake me up in the middle of the night.
Given all these things, it is amazing that we can still have moments of transcendence, when we are moved out of this current existence, this moment in history, and propelled to experience something that allows us to leave this world behind, if even only for a moment.
Watching Joe Pass play (link at the top) in this video from 1992, is amazing. Several times while I've been writing this blog post, I've had to stop and marvel at his playing. He is so smooth, so precise, and so deeply embedded in the pieces he is playing. To be so connected to one's instrument, to be so familiar with a musical piece, represents a lifetime of experience poured into a moment.
I wish we could all be as good as Joe Pass at something in our lives, but I don't think I've found that thing yet. I do feel lucky that, while I'm not at Joe Pass level for anything, I can experience some of that transcendence when writing or playing music, and that make things a little better.
Be well,
Leo
From Our Friends:
From Teaching Tolerance:
Podcast Episode: Beyond the “Master Narrative”
When teaching the civil rights movement, educators often have to help students unlearn what they think they know. The people were more complex, the strategies more complicated and the stakes more dangerous than is often remembered.Listen to the latest episode of Teaching Hard History, in which historian Nishani Frazier and teacher Adam Sanchez demonstrate the value of teaching the movement from the grassroots up.Guide: Best Practices for Serving LGBTQ Students
LGBTQ students who go to school in a fully inclusive environment—where both curriculum and schoolwide policies value their identities—experience more positive outcomes. They also experience less harassment, feel more valued by school staff and face fewer barriers to success. This guide can help ensure that your curriculum is as complete and representative as possible, your school climate fosters open and respectful dialogue and all of your students feel safe and seen.From NISOD:
Today's Online Teaching Tips:
From ACE Engage:
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From Academic Impressions:
September 15, 2020 | Virtual Training
Learn how you can immediately create more engagement in your online instruction, virtual learning communities, and course materials.
Dr. Tasha Souza, Associate Director for Inclusive Excellence for the Center for Teaching and Learning, Professor of Communication, Boise State University |Article
Here are some practical strategies for mitigating the impact of microaggressions in online and remote classes.
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