Day 171, September 3, 2020
Good Behavior
Tonight's soundtrack: The Rub Wrongways Records Prime Time Special #4
Tonight I was on a video call with colleagues from colleges and universities in Colorado, Atlanta, North Dakota, Indiana, California, and New Zealand. We compared institutional dashboards on the COVID-19 virus. I shared the data from UMass, as that was the closest comparison I have, and by far the University has far more testing and far fewer positive results than any of the institutions of my peers... except for New Zealand. I suppose that is comforting.
I had just come back from an after work walk with Debbie and Franklin where we talked about what might return after the pandemic, and what might be forever changed. Then, it kind of just evolved into a list of things that we miss and look forward to engaging in again. Who doesn't look forward to the uninhibited return to restaurants, concerts at Symphony Hall and Tanglewood, rock shows in local bars, motorcycle rallies, and filled to the brim pool parties. Ha ha. Not so much the last two. But we all have the things we miss and hope will return.
We understand what good behavior means, what good behavior looks like, but it is hard to tell how long one maintains the constraints, and if you are 18, or 21, or 30, or 40, or nearly 50, it all looks somewhat different. At what point do we return to living? Living in the way we imagined living to be?
Interestingly, in some ways, the pandemic has forced a reset in so many things. The personal as well as the professional. There are times when all the rigors of play become as demanding on one's time and attention as the demands of work, and then there is less or little time left to focus on things that are more purely focused on one's self. There are few times in one's life when one can turn to focus on one's self for such an extended period of time. It doesn't always feel like the focus in on the self, but it is quieter at my house. More contemplative.
One of my daughters shared an article this morning titled, "We're All Socially Awkward Now." Kate Murphy ends the article talking about how anyone left to themselves in isolation changes, and that none of us are the same. That gave me a pause. We are all changing in our own isolation spheres and there is no one there to witness the gradual evolution so that when we come together again, it will be like when someone gets laser surgery and suddenly doesn't wear glasses any more, or when someone shaves off a beard. It is a disorienting. Murphy suggests that we all, "have patience for your own and other people's weirdness."
I suppose that is somewhat reassuring, to recognize our own weirdnesses that have crept into our lives are figments of this particular moment, and that there can be a process where we relearn how one another looks without glasses, with or without facial hair, and with or without masks. Murphy also suggests that we build into our lives an intentional reaching out for community, for connection, for the fostering of relationships with others. Because, it is through practice that we will regain use of those muscles again, and not allow them to completely atrophy.
It was always easier to say no, to bow out, to abdicate one's presence, avoid the phone call, and postpone the card or letter, and now, in the midst of the great turning inward, there is all the more impetus to avoid those things. But we have to continue to try... with our families, our friends, our students, our colleagues. And one day, we'll be free of these constraints and we will be able to laugh... or grimace, at one another in person. I look forward to it.
Take care and be well,
Leo
From Our Friends:
From Academic Impressions:
Following Their Dreams in an Inequitable System: Latino Students Share Their College Experience
Article | UNIDOS US
A study finds that 70% of Latino students who enroll in college are first-generation students and thus lack family knowledge about the college admissions and financial aid application processes; that persistent financial insecurity affects their decisions at every stage of seeking higher education; and that overall, Latino students are driven to complete college and thrive when targeted institutional supports are accessible. Read more.
From the Daily Yonder:
|
|
From the AAG:
Today's Online Teaching Tips:
From ACE:
Equity and Success for Online Community College Students |
Susan Barbitta, executive director of NC Student Success Center, and Lisa Chapman, president of Central Carolina Community College, will join ACE's Sherri Hughes to discuss how North Carolina community colleges are approaching online teaching and strategies for achieving student equity during a time of uncertainty and disruption. This webinar is part of ACE and ACUE's Conversations on Student Success series. |
From the Chronicle of Higher Ed:
Reducing Students’ Stress
As courses moved online last spring, some professors significantly lowered their expectations and offered a great deal of flexibility in recognition of the upheaval that students were experiencing. What does that response look like now, as pandemic teaching stretches on far longer than most instructors expected?
Comments
Post a Comment