Thursday 31 December 2020

Pandemic Parenting: Dec 2020

Week 128

-Little one 12:30-1:30am; dreamt^ to 3am. Awake with little one 5:40am; trade off as she wakes up an hour later. Took some time to organize my day, brief family time 8am then over an hour Dad time. Shopping after 9:30am, which took 1.5 hrs; put items away, all had yogurts, then Dad time downstairs. Lunch after 12:00, Mom handles snooze as I attempt reference letter, other school, and then snooze itself after an hour of goofing. From 2-3pm I do NaNo, because. Then Dad time for not quite an hour and actual school work on 3M for an hour. Phone home. Dad time, then cooking and plotting out some 3M. Bed by 10:30pm.
-Up 5am; handle 3M test and quiz. Some NaNo, then 6:30am with little one. Mom time after 7am, some emails. School to tidy up the first of the 3Ms; finish the unit. Then monitor a 3C test in another room, creating solution sets. Lunch by 2pm, finalize items, run, then pickup in rain. Home, some emails. Play downstairs, some tidying before dinner. Nail clipping, dinner, finalize ref letter then NaNo crawl. More writing. Bed before 11:30pm.
-Up a bit in night, then from 6:15am. Prep/scan letter, help with dressing, eventually out. Run; forget mask in car. Teach 3M lessons with new set of 16. Emails, quick lunch, quiz correcting, staff meeting. Runs to after 4pm, quick pickup. Home, send letter, then almost 1.5 hr little one as Mom head hurts. Losing my mind before 7pm, eventually back in to handle missing quizzes and other emails. Finish quizzes after 10:15pm (brief break for RDA), then prep. Briefly cook.
-Bed 12:30am. Up by 6am, sled in circles in light snow before departing. First 3M test, many questions. Try to prep remote lesson. Trig continues, then grading quizzes and answering emails. NO staff mtg, brief relax including at home. Dad time 45 min involves cleaning. After 8pm, with dinner, back into quiz corrections until after 10:30pm. Finish remote lesson; decompress.
-Some interruptions. Morning to check messages, share yogurts. 3M test again, set up regression solutions and files. Then into trig. Lunch is a book club for Ibram X (distanced). Emails and calculator disinfecting (needed 7), run, and home. Mixed time includes sadness over island cleaning. Cooking, break, don't get to work until near 10pm on lesson planning. Up later than I wanted.
-Mom up 6am, Dad time 6:30am, school prep and tidying after 7am. Back to a regular teaching day. Put together rest of quads unit. Shopping trip, then notified maybe preschool in a month. Home, Mom time, then Dad time for half an hour, pick up food then back and forth. Dishes. Break, then talk about Xmas. In bed before 10pm.
-Dreamt^^. With little one 6am, Mom takes over 6:30am; over an hour to finalize Alexandra's story translation/photos. Dad time 8-10am, including blowing up beachball and wearing boots. 10am, parent email and video creation. 11am, some grading; 11:30 soup for lunch. By 1pm Mom snoozing, TGIO NaNo wrap party online. After 2pm, grading. 3pm Dad time for an hour; 4pm some grading then nap. 5pm phoning; eventual bath and bed. Grading 8pm, assist with bed before 9pm. Buy gas, milk, bit more grading then classifying photos to 11:30pm.

===
Item counts to Saturday (Dec 5):
Step Count 2016: About 51,200
-Trying to finish “Girl + Algebra” while baffled by darkness.

Step Count 2017: Over 62,300 (14 stars)
-Home life seems busier than work, wondering about my serotonin, RRL end.

Step Count 2018: Over 68,650 (10 stars)
-Tears in the night became cold too, MDM surveys, last "Time Untied" words for yr.

Step Count 2019: Over 75,850 (13 stars)
-Xmas lights, Santa photo, clear words, cut my finger; hospital, Jughead review.

STEP COUNT 2020: Over 56,400. 11 stars.
SCHOOL EMAIL 2020: 179 New (60 sent)
We have completed DAY 68. Now taught for 39 days vs. quarantine only nine. (3 overlap)

RH Stress Level: 9 (Blaster Mode, Full Power)

=======
Week 129
-Dreamt*. Up 5:30am, more photo sorting. With little one 6am for two hours (first 30 min asleep). After 8am, start calendar sorting and do more grading (including online course setup). After 11am, outside with Alexandra to park. Back noon, cook lunch; after 12:30pm head to snooze. Asleep after an hour; more grading (one set down). Nap myself for over 45 min. More grading after 3:30pm (near completion). Depart after 4:30pm with Tatie for Kanata Lights. (40 min wait from 5pm opening.) Home 6:30pm; little one out of sorts. Quick emails. Bed after 7:30pm; 8pm into prepping of Monday 3C Quiz/Review. Bed by midnight.
-With Alexandra before 6am. Break to queue up posts (and download images) at 6:30am. Regular day, two lessons and review, during which I can write out solutions. After lunch, put together finance assignment with solutions. Quickly out to buy card. Home with back and forth crashing until together after 6:30pm. Evening of trying to finalize finance and handle Geometry in a lesson. Breakdown. Bed by 11pm.
-Up from 5:30am, with little one from 6:15am. Regular day (cycled back to finance) with some missing students. Graded remote quizzes after lunch. Home, managed dishes then family time then Dad time; eventually take 10 min. Dinner, send emails about missing quizzes, prepare new quiz and geometry sheet. RDA while finalizing and queueing post, bed after 11:30pm.
-Up after 5:30am but all quiet. Finish sorting all photos, bit of sled in new snow. Test at school, finalize finance lesson, teach geometry (barely staying ahead). No quizzes?? Catch up with emails and some prep work, quick shopping trip. Home, and they read book online which lets me do one quiz and lie down. Then Dad time for 30+ minutes, her dinner 7pm which lasts a while. Start sending 'missing' emails before 8pm, takes half an hour. Time for dinner, eventually something in by 10pm; to bed by 10:30pm.
-Awake before 5:30am; trying to deal with emails. With Alexandra from 6:15 to 7am, then trying to complete quiz marking. Time outside, to work -- forget my drive. Anne-Lise emails me needed files. Alexandra sticker for going in the preschool door. Me two evaluations that day, won't see them again in 2020, exhausting. Finalize Friday tests. Run, home and an hour of grading probability quizzes; rejoin at 5:30pm for family and Father time. Bed after fall at 7pm; cook then 8pm Exec Social. Before 9pm, doing work, no energy to grade. To bed before 10:30pm.
-Up 5:30am. Do prep work for next week until 7am. Head out to another testing day, not as intense; have time to adjust Trig lessons. Then we start trig, and I find a video to show as things go fast. After lunch, draw up solutions and finalize more of next week; student doesn't show for Meet. Send emails about Assignment. Run, home, some back and forth and a half hour Dad time. After bed, I largely take the evening off; my bed after midnight.
-Up 6am. Start dealing with Holiday Parody. Dad time for 1.5 hrs from 6:40am; time away to figure out shopping. Tatie's after 9am, shopping to 10am, dealing with related items to 11am. Back to song parody. Drop-off at noon, more parody during snooze (with brief interruption to help); dishes once it's complete. Dad time half hour, then 2 hrs of grading along with some family time inserted; Dad time again 6:30pm. Bed after 7:30pm, dinner, wrapping gifts to mail, and more grading. Bed after 11:30pm.

===
Item counts to Saturday (Dec 12):
Step Count 2016: About 58,600
-Groaned about holidays breaking routine, tried to get ahead.

Step Count 2017: Over 67,000 (14 stars)
-Too busy before the holidays, Cappies mentoring, tried new phone.

Step Count 2018: Over 76,000 (12 stars)
-6 hrs sleep decided as standard, Similac Stage 2 & solid food, laughter video.

Step Count 2019: Over 71,700 (14 stars)
-Alexandra bandaid, Cappies mentor show, to Aunt Alyssa's, breakdown.

STEP COUNT 2020: Over 56,950. 11 stars.
SCHOOL EMAIL 2020: 137 New (60 sent)
We have completed DAY 73. Now taught for 44 days vs. quarantine only nine. (3 overlap)

RH Stress Level: 9 (Blaster Mode, Full Power)

=======
Week 130
-Up 6:30am. Sort photos, check messages. Family time 8:15am, getting out the tree and assorted garland, ladder, etc. Dad time 9:15am, then before 10am dealing with wrapping gifts and sorting boxes. Breakdown by 11am. Out to post office before 11:30; drop by store to look for replacement bottle (broke at Sat snooze). Home by 12:30pm, doing snooze before lunch. She's asleep after an hour, before 2pm... trying not to freak over still no grading today. Also considering ppt creation. Finally to work 3:45pm for 1.5 hrs, then phoning home, family time and dinner. Bath, cooking, back to work 8:30pm. Finish that after 10:30pm; dinner and put together powerpoint. Sleep after 12:30am.
-Dreamt*. With Alexandra from 6:45am; dresses with Mom after 7am. Teaching is back to 3M, the quieter class(?). Quads and Sins, then grading remains of 3C, emails, and handling probability. Home for more emails and grading; Dad time outside before 6pm for over half an hour, pulling sled in new snow. After dinner, the cooking and finish grading then getting midterm marks into the system during RDA; finish about 10:30pm. Then aim to record Holiday Song after 11pm. Trial run; attempt #1 slides do not advance; attempt #2 my computer shuts off despite power; attempt #3 the chromebook glitches audio; attempt #4 is hopefully fine, to bed before 12:30am.
-Up by 5:30am with little one. 6:30am, verify the vid audio and fix remote attendance. Then family, and head out. Teach the class I've seen 3 times; manage to grade a quiz on break. Once done, quick lunch, then Meet a student for 15 min, then enter all the Low Grades data (~45 min) then finalize and copy test. Now after 3pm, still need to start quizzes; send apology to stream. Quick shopping. Then emails & quizzes for over 1.5 hrs at home; Dad time before 6:30pm (Mom tapped out). Still more quizzes after she's asleep before 8pm, finally done 10pm. Consider dinner. Bit of prep, in bed by 11:30pm.
-Up after 6am. Dad time including her out of sack by herself; to work, still cold yet do my run early again. Hand out OSSTF magazines. Test (for finalizing next review), then finish quadratics. Handle parent emails (absences, midterms), student emails, quiz feedbacks, photocopying, attendance, probably more things; leave after 3:30pm (oops). Home for more quizzes and emails. Dad time for 45 min before 6pm, dinner, then lie down 15 min. After bed, quizzes and doing dishes. More emails. Bed by 11:30pm at least.
-Asleep after 1am; dreams included watching a small plane crash and I have no phone. Up 6:30am. Pull together Daycare articles, handle remote attendance. Needed 7:15am to dress in PJs. Morning announcements have my song; second test day, after review. Parent email, then Book Club. Quick lunch, then quiz corrections. Pickup after 4pm, home as Mom arrives. Brief staff gather 5pm (whoever's left from 4pm), then more quizzes. Dad time 6-7pm, quick break. More quizzes/emails before 8pm. Cooking, then printing at 9:30pm. Dinner 10pm, then de-stressing, then need to prep final lesson; bed after midnight.
-Awake by 6am; dreamt^. Dad time, and she likes the elastic with the Santa on it. To work, last test of 2020, I manage to sort my emails. Intro trig. Get Daycare message/photo about Santa's visit, despite my internal stress it didn't go well anyway. ("Gone.") By 1pm, 50/50 draw then contact tracing binders in, lunch (and I'm the Holiday poet from trivia?). Email student who was away and the one not returning in Jan. Write down the road map for both courses before I forget. Depart 3pm, do shopping, run, pickup. Start laundry, realize we need diapers so run out again before 5:30pm (also get printer ink). Dad time for 45 min after 6pm, then sushis. Asleep by 8pm, I square away some things, BNL live concert at 9pm. I'm wiped out by 10pm, bed.
-Decent night, up by 6:30am, start Epsilon story work and sort photos. Family after 8am, Dad time for an hour including sticker art from 8:30am; lie down for half an hour. Couple items, then outside 10:45am for family time. Small car to park with slides and swing; home solo after 11:30am. Lunch, then Mom takes snooze while I deal with Xmas lights; the extension cord has one prong too wide so need to deal with duct tape around door, takes an hour. Run, wake others 3pm to start laundry and do measure - she's ~93 cm. Dad time for an hour, then I need to deal with pedometer, check messages, lie down for half an hour. Back in and it's Dad time for almost an hour (including downstairs), then dinner on my lap. Vector to sleep is almost 8pm, then cooking and decompressing and I forgot to deal with photos and dishes and still have a list a mile long, fml bed 10pm.

===
Item counts to Saturday (Dec 19):
Step Count 2016: About 46,500
-Was meeting deadlines amid chaos.

Step Count 2017: Over 70,900 (14 stars)
-Car repair issue, caught a cold, secret santa art sketches.

Step Count 2018: Over 79,800 (10 stars)
-Holiday gatherings, visited school, into size 2 diapers, Timeless movie.

Step Count 2019: Over 77,100 (12 stars)
-Craft show, put up tree, unwraps own book, school protests and upload of files.

STEP COUNT 2020: Over 60,350. 10 stars.
SCHOOL EMAIL 2020: 245 New (105 sent)
 Removed 57 sent Placemat exports
We have completed DAY 78. Now taught for 49 days vs. quarantine only nine. (3 overlap)

RH Stress Level: 10 (Barrier Burst)

 (I wonder if that's harsh then remember I broke down in front of the little one dealing with shipping and had to handle "midterm" marks and song recording and Jan work for a student and all the quizzes and theme days and Xmas light extension cord and fml.)

=======
Week 131
-Dreamt*. Up 6am to write, with little one from 6:45am to near 8am. Break to clear camera and write, then 9am shoot holiday video for family. Dad time before 9:30 for over an hour towards family time outside. Home 11am to cook and finalize her story. Family from 11:45 including lunch, then vector to snooze. Asleep by 1pm; then I sleep (dream of someone short driving my car who can't reach pedals, somehow I help from in back?). Mom time after 2:30pm, write. Depart after an hour to Piquards; depart there 5:30pm, phone grandparents. Dinner after 6:30pm, bath, asleep after 8pm. Discuss calendar photos. Dinner, then dishes, asleep after midnight.
-Awake 6am with little one; relieved by 6:45am, Mom's glasses missing. To Daycare and Back to start self-clean oven and finish Epsilon Entry. Buy new battery for pedometer (fails to update properly?) and scones. Card for ECEs. To mall for ornament and new camera card. Home for lunch as lockdown's delayed. Buy gift certificates en route, pick up and right to Chapel. Play there, home after 6pm picking up food, eventually she sleeps as I shift to Photo Issues, then Calendar Issues. School email says do the impossible about impending lockdown (mesh the class with cohorts in different places). Some RDA also. Bed by 11:30, moving so slow.
-Awake 5:20am for relief duties. After 6am, more calendar work. 6:45am Dad time, but Mom must dress so handle breakfast and recycling. Brief sled play, Daycare. Finish calendar from 8:30-11:30am. Return a call, deal with dishes. Quick shopping, then bookstore, run and haircut 3pm (appointment yesterday morn). Second bookstore and novelties store to complete shopping. Pickup, exterior lights on by 4:30pm return. Then go pick up calendars; 5pm quiet time. 5:30-6:30pm back and forth, little one lacks energy, dinner was included... bed routine before 7pm. Half hour reduce before 8pm. Then into Xmas video rendering. Also break time. Bed about 10:30pm.
-Up 2:30-4:30; allowed to sleep past 7am. Update photos, social media, family time 8am (Dad focussed). Nose runs a bit; cold? Depart before 10am to Chapel, Alexandra grandparent time; I finish video rendering and print her story. Then mail calendar to Mom (G'ma) and final shopping, slip and skin my knees on ice. Lunch, then upload to Taylor Xmas and do gift wrapping. (Also Toddler room switchover, but I still want songs.) Depart 4pm for pickup and tea, return 5:30pm. I deal with emails and full photo card. Dad time 6pm, dinner after 6:30pm, asleep by 8pm. Cooking, some videos, finish 'Adachi/Shimamura' then 9:15pm into sketches. Bed 11pm. She definitely has a cold.
-Up 6am, tidy these files; 6:35am Dad time for 1.5 hrs including holiday outfit. Break for 1.5 hrs includes inking sketches. Dad time as Mom cooks chocolate; eventual lunch. Snooze attempt, I do dishes, tidy, finish wrapping... need to help finish sleep. After 1:30pm I complete channel edits to 10th Annual Parody and some colouring of scans... snooze extended to 4pm. Some family time, then I lie down for 45 minutes. Arrivals start 5:30pm. Little one gifts after 6pm. Dinner 8pm with her in PJs (after stocking) and me spending time by mattress - as she doesn't want to miss out but is tired. Eventually she helps carry gifts to people. Actual sleep after 10:30pm (she insists on book again), alone after 11pm. I finish scan colouring and prep work, bed 12:30am.
-Awake after 7am; little one up 7:45am. Out for stocking 8:30am by which point my video is online. Santa stuff. Call parents but they have snow (we have rain), so breakfast. Called back before 11am, an hour of remote gifts. Lunch, snooze attempt before 1pm succeeds before 2pm. I get my blog post online (and research chocolate). Lie down half an hour, back up 3:30pm. Potty talk. Depart before 4:30pm to Chapel; family dinner there and cleaning supplies. Depart 7pm, bath, bed 8pm but I take over 9pm, no success until 9:45pm. Do my run, we tidy up living room. 11pm break time. Bed after midnight.
-Awake after 7am; Dad time from 7:30am. Starting to feel like a cold. Mom from 8:15am as I fold up rug for a potty train day. Then do dishes. Some back and forth, family time outside after 10am. Dad time in park, then she gets small shovel; back inside 11:30am. Take time for inking, lunch, then shopping. Home before 2pm, more Banner work. Dad time for 1.5 hrs from 3:45pm including floor accident. About 5:30pm lie down and finish banner colouring. Before 7pm dinner, then Mom finishes truffles; bed before 8pm. Needed before 9pm. Asleep before 9:30pm. Banner completed, goof off online to 1am.
-Lotus Prince "Dino Crisis 2" (from Nov) #1-5 & AT4W

===
Item counts to Saturday (Dec 26):
Step Count 2016: About 36,000
-Was sick, but pleased by my writing of 2016.

Step Count 2017: Over 55,400 (19 stars)
-Getting over being sick, did art and writing, busy but not stressed.

Step Count 2018: Over 56,400 (10 stars)
-Dealing with gifts, long drive on Boxing Day, musical sleeps, 10 subs on Tapas.

Step Count 2019: Over 52,500 (7 stars)
-Sick, parody & calendar work, new car seat, driving and hospital (her then me).

STEP COUNT 2020: Over 58,150. 10 stars.
SCHOOL EMAIL 2020: 10 New (3 sent)
We are holding at DAY 78. Taught for 49 days vs. quarantine only 9. (3 overlap)

RH Stress Level: 8 (Starlight Breaker, Extension)

=======
Week 132
-Awake 6am after being up earlier; Mom takes over, me Tylenol, bit more sleep. Post banner, family time 8am. Dad centred from 8:30am; lie down again after 9:30 (one success and 10 min later one accident). Organize photos. Dad time reading by 10:15, then depart in car to get in-laws. 11-12:30am including brunch (and I email photos). Snooze attempt from 1pm, and I lie down, she's up after an hour. Rejoin 4pm, after another success. Phone grandparents 5pm, then videos. Lie down 6pm, back for dinner, aborted by shark in bath. Asleep after 8pm. Update some files, still sick, bed 10pm; actually read some Potty Train book chapter first to after 10:30pm.
-Awake 6:30am, Dad time 7am including paints. Outside with family after 8:15am for shovel and sled. I come in 9:15am to finish sorting photos. Rejoin 10:30am, Dad time until Mark H phones. Dad time again after laundry but losing patience; making lunch before noon. Grading from 12:30-4:30pm (during snooze and books), then back outside for 45 min. Family time, brief grading 6pm but then yoga. Health fading from 7pm, soon bed routine; cook, more grading, decompress (some RDA) and to bed 11pm.
-In A's room a lot with micro sleeps. (Like Reuben suddenly comes in says 'oh you're still here' then I'm awake.) Mom takes over 6:45am, micro sleeps. (Like we're setting up RP and I need to pick a bunny avatar; also we're around a table with a Gold account?) Join 8:15am, Dad centred time 8:30am. Family time before 9am, depart before 10am to Chapel. Once home, handle dishes and tidying, get online Archies, finish grading more tests, move humidifier. Drop-off 4pm, home for tallying tests. Chapel dinner after 6pm; depart before 7:30pm. Last things, I finish test tallies after 9pm. Bit more tidying, videos time. Bed after 10:30pm.
-Relief from 5:15am; awake 7:15am (micro sleeps). Dad time to 8am, grading 8:15am. Dad time 9:30am, cleaning begins 10am. Depart for store/bills (and book), return by 11:15am. Dad time, briefly outside (nice snow, but ice). Lunch, then snooze 12:30pm, goes quick. More book reading. Lie down 45 min, awakened 2:30pm. Resume grading, through another set by 4:15pm. Dad time including self-awareness and outside for 45 min; inside for rest after 6pm. Some grading before 6:30pm, rejoin 6:45pm. Dinner etc after 7pm; cook, bit more grading, sort photos, break, bed from 10pm.
-Dreams**. 7am deal with photos, finish grading tallies. 8am family time, Dad time for an hour after pants issue. Depart by 10am for Chapel. Home 10:45am, break, then grading online regressions. Still not done after 3pm; do run anyway. Pickup after 4pm, grading after 4:45pm. After 6pm DONE with 3M (3C remains). Dad time 40 min with much cleaning. Dinner, bed, record Daycare screen video. Family arrives before 9pm (watch little one videos); dinner after 10pm. Crackers at midnight. Bed after 12:30am.
-Awake before 7am, Dad time for 75 min including books. Sort through email then start grading. By 9:45am, back with others and Dad time to 11am. Family time, including call to Great Aunt. Dad time, then lunch. Then need to tidy kitchen, put things away; some grading before 2pm possible. 3pm Dad time, then depart for Chapel. Return before 4:30pm, grading (and Commencement view). Return 5:30pm for family dinner; arrive home 7:45pm (circled back for giraffe). Grading again after 8pm, needed to help sleep, grading after 9pm. Doctor Who special from 9:30pm, then 11pm needed potty (that was unexpected). Send emails, bed from midnight.
-Dreamt&. They're up 7:15am. I catch up with some non-school things. Join 8:15am, Dad time from 8:30am with lots of reading. Back to work 9:45am, also try to convert MOV to be visible by old FinalCut (VLC allows saving as wmv/asf but not without watermark?). After 11am out to shovel as family. Brief Dad time then noon potty including new book. Lunch after 12:30, snooze 1pm, asleep 2pm and I can read more on training (including Daycare section). Up 3:30pm, I attempt file render then off to Chapel for scheduled swim. Photos, mark tallies, back home for an hour of Dad time including tree ornaments. Break for email (and file render died), dinner and bath. Finish grading, then bath fault. Bed before 8pm; potty again before 9pm. After re-recording and cooking, quick run, read new yuri. Bed after 11pm.
-Lotus Prince "Dino Crisis 2" #6 (end) & Drakengard 3 pieces

===
Item counts to Saturday (Jan 2):
Step Count 2017: 52,000
-Roundup posts, finally started tackling item backlog post-writing.

Step Count 2018: Over 56,300 (14 stars)
-Sick AGAIN, so was either moping or very busy doing things.

Step Count 2019: Over 64,750 (8 stars)
-"Doctor Who" special, movie, sorting "Time Untied", vaccinations & standing

Step Count 2020: Over 39,500 (5 stars)
-Hospital and driving, SO sick alone in basement, "Frozen II" & "Star Wars".

STEP COUNT 2020/21: Over 53,150. 11 stars.
SCHOOL EMAIL 2020/21: 15 New (3 sent)
We are holding at DAY 78. Taught for 49 days vs. quarantine only 9. (3 overlap)

RH Stress Level: 7 (Starlight Breaker)

*****
CONSTANT TO-DO LIST:
 -Sketches for 2019 holiday parody
 -Write a TANDQ article on Polling and Bias
 -Write a post about types of praise/encouragement
 -Catching up with web serials/comics (from ~August 2018)
 -Read some of the books sitting at my desk

Monday 30 November 2020

Pandemic Parenting: Nov 2020

Week 124

-Time change went surprisingly well. Awake 5:50 (6:50), with her in chair until 6:30 (7:30); then it's Mom and I go to categorize all the photos. Done 8am. Breakfast, then Dad time from 8:30am. Over 1.5 hr including park trip. Once back, I work out cooking pumpkin seeds; others get France call. Start lunch 11am (noon) of soups. Seeds also a success. Towards snooze by noon (1pm), asleep 12:40pm with me. Awake 2:15pm, so change, and then I do a NaNo WriteIn from 3-4pm. Dad time, then record video for relatives, then phone home 5pm (6pm). Snacks, dinner, eventually bath and bed; needs me to help. Done after 8pm, quick shopping trip (replaced ceramic pumpkin on sale), video edits and then more NaNo items. Bed, midnight, after writing.
-With little one by 6:30am, croissants. Run before school, support day, manage to finalize last unit with tests including in-class. Start grading, also emails. Shopping trip, back home. Family time, Dad time, including yoga mat fun. Signs of tired by 6pm, bed before 7pm but needs help. NaNo Discord by 7:45pm, whole mess of fire engines. 9pm switch to RDA, finish many items (new post, pay Daycare, tidy car, etc). Bed before midnight.
-Terrible night, most sleep was on floor of her room. Spacy morning; eventually corrected all in-class and totalled, also started writing in solutions for stats. Staff meeting (online) before 3pm. Pickup and home, crash for 20 min. Family time & Dad time (including mouse play and dinner), getting tired. NaNo words from after 7:30-9pm, then dinner. Bed by 10:30pm.
-Up with little one from 6am (awake with Mom before that). Break after 7am, head out to Traffic Duty for ~40 minutes before 8:15am. Check USA updates, finish marking scheme and start sorting handouts and old tests into my 3M/3C. (Attempted questions in Gr 9 Meet flop.) Do some writing through lunch. Leave for pickup 3pm, bring car in for tires (some new) 3:30pm, home via scones. Clean up, back out 4:30pm to pick up car. By 5pm Dad time for 75 min including park trip, dinner. Brief break to 6:30pm. Tidy kitchen, vector to bed, deal with cooking. By 8pm, NaNo words. 9pm, dinner break. Social media, bed 11:30pm.
-Over 1.5 hr on floor but some sleep&. Half hour checking medias, to school. Morning starts with writing, then attempt Gr 9 Meet Qs, handle emails. Anime Club (VLE) during Music Support (no sound). Then lunch and grading. Meet, quick shopping (for Fri lunch), home. Brief break, family time after 5pm for an hour of park. Then Dad time including dinner to before 7pm; bed routine. By 8pm, NaNo words. 9pm, dinner break. Before 10pm, little one crisis; Mom takes over before 10:30pm, pass out.
-Up with Alexandra 5:30am; out of chair an hour later; tidy for cleaners. Mom joins after 7am. Pullups talk at Daycare (seems no). Last support day at work; no one in Meets, I get grading caught up (some items still outstanding). Staff gather 1pm outside with cookies. Home, 5pm I clean ladders and put away Halloween items, then family to park. Pick up food, still 30 min park, home for dinner. Dad time under 30 min, bath and bed. By 8pm, NaNo words. 9pm, dinner break. Bed by 10:30pm.
-Some dreams*, partially awake 5am with her, fully awake 6:20am with her. From 7am, working with Untied blog. Out 9am, Dad time for 3 hours from 9:20am; indoors a bit of everywhere. After lunch, Mom takes snooze, I do Music WriteIn 1pm. Also tidy. They talk to France after 3:30pm, I lie down, end up asleep for 40 min. We all go out by 5pm to parks, home over an hour later, Dad time includes dinner. To bed after 7pm, asleep by 8pm, I do emails, photos and social media. Then finish Untied blog post. Bed midnight.

===
Item counts to Saturday (Nov 7):
Step Count 2016: About 52,000
-ALL the writing, including considerations for restored math comic.

Step Count 2017: Over 60,250 (15 stars)
-Board messed with me as I returned to work. Marking for reports.

Step Count 2018: Over 68,800 (10 stars)
-Grading in car with little one, sicknesses and mostly downstairs sleeping.

Step Count 2019: Over 73,400 (16 stars)
-Haircut, Big School Fight, OSSTF 100 yr with balloons. All Day Writein.

STEP COUNT 2020: Over 57,250. 10 stars.
SCHOOL EMAIL 2020: 132 New (54 sent)
 Removed 15 evidence exports and 17 Gr 9 Meet msgs
We have completed DAY 48. Now taught for 19 days vs. quarantine only six.

RH Stress Level: 6 (Break Shoot)

=======

Week 125

-Dreamt^. Up before 6:30am, Dad time before 7am for 1.5 hrs including sausages and park. Family time outside, then I do dishes and have a quick lie down. Then some back and forth (I tidy files), basement time, lunch and snooze. An hour to fall asleep, I do 35 minutes of NaNo, then lie down. Awakened nearly an hour later. Family time 45 minutes, then Dad time out at both parks and phoning grandparents. 5:45pm I deal with school emails, then it's dinner, final video view, bath and bed. From 8pm, some social media and some writing. Bed 10:30pm.
-Dreamt of teachings; giraffe tossed at 3am is wanted at 5am. Scanning medias before 6am. All having yogurts after 7am. Final week of Data concludes three lessons; parent email and others. Shopping after school. Home, some back and forth before family dinner after 6pm. Towards bed 7pm; NaNo writing from 7:30-9pm. Dinner and RDA afterwards, bed before 11pm.
-Vivid but fleeting dreams; awake before 6am as Mom still next door. With little one from 6:30am. Finish main teaching with other Cohort. Update test and stream, messages, quick shopping. Do Car Wash on way home, which goes very badly; pick up Mom en route and then home routine. Some back and forth time. Bed towards 7:30pm, I'm on NaNo Zoom writing by 8pm. Dinner after 9pm, bed before 11pm.
-Some time from 6:30am to tidy writing. Poppy for Alexandra, Remembrance Day Ceremony at work, not much in terms of teaching so catch up (temporarily) in grading. Gift from student is nice. Photocopier issues, preview tomorrow's videos, Anime post. Pickup and home, out before 5pm to put away hose (water off) and enjoy last evening over 10 degrees. Park, and looking at stars. Corn for supper. She's asleep before 8pm, I deal with school quizzes then NaNo Writing. Break for a run (forgot pedometer to school), finish after 10pm. Then grade tests. To bed after midnight.
-With little one from 6:30am. Cereal sharing. Does not want to leave; cries en route. Finish grading tests, then last in-class test. During which I set up marking scheme, new Classrooms and send Math Contest msg. An hour to finish course, then Dept Meeting over lunch. Break, set up library test and briefly talk with other Dad Teachers. Then finish Fragtime during after school run (been reading it then, in bits since finishing Life's Strange). Home, quick turnaround as Mom has appointment. 45+ min with little one, then 45+ min to lie down/clean out garage. Dinner, towards bed; I'm into NaNo writing before 8pm. After 9pm, dinner. By 10pm, grading papers. After 11pm, finalizing Smoke writing. Photo sort. Bed midnight.
-With little one after 5:30am; break before 6:30am. Fall 7am, family time. Last day of Quadmester 1, final test (again) during which I catch up grading and arrange next cohort. Later need to check IEPs, reprint seating plans, send Class invites, etc. Leave 3:30pm, quick shop to avoid cooking, home. Mom time 45 min, Family time 30 min, Dad time 45 min, then dinner. Bath, bed by 8pm, I'm dreading everything. Do some NaNo. Manage some grading. Bed after 11pm.
-Dreamt&. Up 5:30am; take over with Alexandra 6am. She falls asleep after 6:30am so I grade papers for half an hour. Dad time from 7:30am to after 9am (with brief family breakfast), bit more grading, Dad time for half an hour. NaNo AllDay from 10-12, then cook lunch. An hour to find snooze, I log back in at 2pm for half an hour. Rest half an hour. Some Dad time, NaNo from 3:30pm for an hour. (Over 2500 words total.) Dad time from 4:30-5:30pm, family time, Dad time for 20 min, family time, eventually bed after 7pm. Depart 8:15pm to get NaNo Baggie and Do Shopping. Home by 10pm, dinner and dishes. Back into grading papers after 11:30pm, whee.

===

Item counts to Saturday (Nov 14):
Step Count 2016: About 57,300
-Went to a staff gathering. Started putting NaNo work on Wattpad.

Step Count 2017: Over 61,400 (14 stars)
-Full work week. NaNo at 23k, first TTNexus article, last fertility injection.

Step Count 2018: Over 72,000 (11 stars)
-Forgot food Nov 11, car alignment broke, lost mind, AllDayWriteIn.

Step Count 2019: Over 66,800 (13 stars)
-Colleague funeral, flu shot, 3-flow bottle, book from Group.

STEP COUNT 2020: Over 54,700+. 10 stars.
SCHOOL EMAIL 2020: 172 New (59 sent)
We have completed DAY 53. Now taught for 24 days vs. quarantine only six.

RH Stress Level: 8 (Starlight Breaker, Extension)

=======

Week 126

-Grading to after 1am (when monitor dies). Up twice during night. Decompress for 1.5 hrs in morning, minimal work; after 8am, Dad time for an hour (including briefly outside). Then Mom time for 1.5 hr, mostly finish in-class grading and do emails. Dad time for an hour before 11am. During snooze, a run, grade tallies and no NaNo (need 'flix). Dad time for an hour from 2:20pm, then start to crash. Lie down, then back to restart Parabola Lesson and categorize media works. Dad time before 5pm, phone home 5:15pm. Order out; go pick up food 6:15-6:45pm, dinner, bath, bed. 8pm decide to do writing. 9:30pm back to work (finish lesson, more grading). Bed midnight, downstairs.
-Five hrs sleep, too much on my mind. Do some writing, get breakfast, Dad time from 6:30am. After 7am, send placemat updates. Near breakdown over waffles. Keep it together, new class at school, juggling seating and remote learning Meet and parabolas. Take lunch, grade medias. Continue that at home; then family time (out to park but dark). Some Dad time, eventually asleep 7:30pm, again grading. NaNo from 8:40-9:20pm, grading. Collapsed before 11pm, though little one 11:30pm.
-Mom takes over before 3am; I'm in before 6am for half an hour. Then finalizing media assigns and sending emails to students wondering about missing work. Not out until after 7:15am; slower morning. Arrive 8:15am, again snippy before class, but re-run of Monday goes okay. Lunch, then handle attendance, uploads, etc... as I finish after 2pm, call from RH. Pick up little one, fever. Scramble to get math contest and messaging dealt with. Home after 3:15pm, clean up, brief relief for Mom. 4:15-5:15pm I'm assembling the work to leave with a sub, then FINALLY half an hour of Stats Grading. Then Dad time. Then emailing around to figure out what Thurs looks like. Eventual bed, order pizza, and delivery guy drives on the lawn next door (whaaat?) then gets upset at me "for overreacting". I get back into grading, also a run. About 10:30pm, online to NaNo in class sprint. Bed before midnight.
-Six hrs sleep, Dad time for 1.5 hr from 6:45am (first 30 min asleep). Then 3 hrs of finishing all grading and tallying final marks (during Mom time). An hour to go to Doctor, Covid test (with sticker & mask) then return. After lunch, snooze time (which goes well) and I finish all report cards with comments. Also emails. Lie down 20 min, then Dad time continues to total 4 hrs (1.5 asleep). Teacher AGM 4:30pm! Over 1.5 hr later, Dad time for 30 min; dinner. Towards bed after 7pm, I'm in after 8pm for 30 min. NaNo brief write-in at 8:45pm, then my dinner; after 10pm join Discord for another writing session. Falling asleep after 11pm.
-Up a few times in night; in morning learn that no math teacher is able to cover. Then breakdown as I can't sort through the day. Eventually with Alexandra around 1.5 hrs, then 1.5 hrs to put together solutions for 3M lessons and post. Lunch, then tidy up the place; snooze does not go well with Mom. Work on tomorrow's lessons, wake them 3:30pm for ~3 hrs including trip outside and phoning grandparents. Break, also check messages. Family time from 7pm. Eventual bed; I help after 8pm. NaNo write to 9pm. Dinner; deal with text questions and start doing lesson solutions. 10:45pm brief NaNo. Still working past midnight.
-Bed 1am after emailing remote work. Dad time from 6:45am for an hour (mostly in bed), then queue up posts and remote attendance. Do dishes. Dad time from after 8:30am for 1.5 hrs to house cleaning. Break for 1.5 hrs to tidy and adjust background info for Untied. Briefly in Meet for own class, then lunch and snooze (~45 min to sleep). Handle emails, then do OSSTF vote, lie down briefly. Then subdued Dad time for 1.5 hrs, and (with negative test in) I head out shopping. Return in under an hour (they went out), then family time. Food pickup and freezer delivery. Bumpy sleep, I manage some NaNo writing in between. Dinner after 9pm with Szabo stream. Online play; bed before midnight.
-Decent night, morning shower. Family time from 8am, to Tatie's before 9am. Home, I do my run and retweak my writing. By 11am, out to buy boots and neck warmer for little one; stop at bookstore for her too. Home and lunch. Mom takes snooze, I do NaNo Roll20 Write-In until after 3pm. Then family time from 3:30pm, including trip to see boats that barely has any, and park - Dad time by then - where I have trouble with snowsuit and swings. Home after 5:30pm, I start dinner and take a brief break. Then more family time for over 30 min including chair climbing. Eventually vector to bed before 7:30pm. TWO HOURS to fall asleep. A bit of NaNo writing before first shift to me, then I'm so exhausted. To bed before dinner, before 10pm.

===

Item counts to Saturday (Nov 21):
Step Count 2016: 59,800
-Lamented my regular schedule of posts that no one seemed to notice.

Step Count 2017: Over 60,500 (14 stars)
-Resuming regular teaching and writing. Discovered Lotus Prince.

Step Count 2018: Over 69,000 (10 stars)
-Math contests, movie, put up outside lights and parents in w/ gifts.

Step Count 2019: Over 67,100 (11 stars)
-BTTF Nexus column set, packed day incl Chrome training, snooze shenanigan.

STEP COUNT 2020: Over 63,100. 15 stars.
SCHOOL EMAIL 2020: 156 New (56 sent)
Not including 15 Placemat Exports Sent
We have completed DAY 58. Now taught for 29 days vs. quarantine only nine. (3 overlap)

RH Stress Level: 10 (Barrier Burst)
 (When I break down crying in front of my daughter, it's over a 10.)

=======

Week 127

-Awake 5:30am, so over 7 hrs sleep. An hour fixing up my NaNo writing with the fixed plot idea from yesterday. Dad time for 1 hr+ before 7am, including bacon, full breakfast with Mom after 8am. Start pulling schoolwork together 8:45am, also unraking/storing leaves. After 2+ hr, Dad time for an hour including first aid to bee-bear. Lunch, then snooze attempt. Some writing 1:45-2:15pm. Dozed, up 3pm. Managed some work (revising review) before 4:30pm, then Dad time outside in snow. Tiny car to park, last slide (last swing was Sat). Home before 5:30pm, phoned parents. Break to finalize quiz at 6:15pm, then dinner and bed. Cooking, then photo sorting, food, then handling emails of the week. Bed by midnight, after run.
-Cannot escape little one's room for less than 45 min after 2:30am. At 6:30am need to shovel snow (and snowman). Some family time, depart 7:30am because snowy roads; manage to deal with math contests before 8:30am. Teaching?! Check books, emails, attendance, try to assemble a new slide for Wednesday. Home, and math meeting from 5-6pm. Family time. Do NaNo write-in from 8-9pm despite mental warnings about catching up on work; then RDA. Bed by 10:30pm.
-With little one from 6am for an hour (half while in crib). Brief shovel of ice; depart before 8am solo ^o^. Run before school, class was a repeat of Monday (mostly). Finalize test and get some prep done, then mark on time quizzes and send emails to missing quizzes. Depart 3pm, quick shop, home. Depart home 4pm to get to where family is. (Little one fell in snow, got flu shot, didn't nap until stroller and then was having allergy tests.) Pickup and return by 5pm; Dad time with books and family time until sushis. Once I can, I finalize test. Brief NaNo break, finalize exponential handout. Then work through Car Project until after 12:30am.
-Bumps in night; tired. Bumps getting out in morning; goes okay (tree at Daycare!). During morning test, finalize a lesson on finance for 11:30am. After teaching need to deal with emails, sending seating plans, math contest invoice, emails to parents... no lesson prep time. Home, outside after 5pm for fun with sled for an hour. Misbehaving at dinner before 7pm. Eventually brief NaNo and get to work. Mandatory stuff done, complete collapse by 10:30pm.
-Awake after 5am; queue up email and relieve next door 6am. Up with little one 6:15am, dog car, dress, empty dishwasher, breakfast, after 7am find Mom. Quick quiz correction, sled outside in front until 7:55am. Regular school, course cohorts drifting out of synch. Manage quick shop, home and join others at sled about 5pm. Home 5:30pm, Dad time for half an hour includes photos. Dinner, last things, bed; I do Zoom NaNo for 45 mins, then dinner, then back to work prepping finance. Bed after 11pm.
-Up 5:45am with little one, swap out 6:30am to prep posts and an email. Regular school including no batteries and co-ordinating a student writing next week thanks to dept head; finish with song again. Finish typing minutes and send them out; take a look at 3M for next week. Break by 3:30pm for half an hour, home, break for 15 min, family time at 5pm but still collapse by 5:15pm. Back in after 5:45pm for an hour, family at dinner, eventually doing NaNo from 8-9pm. Dinner, then manage some grading. Distracted, bed before 1am.
-Up 6am with little one but we both sleep almost another hour in room. Dressed by 7:45am, Mom does breakfast, I do 30 min grading. Alexandra time for an hour, briefly together, then I grade and prep until 11:30am. Lunch prep, take snooze; goes well? Quick run, sort photos, then snooze myself. Up before 2:30pm, to Tatie's by 3pm. Home, and I start grading tallies/levels, then we go buy some presents for little one. To Tatie's by 5:30pm, hang around for half an hour. Once home, finish tallies and probability work; dinner then to bed. Dishes then cook dinner. NaNo Writing from 9pm; interrupted 11pm, bed not long thereafter.

===
Item counts to Saturday (Nov 28):
Step Count 2016: About 55,230
-Had responses to my lament of posts that no one seemed to notice.

Step Count 2017: Over 67,400 (16 stars)
-WriteIns, musical rehearsal, procrastination on grading/review writing.

Step Count 2018: Over 72,000 (10 stars)
-Little one photo & protest, cut self cleaning dishes, first use of aspirator.

Step Count 2019: Over 71,850 (14 stars)
-Mall stroller walk, have colds (downstairs), nail clipping awake.

STEP COUNT 2020: Over 62,650. 10 stars.
SCHOOL EMAIL 2020: 137 New (72 sent)
We have completed DAY 63. Now taught for 34 days vs. quarantine only nine. (3 overlap)

RH Stress Level: 9 (Blaster Mode, Full Power)

*****
CONSTANT TO-DO LIST:
 -Sketches for 2019 holiday parody
 -2020 Banner for TPolys
 -Write a TANDQ article on Polling and Bias
 -Write a post about types of praise/encouragement
 -Catching up with web serials/comics (from ~August 2018)
 -Read some of the books sitting at my desk

Monday 2 November 2020

Top Pandemic 2020 Changes

 What if you woke up one morning, and everything about the way you did your job had completely changed? You still have to go into work, physically, but your PC is now a Mac (or vice versa), half your project team is in the room while the other half isn't (and they're all working at different paces), and you're the one in charge of disinfecting and monitoring correct pandemic procedures in the area (on top of your regular job, naturally).

I mean, some of that could apply, no matter what your profession? Let me know. I can only speak about teaching.

Oh, and for those of us in Ontario, the government has additionally completely changed curriculum, with virtually no training, AND there's going to be online standardized testing for the first time ever (assuming we don't count the fiasco of the OSSLT in 2016) AND math destreaming is coming next year. What pandemic, don't be lazy. Anyway.

There's a really good video here that gets at what teaching is like in 2020, at numerous levels, indicating how burnout will be a real thing.

I thought I'd take a moment to quickly highlight what seem to be three of the biggest changes from my point of view, as a window into one educator's struggles.

3) Everything comes home every night. Everything.

At first glance, this is not much different from a teacher's usual routine. Always bringing grading and prep work home. But I do mean everything. The attendance notes, the curriculum documents, the chromebook WITH its power cable, ev-ery-thing. Only to bring it all right back in the next morning.

Because there might not be a next morning.

This even happened to me once. My young daughter got a runny nose in the evening. We abruptly had to self isolate. I'd left my marking scheme (handwritten for an online test) on my desk. Whoops! Gone. (Fortunately no other symptoms presented themselves, I was back within 36 hours.)

But even for educators without young children, maybe you get cold symptoms yourself. Or you get a call that there was a case in your class, and you have to stay home. Or Doug Ford (our premier) just randomly decides to close schools with under 24 hours notice, the same notice he gave for shutting down restaurant dine-ins, you don't know.

Everything comes home. Then bring your family portrait, potted plant and charging cables right back in the next day.

It doesn't help with the work/home balance. I feel it's a lot more blurry.

2) Teaching three courses? Nope, six.

Where I am, we're teaching in a hybrid model; we see half a class on Monday/Wednesday/Friday and the other half the class Tuesday/Thursday. The days when they're not in class, they're working from home. (There's a whole virtual support system in place with other teachers on remote days, I won't get into it here.)

I set up a Google Classroom. Another teacher I'm supporting set up 2 Classrooms, one for their CohortA and one for CohortB. I think they had the right idea.

Because the problem is, your cohorts get out of synch. The way the schedule runs, at the end of a month, you've seen A for six periods (M/W/F) and B for only four (T/Th). Yes, a full month because there's another class they're doing on alternate weeks.

Meaning, if you wanted to do a test on Day 3, for A that's on a Friday, for B that's on a Tuesday after 12 days of not being in class with you. Slight difference in concept retention. Also likely needs a second version of the evaluation.

And yes, there are ways of working around this like synchronizing lessons on a Wednesday (remote + in-class) which might make sense if you have a (virtual) guest speaker anyway. But we're also not supposed to record Online Meets that contain students (privacy) so how do you get the information out to students who couldn't attend?

The mechanics of it all are... problematic. Meaning you're not teaching the same course twice, you're teaching two of the same course simultaneously.


Me, I've been flagging messages "Cohort A" and "Cohort B". Having two classrooms removes that issue, but creates the issue of now having two separate Google Meets for each Cohort.

And if you have two courses, still double, so you're running four classes... with no prep time to speak of, on top of that.

This is on top of teachers already potentially teaching courses they haven't taught in years. (I have a 3C class coming up, my notes on auto sales are 6 years out of date.) On account of the virtual teaching problem. (Another video, if you were unaware of that.)

So, that's a thing. But it's not the number one thing in my list.

1) No handouts/Revise group work

The previous items have been mostly about the mechanics of teaching. The trouble is, the format has changed too. "No handouts" may have some flexibility, but part of what prompted this post was the fact that I used the photocopier for the first time (since March) on October 28th.

My Data textbook was published in 2003. (There have been subsequent revisions, education is not being funded to the point of affording them.) I normally supplement with handouts rather frequently.

Those handouts and worksheets are now online. (If students are having printer problems, I'd potentially still need to print them.) I had to track down an online textbook too.

My quizzes had to be converted to an online format as well, along with automated feedback so they can be done on a remote day (maximizing face to face time). And I put a number of evaluations online too, for the same reason.

I've lost track of the number of times I've shaken my fist at my Chromebook for not highlighting the correct section that I want to comment on.

(I need to remember the stylus. I tend to forget about the touch screen, until I go to wipe off a bit of eraser dust, and suddenly close five tabs on my browser. Can't blow the dust off, you're wearing a mask, silly.)

Activities also need revision, you can't pair students off by giving one of them a graph and another one an equation, or not in the same way. You can't create a work group of those who had similar errors, unless it's a breakout room in a Google Meet when you're remote, which is also new technology and my brain hurts.

I will say this last isn't even as much of a problem for me as it is for other teachers. I teach more U level courses, I don't have tons of group activities... I tended to create desk pods of three and go from there. (Also not an option, fwiw.)


And all of this is simply for me, a teacher at the secondary level. For elementary teachers? (Who are also grappling with that new curriculum, thanks to Doug Ford and friends?) I can only imagine it's even more of a challenge, given what little I know.

Then there's also the custodians, the office staff, teacher librarians and more.

Everything's changed.

CONCLUSION

That's it - because really this is all I have time for. In fact I don't have time for this, I just wanted to get that downloaded out of my mind. Teaching is not the same, perhaps in ways you hadn't realized.

Or perhaps it was in ways you had realized? Perhaps you're an educator yourself? Do you have any thoughts or comments on what I put in the post? Feel free to drop a comment down below.

Note that I also put up a previous post about Stress Statistics back in August, for further reading. Thanks for getting to the end, we'll keep doing our best out here, enjoy your day.

Saturday 31 October 2020

Pandemic Parenting: Oct 2020

Week 119
-Downstairs, 7 hrs straight sleep?^ A bit of quiz work. Dad time after 7am for an hour, with cereal. Mom time as I finish making online quiz. All out before 9am for time in park during ultrasound (change in car), then Edinburgh park until 11:30am. Lunch and snooze; finish other parts of quiz then. Phone home, then time to fill out MinOfEd survey and complete grading before releasing. Dad time 4pm for near an hour, then all out to park and for ice cream. Brief 6pm break, dinner, bath, etc. TORG role-play 7:30 until after 10pm. Final online details.
-Messy night*. Queue up posts, then family time 7:15am; depart, regular school day (still no projector). Run out for lunch and see Custodian Greg, quick chat. Get lessons on and look at emails/quizzes, stop at store, pickup and home. Clean up, then Dad time for 75 min including two parks. Tidy after dinner (recycling), bit more school to handle, dinner et al by 8:30pm. Downstairs by 10pm.
-Near 7 hrs sleep, posted info to Classroom after 6am, Dad time from 6:45am (reluctant rising). Wanted to see baby video before leaving after 7:30am. Prepped class, saw B for first time in nearly two weeks to finish stats. Song. After lunch, online co-ordinators talk Jamboard and collaboration. Pay bills, shop (milk) and pickup. Brief downtime, then Dad time for 45 min downstairs. Bedtime routine, more downtime (online) then finalizing quiz and test for tomorrow. Bed after 11pm.
-Dreamt&. Posted tests/quizzes online, some family time. Finished 2Var stats review while class worked, then into Probability. Managed remote Google Meet myself at same time. Fielded emails, checked through quizzes, lunch and then more prep. Quick run in rain(bow) after 3pm, bought gas, home. Family time including downstairs and park in splash suit; she wipes down the slides (and doesn't use them). After dinner, quick trip to shop and get DQ for AL as Sept ends. Dinner, finish putting together new test, down time from 9pm. Bed upstairs.
-Decent sleep, Dad time. Oct 1st so saw Cohort B for only 4th time since start of school, went through all 2Var with still an hour to work; remote Google Meet with self again. Got probability files updated early (still no projector), emails and managing of quizzes and assignment checkins. Brief look at Farmer's Market after school, home (with lawn sign). They return home as I go out, prompting back to parking for balances. Brief Dad time, after bed I find files and note my texts; Mom dinner. Online until 11pm.
-One wakeup, queue up last test set before 7am. Family time, now she's okay with waffles. School for 6th time with Cohort A (halfway to end), and a fire drill (done in stages). Again manage quizzes, also make phone calls for textbook liabilities from June. (Phone feels like a new horror.) Chat with colleague, quick store for bread, home. Pickup food, Dad time for half an hour until dinner. Bath after 6:30pm for near half an hour, bed by 8pm. Unproductive evening, bed 10:30pm.
-Awake 6am with queasy stomach. Still Dad time for over 75 minutes after 6:45am. Lie down after, better before 9am to Tatie. Morning of dishes and doing Epsilon writing. Lunch, then during snooze some re-reading, more writing, quick lie down. France reading after 3:30pm, 2+ hrs of Dad time after 4pm including park and rock throwing in pool. Try on snowsuit after 6pm. Half hour to self (bit more writing), half hour family time (downstairs bunnies), dinner before 7:30pm. Takes both to get her asleep about 9pm. Complete Epsilon writing before midnight.

===

Item counts to Saturday (Oct 3):
Step Count 2016: About 55,800
-Writing motivation stalled, car broke down, went to AFEMO french math conference.

Step Count 2017: Over 60,000 (16 stars)
-School ratcheted my stress to 8, in Ink & Insights Top 10, took a plane home.

Step Count 2018: Over 62,250 (11 stars)
-Passport photo, Cappies stuff, on train with Alexandra for Thanksgiving.

Step Count 2019: Over 76,000 (15 stars)
-Little one Doctor, climbed slide herself, I felt ill but was busy.

STEP COUNT 2020: Over 66,550. 10 stars.
SCHOOL EMAIL 2020: 141 New (70 sent)
 22 sent were "score released"
We have completed DAY 24. Now taught for ten days vs. quarantine only five.

RH Stress Level: 7 (Starlight Breaker)

=======
Week 120
-Up in night; awake 7am. Final scan and post of Epsilon. Dad time for an hour after 8:15am, then Family time for an hour outside. Come home 10:30am to cook lunch and check school email. Back out 11:15 to park; depart house by 11:45 to get boots for noon opening of store. Home for lunch before 12:30pm, then into snooze, asleep 1:30pm. Awake 3pm; I get some down time soon after. Phone my parents 4:15pm, Dad time from 5:15pm including trip to see ducks in light rain. Home for dinner, much tidying during bath. Story 7:30pm then online Torg gaming to 10:30pm. More down time, bed an hour later.
-Awake before 6am, check updated Covid questionnaire. Dad time for half hour with waffles, video then off. First true Support Day, many in Gr 9 Meet, two bath breaks, handled emails during Music replacement, lunch, no one in Gr 11 Meet. Got through quizzes and short part of tests. Bit of down time after 3pm, pickup and home. Family time from 5pm, mostly Dad time for last half hour to dinner after 6:30pm (Mom reads on training). Realize need quick grocery run, bed routine 7:15pm. Cooking, dishes, recycling; done 9pm. Minor work on OAME recap, some RDA, bed before 11pm.
-Decent night, awake by 6:30am, email students with missing tests. I need to be the one dressing, then cereal. Computer died at school, sang in Gr 9 Meet, managed to get tests done for one Cohort including while monitoring music. End of day staff meeting, immediate pickup 4pm. Dad time for over an hour after 5pm, park and smol car around house. Brief rest after dinner, cooking during bath, bed before 8pm. Not very productive, though did put together Untied cast list for possible post. Bed by 11pm.
-Awake before 5am, little one may be congested. Had dreamt, can't sleep^. Set up away emails, go in after 6:30am. Confirmation by 7am. Some back and forth, then Dad time for 2 hrs from 8:30am. An hour to handle emails and collapse for a bit, then make lunch. 2.5 hrs (during snooze) to contact parents, handle Google Meet, realize I didn't put grading in my bag. Dad time for 2.5+ hrs including outside, calling grandma (got new book), pours and more. Start dinner 6pm then half hour of down time. After dinner, family goofing with bed, then over half an hour to find sleep (she wanted me in specific). From 8:30pm can mostly finalize OAME post and prep Untied edits. Bed 11pm.
-Night disruptions, still dreamt*. Check msgs, again the one to dress, family time. Drop-off and rescue of all my items; check in with virtual anime upstairs too. Grading, Meet, textbook forms, relief, grading, music support. Lunch, grading, Meet and then meet tech guy. Projector is not supported, new projector needs new mount, but at least steal computer from prep room so I have something. Phone parent, leave later than usual. Pickup 4pm, home to clean, then out to shop (lost time). Back by 6pm as they arrive from park after a fall off ladder (slippery mittens). Cuddles, over 30 min of Dad time including videos. Bath & bed go well, I tidy, do dishes, dinner, start assembling review. Finally break 9pm; to bed after 10pm.
-Quiet night, awake after 6am. Dad time including animal play, nose seems better. At work finish grading, Meet has auto-attendance, prep next unit, given mobile projector for class. After lunch, Meet, upload files and info. Some time for jogging, notice little one rejected lunch for first time (holiday turkey). Pickup after 4pm, tears as another father had been there just before (not me). Mixed emotions, Dad time after 5pm for over half an hour, 30 min break, family time. Bed resistance 7pm, wanted Dad before 8pm. Evening of checking BTTF info, starting "Untied" edits.
-One disruption, dreamt but gone. Little one up by 7am, I take 75 min to do more "Untied" edits. Family time, Dad time of an hour, more edits 10:30am. Make lunch after 11:30am, start snooze an hour later (Mom out). Asleep after an hour. I'm asleep an hour after that. Up 3:30pm, I go for a run after 4pm. Meet at park 5pm, family play. Dad time by 5:45pm outside and basement. Dinner. Use of potty at 7pm, bath. Back into "Untied" edits; call for Dad after 8pm, half an hour there. Complete edits on File1, oy. Bed 11pm.

===

Item counts to Saturday (Oct 10):
Step Count 2016: About 59,600
-Bought cheap calculators, in-laws in town, lacked clear direction.

Step Count 2017: Over 63,300 (14 stars)
-Pregnancy news, but school had made me dead inside plus no blog buffer.

Step Count 2018: Over 67,100 (10 stars)
-Read Alexandra first story, first Thursday group, progress reports & CanCon.

Step Count 2019: Over 65,450 (16 stars)
-Tired, grading before progress reports, flight and Thanksgiving Saturday.

STEP COUNT 2020: Over 60,100. 11 stars.
SCHOOL EMAIL 2020: 149 New (87 sent)
 Removed 16 Sent Evidence Exports from count.
We have completed DAY 29. Now taught for ten days vs. quarantine only six.

RH Stress Level: 7 (Starlight Breaker)

=======
Week 121
-Dreamt&, up before 6am, "Untied" edits. Dad time from 6:50am for 1.5 hours including paints and going out in new boots. Family time to 9am, break for more edits. Dad & Mom time back and forth for half hours, until lunch. Mom takes snooze, go shopping for more milk, corn and next week's cake. Home 2pm, more edits. Awaken others before 3pm, bit of Dad time then family out to parks again. Home before 4:30pm for lie down, then Dad time before 5pm. Ice cream requests lead to phoning grandparents first, then trying to finalize prep for sirloin tip roast. Thanksgiving-ish dinner with corn. Family time play has a slip and minor lip blood. Dad time for half an hour to past 7pm. Bed; finalize Thanksgiving dinner. More edits, nearly to end of second file, oy. Bed 11pm.
-Dreamt^. Some wakeups, with her from 5:50am for 2.5 hours. First 45 min chair and back, then play and raspberries. Rest after 8:20am, including some Untied edits; after two hours, Dad time again. Out to park. After an hour, home to prepare lunch. Handled snooze, up by 3pm. Saw online card, then Zoom/Meet with Family for an hour from 3:30pm. More card after, email break for me 5pm. Dad time 5:30pm includes early dinner? No ice cream. Then trip to bridge. Family time before 6:30pm, bath 7pm, call for me to help sleep as I do dishes. Asleep 8:30pm, finish in kitchen and with photos by 9:30pm, dinner and a bit more editing (only into C file).
-Dreamt*, awake 5am, 25 min later provide little one relief. Let her sleep a bit past 7am, she wants waffles. Finish probability teaching, department meeting, emails (including survey). Pickup (still in rain), home. Briefly together, then 45 min crash. Dad time for half an hour, then dinner. Power out as we finish (6:55); half hour to disconnect alarm and look up outage info. Last things, bedtime. Power back half hour later (8:25), still don't cook; do "Untied" edits. RDA, reconnect alarm 10pm, bed 11pm.
-Dreamt in pieces (including bus trip on bridge, fear of heights). In chair before 6am. Send emails by 7am. Family time (nose seems fixed), to work. See student cohort in person for first time in 13 days, probability. Check handouts, finalize work on probability test sheet. Home, brief crash, Dad time then family time to park (w/ big stick). Dinner 6:45pm, bath, I start dinner, tidy masks, vacuum, do more school (including virtual anime). Break after 9pm. Brief edits, bed after 11pm.
-Wake 5am hearing the others, never fully back to sleep. With little one from 6am until lights on after 6:30am. Manage out door before 7:30am, drop Mom at appointment, on to Daycare. Teaching, including quiz only half of cohort completed. Update grades. Shopping after 3pm, pickup, home. Back and forth parenting time, including walking in rain suit. DQ trip before weekend closure. Email break before 7pm. Needed to help with bed at 8pm. Release all scores and do emails, then a bit of time for other things. Edits complete on File3.
-Never quite asleep again after 5am; queue up test. Gourds for little one. Through probability for Cohort B; am very tired. Handle emails and files after lunch. Back and forth at home (mostly Mom); extra star sometimes happens when upon arrival at far park, we want the near one instead. Dad time 30 min until 7pm dinner. Bed routine as I make cake. No energy to ice. Manage more edits, collapse 10:30pm.
-Dreamt of photo of someone running before nuclear explosion; awake before 6am but decent sleep. 1.5 hrs of Dad time from before 7am. Some family time, then near 2 hrs to handle some email, drive to bookstore, and prep dinner in slow cooker. Dad time 45 min, Mom takes over to go to park so lunch, then Zoom I'd help set up two weeks ago at noon. Birthday zoom, with cake and present. Handle snooze before 1pm, Mom trip out. She wakes us, more gifts, out to park until 5:30pm. DQ en route back, I do quick run then Dad time half an hour. Dinner, bed vector 7pm. Very rough sleeping; I'm in after 8pm but cannot lift, cries, Mom until near 9pm. I do attempt more edits, but not dishes, and bed before midnight.

===

Item counts to Saturday (Oct 17):
Step Count 2016: About 53,450
-Dealt with figuring out benefits, and found my writing groove. Simpler times.

Step Count 2017: Over 61,600 (15 stars)
-Implosion from teaching CS, everything is off, there is no joy.

Step Count 2018: Over 79,000 (8 stars)
-AL birthday, interviews extend normal half day, some passing out downstairs.

Step Count 2019: Over 70,300 (13 stars)
-Wrote comic review and about voting, AL birthday amid lack of sleep.

STEP COUNT 2020: Over 68,300. 13 stars.
SCHOOL EMAIL 2020: 134 New (63 sent)
 13 sent were 'score released'.
We have completed DAY 33. Now taught for 14 days vs. quarantine only six.

RH Stress Level: 8 (Starlight Breaker Extension)

=======
Week 122
-Decent night, awake 6:30am. 1.5 hrs of edits (finishing file 4) during Mom time, then 1.5 hrs of Dad time (including cereal and many books). Dishes, as little one gets story. Brief down time, then we let Mom cook lunch. More edits during snooze, also catching up photos and lying down. Laundry after snooze, then outside into leaves. Dad time for an hour at parks; home to call grandparents after 5pm. Pick up food during Mom time. Dinner, long bath, bed. Back into my edits, collapse before 11pm.
-Dreamt&. Dad time from 6:30am, family time then to work in the rain. Support day, full Meet on factoring, managed to get through all tests that were submitted on time and update files too. Testing centre now open next door. Home, 10 min Dad, not quite an hour Math Zoom, 20 min Dad, dinner, more Dad time. Spent after 7pm, dinner and not much else to 10pm. Minor edits.
-Dreamt we had to change school buildings. Awake before 6:30am again. More minor edits, then family time amid recycling; nearly forget pedometer. P/T Interview software has changed with fast turnaround. Support day, manage to design next evaluation and finalize all grades. Pick new route for run. Home, grab daycare photos, then Family time to park after 5pm and Dad time later. Bath 7pm, try to deal with fridge spill. 7:45pm total breakdown. Don't really cook after that, also discover the file I'm editing is an incorrect version. Brief RDA, bed 10:30pm.
-Wake in night, then at 6am. Dad time with waffles but forget temperature. Work manages to be productive in setting remaining tests, less so in other ways. Quick shopping, home routine. Family time 5pm, trade breaks; Dad time through 7pm then dinner and bed. Dishes, dinner, and finally manage to finish edits on File5. No energy after 10pm.
-Awake before 6:30am, get things together. Depart before 7:30am, drop Mom at appointment. At work, call about tires, get appointment news, grade Assumptions. Meets, Support, and create solutions for Probability Test. Emails over lunch, Meet, finish lunch. Pickup and home for 5 P/T interviews on phone before 6:30. Break in middle, little one wants photos. Run out at end to parking, then park, home 7pm for dinner; wants waffles. No cooking, but dishes. Also wants to be held before 10pm. Watch DNoble videos, bed before midnight.
-Up 6am, dreamt of skiing and catching fish? Dad time by 6:30am. Catch up on new items and get Project feedback done by 12:30pm; Board having issues with math contests. Finally look ahead at 3M & 3C, make refinements. Messaged about flu vaccine in area, go after work - 1.5 hr wait no good. Daycare round trip home, back to wait for an hour, home after 6pm. Finished 'Strange' comic set in that time. Dad time for near an hour including dinner. Bath, dealing with emails, bed, needed for half an hour before 9pm. No cooking. Tired, some edits.
-Up 5:30am w/ little one (after more odd dreams). After 6:30am, some file sorting. Dad time 8-10am, including out at park. Math Social from 10-11:15am. Family time into snooze at noon; asleep 1pm. I'm out soon after. Awake before 3pm, get nearly 1.5 hrs for some edits. Dad time for 1.5 hrs (including slip and fall), eventually into dinner. Get 10 min from 7pm then bed routine. Cook, some RDA Tech and edits... chair time before 11pm. Stubbornly continue edits for 1.5 hrs, past midnight.

===

Item counts to Saturday (Oct 24):
Step Count 2016: About 48,300
-Finished T&T mostly. Put away hose, etc. outside.

Step Count 2017: Over 61,600 (14 stars)
-Went on anti-anxiety/depression pills, reading book doctor recommended.

Step Count 2018: Over 69,750 (10 stars)
-Saline runs for cold, level 2 flow bottle, sleep troubles all around.

Step Count 2019: Over 72,700 (12 stars)
-Grandparents Video and Visit, voting, smoke alarm, video edits... walking!

STEP COUNT 2020: Over 51,250. 9 stars.
SCHOOL EMAIL 2020: 116 New (102 sent)
 The sent include 16 Evidence Exports & 16 Parent Forwards
We have completed DAY 38. Now taught for 14 days vs. quarantine only six.

RH Stress Level: 8 (Starlight Breaker Extension)

=======
Week 123
-Awake about 6am, they're in chair. Take over by 6:30am, 1.5 hrs Dad time including fall against table. Then 1 hr of edits, rejoin, briefly lie down, yard work. To park 10:15am, Dad time included some sweeps and leaves too. Cooking lunch. They head to snooze after noon, I do brief edits then shopping and an hour of eavestrough cleaning. (She explains how she can't walk under kitchen island any more!) From 3:30pm, 45 min family time then shifts. Brief park after 5pm, home when parents can take call. Dinner, sad bath, bed; I cook and finish edits on File Six. Dishes. Little else.
-One wakeup; dreamt of infiltrating a building, a bomb and elevators? (Also job applicants?) Some school work and quizzes before 6:30am to 7am. Family time (briefly downstairs), then car, deer runs across road at airport. Regular teaching, student emails, lunch, etc. At home parent back-and-forth time, I have readings and tea. Dinner 7pm, tangent to bed; I put up decorations, clean fruit, cook dinner, more messages, done 9pm. Some Szabo, some edits, some RDA Halloween. To 1am, oops.
-Chair until nearly 2am. Awake 6:30am. Dad time, discovers decorations. Regular teaching, questions, setting up Math Contest Meet, then going through documentations to sign off. Gas en route, at home likes skull kitty. No outside so eventual half hour trade-offs. Order in, grade probability tests watching Szabo Q&A. Bed from 10:30pm.
-Multiple wakeups including 5:30am on; finalize some grading before 7am. To school, one lesson only and finish grading as they work (also fire drill). Finish take-ups, tweak assignments and use photocopier. Pay bills en route. Family time for 30 min then I collapse for an hour. Dad time after dinner. Grading once she's asleep, break for dinner after 9pm. Then actually post OAME and do some edits until after 11pm, oops.
-Dreamt&. Quiet night; Mom up 6am, I do quick grading and take over after half an hour. Dad time includes breakfast, then more quick work as they arrange coffees. To school, find old z-scores, first in class test (which needs more time). During which I work out math contests and start 3M quizzes. Lesson, fire drill, copies, lunch, Meet with student. Grading, shopping, home. Light up pumpkin dropped by little one. Surreal evening; includes more grading and edits. Bed before 11pm.
-Bumpy night. Microdreams**. Mostly awake from 3:30am, more grading 6:45am. Cute pumpkin shirt; to school for a copy of Thurs. During test I manage emails and a possible blog post. Lunch, store all tests, register for math contest, do a run. Pickup with treats bag. Brief family time with her art, then sharing (I collapse for a while). After bath/bed, I manage lots of edits, little else, until midnight.
-Take over from 5:30am after rough night. Chair, then up 7:10am (delay due to damn time change upcoming). An hour later (2.5 hr) switch to Mom. After over an hour (including emails), dishes. Then Dad time, including using bag to clean surfaces and pumpkin carving after 11am. Lunch, Mom takes snooze. More edits and light yard work. After 3:30pm, quick rest during online book, then before 4:30pm we all go out to look at spooky houses. One has candies in separate bowls available, Alexandra chooses. Home, Dad time including basement, then costume time. Pumpkin out. Eventually sushis. After dinner, notice a rash/hives? Must be allergy (shellfish?). 8pm still in bed routine. I get done Untied edits through 8th file, 9th is current. Sign in for NaNo.
-Halloween at -1. (No one due to pandemic; got candy at the house with separated bowls for Alexandra.)

===

Item counts to Saturday (Oct 31):
Step Count 2016: About 56,900
-Felt good about writing, perused NaNo forums, sent zero emails.

Step Count 2017: Over 54,800 (15 stars)
-On medical leave, SOAP reunion, poor Halloween showing.

Step Count 2018: Over 71,100 (12 stars)
-Long day before Halloween (33 visitors), tried bedtime 7:30pm, NaNo start.

Step Count 2019: Over 71,250 (13 stars)
-Kanata visit, Halloween costumes, daycare dropoffs, NaNo write-in, lip bleed.

STEP COUNT 2020: Over 62,550. 10 stars.
SCHOOL EMAIL 2020: 204 New (83 sent)
We have completed DAY 43. Now taught for 19 days vs. quarantine only six.

RH Stress Level: 7 (Starlight Breaker)

*****
CONSTANT TO-DO LIST
:
 -Sketches for 2019 holiday parody
 -2020 Banner for TPolys
 -Write a TANDQ article on Polling and Bias
 -Write a post about types of praise/encouragement
 -Catching up with web serials/comics (from ~August 2018)
 -Read some of the books sitting at my desk

Wednesday 28 October 2020

OAME 2020 Summary

I had no plans to attend OAME 2020 (the annual conference for the Ontario Association for Mathematics Education), as it would be in Oshawa, near Toronto... and I'm the only one able to drive our little one to Daycare. Not to mention I've never been away from her for that long. (Even Anime North 2019 had my wife and her at the same hotel, meeting up with relatives during the day.) Said OAME conference would have been Thurs May 7 & Fri May 8.

Then there was a pandemic in March.

So OAME 2020: In Focus got shifted virtually for Wed May 6th right through Sat May 9th. For free, and including evening sessions, meaning no need to try and split my time between being a Dad and a Teacher.

Granted, my life from April through June consisted of only balancing those things, which is a large part of why I only angled for two live sessions.

There were also pre-recorded sessions available; I did not find the time to partake. I did check out the slides for one other session after the fact. Here we go with a recap.

MDM 4U as Data Science Using RStudio

Session by Chris Papalia, at 1pm on Thurs May 7th. I was able to attend then as my daughter was doing nap time.

Preamble includes: It is time that we start integrating our Data Management and AP Statistics classes with the fields of Data Science and Computing. ... You will be surprised how frictionless the initial set up is using RStudio Cloud and how easily students learn how to produce visualization and manage data in the RStudio Cloud IDE. Bring your laptop to participate in this interactive workshop that will inspire you to use this in your next class. ...

I had heard of 'RStudio' before, but hadn't (and haven't) found any time to consider playing around with R programming. I'll admit I came as much to see the data sets as to see more about the program... but I'll also admit I downloaded a version of RStudio that morning, as a reminder.

Chris admitted he's also new-ish to R, which helps as an entry for the layman.

He started by considering the meaning of Data Science, along with R. He later noted how it's easier to create a histogram in R than in Excel. (Truth, spreadsheets just botch histograms, in my experience. Chris added Fathom is great but costs now, Desmos/Geogebra are okay with limited capability.) And there are a number of datasets that are available in R, including from sports and Gapminder.

R coding is challenging (sort of) but always reproducible. There was also mention of the Philosophy of Data Exploration, which includes a loop of Exploration. A number of graphs were available in the slides (and even some Covid-19 data).

Later on, Chris included a section on challenges and solutions, including technical background and finding data. There are support resources. And as a sidebar, Chris managed really well when a troll started posting nonsense in the stream too; the OAME crew installed an extra password layer in future presentations.

If nothing else, this was a valuable session for keeping me engaged with the Data Management course. I suspect it will take another session (or some other sort of push) to get me into the programming, in part because I don't have a lot of time to spare, but we'll see... I wasn't able to latch onto Desmos histograms right away, now they're almost a go-to.

Harnessing Student Curiosity

Session by Joel Bezaire and Shauna Hedgepeth, at 8pm on Fri May 8th. My daughter was in bed.

Preamble includes: Students have an innate curiosity about the world around them; what if we could harness that curiosity to power our math lessons? Students want to make sense of the world, as well; that motivation can serve to drive student engagement in math class. In this session, teachers will engage with lesson samples from a Middle School Statistics classroom to see how some purposeful planning, tech tools, meaningful decision-making, and clever "teacher moves" can take a "normal" lesson and turn it into one where students are begging for more new mathematical content.

They began by questioning 'Why Data Analysis?' in terms of the hook. Well, meaningful data works different, acts as preparation, and we need students to be critical consumers given how much data is in the news.

The steps for harnessing curiosity were 1) Examine; 2) Expose (a need); 3) Learn; 4) Revisit; 5) Finalize. Step 3 in the middle is for the teaching, it's the other four where we need a focus.

They did an Examine & Expose regarding 'War on Drugs' data. (With sketched images on account of possible copyright given the virtual conference.) Major League Baseball put in a drug policy, and the question was whether there would be a significant decline in offensive numbers.

The Revisit & Finalize (after talking about difference of means) was seen using student work samples. The class found (among other things) that hits didn't show a meaningful decrease but runs showed a difference. And then there's the fact that "War on Drugs" has something else come up in search engines.

There was then some talk of other areas (like Climate Change data) and questions were addressed (I had one, but no longer recall). I was actually recognized by name in the stream as I made a couple comments (and puns). ^.^

Some good perspective here, and I know there are other resources out there that can be brought in for particular topics. It's another one of those things for which I may try to do more, once I have the time (and the sanity) to do it "properly" (as I define it).

Desmos: Focus on Graphing and Data Analysis

Session by Michael Lieff, at noon on Sat. May 9th. I wasn't able to attend live, but did have a look at the slides when they were posted up (at the end of the conference).

Preamble: Come learn how to use the features of this must-have graphing calculator app (and web site) to put the power of dynamic graphing and data analysis into your students' hands!

Mostly I wanted to see if there were key items I'd been missing, as I only recently got the whole Histogram/Box Plot situation worked out. (My holdup: Info doesn't always paste depending on the source.) Michael started with the basics of an account and the Desmos library.

Items included domain restrictions, image insertion, a hands on activity, converting equations to tables (THAT one was new for me), regressions, and graphs (like box plots as referenced earlier).

And that's pretty much all I had a chance to take in, both at the time, and in putting this post together five months later. Teaching in 2020 has been nuts.

I'm glad I did make the time. I also don't think I could have handled more than I did.

*

If you're wondering about previous OAME conferences I went to, you can have a look at 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019. (In 2017 the sessions were full before I realized registration was open.)

Alternatively, feel free to drop a comment here. Did you learn something, or have any thoughts about the mathematics? Or the teaching, or applications? Please let me and other readers know. As always, thanks for reading through to the end.

Tuesday 29 September 2020

Pandemic Parenting: Sept 2020

Week 115
-Wake-ups every couple hours (at 12:15am was told 'done'). Hour break before family time 8am; trip to far slides on velo. Brunch with friends at 10am, home for snooze before noon. Over 75 min to get there; I snooze too. Up before 3pm, basekemtn, remote story-time with Jose. Laundry, trip in stroller to both ponds (geese are back!?), caught in rain at end. Dinner after 6pm, bath after 7pm. Prepared car and files.
-Dreamt*, brief Dad time from 7am, joined for breakfast, departed after 7:45am. Drop-off, parking next door. Training system doesn't work with everyone online; I organize room. Dept trip outside for 15 min. Visit with teachers, copy files. Lunch. Dept together for mental health online, then I complete training by 3:30pm. Home 4:30pm and rinse, family time from 5pm with far slides... headfirst, plus hanging for over 30 sec! Trouble falling asleep, out 9pm. No work done.
-Awake 6:30am, recycling during wakeup, not much breakfast time and out. New training on student mental health and online resources, I do more sites setup. Out to pick up Tupperware & batteries, back for more videos. Racism training. Pickup routine, family time again at far slides - she loses footing and bites her lip. Carries on, we do ice cream later. Bed after 7pm; no work done. RDA with Bill & Ted.
-She's awake before 6:30am so I go in 6:40am. Slow to emerge from crib, Dad time and sausages. Bullying video and some room reorganizing. Classify data files for past year. Quick slides before rain, then first real pee on potty. Indoor reading and play. Dishes done, little else.
-Somewhat late rise but things work out. Parking lot's available; I forget to change shoes. Clean class desk and arrange desks, staff meeting. After lunch, clean prep desk and WHMIS training. Shopping, pickup, play downstairs with stuffed animals from neighbour (out of quarantine). Solo trip to both slides for an hour, dinner, shredding documents. Set up video crops, then relax.
-Dreamt of trip to 'Murder She Wrote' museum? Dad time before 7am, ball. Morning dept meeting for vague planning, and when courses are finalized, start to set up own data course. Staff meeting, VLE Online Meet, and get June's plagiarism into office. Arrive home and go pick up food while others go to slides; sudden rain. Inside time includes downstairs. Books include "green" and "purple"! Bath, bed from 7:30pm. Some silly writing only.
-Writing some "Epsilon". Family time from 7:15am, park, Dad time trip to duck ponds. Home before 10am, writing break, depart 11am for mall. Get shoes, pants, sushis. Lunch, during snooze from 1:30pm I pick up parcel and camera (repaired), also quick shopping. Home after 3pm, tired; Mom time from 4:30-5:30pm. Phone home for an hour. Dinner and downstairs play with Dad; bedtime after 7:30pm. Bit more "Epsilon" writing.
-Mharz "Life is Strange" LIVE (#16-18) & Dom starts Twilight.

===

Item counts to Saturday (Sept 5):
Step Count 2016: About 49,000
-CanCon 2015 posts, as CanCon 2016 began.

Step Count 2017: About 69,800 (14 stars)
-Returned to work, spent most evenings dealing with CompSci.

Step Count 2018: Over 72,700 (10 stars)
-First bus ride, car battery death, cemetery movie.

Step Count 2019: Over 81,500 (14 stars)
-RIP Godzilla, Playgroup, Manor Park Festival, in-laws, watched "Primer".

STEP COUNT 2020: Over 83,200. 13 stars.
SCHOOL EMAIL 2020: 115 New (9 sent)
 21 Daycares. We have completed DAY 5. 3 PD, and 2 No students.

RH Stress Level: 5 (ACS Standby)

=======
Week 116
-Dreamt.* Dad time from 6:50am, family time for an hour from 7:20, both parks. Tidying and laundry solo, then Dad time downstairs. Quiet time to finish Epsilon entry (1.5 hr), noon lunch and snooze (still takes 45 min to start). All sleep, awake 3pm, go to Edinburgh park for over an hour. Mom discovers sun shield is actually two(!). Quick shopping, then Dad time to near park (encounter Aubrey's family). Home before 7pm, dinner troubles. Queue up Epsilon post, handle some other items (new shoes for star run).
-Restless sleep. Family time from 7:30am (sausages) becomes crash during rain outside. Dad time after 10am, downstairs hugging bears, until France Remote Reading after 11am. After lunch, manage to finish drawing 2019 'tans banner, and search for 3C binder. Family time at both parks. Playdoh before 7pm, bath, bed after 8pm. Photos organized. Some RDA.
-Awake 6am after little one already up for half an hour. Dad time, downstairs. Quick food, no trouble with school arrival. Briefly monitor link class, then prep slides for all Data and initial course info and sheets for Sem1. Label desks after lunch. Pickup in rain, inside time until it clears. Also half hour downstairs. Unproductive evening.
-Awake about 6am with little one, swap 6:30am. Worked on slides for 3M (more or less) and 3C (less; also sought more resources). Downloaded 3M text for site. Left 3pm for corn and gas, pickup, rain at home again. Books, crashed 15 min. Corn peel and dinner managed to go half an hour. Evening of assembling missing 4U text using Windows ME downstairs, dishes, cooking, tidying. Bed after 11:30pm.
-Dad time from 6:45am, bit stressed trying to go around 7:30am. Hall duty, more puzzling on Sites/Classroom, went through all video links for Data, emails, more hall, invited students to Classroom App, two student emails. Shopping. Home stress, so with Alexandra to both parks then dinner. Cooked, talked, finished PDF work. Bed after 10pm.
-Dreamt&. Extended PJs until departure. Hall duty, posting to Classroom, verifying two variable sheet, creating teacher location and seating chart files. New face shield. More hall, emails, laminating attempt. Laundry, trip out includes DQ, picking up fallen tree sticks, bubbles. After dinner, kitchen play. Quick shopping during bath. Took another evening off.
-Dad time from 7am, waffles not a hit. An hour to check school and organize photos. Prep to go out and buy boots (fire boots, wore out of store) then to new park. Home, lunch, more Summer's End file sorting during snooze. Some play, then off to boats; I hurry back to mow lawn for 6pm. Dinner, bed, and again too tired to have a useful evening, ugh.
-Mharz "Life is Strange" LIVE (#19) & Daily Show.

===
Item counts to Saturday (Sept 12):
Step Count 2016: About 76,300
-Went to BC with Anne-Lise. Considered making posts into a newsletter.

Step Count 2017: About 69,000 (19 stars)
-Many meetings, network fail as part of the CS horror show. CTP VIP.

Step Count 2018: Over 74,900 (12 stars)
-Long days with dinners, hot water heater issue, updated OS for laptop.

Step Count 2019: Over 68,300 (13 stars)
-Long days again, laptop charger broke, signing "more", Sat dinner out.

STEP COUNT 2020
: Over 73,100. 14 stars.
SCHOOL EMAIL 2020: 93 New (17 sent)
We have completed DAY 9. 3 PD, 2 No students.
 7 Daycare msg. I haven't actually taught yet.

RH Stress Level: 5 (ACS Standby)
=======
Week 117
-Awake 6am getting little one to sleep. Some course prep. 8am dishes. 9am Dad time for almost 2 hrs including out between rains. Break during story, cook lunch, snooze. Out in under half an hour, do run. Some TORG reading, attempt nap. Up 2:30pm, out to park 3pm. Home, want ice creams. Then 45 min break, Family time from 5pm with phone call (no Distributel?). Vector to bath before 7pm. 7;30 gaming just after story... need to go in myself after 8:30pm, rough finding sleep. Gamin ends 11pm, check messages (supervision up) and bed 11:30pm.
-Dreamt*, up after 6am. Little one up soon after, switch from 6:30am. First Day Teaching, and projector goes out (huge dark spot) so make due with boards and site uploads. Need to remember, attendance twice. Starting putting together Data Assignments; break before pickup. Cleanse, one story, then math meeting 5-6:30pm. Dad time to 7pm, then evening to crash, mostly. Some RDA again, tough all around.
-Up 6am with little one; swap and I cue up morning post. Sneak cereal, family time after 7am (mostly Mom). Second half of class (9 vs 7), still no projector but better paced. Devise summary unit sheet for self, upload whiteboard files, finalize graph assignment. Shopping at Cdn Superstore and pickup of laminated circle. Little one aware she's tired so comes home, but refuses to eat enough dinner for ice creams; story done 6:30pm. Had to take over, asleep before 8pm. Minimal work managed.
-Much awake early on, then dreamt&, up 6:30am. Mom took over. Extended PJs, then onesie with snaps (for last time). Statistics teaching for 4 hours. Lunch, went live with first assignment. Email issues, staff meeting + OSSTF for an hour. Pickup 4pm, home and crash for an hour. Then Dad Time of an hour going to parks and around house. Dinner after 7pm, to sleep; emails, cook dinner, devise quiz, dishes and restart 'Life is Strange' comic. Bed after midnight.
-Dreamt^, woken by alarm 6:30am. Dad time. Police pulled me over on parkway (83 in 60 zone, I hadn't been watching speed). Still able to schedule online quiz after 8am, then second run teaching statistics. New student seems not to be. Learned more of our 'support period' (our school handling things well). Finally initiated some emails. Zoned out in car after 3pm. Pickup, yogurt snack, some time running down hills at park. I take over partway into bath, and put little one to sleep for first time in recent memory. Eventual shopping to get more fruit. Home before 10pm, dinner, bed after 11:30pm.
-Queued post, family time (more Mom), to Daycare which is dwindling due to runny noses, eep. 3 Distributions lessons, connecting up with GMeet teachers for next week, verifying how to handle assignments on Classroom, talking with colleagues. No park trip; some chalks. Her nose starts running, sleepy time gets rough. Insert humidifier. Finally finish damn math minutes, minor breakdown. Bed 11:30pm again.
-Slept downstairs almost 6 hours straight. Dad time from before 7am. Little one still runny nose, so we head to testing centre by 9am; told they're already at capacity for the day. Return home, break to email school, tidy, do laundry, finish my Summer post. Dad time from 11am downstairs, active running. Lunch, she's out for snooze pretty fast in our room. Satellite testing site opens, we head out 3pm to Kanata, she's tested and we're home by 6pm. With sushis, so she's happy. Bath 7pm, less runny nose but more congestion. Online chat, bed before 10pm though many wakeups to come.
-Mharz "Life is Strange" LIVE (#20 & 21 Finale) & Daily Show.

===
Item counts to Saturday (Sept 19):
Step Count 2016: About 67,900
-Felt like I’d be busy until end of year. But with writing, etc. not teaching.

Step Count 2017: About 61,500 (14 stars)
-Daily injections, cutting back on everything to deal with tech, stress level 8+.

Step Count 2018: Over 57,200 (10 stars)
-Step counter bracket broke, cut little one doing nails, tornado in town.

Step Count 2019: Over 64,500 (14 stars)
-Guernsey package in, busy school (library on Sat), solo little one to sleep.

STEP COUNT 2020: Over 67,050. 11 stars.
SCHOOL EMAIL 2020: 150 New (52 sent)
We have completed DAY 14. 3 PD, 2 No Students.
 +9 Daycare emails

RH Stress Level: 8 (Starlight Breaker Extension)

=======
Week 118
-After being in her room 1-3am and another wakeup, time after 7am to send email updates and finalize posts. Join after an hour, some back and forth, found smol cow and cat puzzle, none of us feeling great. More self time during story at 10am. Dad time for half an hour from 11am, then during snooze, which takes an hour to achieve. Check school messages, out for an hour myself. Phone g'parents. Self time to organize photos and prep emails. Dad time including running around house and velo in driveway. Family time after dinner, need saline for sleep. Each over 45 min to get crib. Email daycare. Bed downstairs before 11pm.
-Awake 6am, verify school messages, tidy kitchen, start some writing. Dad time from 7am, break 8am, then from 8:30am through to 3pm; no outside time, some downstairs, nap just over two hours. During nap, able to organize emails. From 3-4pm, worked on Quiz. Then Dad time including car around the house to 6pm. Quick tidy and dinner, family time in basement. Tidied and dishes during bath and sleep; down time starts 9pm. Bit of RDA, bed like before upstairs.
-One wakeup, decent sleep, dreamt of university classes but also a boat? (As part of curriculum?) Some Dad time until 7am, then writing time. Dad time from 8-10am (enjoyed teether), then prepped lesson files (from broken projector) until 11:30am. Made lunch. Sorted photos and finalized lessons until 2:30pm when phone woke from snooze. Dad time for an hour (reading), then all out for adult Covid Tests (drive thru). More Dad time, over 1.5 hr (water table, coffee sorting), half hour to finish schoolwork. Family time including dance, dinner. Moved phone to living room. She's asleep before 8pm, so worked out grocery orders and did some writing before 11pm.
-Awake 6am again (downstairs), more writing. Dad time 7am, family time, Dad time until 10am (she found fish ball). Finalized more lessons and found handouts, started quiz corrections. Family time noon, Dad time (with snooze) 12:30pm to 3:15pm. Finished quiz corrections on snooze; until 5:30pm did emails and finalized Epsilon10 to post. (They did Q-tip art!) Dad time 45 min outside, she wants to pick up sticks. (Negative results in.) Family time until after 7pm, bath. (Emailing all about negative results.) Back and forth, not asleep until 9pm. Too exhausted for much, bed before 11pm.
-One wakeup, decent sleep. Bought remote groceries for over 30 min, then Dad time for two hours (including cereals). From 10:30am, finalized Data projects and emails. Cooked lunch, then out to get groceries in trunk. Downstairs run (for once) then connected with Math in GMeet for grading support (video answers?). Dad time after 3pm for 2.5 hours including call to grandparents. Brief rest. Cook dinner (corns), last things. Still sleep troubles drag on until 9pm again. See Wednesday.
-Downstairs. Restless overnight all around; spooky dream*. Up before 5:30am to queue posts in Classroom. Upstairs to take over 6:30am, Dad time to near 8am, phone France. Quick release of Data Quizzes, then Dad time to 10:15am including gluing leaves and new paint (also she got me to mow). Corrected 1/3 of Data Assignments (others found pencil crayons). Lunch, then an hour to find snooze. Brief Dad time, then correct rest of Data Assignments. At 5:30pm, go to park, hell with it; Mom joins 6pm. Home 7pm for routine; need help again for getting to sleep before 9pm. Check messages, do dishes, oy.
-Awake from 4:30am basically. Rest from 7am; family time before going out to Tatie's. 2.5 hours of cleaning pantry (bags, flour, her area), vacuum carseat, lightbulb, etc. Have a run. After pickup, go shopping during snooze. Hour of Dad time, hour to lie down, then family time to park. Some Dad time with water table before 6pm. Wants sleep by 6:30pm but not asleep until after 8pm. Some videos, emails, checking for old tests. More "Life is Strange" comic, bed 11pm.
-AT4W catchup & Daily Show.

===
Item counts to Saturday (Sept 26):
Step Count 2016: About About 62,500
-Had an eye appointment, queued T&T for all Oct, started playing Sakura Dungeon.

Step Count 2017: About 65,500 (14 stars)
-School reprieve, sort of mending; became Time Travel Nexus writer, bought pants.

Step Count 2018: Over 63,500 (10 stars)
-Assembled playpen, little one rolling onto front, resumed some RP.

Step Count 2019: Over 68,900 (13 stars)
-School meets & math social approach breakdown, grading during Group w/ mom.

STEP COUNT 2020: Over 53,550. 4 stars.
SCHOOL EMAIL 2020: 104 New (37 sent)
We have completed DAY 19. I've taught for five days (3 of them unique).
 (Some sent were Daycare; removed daycare from inbox)

RH Stress Level: 7 (Starlight Breaker)

*****
CONSTANT TO-DO LIST:
 -Recap for OAME 2020
 -Sketches for 2019 holiday parody
 -2020 Banner for TPolys
 -Write a TANDQ article on Polling and Bias
 -Write a post about types of praise/encouragement
 -Catching up with web serials/comics (from ~August 2018)
 -Read some of the books sitting at my desk