Fall Catchup

 I realize I have been away for the better part of six months. There was nothing cataclysmic keeping me away....just life being busy and no brain energy left to give much else but work and exisisting.

We started the fall here back in person at school. All masks, all the time. 

I have to say that the kids I have this year did really well with this adaptation. There was no pushback. With the group I had last year, it would have been a much different, far more stressful story.

The biggest challenges were that pretty much everything we used to do, was no longer allowed with covid. Working in groups. Challenge stations. Pass and share etc. We are also not a 1 to 1 school for devices so that required some creativity as well.

It took the better part of September to start to feel comfortable in the new routines. Thankfully it was glorious weather so we did a lot of work outside and took a lot of walks on the campus, which could be mask free provided there was distancing. That great weather lasted until Remembrance Day weekend.

It was a blessing.

Remembrance Day weekend brought a snow dump unlike anything we have seen in a long time. We actually had a snow day, which never happens here. In reality, the snowday was more of a 'we don't have enough staff who can make it into work, and we can't combine classes' thing. But it was glorious and a little gleeful.

Towards the end of November we hit Level 3 with Covid protocols. This meant that we had to split the kids. Half one day, half at home. and then switch. The good news is I wasn't required to teach the  in class and at home at the same time. So for their in class day we did a lot of front loading and practice, and then for their at home they worked on deeper level work on the same topics.

The tough part comes with keeping the two groups balanced in terms of work load, finding time to get caught up on the online marking, and planning when to load each assignment online. It generally is taking two hours a day outside of school time to stay on top of all of this.

Really hoping the after effects of Christmas do not change us to purely online. That is even harder to do and with the disastrous decision making by the provincial govt in spring about online being optional then, some bad habits have been set.

I guess we shall see what the new year brings for school.

A quiet Christmas

 

It's our second Christmas in our new (mom and dad's old house). 

The tree it tilting because I snapped this just after I pulled the orange cat out of it :-). It's their second Christmas with us and their first with a real tree.

It definitely was a quiet Christmas.  With Sask COVID rules only those living in the house could be at the house for Christmas. Technically until January 15th or whenever the rules change again.

DS2 and his gf stayed at their place a couple hours north of here. DS1 and his gf did their own at our old house.

I can remember this house being absolutely jammed with people for Christmas celebrations. Those memories were a gentle haunting here on Christmas Day. 

We will save our big turkey meal for when we can join together in the house. 

The day was spent in front of the fire, watching movies and doing a new jigsaw puzzle, along with a few virtual visits.

That being said, I cannot complain. We have a comfortable home, food to eat and most of us are in decent health. That is more than so many more folk I know.

I hope however you celebrated the day found ways of making you smile.