tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74894303517126179402024-02-18T22:13:17.504-08:00Flight of the KiwiGlobal Korero with a Maori/Irish WahineTraciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.comBlogger304125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-721776267682949292020-10-21T17:14:00.001-07:002020-10-21T17:14:10.664-07:00Finding Covid Normal ...<p>... the Kiwi's <a href="https://tagg.com.au/finding-covid-normal/" target="_blank">latest column</a>, in which she looks at best practices globally for dealing with the global pandemic </p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGY9Im4UpCBICQXPpzhc4c1YUtyRJjlBz5YhEqp1n44SatzUVdOHUdsjJUVV0BcK35ls2fRTunUXcSqu5adB7EOdyq36xLDDSs0KvMPJyGWHwMIE3H7aKtpzwbiTmoSb7K1BHVlseomsk/s2048/Railway+Club.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGY9Im4UpCBICQXPpzhc4c1YUtyRJjlBz5YhEqp1n44SatzUVdOHUdsjJUVV0BcK35ls2fRTunUXcSqu5adB7EOdyq36xLDDSs0KvMPJyGWHwMIE3H7aKtpzwbiTmoSb7K1BHVlseomsk/s320/Railway+Club.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Port Melbourne's Railway Club Hotel has added outdoor spaces as it prepares to reopen under Covid Normal. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-58091208450387520922020-05-12T16:55:00.000-07:002020-05-12T16:55:01.153-07:00'Dying in droves' - CovidSchooling in Milan, Italy<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg3qcpNc2axo8nEbTzrhUOcPd6ab1KviWSg93kM7hr3xXtVD0VKxCSYG8HbejtauJQ74OGI2S6rdDY3HHVOsSRTndevp1mXkEDWSUNVNyB9TWOn2rm6J_f9pmi19IqNPzGFo1isnc2H-s/s1600/Milan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg3qcpNc2axo8nEbTzrhUOcPd6ab1KviWSg93kM7hr3xXtVD0VKxCSYG8HbejtauJQ74OGI2S6rdDY3HHVOsSRTndevp1mXkEDWSUNVNyB9TWOn2rm6J_f9pmi19IqNPzGFo1isnc2H-s/s320/Milan.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dining table has become a home classroom for Melissa and her roommate Lindsay. Photo provided.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When
coronavirus first appeared on teacher Melissa’s personal radar, she and
colleagues didn’t take it very seriously. That changed quickly for the US
citizen who lives and works in Lombardia, a northern region of Milan, Italy,
that became the ground zero of the virus in Europe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Melissa says
a couple who worked at the same school in Milan last year now live in Shanghai
and, having spent the Chinese New Year holiday in Vietnam, had been told not to
return to their school in China.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“They came
to Milan before heading home to Canada, so we joked about how coronavirus was a
lucky circumstance that reunited us all,” she says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A few weeks
later, Melissa and fellow teachers were out on a Friday when some mentioned
there had been a few cases of Covid-19 in the province.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“We again
joked because the bar had covered up the Corona labels on the beer,” she says.
“We had no idea that would be the last time we saw each other for the school
year.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
infection rate quickly exploded in Italy, centred on Lombardy, with more than
30,000 deaths attributed to coronavirus as of early May.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Our region
was the first to shut down, the first to close off from the rest of the country,”
Melissa says. “We felt the lockdown earlier and harder than any other part of
the country. We also know that we will likely be the last to ease restrictions.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Melissa says
Italy was initially “all over the place” in its response to Covid-19’s rapid
global spread, with the Prime Minister, regional governors and mayors of major
cities all saying different things.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“For
example, at the very start the national government was encouraging lockdowns
and the Mayor of Milan, Beppe Sala, kept telling everyone ‘#MilanoNonSiFerma’,
which basically means ‘Milan doesn’t stop’, encouraging people to still go out
to eat and not let the virus scare them. However, when people started dying in
droves, he quickly changed his tune. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Now,
everyone is on the same script it seems. Announcements are more centralized for
the whole nation, and the ‘decrees’ that limit or ease restrictions are
national and legally binding. My Italian reading skills have improved
tremendously in this time because the relevant news for us locally is not often
translated. However, my school is a bilingual school and thus they translate
and share all of the major decrees with the staff.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For Melissa
and her Canadian roommate and fellow teacher, Lindsay, these decrees meant
staying in their apartment except for grocery shopping, and then only one
person could venture outside and must wear a mask, with fines of thousands of
euro for not doing so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“We lost
everything we used to do for fun - going to the gym, eating out, seeing friends
around town. We had to adapt and find new things to entertain ourselves
separately, and common activities to do together.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Melissa’s
roommate spent a lot of time doing yoga and Melissa sang virtually with her
church group from when she lived in the US. They watched favourite shows
together and painted to occupy their time. Seven people in her apartment
building work at the same school, and they grew much closer as they shared
information, teaching resources and the experience of being an expat in a
foreign country ravaged by coronavirus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Both
roommates taught from home five to six days a week, Melissa says. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“I teach
drama classes, run extra drama clubs, including rehearsing a play, and mentor
the Student Council. She teaches 4th grade.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Each is on Zoom
one to four hours a day, taking classes and planning meetings, and also nurture
their mental health through video chats with a therapist, and interacting
virtually with families and friends. Additional hours are spent reviewing
online work submissions from the students. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Our school
is a 1-to-1 iPad school, so every kid is connected and turning in work, meaning
we have hundreds of assignments to mark and give feedback on each week.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Melissa said
they have had to be creative in how they deliver content and engage students. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">She teaches drama
and special education, and had to jettison entire units of curriculum that
wouldn’t work virtually, such as group physical theatre. In contrast, many students
now have more attention from their parents, less distraction from their peers,
and infinitely more time to complete work, she says, so the quality for some
has grown enormously.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“There are
definitely some kids flourishing with this new, more independent style, which
will inform future in-person teaching I am sure.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The students
mostly miss their friends, she says, and some have lost grandparents to the
disease, so the teachers make allowances on the work those students need to do.
Melissa mentors the Student Council, which has developed “Well Being”
challenges for their peers to stay healthy and happy by doing off-screen
activities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">She mostly
works with older students, in Years 4 and 5, and says they are reasonably well
informed about what’s going on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“It’s nice
because our job as teachers is to create whatever normalcy we can, and not
linger on the virus. I think the kids are grateful for the escape too,” she
says. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the first
weeks of Italy’s lockdown, Melissa’s friends and family reached out through social
media with concern for her, requests for updates, check-ins, and offers to
video chat. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Maybe it
was a morbid fascination with a problem that didn’t seem to directly concern
them,” she says. “When the coronavirus came to America, the check-ins stopped.
I now reach out to THEM to make sure they are ok!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Her family
initially asked if she wanted to return to the US “to wait out this mess,” but
it wasn’t a good option, she says. She would have no health insurance in the US,
while she has full universal healthcare in Italy, and would have to be
essentially nocturnal in the US to meet her work requirements and Zoom class
times in Italy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">She also felt that flying at that point put her at high risk of
catching the virus and suspected Italy may not allow foreigners to re-enter the
country for a long time, so she might not be able to return to work in the
fall. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Melissa says
she and her roommate worked hard to keep their relationship healthy during the
quarantine and she takes time every day to appreciate the comforts she has,
despite the circumstances – “a secure job, a roof over my head, plentiful food
supplies, an awesome roommate. I recognize it could be so much worse!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“I also am
learning a lot on the practical side about technology and teaching, and how to
creatively use tools to teach drama, technical theatre, and more!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">From May 4,
Italy started relaxing restrictions after 11 weeks, reopening parks and allowing
residents to exercise more than 200 metres from their homes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Melissa says
life hasn’t changed much, but being able to walk more and see friends while
maintaining a safe distance is welcome. The wearing of masks is still mandatory
and Italian residents appear very conscious of giving each other personal
space.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">She and her
roommate are still teaching from home, taking up most of their time, but there
is hope they may be allowed back into school buildings before the end of the
year to collect possessions stranded there, and possibly meet with other
teachers to plan the next academic year.</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I think the general feeling in the air is
gratitude, because we have all been deprived for so long</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">,” she says</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">. </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">On the 18th stores will reopen,
so it will be interesting to see how the dynamic changes</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-20530963456414958222020-05-05T17:09:00.001-07:002020-05-15T16:50:27.516-07:00Taking a break - CovidSchooling in Manitoba, Canada<br />
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<o:p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNA4FcPfodVFQxAhHAACM2fM7-YkNSIN25hwoqgd68k8ZKKdG9gJvMzZ5t0J0uCmHao0xYW8Z97oWA2b0XP-_ZHOjJREH1aeWA6HUHcLqRz78sblmwAOwBE4Wdc-GxHKD5Koj9rbrdESI/s1600/Nunavit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNA4FcPfodVFQxAhHAACM2fM7-YkNSIN25hwoqgd68k8ZKKdG9gJvMzZ5t0J0uCmHao0xYW8Z97oWA2b0XP-_ZHOjJREH1aeWA6HUHcLqRz78sblmwAOwBE4Wdc-GxHKD5Koj9rbrdESI/s320/Nunavit.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baker Lake, Nunavut, Canada, where Tara worked until early March. Photo provided.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>A look at how teachers, parents and teachers are coping with schooling during the coronavirus global pandemic.</b></div>
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<b>------------------------------------------</b> </div>
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Occupational therapist Tara and her husband live in the prairie
province of Manitoba, Canada, with their two sons, aged 12 and 8. <o:p></o:p></div>
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She says coronavirus affected her directly in early March when
she was working in schools in Nunavut <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>-
the vast, sparsely populated northernmost territory of the country. The
government in Ontario announced it had cancelled school for three weeks to
flatten the curve of infection and transmission, she says. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“The announcement came in the morning and by 4pm I was
instructed to get on a flight home. They were unsure what the situation in
Nunavut or in my province, Manitoba, would be moving forward.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Since then, she says, her family has been together in social
isolation without visitors, all day, every day.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“We used to be on the road every day but now we are working
from home,” she says. “It has been hard to balance work, parenting and home
schooling our children. There has been more than one tearful day from me.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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However, the boys’ teachers and school have been fantastic,
she says, and relieved her worry that she would have to plan her sons’
schooling. Work is assigned to be completed each day, videos uploaded
explaining the work, lessons given live online and time available with teachers
online also. Packages of printed materials are picked up from the school as
needed and the completed work is submitted to Google classrooms. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Two to four hours a day isfocused on schooling, Tara says, with
some days being harder than others. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
“Trying to keep them occupied the rest of the time is the
difficult park,” she says. “Parks are closed here so we have a trampoline and
ride bikes and go for walks for recess time and just to get moving.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Canada recommended that one person oer family shop and only once a week, and wearing cloth masks when out was also recommended.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Internet became the family’s social channel during
isolation, as the boys used Kids Messenger to catch up with their friends, and
the parents held Zoom visits with their friends in the evenings. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Like many other countries, Canada instigated social
distancing, with essential businesses such as grocery stores, pharmacies and
hardware stores remaining open. This week, on May 4, restrictions started to be
relaxed in Manitoba, with more businesses allowed to open for at least limited
services.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
These include retail businesses; restaurants for patio service
and pickup; therapeutic and medical services, including non-urgent surgery and
diagnostic procedures; museums, galleries and libraries; seasonal day camps,
outdoor recreation and campgrounds; and hair salons.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Tara says some businesses don’t have protocols in place or
appropriate protective equipment so are choosing to remain closed or to open
later. In those that do open, 2-metre physical distancing is still required, as
are frequent cleaning and sanitizing and time limits on customer interactions.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been very calm, open and
positive about what is going on and makes a statement every morning, she says,
including a recent one in which he answered letters and questions from the
nations’ children. Trudeau’s wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, tested positive for
coronavirus early on, sending the first family into isolation, so the disease
is particularly close to home for him. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Tara says her boys are doing well in their new normal but are
missing their friends and their sports of baseball and figure skating. They are
following the new rules without many questions, she says, and she feels they are
handling it better than their parents. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“No person can be a teacher, a parent and full-time worker
and you need to give yourself a break,” she says. “It’s ok if the boys work
doesn’t get done, or the house is a mess or you need a mental health day to
binge watch Harry Potter with your kids.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“It’s ok not to be everything to everyone and to take a
break.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-80938218794445315102020-04-17T17:40:00.000-07:002020-04-17T17:40:35.321-07:00The Other Side - CovidSchooling in Beijing, China<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgASb6WQSYPZMk1KGoDUFOsoGvGe-4yfDfDXB70K1WtneVdKfSha8hyo1NQPciZ-WEcEIp06DU5iQrNC5NGrhLDyZWUFt_XBUuMwOo5UF3_PTwA8FpreJ6ej7b2hDmuMfhqI6F0nxFtPTM/s1600/beijing+flight+-+Matt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="877" data-original-width="1600" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgASb6WQSYPZMk1KGoDUFOsoGvGe-4yfDfDXB70K1WtneVdKfSha8hyo1NQPciZ-WEcEIp06DU5iQrNC5NGrhLDyZWUFt_XBUuMwOo5UF3_PTwA8FpreJ6ej7b2hDmuMfhqI6F0nxFtPTM/s320/beijing+flight+-+Matt.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">An almost empty flight bound for Beijing in late January. Photo: Matt Prichard</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">A look at how parents, teachers and students around the world are coping with schooling during a global pandemic.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">----------------------------------------------------------------------</span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">NOTE: One thing we see with the coronavirus crisis is that the rules and expectations change daily, if not hourly. As I was doing the final edit of this article on the morning of Saturday, April 4 (Australian time), theBeijing teacher I had interviewed was changing her plans for the weekend and following week. I have kept the interview as planned, and added an update at the end. </span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">For those wondering why a different name was used, some of the teachers I spoke with (both in Asia and in Western countries) have requested anonymity as they don't want to be seen as speaking for their schools. I'm fine with that as it allows them to speak more freely.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I first interviewed Anna (not her real name) at her
home in Beijing, China, her 6-year-old daughter had a Zoom call scheduled with
her class. <o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“But it’s not working very well,” Anna said. “I hate
e-learning.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Her family comprises of herself, a secondary school teacher
at an international school in the country’s capital; her husband who is
self-employed in the hospitality industry; and their daughter. They also have an
ayi – literally “aunt” in Chinese and the name given to domestic helpers – to assist.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Anna is on her second teaching stint in China, where she has
notched up more than a decade, and she was in the country during the 2003
outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She says she became aware of this new coronavirus sometime
in January when it was being reported in the news, and it became a topic of
conversation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We heard, ‘oh, there’s a new mystery flu in Wuhan,’ and we
started saying, ‘is this going to be another SARS?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Schools e-mailed parents, explaining they were monitoring
the situation and detailing the plans they had put in place, she says. A few
days later, as they learned a little more, restrictions began to be placed on
who could go on campus.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“There were some school events that got cancelled because
they didn’t want parents on the campus. The parents that came in to pick up
their kids were instructed to leave immediately and at morning drop of, they
couldn’t come in.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“At that point, they were checking the temperature of everyone
coming in, and asking people to put hand sanitiser on to come into the school.”
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Following the lessons Asia learned during the SARS outbreak,
“China got serious much faster this time,” Anna says. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“By January 24, they had shut down a city. Then a couple of
days later, they had shut down the entire province of that city and started
daily reporting how many cases there were. I think they learned from SARS, and
also from other epidemics that have happened.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Spring Festival, the Chinese New Year break during which millions
of Chinese travel, was very early this year, falling on January 25. Anna and family
were overseas, and extended their holiday for a few extra days, knowing that
the life they returned to in Beijing would be very different.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“But I just wanted to be home,” she says. “This is home for
us. I was finding it really hard teaching online from our holiday.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once home in Beijing, e-teaching didn’t become instantly
easier. For the first three weeks, Anna felt she was doing a lot more work than
in a normal school week, but it got easier as her school changed guidelines,
she says. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The lack of face-to-face contact with students makes
follow-up difficult and time-consuming, she says.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You message the students, and you don’t hear back so you
have to email, and copy the parents. A friend in Shanghai said the amount of
work they’re doing just chasing up kids constantly is insane. Every day,
they’re following up with kids and it’s so much work.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As for teaching her daughter, Anna says she has cried “so
much” while trying to teach her.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“It is incredibly hard. I hate it. Because it’s hard to give
all my attention to work [teaching], and it’s hard to give all my attention to
school. She always wants something. She always needs me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“She’s six, so she has a hard time focusing. At first, she
was really excited that mom was going to be her teacher. But the reality set in
and there were so many changes those first few weeks, of what e-learning was
going to look like for our school, that it got difficult to keep up. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“It’s hard for me to sit down with her because a lot of the
times, her Zoom calls are at the same times as I have classes. I can’t sit down
with her to do her work when I have to do my own. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She and her husband “gave up” on the assigned lessons but read
books with their daughter each day and use math resources they have. Anna hopes
to have more time later to catch her daughter up with her proscribed learning. The
6-year-old also gets Chinese practice with the ayi and her friends, and
sometimes watches Chinese TV.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
China did not put the capital, Beijing, into lockdown, but enforced
social distancing and people were asked to stay home.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Most people stayed home because they didn’t want to get the
virus” Anna says, and the compliance with the request was also partly cultural.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In China, “it’s more about the collective good than the
individual good. I think that’s why some of the Western countries have had a
harder time with it, because you take care of yourself first, before the
collective.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“But in a lot of Asian countries, like China and South
Korea, it’s more about the collective and the common good. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
People didn’t like staying in their apartments but did,
regardless, she says. Another factor was that when the situation became severe in
Wuhan, some residents were locked into their apartments, so there was a sense in
Beijing of staying in voluntarily rather than being forced to.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Beijingers now feel the worst is over and people can relax,
and are going out more, while all wearing masks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Since our first interview last week, Beijing has announced seniors
could return to school from April 27, with a full return taking place grade by
grade. There are many new rules and safeguards in place. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Hours are restricted to 9:30 to 3:30,” Anna says. “Students
have to stay one meter apart at all times. Everyone must wear masks at all
times. The windows have to stay open. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
“Right now I have to start reporting my temperature twice a day through a
survey on our school WeChat account. If I do not do 14 consecutive days I will
not be allowed to return yet. The school has to be inspected multiple times
before they officially allow us to have our students back on campus.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“So it looks like I will be working on campus to teach one
class in person, and teaching the rest of my classes from a classroom or office
but remotely. There are still a lot of kinks being worked out.”<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
UPDATE, 18/04/2020<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Anna was informed by her school on Friday night that she
would be expected on campus on Monday, to teach remotely from the school, and
sent training that needed to be completed first over the weekend.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She says she had “kinda been wanting for this anyway” as it had
been so hard to work at home with her daughter present and incredibly
uncomfortable chairs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I’m looking forward to getting back to my school and my
ergonomic desk chair, and just being in the environment that makes me want to
be a teacher, and not the environment that makes me want to relax and get out in
my yard, and start crocheting and knitting.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-92206587048642080542020-04-15T00:56:00.000-07:002020-04-15T00:56:18.090-07:00Designing a Solution – CovidSchooling in Far North New Zealand<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx6C4iVV5htJ5D46XuhzGzU_xzOHUU8XQsSgBdygqkgQ1DHQyJ4S_iIJIcip8e68C_YHeCPXDEdHbvaGvr2M325NQVTgBcncA9xnyosrQwwrdd-cstySFaS6ZSrBB6Xyhu1AzktiKLer0/s1600/Greg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx6C4iVV5htJ5D46XuhzGzU_xzOHUU8XQsSgBdygqkgQ1DHQyJ4S_iIJIcip8e68C_YHeCPXDEdHbvaGvr2M325NQVTgBcncA9xnyosrQwwrdd-cstySFaS6ZSrBB6Xyhu1AzktiKLer0/s320/Greg.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fish lures crafted by a student. Photo provided.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Remote teaching is difficult for all teachers but brings
some unique challenges for Greg, a veteran teacher working in New Zealand’s far
North. Greg teaches technology subjects, which in New Zealand encompasses metal
work, wood work, design and technical drawing. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His first stint as a teacher lasted 12 years, before he
worked as a designer for 10 years in the superyacht industry, then three years
as a mechanical engineer. He returned to teaching eight years ago.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“As an older man coming back to teaching, I have chosen to
teach in the poorer area, where there are more difficult students as they live
in poorer communities,” he says. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Younger teachers have difficulty staying in these positions.
Older teachers have more experience with tough kids to draw from.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The high school in which Greg teaches has an 85% Maori
population, New Zealand’s indigenous people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Relationships are paramount to these students,” he says, “if
they don’t know you and your tribe, they have less respect for you as a
teacher.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
New Zealand is in full lockdown, the country’s Level Four, with
the steps up from Level One through Four happening in just a few days, he says.
He lives with his wife, who works in the health field, and the couple’s adult
children live elsewhere, one in Melbourne, Australia, and the other in Wellington,
New Zealand.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The existence of Covid-19 was on the country's radar since the first outbreak in Wuhan, China,
and the government had been preparing its response, but the harsh reality
struck suddenly, he says. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“The government announced the lockdown including school
closures. They also bought the school holidays forward two weeks to align with
the start of the lockdown. This was to give the teachers a chance to figure out
how to teach their subjects from their homes.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s a tough task to figure out for a subject that is
mostly very hands on using many specialised tools and machines in the school’s
hard materials room. Greg says the students really enjoy working with the materials
and making things, and find satisfaction in the tactile experience. Practical
lessons don’t translate well to Google classroom or Zoom, and the ability to
make things differs from household to household.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He says no one was ready for the sudden move to full lockdown,
when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the country would, “Go early
and go hard”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“The nation has responded and followed the procedures,” he
says. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“This has meant no travel out of your home except to get supplies.
Supermarkets are open with a limited number of people allowed in at a time.
Suddenly all the roads and streets are quiet. There are daily announcements on
the public television channels. The director of health and the prime minister
speak daily and keep the nation up to date with pandemic.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many students in the area where Greg teaches, and elsewhere
in New Zealand, don’t have Internet access so the Ministry of Education is
trying to provide connectivity for all students. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“The government is mostly concerned with the wellbeing of
the population, so they are delivering food packages to those in need and later
they will deliver devices so that students can work from home. Fortunately,
couriers are still able to work.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He has been in contact online with most of his older students,
at least those who have Internet, and they have access to his online lessons. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“However, the need for personal contact is important to my
students and they rely on personal interactions to make them feel confident in their
work.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Greg says it is still early on in the fight against Covid-19
for those in NZ and there will be many things learned once things settle. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Teaching will never be the same,” he says.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I have no idea how to teach students to be builders and
engineers from my home. It is possible to teach programming and robotics,
however this doesn’t suit the situation here in NZ. We have plenty of creative
people who can do this and struggle to make a living due to the geographic
location of our beautiful country.<o:p></o:p>”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All he can do, he says, is to keep encouraging his students
to be creative so they have the desire to become builders and engineers. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“There is a real shortage of skilled workers in NZ and we
can’t let it get any worse, so the push is on to find ways of teaching the skills
that require feeling and practice.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-85490401599823461472020-04-12T16:36:00.000-07:002020-04-15T00:58:53.337-07:00Shelter in Place - CovidSchooling in California, USA<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilheiCDvj5cDKdA5AyA0DLkq6q8hTc7ePjFoegc-yxdD-8eY5Z0PUaJwk981QQ0QUHZn4mN1wpsm1u2WfuXm9k8LuV5m9vD1Dv_peTIt7CMa11RRJmWMQSZmqjbBrqe-WCDRbY0o_qmZs/s1600/Liz+Garozzo+-+CA+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilheiCDvj5cDKdA5AyA0DLkq6q8hTc7ePjFoegc-yxdD-8eY5Z0PUaJwk981QQ0QUHZn4mN1wpsm1u2WfuXm9k8LuV5m9vD1Dv_peTIt7CMa11RRJmWMQSZmqjbBrqe-WCDRbY0o_qmZs/s320/Liz+Garozzo+-+CA+.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sheltering in place. Photo provided.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>A look at how parents, teachers and students around the world are coping with schooling during a global pandemic.</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
----------------------------------------------------------------------</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Elizabeth is a professional singer, household manager and self-acknowledged domestic goddess whose family relocated to California in 2017, after three years in Hong Kong. Her family bubble, under the golden state’s Shelter in Place rules, comprises of her husband, 13-year-old son, and 12-year-old daughter.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Her family stays in close connection with many friends in Hong Kong so first noticed coronavirus via Asian media.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I still get SCMP [South China Morning Post] and belong to the [Discovery Bay, Hong Kong] forums so the runs on toilet paper were what we saw, and honestly laughed at, first,” she says.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She had a solo trip planned to visit friends in March but, “no sooner was my ticket issued, it was cancelled”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Schools in Hong Kong had closed by then and friends had left for “safer pastures” in South Africa and Australia, she says.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s surreal to think the disease in in the United States, she says, as no one she knows has tested positive or even been sick.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I suppose that’s great news, it just makes it more difficult to personally connect with the severity.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
School has been cancelled for the rest of the US academic year, which runs through mid-June, with online learning put in place. It’s working for the most part, she says, but keeping up with communications from each teacher – her son has seven – and keeping assignments straight is sometimes challenging.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Her daughter has one teacher and one online learning platform so managing that is “exponentially easier”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I haven’t needed to keep up with her at all.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Both children are “ok” with the situation but it is hard on them socially, especially for the daughter who is a social butterfly, their mom says.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Elizabeth is not doing anything differently per se, but laundry and dishwashing have doubled overnight.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Her husband is a busy executive with a global entertainment company. "My house has become his home office”, she says, although she now understands what he is paid for, and is grateful for the continued paycheck. His days are longer than they would be ordinarily but the house is large and each has their own space and room to breathe. They recently turned the spare room into his office space so he can work undisturbed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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While sheltering in place, Elizabeth took part in a collaboration of 50 studio singers from around the US in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baOdBy8dRkM&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1srwtW_7h-C-5yWmkCXDb49u73gdFKw-xuOZhYvJVlZcad55tVYi9QOSY" target="_blank">tribute </a>to the nation’s frontline healthcare workers. Each singer recorded their part from their homes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“The piece was arranged by a friend of mine in Chicago and among the singers were friends from my days in college and Disney,” she says, referring to her time as a performer for the company.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In the offline world, her kids are doing their own laundry and dishes, keeping their rooms tidy, walking the dogs, taking out the trash, and other chores, and there are not that many day-to-day changes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
“It’s not a lockdown, no curfews, etc. We are free to get outside, go to the market, walk the dog, go to the doctor. We live in a small neighborhood with larger homes, therefore fewer individuals. The weather is very dry and warm and sunny during the day, cool at night. This allows us to keep doors open all day and use the sun and fresh air to our advantage.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“So far, our kids haven’t asked many questions. They’re smart kids and understand what and why.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
There are disappointments, she says, such as her daughter foregoing the lead in her school play and a planned trip to NYC, and her 12th birthday party.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“She understands, though. They know it isn’t forever. I think the biggest thing ‘we’ have learned, and I’m not sure it’s a good thing, is that you CAN completely avoid personal contact but maintain relationships online.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m an introvert, to be certain, but personal contact is important. It’ll be nice to hug again.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div>
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Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-88952459868217090572020-04-10T14:55:00.000-07:002020-04-15T00:57:47.254-07:00Coping in Cambodia - CovidSchooling in Phnom Penh<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPSG-LDOJplGUWn3ht1SNwdVFpQOwMyg8DL7QaqkQytSYla_hK4MW5y2r7Y6Ljw4X2cjC7-fHjUEFiY9dSwE22JcVNXHzh1yU0w7nOxJ6yt2zGzrLvB0p7aO1aKh_37Jn0ygq7E9rpzN4/s1600/Cambodia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPSG-LDOJplGUWn3ht1SNwdVFpQOwMyg8DL7QaqkQytSYla_hK4MW5y2r7Y6Ljw4X2cjC7-fHjUEFiY9dSwE22JcVNXHzh1yU0w7nOxJ6yt2zGzrLvB0p7aO1aKh_37Jn0ygq7E9rpzN4/s320/Cambodia.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kaylene's view over Phnom Penh. Photo provided.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>A look at how parents, teachers and students around the world are coping with schooling during a global pandemic.</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
----------------------------------------------------------------------</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
When I started interviewing Kaylene for this series,
Cambodia was not in lockdown. A few days later, on Sunday, April 3, I woke
to the news that the country was considering instituting a state of emergency. Two
days later, Kaylene explained Prime Minister Hun Sen had not declared a state
of emergency but had prohibited large group events, including the Khmer New
Year celebrations. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Life for all of us right now is fluid, changing daily or
even hourly, it can only be more so for those who are far from home in a
foreign country. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kaylene’s family bubble in Phnom Penh, the capital of
Cambodia, comprises of herself, her husband, and three children – ages 13, 8
and 6. Dad hails from England and mum / mom from Canada. The couple met in
China, where both were teaching. Kaylene is now a Grade 3 teacher at the
Canadian International school, where her husband is a full-time substitute
teacher. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Having lived in China, Kaylene says they heard about the
coronavirus crisis when it first began to unfold publicly in January, and made
sure to “keep our ear to the ground as it might approach us quickly.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Expatriates in Cambodia with pre-existing conditions or
those whose age made them more vulnerable headed back to their home countries,
Kaylene says, but she and her husband decided to remain in Cambodia as their
parents are older, and they did not want to put them at further risk.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cambodia has a very large Chinese population, she says,
but until very recently, there was only one known case. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Then the director of our school got it!,” she says.
“Schools were immediately closed and online learning began. We knew it was
coming, and we were prepared. Our kids are fine, and they seem to trust our
judgement.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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All three children are being home schooled with the
curriculum provided by their teachers but Kaylene says they seem to be
receiving more work than when they were in school.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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“We told the school we would do a maximum five activities a
day, and we focus mainly on maintaining mental and physical health.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Teachers and families are now working together to find an
appropriate balance that allows time to complete activities while still achieving
curricular goals, she says.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For her own students, Kaylene is holding daily meetings with
mini lessons on remote conferencing service Zoom, and assigning activities on
remote learning app Seesaw. She is working on the curriculum for the remainder
of the year, and says everything has “intensified”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I believe the purpose is to create a sense of normality,”
she says. “I think there needs to be more support for families. Not every child
has a parent home all day.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In Cambodia, she says, many families rely on nannies who
don’t speak English.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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“It’s new territory. We are doing what we can.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kaylene says the family is wearing masks whenever they go
out, as do most people she sees, but she has not gone out socially in more than
a month.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We are remembering to take time for us, and also to help
our children focus on their health – mind and body.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br />Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-51353352715945061522020-04-07T18:41:00.001-07:002020-04-15T00:58:33.291-07:00Building Connections - CovidSchooling in Brisbane, Australia<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirux69rw7rnY2quxqKSa6DTbjDynWi5j8WLCpwzjD9lF5f5n1DlTboQkfj-ThZy-a0dXt0evJw_iJTrw7juwfrCaPsSqTtnrI8EtD_gCqYAAuyyyv0V2hxtTQXTrIiheouNFDrX9EXEH4/s1600/Carlie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="306" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirux69rw7rnY2quxqKSa6DTbjDynWi5j8WLCpwzjD9lF5f5n1DlTboQkfj-ThZy-a0dXt0evJw_iJTrw7juwfrCaPsSqTtnrI8EtD_gCqYAAuyyyv0V2hxtTQXTrIiheouNFDrX9EXEH4/s320/Carlie.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo provided</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>This is part of a series of articles on how people are coping with schooling and education in this global pandemic, and how it has affected students, parents and teachers around the world. </b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Hlk37159768"><br /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Carlie is a teacher aide at Brisbane
Independent School, in the state capital’s western suburbs, which was attended
by her children, now 19 and 15. She says it is an “integral school,” which
“focuses on supporting understanding and development of each learner –
students, parents and educators – in social, emotional, physical and academic
learning, using a developmental model.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Hlk37159768"><br /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;">She recalls news
about coronavirus popping up before January, when it really came to prominence
for her, but it was overshadowed by Australia’s bushfire crisis and its
fallout. (Author’s note: Many people in Australia were still struggling to
recover after the devastating bushfires in summer, and now have to deal with
this new crisis also.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;">Since mid-March,
Carlie has been working from home and her children studying remotely. She said
her school has been incredibly proactive with processes and procedures in
development, which have been implemented since the start of the year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;">She says there was a
mixed reaction to being locked down and staying at home in the general
community, but people seem to be taking the situation more seriously now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;">“As our processes
rolled out at school, we had many school-wide community conversations,” she
says. “Fortunately, we have several parents who are in the medical field, able
to add weight to the implementation of measures the school was taking. We
offered the option of voluntary learning from home from the middle of March,
with take home packs collected by parents and our learning at home up and
running, while maintaining on site classes for students who remained at school.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;">Her school is adding
to how its Emergency Home Learning will work, looking towards next term. It
plans to maintain academic learning, but not at the expense of social and
emotional learning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;">“Our focus as we
look towards term two is on supporting our children and their families in developing
skills and strategies for managing their emotional and physical selves during
the current health crisis. With our community, we are looking to understand how
our children's learning journeys will shift and what opportunities this
presents for them as learners and for us as educators.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;">She says it is
incredibly distressing to me to hear children, particularly in senior high school
so anxious about what this unprecedented situation will mean for their futures.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;">“My youngest, in
grade 10, is no exception. Learning is a lifelong process to engage in. I'm
hopeful this current crisis will provoke some much needed shift in state and national
education policies, with the focus of education being brought back to the needs
of the children as whole people, rather than the current mainstream system
which seems to be based on the belief that children are empty vessels for us to
pour facts into.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;">Carlie says for her
and her family, as well as her work, the important lesson from this crisis is
about community, connection and going slow. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;">“Being together.
Enjoying each other's company and making the most of what we have got. Watching
plants grow. Listening to the birds. Engaging in all of the half-finished
projects and hobbies we usually ‘don't have time for’,” she says. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;">“I have time now, so
I'm going to use it well.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk37159768;"></span>
<br />
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<br /></div>
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<br />Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-69938850966491962382020-04-05T14:52:00.000-07:002020-04-15T00:59:26.530-07:00Grounded - CovidSchooling in Connecticut, USA<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA3reK_MtsNjXtK2oODqEnTwkbgLrUnsnKevSAKSiufadvaAnSMKKAPh0KYQrlgJJQv8iUPu3IWGM35A5MNe6mKqGA3OwtqEJxiG38hPnZ2dMPaBu3z729yhdk4A3DsHdmJtHrhvFcM2E/s1600/Day+13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA3reK_MtsNjXtK2oODqEnTwkbgLrUnsnKevSAKSiufadvaAnSMKKAPh0KYQrlgJJQv8iUPu3IWGM35A5MNe6mKqGA3OwtqEJxiG38hPnZ2dMPaBu3z729yhdk4A3DsHdmJtHrhvFcM2E/s320/Day+13.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright: Elizabeth Prisco</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<b>A look at how people are coping with schooling and education in
this global pandemic, and how it has affected students, parents and teachers
around the world. </b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
-----------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Elizabeth is a stay-at-home
mom of two children (ages 4 and 6) in Connecticut, USA. She has previously
taught English as a second language in South Korea and is also a talented and
witty artist (check out her Quarantine cartoons on her <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lizzyinatizzy/?__tn__=kCH-R&eid=ARDVc4JyisnpRfxVqzQpG_8f7JhNvAvoQVfSCzDcqG5HZEGnOWUksIvzAEtHdzxCk5CIRlJ6nM1DKX6i&hc_ref=ARQjq6bsD9p9Ee_XR9UgIXVTe3boqRA26111YURm_r3uFveRTN7OpkZhPeMhcWZI6IQ&fref=nf&__xts__[0]=68.ARCc2HwPlrZUcLk3KQkDijXCUq5OAf8t8lnGWVorT-MhtcrFdaPky7M76Kd6L6z8L_SJrWAMdz1S0lkZBlMP7u1HA9zMTChubvNUcarhX3c49tZPT-ecqE0cUSB0waPfeP1BiZ_ZHBoTU1vz_2KG8IaJz6PEy9bKqGiqECzmxfiGkDoUOZ6n5EDjO4IcaSdbGuWSQuIjL1ujRXHKN-HEoDSnjdtDSNELyBiF0bFVHXyIVjzAMuAIuXf_DJ8kOc7_dZpdoM7KVr8q-gVYKqbZHLGQQIEklZD9jlcMlyLOg5wjz_uzo0iDw8T9r2GvweuAkbLUUCLdFzW6jeLL" target="_blank">Lizzy in a Tizzy</a> Facebook page). She has also discovered a newfound love of breadmaking.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Her husband is a
commercial pilot and the family includes a grumpy dog and 13 chickens. In the past few days,
while interviewing Elizabeth for this piece, her husband has taken a three
month paid leave of absence from his job, so will be joining the home bubble full-time.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Elizabeth first
became aware of Covid-19 and its effects on health and daily life around
mid-February, from friends who teach at schools in China. She immediately
purchased supplies and extra groceries in preparation for staying at home for
an extended time, and asked her husband to buy her a 3M respirator. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It looks
intimidating, she says, like something you would wear while cooking meth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“My husband uses
one to clean our fireplace and do woodwork and I wanted something more
effective than the ones folks used all too frequently in Asia. That night, the president made an announcement about masks and they were stripped clean from all the shelves. He bought the last one."</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Her children are no
longer in school and the family is getting acclimatised to a distant learning
platform. Her daughter was in pre-kindergarten so the big change for her is no
longer having twice-weekly opportunities to be independent and socialise. Her
son was in kindergarten and receives a daily schedule and video from his
teacher. Elizabeth says they balance her son’s schoolwork with a lot of free
time and outside time, and that both children are NOTICEABLY (her stress, not
the author’s) less moody and overall very happy to be home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Mom has had to go
cold turkey on daily yoga studio visits, which she previously viewed as her
sanity saver. Although she says she is perfectly capable of doing a self-guided,
online or video class, she hasn’t yet been in the mood to do so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“That’s on my to-do
list for this week as my patience is very thin if I don’t exercise. I have
found that trying to sort all this out at once is just not realistic, so slowly
establishing a schedule and boundaries will be best. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Elizabeth says most
of her friends are also stay-at-home mothers of young children who seem
stressed by the unknown longevity of the Covid crisis, the lack of breaks and
now having to be mom, teacher and spouse 24/7.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Living in a small
rural town, people are able to exercise outside while adhering to safe
distancing and trips to the grocery store are the only forays allowed. While
her husband was still flying, he had to show his ID to cross state lines to
commute to New York for his work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“Being so close to
New York City is very scary,” she says. “We have people from NYC coming to our
hospitals now and lots of them are also flocking to their vacation homes here –
which is spreading the virus.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">As her sanity saver
in this new normal, Elizabeth gives herself and her children mandatory quiet
time, and finds caring for her chickens and gardening without anybody speaking
to her is “very, very refreshing”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“I listen to
podcasts. Draw. Sit in silence and look out into the woods of my property. Any
activity where nothing is expected from me at that moment.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaeiKe3fRPg6-wv7vxkSyxdUSmoFvwSPE61zEu7wxCeG4yv4rqXO-v6fvmh9hNwFsDGlGjDVAJREmAVxlYPVMx_n317T7uHP_JkyrgJbgMk9mcplzcvn9HVR5WT26N9ldGUbCW_xxaLto/s1600/Day+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="713" data-original-width="924" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaeiKe3fRPg6-wv7vxkSyxdUSmoFvwSPE61zEu7wxCeG4yv4rqXO-v6fvmh9hNwFsDGlGjDVAJREmAVxlYPVMx_n317T7uHP_JkyrgJbgMk9mcplzcvn9HVR5WT26N9ldGUbCW_xxaLto/s320/Day+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright: Elizabeth Prisco</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">She sees a hidden
blessing amidst the panic and fear being felt across the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“I have been
reminded of what is really important,” she says. “What is a need versus a want.
Getting back to the basics of how important time is, being with those you love
and the simple things in life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Don’t spend your life worrying in a crisis –
spend it believing everything will be okay.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-36918854647359705642020-04-02T02:48:00.000-07:002020-04-15T00:59:49.294-07:00Daegu Lessons - CovidSchooling in Daegu, South Korea<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3y8DrR91BtLByqbxSYtLPgFW_AZexN6PRaIgCdj0c48WmkGDtEQBSUI9O_ikDgkiEaluGUXTYq38FvdAGVsZhHW1dusQH3yu96OrQYq1sW89rSZZZxQQfuolJ2OFUXPCOpn6Wjh7YlfU/s1600/Daegu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3y8DrR91BtLByqbxSYtLPgFW_AZexN6PRaIgCdj0c48WmkGDtEQBSUI9O_ikDgkiEaluGUXTYq38FvdAGVsZhHW1dusQH3yu96OrQYq1sW89rSZZZxQQfuolJ2OFUXPCOpn6Wjh7YlfU/s320/Daegu.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Credit: Andrew Salmon</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Note: This is the first
in a series of articles on how people are coping with schooling and education
in this global pandemic, and how it has affected students, parents and teachers
around the world. </b><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Between January 19,
when South Korea’s first coronavirus case was confirmed and February 18, 30
cases had been identified and no deaths attributed to the disease. That changed
quickly once the country’s Patient 31 tested positive for Corona virus on Feb
18, having twice previously refused to be tested. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">A member of the
Shincheonji faith, a local flavour of Christianity viewed by many as a cult,
Patient 31 had, before testing positive, twice left a hospital in the city of
Daegu to attend church services. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Each service consisted of about 1000 of the
faithful, worshipping in close proximity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Within 10 days,
more than 2000 cases had been confirmed in South Korea, a large number of which
were linked to the church and to Patient 31, now dubbed a “Super Spreader”.
Health authorities at one stage believed one in five of all those infected in
the country could be linked to Patient 31 through other contacts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Just a few blocks
from the Shincheonji church is United States Army Garrison Daegu, where
Michelle teaches English and Literature to approximately 90 students at a US<span style="color: red;"> </span>Department of Defense middle-high school. She has
been teaching for 33 years, the last 28 of those spent overseas, and has been
based in South Korea since 1993. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Michelle has two
grown daughters, a son-in-law and and five grandchildren. One daughter has left
California to reside in Singapore, probably for the next year, while the other
is “hunkered down working from home in Kansas.<o:p></o:p></span>”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“If I could,” she
says, “I would bring all of them here, with me, to Korea, because it is
certainly safer than the US.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">South Korea is seen
as one of the countries that appeared to contain the spread of the virus
quickly, without the need for a lockdown. The country credits its approach of
testing, tracking, tracing, and treating for its success, with tests readily
available and either free or at low cost. Tracking those who tested positive
and tracing and testing all they may have come in contact with was also a major
factor, but relied on a degree of surveillance that would be unwelcome in many
Western countries, along with a relatively compliant society where science is
respected.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">By the last week of
February, Michelle says, her school had been shut down. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“There was no time
for training or planning,” she says. “Basically, we took our computers, went
home, and figured out how to teach online.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The first week was
“holy hell”, she says. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“Twelve to 16 hours
a day, seven days a week reorganizing assignments, planning, fielding tons of
e-mails from students and parents, online school meetings, trying to get the
internet to work properly with our school computers at home, more e-mails, more
explanations of directions, grading, printing – which takes me 4-5 hours every
time.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“By the end of the
week, teachers and students fell into the new rhythm and not so many panicked
e-mails were coming in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Michelle said while
in school, she would meet with students from 160 to 240 minutes per week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“We could cover a
lot of material and discussion in that time and I could make sure they knew
exactly what was going on and what the expectations are. That is valuable time
that we no longer have.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“A teacher cannot
expect students to spend that much time at home on just one class.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">She is very
flexible on deadlines and content but says her students respond similarly to
how they did in person. Those who did nothing in class do little online also,
she says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“The rest are rock
stars. Our students are very adaptable anyway, but in this situation, they are
outstanding.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">When not teaching, Michelle
now only leaves her apartment to go on base for groceries or to her school to
print out papers to grade. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“Online grading is
not practical for me because I seriously mark my kids’ assignments for content,
grammar, spelling, and punctuation, and it would take me three times as long to
do that online,” she says. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“I currently have
about 300 assignments to grade sitting in my living room, which is only a bit
above normal for a couple of weeks of marking with that number of kids. Almost
all of my contact with other people is online or by phone. Most of my classes
when we were in school consisted of us reading and discussing literature,
together, so that I know the kids understand what they are reading and so that
we can discuss a writing in depth. It is very different from math or science where
a teacher can make a video to explain something. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“Since our closure
time has been extended, now, I am considering other options going into the last
quarter of the school year. One event I am going to work on over spring
nonbreak (travel was prohibited during Spring Break, meaning a cancelled trip
to see family for Michelle) is working with one of my friends in Germany and
our AP Lit kids on discussion of a short story in a Google meet. If it happens,
it will be the first time in two months where I have met with an entire class
and seen my kids.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Although Michelle
lives off base, or “on the economy” in military parlance, she is very much a
part of the little bubble that is a United States Forces Korea installation,
where those in charge reacted quickly and decisively.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“We have been
pretty locked down, so there have only been three cases on our base in two
months; those were caught very, very quickly because of immediate protocols the
military established when this broke in our community.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">She says that
bubble makes her feel much safer, but she is highly anxious about what is going
on at home in the US. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“They had months of
warning and treated Covid-19 as a joke, until it was too late. That has
endangered my family and friends and it makes me very angry and scared for
them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“Within the last
two days, I have begun to see reports by friends on Facebook that relatives are
seriously ill and the numbers have gone up exponentially there. That did not
need to happen.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">She misses her
students and tries to make this new way of learning as pain-free for them as
possible. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“As a teacher, I
have to be flexible and I have to maintain a sense of humor,” Michelle says.
“That second one is really, really important. And, on some days, it is the most
difficult thing I have to do.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-49805451823252644512020-04-01T16:45:00.000-07:002020-04-02T16:47:02.318-07:00Schooling in the Time of Covid - Intro<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Dn8sR3eqyp1DrKpOASGJCk-9SgCS9nn4Kd9NYsHHctwXEwUhTNDNU0WR6AC7hUP3cKdG5bWg5CTgARMn9CRTNlkknulCT8RLa4YifkCSx-e4Q31YMIonL9BDipQQMOHvrY2elq5UHKI/s1600/Day+13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Dn8sR3eqyp1DrKpOASGJCk-9SgCS9nn4Kd9NYsHHctwXEwUhTNDNU0WR6AC7hUP3cKdG5bWg5CTgARMn9CRTNlkknulCT8RLa4YifkCSx-e4Q31YMIonL9BDipQQMOHvrY2elq5UHKI/s320/Day+13.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright: Elizabeth Prisco</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
I spend time with two young boys in Melbourne, Australia, and both had their schooling curtailed unexpectedly two weeks ago. The younger attends a school where an administrator tested positive for Coronavirus so all students were sent home on a Friday. The school told parents it planned to reopen for students the following Wednesday but, as it would be the last day of term two days later, I was skeptical of that promise.<br />
<br />
Despite the Australian government's determination to keep schools open, Victoria's premier decided to close early for the holidays and students stayed home from the Tuesday before the scheduled closure. We are now in the first week of the official school holidays but self isolation and social distancing is in effect, with people only supposed to leave their homes for four reasons - shopping for essential supplies, travelling to work or study if it can't be done at home (these are Australia-wide restrictions, not only applicable to Victoria), exercise, and medical or caring reasons. Gatherings of more than two people are also verboten, but with exceptions for members of the same household (obvious) or gatherings essential for work or education.<br />
<br />
So no, Australia is not yet in lockdown, nor is Victoria, but I doubt very much that schools will reopen here when the holidays officially end. Despite the lessons that could have been learned from countries that went through this earlier, most schools and teachers were unprepared and I'm sure many educators are currently spending a lot of time planning how best to teach online. The boys I care for are missing their schools, not only because they miss their friends and social life, but because they miss their teachers and lessons. Their teachers have sent messages and some assignments online, and I've been very impressed by the emphasis placed on calmness and caring.<br />
<br />
I initially intended to write an article on how teachers and parents have coped / are coping across the world as each country faces the same issues, merging responses from multiple experiences. However, the answers I've had thus far as fascinating enough that I feel each is worthy of its own post.<br />
<br />
And hey, what else have you got to do right now but read and eat?<br />
<br />
First up (coming soon): Teaching in Daegu - the epicentre of the Covid outbreak in South Korea. <br />
<br />
<br />Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-44573769012584398032020-03-31T23:44:00.001-07:002020-03-31T23:45:27.885-07:00Lizzy in a Tizzy Facebook page<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSPROFoTU6bTzOHZHABFTwlnlT3i82mVT4b6VlZHvuBDTwOiOmF5Nv1gC2d4KZQyPzdvvvtu3iN1UOg8ct5CEs_qiU-2rfYPnVQk4hX5MY5-tlXGtgVa3SIrDMw-UWhNXh0nGu-Wi2k4Y/s1600/Day+10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="736" data-original-width="960" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSPROFoTU6bTzOHZHABFTwlnlT3i82mVT4b6VlZHvuBDTwOiOmF5Nv1gC2d4KZQyPzdvvvtu3iN1UOg8ct5CEs_qiU-2rfYPnVQk4hX5MY5-tlXGtgVa3SIrDMw-UWhNXh0nGu-Wi2k4Y/s320/Day+10.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
For those who wish to continue following Quarantizzylizzy, aka Lizzy in a Tizzy, you can find her page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lizzyinatizzy/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Follow her for some much needed laughter ...Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-88863095226470056372020-03-30T23:33:00.001-07:002020-03-30T23:33:08.004-07:00Quarantizzylizzy, Day 17<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ifMx2IsT0Na3bi-k3Noeqk9sbguYgvNRCtIR0VKASI4XPRSyHmjiKsre6XbAKf-5OKBhvUcynoBCnIVT6-moR-Xt0vZj_6BpY8Xi1VY7FEvpWRUgdfxTProjp3wSrOqq_p0c0I1J1Gs/s1600/Day+17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ifMx2IsT0Na3bi-k3Noeqk9sbguYgvNRCtIR0VKASI4XPRSyHmjiKsre6XbAKf-5OKBhvUcynoBCnIVT6-moR-Xt0vZj_6BpY8Xi1VY7FEvpWRUgdfxTProjp3wSrOqq_p0c0I1J1Gs/s320/Day+17.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">The coronavirus </span><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"type":104,"tn":"*N"}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/konmari?epa=HASHTAG" style="background-color: white; color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none;">#konmari</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"> method</span></td></tr>
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<br />Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-67162483794525469782020-03-29T15:48:00.000-07:002020-03-29T15:48:40.752-07:00metamorphosis and the newest normal ...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As a journalist who has spent much of my career in Asia, especially China and South Korea, "the new normal" is a trope that gets tossed around with abandon, particularly in reference to political decisions and their effects on the general population.<br />
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The world is entering a new normal currently and while there is much to loathe about the reasons and the responses of some, I also find parts of this new normal that warm my heart and restore my faith in humankind.<br />
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Enforced isolation and a reliance on technology to work, play, study and socialise has made many of us crave human interaction and, from my balcony perch two floors up and my daily walk at appropriate social distances, I've been observing this play out in my neighbourhood. Strangers are greeting each other (from a distance) and sharing a joke and a laugh, neighbours are chatting across fences and inquiring after each other's health, neighbours are dropping off supplies and food to the more vulnerable in their communities.<br />
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My evening walk takes me through a dog park and down to the beach, and I no longer see smartphone junkies focused totally on their devices. Instead, families are enjoying quality time together,dogs are getting more walks and ball throwing than they've ever had (there are going to be some very confused doggoes on the other side of this when their people go back to work) and people are enjoying conversations with each other. Nature is being appreciated, whether rain or shine, and people are living in the present in a way many had forgotten. <br />
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In the lucky homes, board games are being played, jigsaws and puzzles solved, lego masterpieces constructed, and cooking and eating together has become something to look forward to. <b>NB: </b>Not all homes are lucky and being forcibly confined with significant others entails danger for some - try to check on those vulnerable members of your community also.<br />
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Here in Australia, the prime minister keeps speaking of hibernation - of the economy taking time out to slumber before, one assumes, rousing itself without any major alterations.<br />
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My hope is that we will not experience a mere waking from hibernation but instead, a metamorphosis. That this tragic and painful process the world is experiencing will be a chrysalis phase for many of us from which we can emerge kinder, more compassionate, more empathetic and less selfish. That we will continue to live in the moment, to care for others, to embrace our communities, in a local and global sense.<br />
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Because I, for one, found the normal we lived in prior to this to be awfully abnormal in its obsession with profits over people, commodities over connection. I wish you a happy and safe metamorphosis.Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-34551512557997409062020-03-26T18:25:00.002-07:002020-03-26T18:25:26.980-07:00Quarantizzylizzy, Day 13<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Break Time</b></span></div>
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An excellent reminder to us all ...</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Schedule some 'you' time</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Ps. You, yes, you. You got this.</span></td></tr>
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Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-8921192623956912162020-03-25T21:32:00.000-07:002020-03-26T02:01:20.690-07:00quarantizzylizzy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Elizabeth Prisco, Dexter the Dawg, and the Kiwi shared an apartment, long walks and plentiful laughs in Seoul, South Korea, sometime last decade. Elizabeth is currently strictly enforcing social distancing in Connecticut while balancing distance learning with two kids, a grumpy dog, and a pilot husband who continues to fly.<br />
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On March 14, Elizabeth decided to record her quarantine experience in what she calls doodles, and the Kiwi calls art. She was kind enough to allow her works to be featured here in the hope of bringing a smile to more people during these trying times. This post features Days One through 12 and they will then feature every time she creates a new work.<br />
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All works remain the property of Elizabeth Prisco, who also supplied the captions.<br />
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Enjoy!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cue Frozen 2</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Feeling cooped up?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEism6_rdMCna1O7or21nyaQpPTRvvZstydV553LK1yxHMhVdUZJ489HZeW0I39MBrWJYb2UpQcTek4NJDT0v5xRo9YykzdPMYIsrHbQDBp4jS5esgo0h4hu1b87IT15w6uFS3MobUCSkAY/s1600/Day+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="960" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEism6_rdMCna1O7or21nyaQpPTRvvZstydV553LK1yxHMhVdUZJ489HZeW0I39MBrWJYb2UpQcTek4NJDT0v5xRo9YykzdPMYIsrHbQDBp4jS5esgo0h4hu1b87IT15w6uFS3MobUCSkAY/s320/Day+5.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Socially distant friendships</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxEvouEEsOJ-6iFIsjNslckt16FvaJKmRQeo2F3oFlBVhzq4mr_Y01FNV5CkB0ZEKZTIInyfLLABaxCtGoQp3eN3fH57cbI-SWXG2Y0vzxnQAv7MgPaB5ghno40mpROjqZa7_ZNVX8pWI/s1600/Day+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="960" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxEvouEEsOJ-6iFIsjNslckt16FvaJKmRQeo2F3oFlBVhzq4mr_Y01FNV5CkB0ZEKZTIInyfLLABaxCtGoQp3eN3fH57cbI-SWXG2Y0vzxnQAv7MgPaB5ghno40mpROjqZa7_ZNVX8pWI/s320/Day+6.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uninvited guest</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not real life</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOVNen_y19L-sRPwqRiGs6v8_xrZ2XL3MAtQEGnCd7PW206QPNUII4GbyHOxyTibhe599DvMbNc7JWBruWuXPM2kveFKGTyOYMORdONRfxMwm8Z7JhDbLA8ogP80P9RJXNxGRe2Xzblb8/s1600/Friday+night.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="584" data-original-width="960" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOVNen_y19L-sRPwqRiGs6v8_xrZ2XL3MAtQEGnCd7PW206QPNUII4GbyHOxyTibhe599DvMbNc7JWBruWuXPM2kveFKGTyOYMORdONRfxMwm8Z7JhDbLA8ogP80P9RJXNxGRe2Xzblb8/s320/Friday+night.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fri - yay!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dogs and their owners</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjypzTn9yLQJyisdhq4d0NotgZ7xGFb-PAMP1ZBjFiSPNMSaF6o3pBnJDs1GRfgp_pLp6l986OiTaYztIFROmw3pNWD24np9IY2RLGragVuG9V3hhPuMkne8geQ2c2BK49uWdBQa9dCGa0/s1600/Day+Not+Too+Sure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjypzTn9yLQJyisdhq4d0NotgZ7xGFb-PAMP1ZBjFiSPNMSaF6o3pBnJDs1GRfgp_pLp6l986OiTaYztIFROmw3pNWD24np9IY2RLGragVuG9V3hhPuMkne8geQ2c2BK49uWdBQa9dCGa0/s320/Day+Not+Too+Sure.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Life on the fly (feat Ms A Pisco)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmd4hLINFxRsgLsv47Ti-hPLrNUrsxGt6M5x2zREDQqWrQGaPJY3RcfeI0xhxvhKYGRr2rWiCEiKjTuKovgkF1SovOCsi-PBBhdTBqPMuZM9AO9WnHEL4r91yIx_L48jRSDXk2h8j1I1Q/s1600/Day+10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="736" data-original-width="960" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmd4hLINFxRsgLsv47Ti-hPLrNUrsxGt6M5x2zREDQqWrQGaPJY3RcfeI0xhxvhKYGRr2rWiCEiKjTuKovgkF1SovOCsi-PBBhdTBqPMuZM9AO9WnHEL4r91yIx_L48jRSDXk2h8j1I1Q/s320/Day+10.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They. Will. Find. You.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLxBj97CV1-YCBqdoBQDBeKI26P5HuzYo5T-4Bi-JYHG6rct5aWQpY-XCLyKsXo8eeH6SfuxwTcgrJm9sK92NwdRVdbmPToozbmGTmYFeYINePKbkf-tcb424YHN6FkZly6HDYPRiSJIk/s1600/Day+12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLxBj97CV1-YCBqdoBQDBeKI26P5HuzYo5T-4Bi-JYHG6rct5aWQpY-XCLyKsXo8eeH6SfuxwTcgrJm9sK92NwdRVdbmPToozbmGTmYFeYINePKbkf-tcb424YHN6FkZly6HDYPRiSJIk/s320/Day+12.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natural Beauty</td></tr>
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Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-59256409386866776682019-10-27T16:08:00.000-07:002019-10-27T16:08:12.129-07:00precious scars ...the Japanese have an artistic technique called kintsugi, in which broken ceramics are pieced back together with seams that include precious metals, mostly gold<br />
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the result is a work of art that draws from the original but transforms to a new and unique piece<br />
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I have realised recently that the technique applies equally to people, ourselves uniquely flawed works of art, and that the precious metal that creates our golden seams is sprinkled by our friends<br />
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I am privileged to have truly special friends in my life who have been the gold that helps heal my breaks and embrace the damage life bestows<br />
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as the moon reflects the sun's radiance, my golden seams are a reflection of the luminescent love those friends provide me<br />
<br />
I thank you allTraciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-8749951843330503312019-10-24T16:00:00.001-07:002019-10-24T21:01:53.784-07:00musing on bubs ...<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY67DnvJGaj5b9DclJHE7WE7NSGMfW2AXmpGav_2IZz9Eiu8UnBtbLWyTtsx4wNz09If42-KTlL3j2A_oYTKYZWIR2vuDH4K0w8h8gDhuY4nDYIsyvGITApsI9OSr_EQzXKuyCVpy_Lg4/s1600/Leunig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="700" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY67DnvJGaj5b9DclJHE7WE7NSGMfW2AXmpGav_2IZz9Eiu8UnBtbLWyTtsx4wNz09If42-KTlL3j2A_oYTKYZWIR2vuDH4K0w8h8gDhuY4nDYIsyvGITApsI9OSr_EQzXKuyCVpy_Lg4/s320/Leunig.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ROFLMAOWDB *with discarded baby*</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Leunig, you're an old, entitled, outdated, archaic dinosaur - but a useful one for starting this <a href="https://thespinoff.co.nz/parenting/24-10-2019/emily-writes-enough-with-treating-mothers-as-punchlines-and-punching-bags/" target="_blank">conversation</a> so I toss an irreverent salute your way <a href="https://www.leunig.com.au/" target="_blank">Gramps</a><br />
<br />
you have often made me laugh - you did so again with this 'misdrawing', but for all the wrong reasons<br />
<br />
but on to bubs that are much nearer to me, both in location and in my heart<br />
<br />
the odd part of living life near the fringes and between or outside the lines, and of being a writer so therefore an observer, is the unexpected joy of translating between members of diverse communities<br />
<br />
I kid thee not, while living in Seoul, I often had to translate the English-ish spoken by Irish friends to that spoken by US buddies. The best language job I ever had was accompanying an official group to a multi-Asia summit, to repeat what was said in English heavily accented in one accent in an accent neutral enough for all to understand. I also earned major KRW for a morning facilitating a workshop at a Town Hall Meeting - basically inviting people to speak, closing them down when they needed to share the mic and reporting back to the main meeting over a gourmet lunch at the luxury hotel this took place in (breakfast and coffee and morning tea were also included - I would have gone as a guest for that alone!)<br />
<br />
that facilitator role has not lessened here in Melbourne, but the communities I span and the intersections between them are equally diverse<br />
<br />
one such intersection is between a group of new-ish parents, grandparents and carers and their children, and the mostly lovable dinosaurs at my bowling club, where I volunteer at Bubs and Bowls when available. I check off names, offer tea, coffee and iced water and usually bake something (a couple of children came straight to me this week asking for cupcakes and I couldn't deliver - I also give lessons in disappointment - but they settled for shop-bought biscuits)<br />
<br />
the bowlers and managers set up a bouncy castle and get out blankets and balls and set up the urn for coffee and tea (and race to the shop when the milk has turned or we're out of tea bags)<br />
<br />
but those who are there at that time are usually either of a generation who weren't involved in child raising or who don't have children<br />
<br />
working at a different club, which has an abundance of child visitors, I look around a green and identify dangers, and try to mitigate them or warn carers of their potential<br />
<br />
cue Wednesday's conversation:<br />
<br />
Bowler: There's no wind. We won't anchor the castle.<br />
<br />
Kiwi: Anchor the castle - the big kids can push it over.<br />
<br />
B: Keep them out of it.<br />
<br />
K: *looks at B, shakes head internally, thinking 'ermmm, it's Bubs and Bowls'*<br />
Anchor the castle, it's a safety issue.<br />
<br />
*castle anchored*<br />
<br />
(To his credit, a pair of bowls was passed to the Kiwi mid-Bubs morn and she left them on a table in the bar. When she went to find them later, they had been moved by the Bowler, as they were a safety issue. Well played!)<br />
<br />
having worked as a nanny in the past (yes, yet another role in an eclectic non-career path), I slot in with the carers and children well, and wrangling children is often easier than wrangling drinkers<br />
<br />
I also have good friends with multiples, including an unexpected friend who is extremely special and who shares her wonderful twins and their older brother with me<br />
<br />
one mum told me of one male family member who, when she referred to motherhood as her second (and busier) job, replied that it wasn't 'real' work though, was it?<br />
<br />
I relish the chance to help these new parents, whom mostly only get to look at their phones while in the bathroom, and that will only last until the precious little angels / utter hellions start crawling and then even bathroom time becomes shared<br />
<br />
if I can hold a babe while a mum plays with her older brother, or enlist the help of a young dad to guard the cookie jar while I'm away picking someone or something up (we have our own cookie monster who climbs well and can smell sugar through an airtight canister - he's also a fabulous problem solver so no cookie is safe)<br />
<br />
so I offer a response to Leunig, also in verse:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Leunig was chasing relevance</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Attainment of which had a helluva chance</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>While mummy womaned on</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Disregarding his scorn</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>As less import than what filled her bubby's pants</i></div>
Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-86385467066849273192019-10-22T03:44:00.003-07:002019-10-27T15:38:24.228-07:00going oddly bowlo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipDd8EDABsDmQWwL0CWncr4mRcH3TdppRCF7dD9jZE3SSy_N1zFUkipwhtZ-ZX37g2_m9IzIp2j6YLuVh2ianThTUurERlnvapWkM8SHesg8RnxgC6GC9VhLPGhIPd0oThS26n5Cw4RXg/s1600/MCC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipDd8EDABsDmQWwL0CWncr4mRcH3TdppRCF7dD9jZE3SSy_N1zFUkipwhtZ-ZX37g2_m9IzIp2j6YLuVh2ianThTUurERlnvapWkM8SHesg8RnxgC6GC9VhLPGhIPd0oThS26n5Cw4RXg/s320/MCC.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
growing up, the Kiwi knew what lawn bowls was, of course, other people's grandparents played it<br />
<br />
she could even recognise a bowling green, from spotting them intermittently while on family drives or, as she grew older, while cycling somewhere new on a mission<br />
<br />
the Kiwi's mind equates bowling green with rural settings, nestled beside orchards and market gardens, as that was the environment she grew up in, picking fruit and vegetables alongside cuzzies and extended family<br />
<br />
much later, the wonderful mother of a very dear friend bowled, on a lovely green directly across from her home on a picturesque spit of the Akaroa Peninsula. There's a memorial seat for her now in this beautiful tranquil setting. The family were British and bowling seemed a quaint, elderly, white, well-off, still thoroughly Brit thing to do.<br />
<br />
on arrival in Melbourne, the Kiwi's eldest sister made her aware that bowling clubs were the place for barefoot bowls, weddings, parties, and anything<br />
<br />
then the Kiwi met a guy. A lovely, brilliant, loving and lovable man, whose face lit up when he saw her and who quickly became her sun<br />
<br />
he was an active member of a bowling club, and a Brit, but his membership was more the Australian version<br />
<br />
they visited often and she quickly came to recognise the players and politics, dramas, scandals and sorrows inherent in any such community - who was in, who was out, who'd been caught red-'handed' out back of the club (picture your school bike sheds but populated with geriatrics who should really keep their privates strictly private)<br />
<br />
they even bowled occasionally, the Kiwi more than the Brit-Boy, although he first showed her how to roll<br />
<br />
the Kiwi joined the club and subbed in a few games - the two would regroup after and regale each other with new tales to laugh at<br />
<br />
the Kiwi wanted to spend the rest of her life gathering stories to make him laugh, and watching his smile migrate across his face<br />
<br />
she got to spend the rest of his life instead<br />
<br />
in the aftermath, the Kiwi returned to his club a few times but it lacked his heart and presence, and she had been seen there as part of him, not as herself<br />
<br />
she returned to the flat she had been in the process of leaving and, in turn, to a bowling club one block away, where they spent their first date sharing stories and laughter<br />
<br />
the local bowls community was kind, and brusque, and accepting and she worked for the club during the summer party mayhem<br />
<br />
and played a few games for them also over the season<br />
<br />
then got a job at a different bowling club, which hosts every event imaginable, and became an ancillary part of that community also<br />
<br />
as is known with the Kiwi, it all may have gone too far<br />
<br />
last week was a busy one at work, where she wrangled small children and obstreporous adults, served sausages and sympathy and schlepped tables, kegs, supplies and bowls<br />
<br />
the Kiwi has decided to play a team sport for the first time since school for one season only this year, so has put Tuesday aside to bowl in the pennant comp, where her baking abilities outclass her bowling. (Tuesday is Pennant lite - more social and fun and less of the sports side of the politics, and if it stops being fun, she'll stop taking part)<br />
<br />
she also fell into volunteering on Wednesday mornings when free for Bubs and Bowls at her local club, when mums, dads, grands and other carers bring their little ones to socialise while throwing balls, playing in the bouncy castle and trying to maim themselves on anything handy, while the carers get some non-child conversation<br />
<br />
it's fun, especially learning the personalities of both carers and children, and how different siblings can be from each other<br />
<br />
the past Wednesday was dismal, so only two groups turned up and both left early for story time at the library. A friend of the Brit-boy happened to pass through on the way to their old club for a social game, so the Kiwi joined for an afternoon on the green<br />
<br />
'his' bowlo again, but there now on her terms<br />
<br />
the season should make for some interesting stories, as the community is filled with characters, and her work place is set in a St Kilda filled with its own stories<br />
<br />
watch this space ...<br />
<br />
<br />Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-23645059397576591772019-09-15T23:11:00.000-07:002019-09-15T23:37:41.310-07:00Permission granted ...<div class="pos-header dpos-h" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1d2a57; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px 0px 12px 10px;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhadyZZbKkiS5w0uR6KyYWjnueP8Hqn1XYrrR4JUjJxEAleweCXnLwVF7ELQLFQNItC1wKyUL0csiJsG9pc7Vdcf25gcWDRPbt8Hw69pifbs9F6yDtkuDKmZjkgtYwuH1lDCW-QbJkWqy0/s1600/yoga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="750" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhadyZZbKkiS5w0uR6KyYWjnueP8Hqn1XYrrR4JUjJxEAleweCXnLwVF7ELQLFQNItC1wKyUL0csiJsG9pc7Vdcf25gcWDRPbt8Hw69pifbs9F6yDtkuDKmZjkgtYwuH1lDCW-QbJkWqy0/s320/yoga.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: 10px;">
<span class="headword hdb tw-bw dhw dpos-h_hw " style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; margin: 5px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span class="hw dhw" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>permission</b></span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="pos dpos" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;" title="A word that refers to a person, place, idea, event or thing.">noun</span> <span class="gram dgram" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: 1px;"><a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/help/codes.html" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1d2a57; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">[ <span class="gc dgc" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: 1px;">U</span> ]</a></span><span class="us dpron-i " style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="region dreg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;">US</span><span class="daud" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: -5px;"> </span></span></b></span><br />
<div class="i i-volume-up c_aud htc hdib hp hv-1 fon tcu tc-bd lmr-10 lpt-3" role="button" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: ico-c; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 26px; margin-right: 10px; outline: 0px; padding-top: 3px; speak: none; text-align: center; text-rendering: auto; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: -1px;" tabindex="0">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="us dpron-i " style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="daud" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: -5px;">
</span><span class="pron dpron" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin-right: 5px; min-height: 25px;">/<span class="ipa dipa" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;">pərˈmɪʃ·ən</span>/</span></span></b></span><br />
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<a amp-access="NOT loggedIn" class="dwla wordlist-add-button" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: rgb(254, 196, 0); border-radius: 20px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; padding: 2px 8px; position: absolute; right: 0px; top: -12px;" title="Add this meaning to a word list"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b> </b></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>the <a class="query" href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/act" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1d2a57; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" title="act">act</a> of <a class="query" href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/allow" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1d2a57; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" title="allowing">allowing</a> someone to do something, or of <a class="query" href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/allow" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1d2a57; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" title="allowing">allowing</a> something to <a class="query" href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/happen" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1d2a57; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" title="happen">happen</a>:</b></span></blockquote>
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<br />
When I lost my love, I gave myself permission to do whatever I needed for a year to survive that loss, or not survive, if that's what was to be.<br />
<br />
If that meant trudging through each day simply putting one foot in front of the other, so be it. I expected nothing of myself, but gave myself a deadline. If I survived the year, I would then give myself permission to start living actively again.<br />
<br />
There were times during that year when survival was neither guaranteed nor particularly desirable. Times when my world was reduced to the space of my bed and my plans for the future reduced to how to erase any future. Times I tried to drown my sorrow in a bottle and consciously erase myself in a combination of pills and alcohol.<br />
<br />
My body refused to cooperate, but I allowed myself to wallow in despair if I needed, without chastising myself for it.<br />
<br />
Last month, the day after the first anniversary of my love's passing, was my deadline. The day I gave myself permission to live again.<br />
<br />
I stopped drinking completely, which was surprisingly easy once I remembered I wasn't drinking. The universe being the perverse place it is, the first day of not drinking saw me win (and give away) three free drinks at my local. That week was one in which I was offered free alcohol multiple times, whether by friends celebrating good fortune or customers thanking me for looking after them, and I laughed as I remembered I no longer drink.<br />
<br />
I've also returned to regular yoga practice - too regular to begin, my body quickly told me. Note to self: after a year of no yoga, eight classes in seven days might be a little excessive. Particularly if you want to move without pain. Just getting out of bed hurt.<br />
<br />
After a weekend off to recover, I took a gentler approach this week and started with a restorative yin class and a meditation session. Being gentle on myself is my mantra right now.<br />
<br />
Most importantly, I'm looking for fulfilling work again. It's not that I don't enjoy my current job - I do. I take pleasure in helping people have fun, and that's pretty much the job description I have right now. But I want to take that further and find pleasure in doing good as well as helping people feel good.<br />
<br />
If I'm fortunate, I will find a position that allows me to do that while using my writing, editing and storytelling skills, and there are two amazing possibilities that nudged my attention at the perfect time. I hope very much that one of them is the right fit for me, and those making the decisions recognise that I'm the right fit for them, but I'm confident that the right fit will make itself known.<br />
<br />
I'm eager for a challenge again, and excited about what that might turn out to be.<br />
<br />
Most importantly, I'm open to opportunity once again.Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-60447127718464238142019-04-10T19:58:00.000-07:002019-04-10T19:58:13.433-07:00Hey Y'allDamn!<br />
<br />
It's been a hard year.<br />
<br />
For those out of the loop, I met the most amazing person, fell head over heels giddily in love, then lost him.<br />
<br />
I think I've written about that before, but can't face reading it yet.<br />
<br />
ANYWHO, it changes a person.<br />
<br />
More than I would have imagined.<br />
<br />
It affects you mentally, which affects you physically. There is trauma involved.<br />
<br />
Then there is the challenge / trauma of dealing with the other people who have loved your loved one, and being pushed aside because you were only new in his life.<br />
<br />
I understand that - I do. It doesn't make it easier.<br />
<br />
I'm blessed that his sister and mother do understand how much I loved him, and care for me for that.<br />
<br />
But, damn, I miss that brilliant boy.Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-25936768730719257172019-01-26T07:46:00.000-08:002019-01-26T07:46:04.833-08:00melbourneI worked today<br />
<br />
I enjoyed working<br />
<br />
but I had to get home afterward<br />
<br />
in Melbourne, Australia, a city that should be safe, but a city where we have buried too many women recently who were not safe here<br />
<br />
raped, bludgeoned, murdered<br />
<br />
when I was a kid at high school, I learned not to put my hands in my pockets, because I needed them to protect myself from kids who wanted to bully me<br />
<br />
when I sailed the Indian Ocean, and hitchhiked around Kenya, I learned to open my Swiss Army Knife and have every sharp object available to attack an attacker<br />
<br />
I should not be fearing for my life getting home in Australia, but I am<br />
<br />
I, and I have to say I am not a wimp, am afraid to take public transport in Melbourne, am afraid to wait for a bus alone, am afraid to be a woman here<br />
<br />
because?<br />
<br />
Pick an answer ...Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-83394584625285466372018-10-15T04:44:00.000-07:002018-10-15T04:45:38.530-07:00Eight weeks ...grief<br />
<br />
it's a rollercoaster, and having experienced it before doesn't make it any easier<br />
<br />
when you only have a short time together, every minute, hour, day and week matters<br />
<br />
today, tonight, is the eight week anniversary of the last night I saw my love alive, the night I went to sleep with my head resting on his chest and woke to him gone, and all that entailed<br />
<br />
it is also the eight week anniversary, prior to that, of the first time I fell asleep listening to his heartbeat, and woke surprised and stunned that I had met him<br />
<br />
because we had such a short time together, the reaction of others to my grief is amplified, as they expect me to "get over it" or assume my pain doesn't matter, because they knew him longer<br />
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his UK family has been incredibly kind, and understanding<br />
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others, less so, but we also process our grief in different ways, and I need to honour my love by honouring others' passage through this<br />
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he would expect me to be better than I often feel as I go through thisTraciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-14409415707915925382018-10-03T03:56:00.000-07:002018-10-03T03:56:01.335-07:00Six weeks out ...... or is that six weeks in?<br />
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Six weeks out from losing him, six weeks into life without him.<br />
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Six weeks since I lost my love and the pain is still razor-sharp and raw.<br />
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I am sleeping better, finally, and talk with him before bed each night and awake accepting that he is no longer there but feeling blessed to have known him.<br />
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He was the gentlest, most generous, loving and empathetic person I have ever met, not just to me but to all he met, and I would gladly have given my life in place of his.<br />
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That's not a deal I was offered.<br />
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I feel honoured to have been with him in his last days, to have brought light and laughter back to his life and to be moving with him toward health and happiness. To have cooked together for each other and our friends, to have amused those same friends with teasing each other and them.<br />
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And as hard as it was, I'm glad I was with him at the end, to know he passed so peacefully and without any pain and to be able to assure his family of that. I hate to think of what would have been if we had not met.<br />
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But the knife stabs of missing him are continuous - each time I type the day's date, as I do multiple times each working day, I think of the date we met, the date I lost hime, the dates of his funeral services here and in the UK.<br />
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The knife twists savagely each evening, as I leave work and realise freshly that I am not going home to meet him, and never will again. The emptiness of evenings and weekends is a yawning and inevitable void that I have to consciously cross each day, each week.<br />
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I'm doing my best not to fall into that void, as I know that is not what he would want.<br />
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I'm spending evenings walking on the beach, or sitting watching the waves, or walking beside the river on my way home. I haven't done that in a while, being in a hurry to get to him instead.<br />
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I'm doing yoga, and checked out a gym nearby where I'll probably start a six-week kettle bell challenge next month. That will give me a positive focus for my evenings and weekends as well as tiring me in a way yoga doesn't.<br />
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I've stopped drinking for now - I was being careful not to drink much after he passed but was going to my local simply for human company. I've always been content with my solitude but since losing him, I've needed kind words and friendly faces.<br />
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I'm still stopping by those places, but ordering soda water instead of wine, as I know alcohol won't make me feel better. But I still want to see our friends, to laugh with them and share stories of him. I don't think I'll ever tire of that.<br />
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As much as I grieve for him, I grieve for our unrealised future and unfulfilled plans. I know he is at peace and suffered no pain, but I also know how much it would pain him to see how those who love him are suffering.<br />
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I'm trying to respect those who were part of his entire life, and and those who shared much longer parts of it than I but find myself inadvertantly bumping up against them at times as we all negotiate our way forward while not knowing what that entails. The lines of communication are unclear and it is my nature to ask for clarification when that occurs, but that is not the way of those he has loved far longer than I.<br />
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I'm doing my best to move forward carrying his wairua with me and and to honour him by doing so.<br />
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Step by painful step, day by painful day.<br />
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<br />Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7489430351712617940.post-20176485919031427062018-09-27T20:22:00.002-07:002018-09-27T20:25:08.983-07:00Others' reactions ...When my love and I had been together a few weeks and were already deeply in, he mentioned that he was getting approached a lot more by other women, "hit on" as he put it.<br />
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His rescue greyhound was a great conversation starter and I seldom walked him without striking up conversations with others, but these were more than just conversations, he said.<br />
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I replied that I wasn't surprised, that when one is loved and in love, their whole demeanour changes. Confidence increases, there's an air of contentment that was previously missing and a new spring in the step.<br />
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It wouldn't have hurt either that he had this constant, slightly goofy grin after we got together that made his already handsome face even more lovable.<br />
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One's whole demeanour changes with grief also, but not for the better, I would say.<br />
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So I'm surprised to find myself being hit on a lot lately, as if there's something attractive about my new vulnerability. The flirtation usually stops as soon as I mention my partner recently died, but it's something I never expected.<br />
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Also something I don't understand.Traciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335514142104663269noreply@blogger.com0