And Now. . . What Am I Doing?

Remember how many times we've said, "Oh if I had more time, I would . .... . " Well, now we have that time. . . and plenty of it. So what am I doing?  I'll tell you.

First of all, I started having my kitchen remodeled right before we took a vacation to Florida with my daughter and her family. That was March 6th. So the worst part of having my kitchen torn up happened while we were gone. 

 Before

After but not yet finished yet. Still have crown molding and countertops to add. The lighting will get changed and a white subway tile backsplash will be added. 

I also get to play games with my adult kids through our phones. We like one of Ellen's games called Psyche! 

We also set up Zoom so we can see and talk to each other while we are playing. If you'd like to see the game, click here.

I mentioned in my last post that I try to Zumba every day. There is another set of dances that I'd like to share with you in case you like a bit of variety. Some of the songs are the same. 

Radiant Life Ladies Zumba Part 1

I just know for me, if I didn't make a plan, I'd be sitting on the couch all day long playing Yahtzee on my phone and eating tons of the wrong things. At least with dancing every  morning, I can sort of justify the extra eating. . . . sort of!

 I have contacted all of my students and a few have written back to me. Man I do miss them and wish that we were back in school.  In Michigan we are off until April 16, but that may change this week. We will find out soon. 

I am reading a good book that I borrowed from a friend. Since our library closed, I have to rely on others to keep me in good shape. I love to read. Had I known this was going to happen, I would have borrowed a ton from our library. I hate to buy books when I can borrow them instead. How about you? Would you rather buy or borrow?

Right now I'm reading  Kristin Hannah's book called The Magic Hour. It is very good just as all of her books are. I can't believe I've never read this one before. 

In the meantime I am concerned about my dad who lives alone. We are visiting him every week (he lives 2 hours away and all of my sisters live in the same area.) He appears to be holding up ok. My in laws live in Florida in an Assisted Living Facility. They are very puzzled by all of this coronavirus. While watching TV is their main form of entertainment, it is also a very scary thing for them. I've sent her books to read and crossword puzzle books to do too. 

I truly hope all of you are well, and able to survive being with your spouse 24/7 without killing each other. I know it's not easy, but as all the actors are saying, "We are in this together. and We will get  through this."

And Now. . . What Do we Do?

For most of us this is Day 9 of the quarantine.

 How are YOU doing?

 What are YOU doing? 

Some schools are asking teachers to be available during certain hours to help parents who contact them. 

Some are doing Zoom classes online. 

I know my grandchildren have been thrilled to see their teachers and friends on Zoom.

Some are having parades where the teachers are driving in their cars and passing the students houses. (I hear this is a big hit! So if you haven't done this yet, it might be something you'll want to do.)

And there are some teachers who haven't done anything because of many reasons. 

Since I don't have an actual class, I have about 12 kids that I work with each day. So I have been emailing their parents to give them a chance to ask me questions, tell me what they've been doing, or for me to give them more things to do.  I have 5 that don't have an email listed, so I sent postcards out to them. I know getting mail is fun for kids. If you need some free cute postcards to send, Melonheadz Illustrating just posted some today. You can get them HERE. 

As far as my personal life is concerned, my kitchen is being remodeled and that takes up a large part of my day. I'm not actually doing the work, but I'm here in case they need me. It's stressful not knowing which box in the basement has the thing I'm looking for! 

But like the virus that's going on around us, life will get better! I have now been able to get my things back in my cabinets, the floors  have been installed, and they are currently working on trimming and electrical things. 

I get my zumba exercise in each day and try to get a walk in often. 

If you like Zumba, here's a link that you can use to dance with these ladies every day if you'd like. Zumba is easy, repetitive, and great for your heartrate!

Click here for Radiant Women's Fitness

I have grandchildren in Texas and here in town where I live. I have been playing games with them via Facetime on our ipads and that has been fun to connect with them and to give them (and us!) something else to do. 

What are you doing? What has worked for you? I'd love to hear what your days are looking like.  

And Now. . . . What do Parents do?

Social Media is being used as a great resource for parents. I believe it has always been used a a great resource for teachers. But now the parents are tapping into it to gain insight and help from teachers and other parents.

Teachers have used DoJo, Remind, and possibly other medias to keep communication up with their student's parents. One teacher in our building has asked her students to video tape them saying the pledge to the flag. That video is then posted to our school and district facebook page. What a delight to see these littles trying to remain in their routine by doing something they do every day in their classroom. It just warms my heart to see their smiling faces. You can see it here by clicking that link. 

 The Pledge to the Flag

Teachers are asking parents to take pictures of their children doing the activities that we have sent home and that helps us feel like our efforts aren't going unnoticed. 

This family is conducting a calendar time for the siblings. 

Our district is posting birthday announcements of our students in all grades each day. What a way to make them feel important and well loved!

Teachers are posting videos of themselves reading books on social media. I have watched them and found some new books to love. But even more important I have enjoyed seeing my friends whom I don't get to see every day now.  

Mrs. Pierson Reading Red a Crayon's Story

I love that authors are stepping up and reading their books aloud to us. Eric Carle, Mo Willems, Marc Brown, and Laura Murray. . . just to name a few. Our local library had to close, but the children's librarian has posted a video of herself reading to the children.  I love this. The more we can see people reading to kids the better their lives will be. 

Sturgis Public Librarian Reading Caps For Sale

Another idea for parents is to download these free pages from @Melonheadzillustrating. 

We Miss You

Thank You

Your children or your students can color these and hand them out to people they love or people in your community who are making a difference for everyone. 

I know this has been a rough week. . . and it's only been ONE week. If it's true that this could last 3 more weeks, how will we handle it? What if it lasts longer? 

We have to remember. . . . 

WE are all in this together. 

We are not alone. 

And Now. . . What Should We Do?

Our school, like many others in our nation decided to close for 3 weeks. And the following week is our spring break, so our students will be off for a total of 4 weeks. This news was so shocking. What would we do? What would the kids do? What would the parents do? 

All of these questions were and are unknown. This kind of thing has never happened before. So whatever we do will be a first for us and everyone else. Right or wrong, we need to do something. 

My particular school decided to jump right in and start getting things around for students to do at home. We knew that some parents would be asking for something for their children to do and we knew that having a routine would be important too. So packets were created and put together to match the needs of each student. Online resources were identified as well as sending home their clever badges so they could easily log in. 

Our entire district started brainstorming how to feed these students who rely on the food they get for breakfast, lunch and even some students receive extra food for the weekends. I'm very proud of my district. Sturgis Public Schools stepped right up to find bus drivers to deliver food on the buses each day so that no child goes hungry. Today they announced that we have been able to feed 500 children each day this week. My heart is full. I am grateful to all those who have given their time to be sure that our families are well taken care of. 

We have been asked to personally reach out to parents and students in any way we can.  . . email, phone calls, letters, etc.  I have a small case load because of the type of job that I have, but I was able to reach out to 70% of my students through an email. I got one reply so far. I hope to email them each week and open those doors of communication. 

I know that many of you are doing some similar things with your district. Whether the students actually do the work is unknown. But the fact that we have provided it shows that we care and that we want to do whatever we can to keep them on top of their academic world. 

Some parents have told me they can't work with their own child. I get that! I am a mom too. There are some things that  my child just didn't want to have my help with. So in that case, let them try to work independently or see if a friend or relative can help. . . even with staying 6 feet away!

I hope that you can rest knowing that whatever you have done for your students, that it is good. You have a home and family to attend to as well. 

I would enjoy reading any things that your district or you are doing that is different from what we are doing. Please feel free to share with me.  I do need something to read to keep me from going stir crazy.

For the Love of Family When a Crisis Hits

It has been so long since I've written a post, I have to really stop and think about how to do this!!! 

In this time of crisis, I felt it might be a good time to get back to it! I have more time to write and maybe you have more time to read. So together we may be helping each other out!

First I want to let you know that I'm thinking about you and hoping that you are ok. By ok, I mean that you aren't going stir crazy with your coworkers (your family!!!) and that you can keep yourself sane doing things you might have wanted to do for a long time. 

We have been planning a kitchen remodel for a couple years. Not exactly sure when it would begin, we made our plans to go on vacation.  The builder contacted us and was ready to start the day before we left for Florida! That was a great coincidence! We didn't have to be there while they started to tear our kitchen apart. Whoop Whoop! 

We elected to go on spring break with our daughter who teaches in Pasadena, TX. We made plans to stay in Kissimmee for a week and to visit Disney while there. We also wanted to visit my in laws who are in their 90's and live in an assisted living facility in Lakeland, FL. 

Our timing on everything was perfect. We visited them and they got to see my grandchildren and their great grandchildren!

The day we picked for Disney was a perfect weather day. Not too hot and a bit overcast so the sun didn't bother us. We knew the corona virus was looming and we took care not to touch everything, to wash more often, and to use hand sanitizer often too.

But on Friday of that week, the poop hit the fan!

We were not allowed to visit my in-laws the same way. We could only see them outside, not inside their facility.  It was difficult to explain to them that it wasn't the end of the world. . . but a blip on our radar. 

We considered ourselves very lucky that we were safe and had all of our needs met and that there certainly were others who weren't as lucky. 

We got word that our schools in Michigan were closed for three weeks and my daughter's school had closed for a week. 

Flying home on Saturday was interesting. As many of you know flying in March or April anywhere is crowded. It's spring break somewhere and those who can want to fly somewhere! 

But our flight wasn't full (we fly Southwest and they are always full!).  And even more important, the airport wasn't swimming with people everywhere.  When we arrived back in Chicago, we noticed the same thing. The airport was practically bare. Certainly the public had changed their plans and decided not to fly. 

 We were able to have quality time with our children, grand children, and even our parents. What could be better? We knew that our life was wonderful, but there was about to be major changes once we got home. 

That's all for now.  Stay tuned to this channel. I'll come back and add more tomorrow.