Isolation Take 2 week 2

We got the news yesterday that we are still in Level 4 until Tuesday night, and then hopefully some of the country (including us) will move down to Level 3. It's a funny feeling again. I think there was always some hope that we would move to Level 3 quickly, but it's sensible not to. Auckland (and possibly Northland) will be in lockdown for a while so it is particularly difficult for them right now. We are definitely lucky being in the South Island.

I'm watching the Facebook posts of my relatives in the UK travelling around and doing the 'normal' day to day things and thinking that was the other way around a while ago, with us in Level 1 and them in lockdown. Things can change so quickly, especially with this Delta variant.

When lockdown comes there are always a range of posts that pop up on social media that make you laugh, or that are particularly good. A couple that I really like at the moment are the One Day More Corona Parody (thanks to JJ for sending this to me) and the Aranui Community Trust's TikTok that reminds people how to stay safe - love the reo and the energy in this, it's fun but gets the message across.

This week has been busy - contacting students I work with, getting long needed paperwork done and having Zoom calls and Google Meets. I do find the calls difficult sometimes when the video and audio don't match, I realise how much I lip read in these situations and wonder how it must be for those that are hard of hearing and have no hearing aids to help.

NCEA exams have moved back 2 weeks. This will give students more time to prepare, but will also place more pressure on staff as they lose time that would normally be used for planning for the next year. It's a fine balancing act and I hope that schools consider the well-being of staff as well as the well-being of students. 

I am watching the paralympics at the moment. What amazing athletes. They have overcome so much and are competing at such a high level. I have learnt a lot about the classification system - this site helped immensely and I am continually referring back to it as I watch new events. It's so sad that the Paralympics don't get as much publicity as the Olympics, but I guess that is the way with many sports - someone makes a decision as to what gets airtime or pages in the news.

The good weather meant I could get out in the garden and the longer daylight hours have been great. I'm loving the spring flowers and the blossom on the fruit trees, The rain now means that I get more genealogy done and I am working on my mother's Sagar line at the moment which has been really interesting. Lots of Barons and property, very interesting history. The photo here is of my gg grandfather's Ironmongers shop - it has been recreated in the Abbey House Museum in Kirkstall which is where the Sagar family held a lot of land. I remember my mother saying the shop was exactly how she remembered it, right down to the smell and the bench she used to sit on. I'm loving the research and the gardening.  It's a win win for any weather for me at the moment.

How do I feel this week? I was feeling ok for a while, then had a wave of OMG how am I going to manage this, then after chatting with a couple of people I felt better again. Just shows how important it is to stay connected to others during these uncertain times. Make sure you reach out and have some good conversations each day. He waka eke noa - we are all in this together.

Isolation Take 2

 So, here we are again.

We found out on Tuesday afternoon that we had one Covid case in Auckland. By midnight the whole country was in lockdown. Today we find out we are in this for a while longer - at least until the middle of next week. 

It was strange day on Tuesday. I had no idea anything had happened and I went after school to buy some cat food and the carpark at the supermarket was full! It's never full. There were so many people there, I figured at that point that something must be happening, especially when I saw a lady come out with a trolley that had a lot of toilet paper! I was surprised how few people were scanning in, knowing this was probably Covid related, but I scanned (as I always do), dashed in to get the cat food I desperately needed and then came home. To stay for quite a while as it turns out.

I don't know how I feel. Part of me is happy to have the time to get all that paperwork done for school. I quite enjoy the extra time I have to potter in the garden, have lunch at home and pat the cats, lots. I enjoy being in the quiet and having the freedom to have lunch when I want and to pop out in the garden for 30 mins when it's warm.

But I also feel strange. It's just not comfortable and I worry for so many people on so many different levels. Much of this I went through during the isolation we had last year (you can read all my blogs on that) but I feel like I'm doing all that thinking in a much shorter space of time. Back then it was all new, we were finding our way through. It took days to work out what was going on and how to manage things. This time it's all been a bit of a rush. Here we are. Bang. Back into it. I'm not sure how I feel about it.

I have ways to spend my time. I'm working from home and have spent the last few work days getting some much needed paperwork sorted as well as planning for a continued lockdown. I've spent many hours on my laptop, sadly missing a programme I'd like to have to make life easier, but my work laptop is behind closed gates so I have to do without. I can still work though, as most things I do are online and I keep everything in my Google Drive. I have a website to make, some scanning to do, lots of sorting out of documents, gardening, genealogy - I can fill my time up quite happily. I even have a jigsaw here but I don't feel like doing one. Maybe it's the fact that the cat pulled the last one off the desk before it was complete (grrr), or maybe I've done enough lately.

We are lucky to have the technology we do - video chats, messaging, funny pics coming through to keep us entertained, but it's also a reminder that not everyone has that access. I think that's part of my battle. A lockdown is not equitable. Hmmm, more thinking on that.

Don't get me wrong, it is definitely the right thing to do. It just feels strange this time around for some reason and I haven't quite pinpointed it yet.

Isolation 11

Well this is it - the last of the Isolation blogs - unless we go back into lockdown which I really hope doesn't happen.

It's been a real journey with ups and downs in all aspects. Looking back over this time I think there have been some interesting days. Thought I might do an overall reflection for my last one.

Pros

The opportunity to spend time with family and slow down in the rat race. I think lockdown has given us all an insight into what life would be like if we got off that wheel now and then. Spend some time just walking, playing games, just being. 

I've saved money - I sure others will have too, from not buying that coffee on the way to work, or just by not going shopping just because we can. I have been donating to a few causes because I am in a position to and I think this also lets us reflect on others and how they may not be in the same position as us and how can we support that. I saw and read a few articles about companies that took paycuts to support others, and those that didn't. There has been a bit of an outcry for us all to be in this together. That's what it takes. Be kind. Help others who are not in a good situation.

Exercise - nice to have time to go for a long walk each day. I'm considering doing this anyway once we are back at school but it will start getting dark earlier so it might fall by the wayside a bit! Time to do a workout each day without having to get up at 6. That will be a shock come Monday as I have been getting up a bit later. Trying to pull it back over the last week but realised it was dark that early - bit sad.

Jigsaws - I had forgotten how much I enjoy doing these. Just having one there, on the go all the time, has been my go to for a brain break. I thought I might do more colouring in (see my concussion blogs) but it was the jigsaws that gave me the space I needed sometimes. This last one pictured here brought back memories. My Dad used to do this on our table tennis table when we were kids. I think he did it every year over Christmas and we'd all go past it and try and put in pieces. It's not easy, have to have the light just right to get the sea and sky sorted

Working from home - the chance to take a break when I needed or felt like one and the opportunity to have lunch. I've written more about the educational pros and cons in my last blog.
Making the effort to talk with people on Zoom or Google Meet. I think I spoke to more people outside of Christchurch over this time. You don't think about the geography if you want to talk to someone. Everyone is online so it makes no difference. It would be really good to carry this on to the future and remember that asking a question doesn't have to be face to face, there are a wide range of people you can ask on screen face to face instead.
Time to arrange my day how I wanted. If it was super nice I could go out in the garden for a bit and rearrange when I did some work. Nice to have that flexibility.
Time in the evenings to read, watch webinars, do some learning if I wanted, or just chill and watch some TV. I don't think I have ever watched so much TV - I'm not usually home in the evenings!

Cons

Just seeing people and having a hug - I missed that terribly. I think many people have struggled being stuck in their homes. Some not in safe environments, others lonely. I was pleased for our country that we did what we have, but it wasn't easy. I had a few down days and I think everyone has been struggling to a degree.
Not having routine of going to work. Although I was working from home, its hard some days to be motivated to get up and ready for the day when it would be so nice just to snuggle back under the blankets on a cold morning.
Dragonboating has been on hold. I have missed training a lot, but I have been lucky to be able to do some in the pool, but it's not the same as being in a boat. It's sad we didn't get Nationals this year but keen to train for 2021!
No shows or performances to see or do. Watching them on a screen just doesn't cut it. It will be good once we get some live shows back on track.
Many many many hours on a screen. I won't miss that. It's given me a headache on a few days with large number of calls, plus my normal screen time doing my blogs and reading.

Moving forward

I'm still not keen to go shopping in the mall - too many people there at the moment, I'll give it a week or two before I go and get the much needed clothes and maybe I'll have a look around for some smaller stores to support. I also will give the desperate people time to get their haircuts before I book one in, I'm quite enjoying having my hair a bit longer for now.
I'm keen to support local business and so am planning a road trip or three over the next wee while. Be good to go and see people and places while supporting getting the economy back and running. I also think it would be good to travel a bit over summer and maybe see some new places. I had intended to go to Australia later in the year but am thinking that may have to wait!
Back to work tomorrow and seeing our awesome students. That will be good, definitely better than teaching online.
I might just have to do another jigsaw, might take a bit longer to finish but it was good to have one on the go. Off to enjoy the sunshine now while I can on my last day.

Isolation 10

Thurs 30 Apr
Wow - I can't believe I am writing Isolation 10 already! The time has actually gone quite quickly. Today I felt like some days are more productive than others, I was very productive in bursts today. rather than full on throughout the day. Had some time when I just was not really onto it but then got totally motivated and got a heap of work done. I think it's about being aware of what we are feeling. I needed the time at lunch today to sit out in the sun and pat the cat. Just felt like it was the right thing to do at the time - I didn't even go for a walk which is unusual. But then I worked through until quite late when I felt like it. Maybe this is something we need to think about for work and study - when do we work best? I normally work really well at 7.30am. I know many others would be horrified at that time of the morning but I do work well early in the day. It gives me time to get set up and organised. Recently that has pushed out to 8.30 - I think working from home has made me a bit lax on that 6am start!!!
I got some good news today. I have been waiting for an appointment for my foot for over a year now. It was scheduled for Apr 3rd and of course that got cancelled due to Covid19. I had resigned myself to the fact that I probably wouldn't get an appointment for another few months but today I got a message saying I could go tomorrow. I am just a little bit excited and hope that something can be done eventually as I can't walk very far without it being strapped up. Here's hoping something can be done - I don't mind if it takes ages to do it, just knowing would be good.
I managed to take the pool from green to clear over the last couple of days - had let it go by just not really thinking about it. Might need to concentrate a little more on my surroundings. So much going on right now - there are different things to focus on and a pool is well down the list.

Fri 1 May
I can't believe it's May. It seems like April didn't really exists this year. It's very strange.
I had a good day today - 12 calls online and a very busy day both at work and not.
Went to the surgeon - finally getting an MRI for my foot to get all the information needed to see if he can fix it or not. He had some ideas but wants all of the information before we go the next step - if he can. Feel good that at least there is a next step.
I did a bit of reading today and found this great advice for lots of calls and how to combat Zoom fatigue.
This afternoon I went to the Future of Learning catch up - these have been going for a while - in person, then online. It was good to tlak with other educators and share experiences and ideas. I do enjoy those conversations.
Watching the Repair shop again tonight reminded me of my father's clock. I think I'll get that out and have a look at it.
My Peptalk magazine arrived today. Wow what a great resource. There were two books in one and I found the information was really great. My daughter had a look as well and she thought it was good as well. If you haven't got your free copy then go to this link and order it. Yes, free. I've subscribed to further issues, that's how much I enjoyed it.

Saturday 2 May
Made a big cooked breakfast for my children - it's nice to have one occasionally. Keeps me going all day and I'm a pretty good short order chef. It's always nice to have my 2 children around. We played some games, went for a walk and just had a nice lazy day. Managed to do quite a bit of the jigsaw - I'm worried now, almost finished all the ones I have in the house!

Sunday 3 May
I really have felt very lazy this weekend. I think that the online calls take it out of me quite a bit. I know I have to work extra hard because of my hearing and I struggle with the lag between voice and camera when I know I do rely a bit on lipreading.
I have 187 emails to sort through. Hmm. Maybe I'm a little unsorted right now - very tired at the end of the day and have struggled this week mentally. Finally finished that jigsaw today - found another 2 in the back of the cupboard so I haven't run out just yet!

Later in the week...
So I've slowed down on the day by day account. I think I just find every day is busy with work or just trying to find time to relax so from here on in I'll do an update when I get the inspiration.
Had a Boma New Zealand Rethinking Education Campfire on Tuesday - really interesting to hear some students talk about their experiences of online learning. You can read some of their ideas on my blog. It showed me how important student voice is in this isolation time. I have made a survey for my mentor group and it's been interesting getting their feedback. I'll do another blog on Reflection and Isolation sometime soon.
I attended a NZQA workshop this week. I was happy that I felt confident in this area, but it was interesting to see the questions others asked. I wonder how we can improve teacher knowledge in this area? There are obviously a lot of people not sure of how things work. Something else to ponder.
I've had a couple of conversations with some of the Boma Education Fellows for this year. It's hard not being able to talk face to face and our programme has certainly been disrupted. Getting to know each other is taking longer, but at least this week I managed to catch up with a few and have some conversations both around what our kuras are doing online, and with our own projects. My project is in a bit of a hold at the moment due to many things, but I did do some more research this weekend around diverse learners and looked into some other sites that cater for these learners. Been a good learning weekend in that respect.
Another flashback moment on The Repair Shop this week - a spinning wheel. Mum used to spin and I remember carding wool for her and watching her spin and knit for hours. She also dyed the wool herself - I remember the different natural dyes she used. I still have homespun jerseys that she made for my children. Such memories and a skill that can be lost if we don't take things up. I wonder how many things are handed down from parents anymore now that we are busier in our lives. It makes me wonder if maybe lockdown is a good thing - getting back to spending time with family and not being able to fill our days with things. Maybe this is the start of people learning the old skills again. I do hope so.
I completed my Microsoft Innovative Educator application for the next year today. The MIE group in New Zealand is fantastic. Such great support and I have made some good friends out of this group so hopefully will be able to continue on with this for 2021 - even though I work in a Google school! I still use a lot of Microsoft tools and and I am passionate about their resources. They certainly work hard to make things better for schools and offer some interesting and useful courses on the Microsoft Educator Community site - go and have a look!
I also completed the Science of Wellbeing Course today - and have a blog half done on that - another day.
Well it's Mother's Day. I've done a couple of blogs, a bit of gardening and managed to finally clear my emails down to single figures. Must be time to have a break and get this posted.

Isolation 9

Thursday 23 Apr

It's my birthday. The first time I think I've been grounded on my birthday and can't go and be with friends or do anything. So I worked. Online as usual. Then made a cake. Yum. My lovely son and daughter had a nice dinner with me then I watched TV. Exciting. Not really. It made me think about birthdays though. The expectations we have of what they should or shouldn't be. My brother called me today, one of the few times he has remembered my birthday since we were kids. He was totally honest and said he only remembered because he knew the 4 weeks of lockdown finished on the 22nd so he knew the date today. Normally he doesn't need to know dates and so doesn't think about them. It is quite reasonable and I've never been worried about people remembering my birthday or not. It's another day, another year and only a few thousand days to go until retirement! I'm not good at remembering them for others either -apart from my nephew, a second cousin and 2 friends who share the same day as me! So why do we put so much emphasis on them? I think it's great when children are celebrating but I do think we put far too much worry into that next decade or 5 years as we get older. Each day goes by. It's another day. I was sort of glad my children couldn't buy me a present - saves money. They were here for dinner - that was the best present.
Anyway. That was Thursday.

Friday 24 Apr

I was working on an infographic today (I was trying out some skills learnt in my last MIE call) and thinking about strengths of different people. How our skills and abilities affect us and those around us. I did the VIA Character test last month as part of the Wellbeing course I am doing (Ah yes, need to type that up too - another day...) and thinking about how those things shape the way we work and relating to others. I had 11 online calls today and I just felt I was full on all day. Need to take some time to sit back and catch my breath. Been a very reflective day.
I was watching the news and seeing how people were thinking about takeaways next week. It's been good to not have any - apart from saving money, I think I have been quite healthy. I have managed to not put any weight on - after my great loss over Christmas, so I'm a happy person and can do without the takeaway culture. Well maybe one or two now and then - I do like hamburgers... oh and Kentucky Fried mashed potato and coleslaw (not so much the chicken!).
Watched the Repair Shop on TV tonight - I quite like it for some reason. Watching them restore items that mean a lot to others. Really nice and it can be quite emotional. I had a few moments of melancholy today - feeling a bit isolated and alone , even though I have my children, it's not the same. I crave total alone time which we don't get being in the house all day, but then want people time and conversations. A strange sensation. I'll make more of an effort over the weekend to reach out to others I think.

Saturday 25 Apr
Up at 6am this morning for ANZAC Day. My son and I stood at the end of the drive and he played The Last Post. Listening to the trumpet in the silence was quite eerie and very moving. More so than being in a big group I think. There was no one else out on the street, but I think a few probably heard us!!
Finally finished my MIE blog and posted it, then caught up on this one. I have a small pile of papers next to my chair that I am working through - need a few things done over the weekend. School is very consuming and tiring at the moment.
Some good family time today - playing Blood Rage with my children. I keep forgetting how much I really love playing board games and cards. Wow - flashback just then - back to a friend of mine with whom I used to play cards all the time. We played 500, were partners for Bridge and spent many evenings and weekends playing cards. Sadly she died far too young and now and then I get flashbacks to our time together. Always with great fondness and always with some sadness that she is no longer here.

Sunday 26 Apr
Did some more fun looking at infographics today. I've learnt so much playing around in Powerpoint. My presentations are going to look quite cool from here on - well, not quite so boring anyway!
I had a pretty quiet day today. I read in the sun, finished another jigsaw and pottered in the garden for a while. I haven't been quite as productive as I thought I might be over lockdown. I found that being online so much is very tiring so it takes me a day or two to get myself into a place where I feel like doing lots. I ran out of books from the library to read (did pretty well to get this far) so am re-reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I have the series here so it should keep me going for a few weeks.
I had a conversation online with a colleague today and we were talking about how weird it is that we have gone back to writing on paper while on a call on Zoom. Because I am on a screen I am using paper to write my notes, whereas before I would be writing my notes on a computer while chatting with someone. It's strange. I have handwritten more notes while teaching than I have for a very long time.
Had an email about the show I am currently meant to be rehearsing - West Side Story for Kirwee Players. I wonder how long it will be before we are able to do live theatre again? At what level of lockdown can we rehearse, but also then have audiences? Will people actually go to performances for a while or will they be too nervous to go out to large gatherings? So many questions and no idea what the answers are. It's an interesting thing to think about though.
I've just realised what it is about the supermarket that is so weird - apart from the social distancing. It's the lack of noise. No one is talking because we all went by ourselves. There is no chat in the aisles, you can hear the music. I'll take more notice this week and see if that's the main thing that's different. Wonder if there will be more people there this week? Maybe I'll shop tomorrow so I can avoid the crowds!!!
I'm pleased we have a 3 day weekend. It will give me a chance to do all the things tomorrow that I thought I'd do on Saturday and today. Nice to have some down time though, and time off a computer for most of the day.

Monday 27 Apr

ANZAC Day holiday. A day that I took to do very little. I walked, read, did some jigsaw puzzle, spent some time on blogs and emails and then decided I really didn't feel like doing much. A needed day of rest I think. I did have conversations with a few teachers I know around the country. It was good to reflect on what we are all doing and how we are doing it differently. What's working, what's not and how we feel about it.I think one thing that strikes me is that we don't share resources as much as we should. All the teachers in the country are flat out writing resources right now. Why? We could pool everything and just adapt for our own situation and ākonga. I have always been of the view that we should share everything and have battled getting others to share sometimes. I understand the reluctance. Some people feel that their resources aren't "good enough". Some want to sell them for financial reasons. Some are just not sure how to get them out there. Maybe it's something we need to think about in the future. More collaboration across kura, not just inside.
Me, personally, I believe in sharing everything I can. I like that my kura has a Creative Commons License on our work - I know for some, their kura owns all of their resources. I also know that some people don't know that! It's an interesting one, and always a question when a teacher leaves one place and goes to another - what can they legally take with them? I think this is a tricky one for some.

Tuesday 28 Apr
Down to Level 3!!!
Back to work. Having a Teacher Only Day has been really helpful. Time to get some resources sorted and lots of admin done. I had some good conversations with colleagues and also managed to get my walk in over lunchtime.
After school/work/whatever you call it - I went out to collect some groceries. The roads were a bit busier but the supermarket was very quiet - talking to the checkout operator she said it had been quiet all day - maybe everyone is counting on takeaways all week!! I might think about them in a week or two - really don't need them for now :)
Time to post this again - hope you are enjoying my days! It's nice to keep track of how they are going to be honest. Interesting for later down the track and even as a week goes by there is a difference of feelings and thoughts.

Isolation 8

Friday 17 April
I think today went a bit better. I still find the day really busy and not the easiest to balance. I need to take breaks and just switch off to make it work. One of my colleagues shared a reflection he did back when our kura first opened. He talked about the implementation dip which you see when you effect change. So apt for this situation right now. I think the implementation dip was a great thing to remind us that this change is not easy and will take time!
"Appreciate the Implementation Dip: All successful schools experience “implementation dips” as they move forward (Fullan, 2001). The implementation dip is literally a dip in performance and confidence as one encounters an innovation that requires new skills and new understandings. Leaders who understand the implementation dip know that people are experiencing two kinds of problems when they are in the dip—the socialpsychological fear of change, and the lack of technical know how or skills to make the change work." From Michael Fullan's "Leading in a Culture of Change"
I have 2 blogs to do at the moment, one for work and one from an online meeting I want to write up, so will try and get them done over the weekend!

Saturday 18 Apr
Had an online Zoom call this morning doing a workshop with David Clifford from DSX. What a great opportunity - even though I couldn't be there in person (we were meant to be in the USA at this time) it was great to have this chance to do a workshop with him. Certainly made me think about my project and reflect on what we are doing already. You can read my blog about it here.
I needed some down time after that so went for a walk and then did some jigsaw for a while. The weather cleared up and I got our into the garden to gather some of the amazing fruit I have at the moment. I am really pleased that I have so much food growing in the garden. It is something that takes time and effort, but also has rewards, especially at times like this!
The afternoon brought a welcome Zoom call - one with the cast of 'Hair" which I did back in 1998 with Showbiz. It was great to catch up with many of the cast and crew from all over the world. We should do this sort of thing more often but we don't think about it. One good change from being online - we seem to be more connected than before. Time to stop and think about what is really important.

Sunday 19 Apr
I totally forgot to write this on Sunday. I had a day off. I wrote my blog on the course that I did on Saturday then spent the rest of the day chilling out. I played Talisman with my son and then spent the evening watching TV and reading. It was really nice actually! Oh, I did manage to clean the house at one stage.

Monday 20 Apr
It's been a busy day. Work seems to be busier every day we have. I have more and more ākonga wanting to connect which is great. It's been an interesting time and I think it will take weeks for it to really get settled. In some ways I hope we have those weeks and I think there are some positives we can take from this crisis teaching. Being able to look at things differently and try new ways of doing things is great. Pushing the boundaries has always been my way in education so I'm loving this in some ways.
I ordered this magazine for wellbeing - it looks great and keen to see what it has to offer, both for me personally and for work.
Looked at doing this course on weaving - it looks great, just not sure if I really am motivated enough, but keen to look into it... maybe tomorrow...
Credible assessment for NCEA

Tuesday 21 Apr
Another day at work! Lots of things going on as usual. A group of us are putting together a Haeata's Got Talent show so spent a bit of time getting that sorted. It was inspired by the Hornby High School one - so many thanks to whoever thought of it!
Finally finished the latest jigsaw - Wasjig11. Hope lockdown doesn't continue for too much longer, I'm running out of jigsaws!!
Spent some time reading different article and pages I follow - I am particularly into The Great NZ NCEA Hackathon 2020 on Facebook. This is a page of educators who are using NCEA in different ways - transdisciplinary and project based. Love it. I am learning lots.
I had an email recipe exchange today. It's like a chain letter with recipes. I found it really hard to send to 20 people - I really don't have that many emails addresses for people. It made me think about how we communicate now. Very interesting.

Wednesday 22 Apr

It's been a busy day. I think I am getting even busier online as more of our students decide it's time to do work. I actually got a bit of a headache today, just being on a screen for so long. I had to take a good break (and do more jigsaw) before feeling like looking at one again to do this.
A few things that have struck me today. I want to help others and I am not always sure of the easiest way to do this. How can we help financially - I am lucky enough to have an income, how can I help those that don't?  I know there is the foodbank project  which I already subscribe to, but what else? I saw that eatlocal.nz gave some cheap packages away to others today, but they sold out so quickly. How many companies are doing this? I really don't know. There would be a market for this - how to donate.....
I went for a walk today and saw this really cute corgi - with a tail. It was so happy - it made me smile. A lot. That's a really good thing right now as I feel we don't always smile enough. The lady that owned it explained to me that it had a normal tail for a corgi (I thought it was a cross or something) - it hadn't been docked. How awesome. Love it.
I went supermarket shopping. It was a real eye opener as I feel we have slackened off a bit. It didn't seem to be the same with people avoiding each other - I think we are getting a bit complacent and hope that we don't go backwards once we go to Level 3.
As I edited this I have been noticing I always mis-type a few words, you may notice these - from becomes form, really is often relaly - Why is it the same words? Interesting.

Time to post this - it's been weeks today since we went into lockdown. It's May next week. Wow. Oh, and I still haven't written one of the blogs I meant to do a week ago - work got in the road. Maybe this weekend....

Isolation 7

Tuesday 14 Apr
A busy day today - got a lot of work done this morning as well as listening to Ann Milne's Facebook Live event on Colouring in the white spaces. She was great to listen to and it was good to be challenged. I have some notes, but most of it is covered in her book and the downloads you can get from her site. I did some baking over lunch time, listened to a talk from the DisruptEd community. Claire Amos was talking to students about their experience so far. One of the main things they had to say was about us as kaiako should be patient, flexible and provide support and care, but keep pushing for high achievement - warm and demanding. It was good to hear some student voice in all of this - we so often read and hear about kaiako, but not often from those we teach. It should be the other way round...
I went out today to collect some things from the chemist. It was the farthest I had been from home in weeks (sideline here - I had to look up to see if it was furthest or farthest, found a cool site explaining it to me - I never have (or is it have never!?) been good at grammar). It was odd to drive that far and just a strange feeling to be out and about. Part of me felt guilty I wasn't at home, but the other part was excited to be out. I wonder how it will feel once we all start driving to work again. I am quite enjoying working from home - I can do things in my own time and it's ok to be writing resources in the evening, or first thing in the morning. I'm interested to see how things will go tomorrow when we are technically back at school.
I used a comb today. I know that sounds normal for many people but being honest, I haven't used one for years. My hair is normally short and I can just run my fingers through it and it's done, but I was meant to have a haircut the week of lockdown and it didn't happen. So here I am. Longer hair than I have had for years, and having to use a comb! Lucky I found one at the bottom of the bathroom cabinet otherwise I think that would have been an essential shop before having to go online to my students in the morning!
More work this evening just finishing some bits on my Google Classroom for tomorrow and then went over the notes I made from the webinar this morning. Love learning.
Got a bit excited chatting to some of the cast from Hair which I did in April 1998 - nice to catch up and go through photos. A bit of a walk down memory lane. We are looking at having an online catch up this weekend - that should be entertaining!
It's great to see TVNZ having online learning starting today. I see it is planned for one month so far - for Years 1-11. Some great content. I remember Suzy Cato with my children - she did some cool science things and we had her DVDs. Brings back good memories. I hope lots of people let their children chill out and watch TV. Nigel Latta did a great talk on Seven Sharp last night about letting students just chill out. If you didn't see it, it is worth a watch on TVNZ On Demand. Thanks Nigel for putting a bit of reality into the mix. I think all teachers should watch it too - stop trying to put a huge amount of content onto students right now and just let them be who they are. Provide for those who want it and chill out for the others.
It's funny though, I sometimes feel totally overwhelmed by all the resources out there. I can't imagine how our ākonga are feeling. I just need to switch off quite often to stop all the information from circling around in my head. I love learning and I love all these resources, but sometimes I just wish there was just one thing, not lots of options. Is there such a thing as too much choice? I think there can be and right now there seems to be a plethora (is that the right word for it - let me just google that - you wouldn't believe how many words I google for my blogs) of choices. Hard to find my way through them all sometimes, hence using my page and site to try and filter them out a bit and go back to what I want to see.
Time to get off a screen and sleep - big day back at work tomorrow. It will be an interesting one.

Wednesday 15 Apr
I'm tired. That was crazy mad today for the first day of 'school'. There were lots of emails and messages flying around and then I had quite a lot of calls as well. I feel shattered and it's 4pm. I need to work on a better way to manage all the things coming at once and know that I can't do it all immediately. Maybe I only look at email once an hour or something. But I want to be responsive and quick for ākonga when I can. I had to remind myself to take a lunch break and go for a walk and I must say my butt hurt from sitting down for so long - I never sit that long at kura or at home. Not sure about this working from home thing!! I did manage to get some good resources out to ākonga though and the conversations I had were really productive so that's a positive. It will be interesting to see how it settles over the next week.
One thing though, it was nice to have my morning routine back, although I actually enjoy the drive to work so I did miss that bit. But it was good to get into the routine and know I had to work today. One of the ākonga I spoke to this afternoon said she had just got up - I hate to think how hard it is going to be for some of them when we finally get back to physically going to school.
Part of me feels guilty that I haven't done anything on the course I am doing - but in all honesty I had those few days of blah and now I've been flat out with work. Once I get back into the routine and how I'm going to manage things I think it will settle and I can get back into doing things in the evenings.
I enjoyed reading this article by Enrique Dans today and love this statement:

"From now on, we must prepare for life in a world where a vaccine for COVID-19 is going to take a long time to arrive, which means a great many restrictions on how we used to do things. For a long time, classes will be at half capacity, many students or teachers will be forced to self-confine, attendance will be irregular, and many methodologies we used before will no longer apply."

I then followed him on Twitter and had a look at his website and read a few more of his blogs. Some thought provoking stuff! Then I read a blog by Punya Mishra on The Value of School. I'm always fascinated by other's thoughts on school and what we should be assessing, but I think his comments on the different roles that schools play is really interesting. I could go on

Thursday 16 Apr
I need another picture. I'm not sure what I can add in here - I can't let me blog go out with just a comb! I'll have to think about it - maybe something entertaining...
Better day today for work. Got a little more organised and not trying to deal with everything at once. A few less emails and messages help! I think we were really trying to find our way around yesterday, so settling in a bit today. I have found getting up and walking around a bit more today has helped as well. Just moving rather than staring at a screen is quite beneficial. I really don't know how people do desk jobs. I also don't know how teachers with their own children are coping - I know how busy I am, must be madness in their house.
I read lots today but am a bit tired to post - maybe tomorrow...
I did get my veges today from The Mad Acre - wow - what an awesome box of veg. I would highly recommend it if you want your veges delivered. - Ohh - a pic I can use!!
An interesting discussion today about what Level 3 might look like. It will be very interesting to see what will happen. Meanwhile - it's time to post this.

Isolation 6

Thursday 9 Apr
Had a busy day doing a lot of school related work but still managed to make hot cross buns. I got the green bin filled with garden rubbish and got them out so at least I realised it was Thursday. I really didn't feel like being in front of a computer in the evening so didn't even get to write this on Thursday! I didn't do my MIE blog and I didn't manage to do much else . I think it is good to be able to tell myself that it is OK to not be at 100% at the moment.
Going for a walk today I took  this photo - just shows that the social distancing is working - here is the second path that people are taking to keep away from others. Good to see it does work! I saw a guy I went to school with today and stopped to talk to him and his wife. We were all talking about how strange this all is and where things might end up eventually. It certainly is an interesting time. Writing this blog is my journal really as to what it's been like - will look back on it one day and have a read. I wonder what it would be like to go back to the earthquakes if I had been writing then? I know I was quite obsessed with the data - I still have the quakelive pictures (I printed them out) somewhere. I also struggled hugely in many ways. Hmmm, might have to write something about the similarities and differences....
Friday 10 Apr
Good Friday. I am sure many people wanted to go away at Easter and some have even tried. I can't believe how people will not stay home. It is really crazy. Had a really lazy day today. Played Talisman most of the day, with a break for jigsaw and a walk. Early evening saw a fence party going on - a couple of the neighbours and I had a chat - at a distance. It was nice to chat though. Even though we can talk to people online it's not the same as being face to face. Once again I didn't get much done and didn't feel like doing much, maybe this last two days has been my weekend. My head is certainly not in the best space right now, so I'll just let it flag for a bit and not worry too much. Hard though as I am normally quite busy and productive. Hmm, week 3 of lockdown might be getting to me a bit.

Saturday 11 Apr
I got very motivated to bake this morning - made more hot cross buns and a lemon cake as well as cooking breakfast for all of us this morning. I watched a couple of interviews on YouTube about education and then went for a walk again. Played Talisman for the afternoon really and then cooked dinner and went to bed early. Another day of not doing much work or reading. Have to keep telling myself it's OK. I am managing to do some things for myself which has to be a positive thing. I did hear about a new vege place today in the north of Chch and have ordered some from there (The Mad Acre ) to try them out this week. I'll let you all know how it goes!


Sunday 12 Apr
Certainly feel a bit more like doing things today. It's been a funny few days with me being very unmotivated and although I have achieved some things, I certainly haven't done as much as I wanted to. Finished Wasjig8 this morning - that was good, taken me a few extra days but my children haven't been helping as much with this one. I am enjoying just sitting putting a few pieces in each morning. I'm very organised when it comes to jigsaws - I sort all the pieces into colours and shapes, makes it a lot easier, especially when you don't have a picture to work too like these.
Watched a Youtube clip today on online learning in China. Fascinating to listen to world views on education and how we have the opportunity to do things differently for education. This group has a website for Silver Lining for Learning and it has info about their other discussions. It was good to hear about what they did in China - one thing standing out to me, we don't have to do everything online - paper is fine! They also shared a lot of resources city wide - teachers sharing everything for any school. They also made everything individualised, providing tutors for those that needed support. I also read this blog about Non digital Remote Learning - something we need to consider for many of our ākonga. I like some of the links from here as well.
Had a good chat with a friend today which made me think about the similarities and differences again of the earthquakes and the current situation. I think I'll write a separate blog about this as I find it quite interesting. The evening saw a catch up of our dragonboat team online - good to see those smiling faces ad find out what people have been up to. You do realise how much you miss something once it's not there and even though i don't always do the social thing with the team, I do miss that contact each week.

Monday 13 Apr
Definitely more motivated today. Out in the garden early and have made worcester sauce today. Funny how moods can change so quickly with each day. Some days y brain is working fine and others it is not. I've started the next jigsaw and have been finishing a bit of work as well. Far more productive!
Hmm, was going to write more about today but a friend has sent me a text to say her Mum died this morning. I'm sad. I can't imagine how horrible it would be to be in that situation right now. I have no words.
Posting this - it's time, and I'll think and write better tomorrow.

Isolation 5

Sunday 5 Apr

I remembered Daylight saving - which is amazing as I can't remember what day it is! In

saying that, I forgot to change the kitchen clock so had dinner an hour early - ah well...
Had another day away from my laptop - I must say it is quite nice to do that, I don't do it often. I played Talisman, finished the jigsaw puzzle (Wasjig5) - I am going to run out eventually, but it's fun at the moment and is a nice break from having a screen in front of me all day. I did yet more sorting of lemons - lots of juice and sliced lemons in the freezer now!
Had a look at a clip about training for dragonboating - wish I had a paddle here at home, I could do some work in the pool and keep fit for that - keen to get back to training, missed the last couple of weeks and can't get to the erg at the moment. Soon. Please soon.
I have 172 unread emails now - hmm, better get onto those tomorrow. I feel I need to get organised and into a bit of a routine, but also trying to take some time for myself and making that happen for now.
I spent some time this evening trying to get Hangouts working with relative on their iPad, eventually turning to Zoom as the iPad wasn't up to date enough to install the Hangouts app - ah the joys of technology.
Finished Wasjig 5 today -
Keeping in contact with others is such an important part of my day. I chatted to a colleague at the park today (from a distance) and it was so nice to be able to see someone in person. I don't think we realise how much we need that.

Monday 6 Apr
Needed to get some work done this morning so spent a few hours on my laptop. Finally cleared some emails and got some planning done. I'm trying to get some work done each day but some days I just can't seem to find the energy. Although we are home and technically on holiday there are so many things to do to get sorted and prepared for next week and I feel sometimes that I am a first year teacher all over again!
I had some time trying to start a new jigsaw, got all the edge pieces out but couldn't sort them into a full frame - eventually my son came to the rescue and changed my sideways seagull to it's proper location at the top of the jigsaw! My brain is obviously not working as well as it should today.
The usual walk and some more Talisman (including being turned into a toad yet again) and the afternoon disappeared quite quickly. Had to call the vet as one of the cats has a skin problem and it has flared up again. Had to email photos in then I will get a phone consultation in the morning which is a good way of getting around the contact issue. I'm sure they will just pop her on some more prednisone - she's been on and off it for years.
We had our Boma Education Fellows call this evening. I spent quite a while in the afternoon trying to get my bluetooth to work. I have a great connection with my phone where I can hear very well - it sends the sound directly to my hearing aids and sounds like it's in the middle of my head, helps heaps with hearing on the phone, but my computer was not having a bar of it. On my Surface, which I use all the time I couldn't get a good connection even to listen to a YouTube clip, it kept cutting out. I might have to do some digging into that. Anyway, I went onto my school laptop and managed to get the sound working with YouTube, but then when I went on Zoom I got nothing. Sigh. I was running out of time yesterday but today I'll check the settings on Zoom and see what I can change to get my hearing sorted. I do find it really difficult at the moment, everything is online and my hearing just isn't quite good enough to catch everything. I realise how much I lipread in situations like this and lagging on the video does not help! It is so good to chat with like minded educators from around Canterbury. I find it really stimulating and although I was tired it did help me work out a bit more towards where my project will lead me this year. You can read about the latest meeting on my blog when I get it finished. Another chat online after that then early to bed. I must say it's been nice going to bed early and just reading for a while.

Tuesday 7 Apr
My personal email count is up to 182. I have been putting this off for a while and I think today is the day. I cleared my work ones yesterday so I think these are in for the cut. Many are genealogy sites and newsletters to read so could take me a day or two!!
The vet called this morning and has prescribed some cream and some prednisone so I had to go out and collect that so I braved the supermarket as well. I must say we are really lucky where we are. I walked in straight away, no queue and they had everything on the shelves that I wanted, including plenty of flour and toilet paper!! Lots of things had limits on them, but you don't need that much for a normal shop. There were a couple of people there not worrying about the distancing but on the whole people were really great and thoughtful. I am thankful I am not in a crazy supermarket space.
Another chat online to a colleague - always good to talk pedagogy and ideas. I do enjoy conversations that make me think and challenge things.
I fund the subject matter of my online course this week really interesting, and not so easy - it is about social connection and kindness. The kindness bit wasn't so hard but the social connection is a wee bit tricky right now! I'll be doing another blog on this soon.
My usual walk and yet another game of Talisman (where I didn't get turned into a toad but was killed a couple of times) and then time talking to a relative who is fairly anti any tech but trying to get sorted on messenger to keep in touch with some people. I didn't realise Facebook was now requiring a photo to access your account or to make a new one. All he wanted to do was be on Messenger, but that requires FB. I suggested his group use Whatsapp - much better option as you can add people by phone number and they don't have to be on FB. Wow. Been a learning curve for me too today.
Trying to get my Boma blog done today but not feeling the vibe - I do have to be in a writing mood to write up my notes and I have another online meeting tonight for the MIE Experts so may wait and write it all up tomorrow. I seem to be only able to do a few hours solid work each day at the moment. My brain gets tired I think.

Wednesday 8 Apr
Finally got my Boma blog done today with a bit of sidetracking into some great educational resources. A couple that I have read before came back strongly to me. The first being Ann Milne's Colouring in your virtual white spaces - reminding us to be thoughtful of our Māori ākonga in this time. The other was looking at different ways of doing things with tech - Using TikTok for Maths. There are so many cool things happening out there it's hard to keep up and I can certainly feel overloaded with information some days!
I decided not to go for a walk today, not because of being lazy but to give my toe a bit of a break. I damaged this last April (broke toes and snapped a tendon) - a year ago today in fact and have been waiting for a specialist appointment to hopefully fix it. My appointment was for April 2nd. So, as you can imagine, it got cancelled. I do feel a bit gutted after waiting all this time and now there is no date in sight for the forseeable future. And quite rightly so. It's not urgent, I can walk when it is strapped up, it's just a nuisance that I have to have it strapped all the time to hold it together. The skin was a bit yuk yesterday, getting a bit raw with the tape, so I've taken the strapping off for a couple of days. But I can't walk far, hence no walk today. Back into it tomorrow when I tape it up again. I missed the walk today though. It's nice to get out. I think I have realised I miss any time and space to myself. There is no time, apart from my walk, that I have no-one around - even there there are other people walking. Having space to do whatever I want in whatever way I want is nonexistent at the moment. I really feel for those with young children, it must be super hard right now.
Every time I get near a bunch of super motivated kaiako I learn so much! I went on a quick chat today taken by one of our MIE Experts Nikkie Laing. She was talking about how to do really pretty and useful infographics in Powerpoint and Google slides. I'll add the information from it on to the end of my MIE blog from last night (hopefully Ill finish that tomorrow. I get so excited about new things, just reminds me again of my love of learning - and how that links in to the VIA character traits I got with the course I'm doing. It all links up and I love that stuff!
Had an online chat with some neighbours today - we were all feeling the lack of personal contact and I remembered seeing on the news last night about the group that meet out on the street to do a workout each day, and the other group that just go out and walk around, have a chat and then back inside. We are all craving that human contact I think. It will be interesting to see how things go as time goes on. Another good discussion was with my son. He plays Borderlands online and told me about a cool new game inside Borderlands that is mapping the gut microbiome. You can read more about it here. It's really interesting connecting gaming with Science, I think it's an awesome idea. He reminded me of Ender's Game as well - a great read if you are looking for one.

Can't believe it has been 2 weeks already. Lots still that I want to do for my holidays!!! Plus lots of work to do so going to be a busy Easter. Oh, and I'd better clear those emails - still haven't done it....

Isolation 4

Thursday 2 Apr
I managed to update my website this morning - added a few more articles to read and things to do. It's been good to have somewhere to keep everything easily accessible.
I read two articles today that really resonated with me.
The difference between Emergency Remote Teaching and Online Learning and This is the Time. I loved the question posed in this second article:

“If you were told that you didn’t have a curriculum, what would you teach?"

It's such a good question and has me thinking about what is really important for our ākonga right now. Relationships are really the key and if I can keep in contact with my mentor group I will be really happy. Checking in has never been more important I think. I also like the questions Will Richardson asks in his blog - The parent opportunity. These will be questions I want to ask when I call and touch base around learning.

• When is your child most engaged with their online school experience? Why? What drives that engagement?
• When is your child bored or disengaged? Why?
• When do your children feel joy in learning? What circumstances lead to that?
• What are you learning about your children during this experience? How does that learning happen?
• How are your children’s learning skills improving during this time? What’s changing about them as learners?

I ordered a few things from my online pharmacy today. It makes you wonder how shopping will happen after all of this. I do find it much easier to go online and have things delivered! Will we continue to do this after lockdown? Who knows. I know we have been moving towards more online shopping anyway, but I never even thought to go to some of these online shops until now. At the moment many online stores are just not coping with the influx of orders but many are embracing this change and working hard to make things work efficiently. I think there will be an increase in sales online, even after lockdown as we all find it's easier than going out. I wonder who has been doing the online shop thing for ages - I'm probably just old fashioned and thought I had to go to a shop to get things. Change is on it's way, in so many aspects of our lives. I read this article also today - Four Possible Futures and found it quite thought-provoking. I must say I am enjoying the time to read and reflect more!

Had a good discussion with my son about what is learning, and what education could look like. We talked about how learning to learn is the key thing that schools need to get through to their students. But how do you teach people to learn? We came up with 3 main strands that are needed - Hauora, Literacies and Motivation. I think that this also answers some of the questions above. You need motivation to learn, so what is that motivation for each individual. It is going to be individual, as is the wellbeing/hauora side of things. How can we learn more from this experience to help us lead learning in a more individual personalised way? So many things going through my head right now!!

Another sunny day so spent some time in the garden which was good. I chatted with a few people online, keeping up my contact for the day and managed to lose a couple of hours in my genealogy research - the time flies when I am doing that!

Friday 3 Apr

A busy day today. I spent a lot of time doing school work today. We needed to get a good handle on whether our whanau had internet connection and a device to work on, knowing that many of them don't. We are so lucky to have access to all of this online where some people don't have the access. This is not an equitable time at all and I feel that we will fall short for many of our ākonga during this time. But we can only do what we can do. Hopefully the Ministry of Education will come to the party and help out for some of them.

I made kasundi today - it's a spicy green tomato chutney that is absolutely stunning with chicken! Decided to pick the green tomatoes and tidy up the vege garden a bit before planting some more seeds. Nice to be out in the garden! I also picked a ton of lemons today - I do miss not being able to give out fruit and veg to neighbours and colleagues, having to make things with them instead. I'll just have to hand out frozen and bottled fruit and veg when we finally get to go out again. Not sure what I'll do with the lemons yet, that's tomorrow's job.

Quite a few chats with people today, good to catch up with whanau of my ākonga. Many of them doing fine but a few struggling, especially with having everyone in close quarters. I know I enjoy getting out for a walk each day and spending time in the garden when I can. One parent was really enjoying getting her tamariki out in the garden sowing seeds and measuring out distance between seeds when planting. Such a great learning moment, we should be encouraging more of this.

I have read a few more articles today, mainly around online learning and the difference between what happens normally and what happens in a crisis situation like this. I did like this article - just getting us to realise this is not normal. It does concern me that some schools are just doing exactly what they would do normally but putting it all online. It's not the same and we need to think about this in a different way. 

I think I stuck my head in the sand a bit as I have 147 emails in my inbox for home. I've been avoiding using a computer where possible but maybe I should clear these - I normally do it every day but been a bit slack lately. Lots of genealogy emails and lots of Covid19 ones as well. Maybe tomorrow...

Saturday 4 Apr

I had a pretty relaxed day today. Managed to get through a large chunk of those lemons - making lemon juice ice blocks, lemon syrup and 2 lemon cakes for my lovely children! I also managed to make cookies and cook a roast - been a busy cooking day.

My emails have gone up to 157 - I really need to get onto those tomorrow but stuck my head in the sand today. I kept off any device until this evening when I really felt I needed to complete this blog.

I had a good day today playing Talisman with my children. It's an amazing game that I really enjoy but it takes a lots of brain power. I feel that I am a step behind my children at all times an I struggle to keep up with the play sometimes. I enjoy the game though and it's well worth playing if you can. My son has every expansion in the world I think - it was his birthday and Christmas presents for years. But it was nice to play the game for the day - keen to have another session tomorrow.

It was nice to catch up with my brother tonight. He lives in Golden Bay and I was considering going up there soon to say hi but that idea is down the track now. Good to have a chat about life, the universe and everything. 

I'm thinking every few days is a good time to post these, so here it is. Haven't finished the latest jigsaw, maybe tomorrow.

Don't forget to put your clocks back tonight!!!

Isolation 3

Monday 30 Mar
Technically the first day of our school holidays today. I cleared my school emails, listened to a podcast on Learning Space design and had a good browse through the Modern Learners Community chat. One of the questions that came up a lot for me today was 'what do you mean by learning?' Not a consensus on this, but I think the main thing is that learning is experienced through the senses. So much of what we need to do while we are in this weird situation is to look at learning differently. We can't just transfer what we were doing at school to an online environment. This blog really resonated with me. We need to be looking at wellbeing and learning about ourselves and what is going on. I know that this will guide me over the next few weeks.
Had a great zoom chat with a colleague this morning. It was nice to talk about all things education and how we are dealing with this situation. We had a good discussion around access and equality, it certainly is not an equal playing field for our students. I found out today there was thing called Social Data, where they can have access to social apps, but not anything else. Is this a way to get through to some of our ākonga? We talked about how to grow our self-directed learners. She suggested I watch Jamie Oliver's 20 years of Naked Chef (I missed this the other night), and we talked about how being self directed doesn't mean there is no input, we are never isolated, but it's about how that looks. How do we move parents to this stage of letting their tamariki be self directed learners? Are parents expecting us to send home worksheets and tell them what to do every minute of the school day? We need to let children play and not be directed. This will make a difference to how they cope with things down the track. What could school really look like? It os worksheets and tasks given out? Should school be only an hour or two each day with specific instruction and then have the rest of the time to explore, to play? It takes me back to a book I read a while ago "Lifelong Kindergarten" and how play is so important. We don't have worksheets when we start a ob, learning is not a worksheet even though many parents will think that is what is needed in this time of lockdown. How do we change this? So many questions. One main one - what are the problems that need to be solved now? So many things to think about!
I managed to clean out the shelves with all my spices and herbs on today. Well that was an eye opener!! I threw out a few things with dates that were just a few years ago! Maybe the Best Before dtae of 2007 is just a little bit too long to hold onto something. It's even before we moved to this house, so I obviously didn't clean out very well when we moved either. Also found the box shown here - been in the family for just a few years - anyone else remember this!? It even had the original bottles in it - now that's pushing it. That box is probably a collectors item now.
I was a bit tearful over a FB post by a friend, talking about our sense of honesty and our growing into strong women. It really hit home for me and made me realise how much we can influence people just from being real. I'm enjoying sharing my time with others and to be honest, it's actually about me just getting my thoughts into some semblance of order, rather than needing others to read this. I am OK if no-one does, but if it helps someone else, that's great.
More work on the latest jigsaw, a bit of reading and some social chat rounded out the day for today. Just remembered - Daylight Saving ends this Sunday.

Tuesday 31 Mar
Last day of March. Wow - where did that go?
I wanted to take part in the Bear hunt project - placing a bear in your window for those walking to find. Our place is up a long drive so I had to improvise a bit as you can't see our windows form the street - Teddy may get a bit wet, or even stolen, but it's worth a try for a day or three.
I found out last night that Ancestry was available through my local library. I haven't got a sub with Ancestry and getting to the library to use it has been a bit of a problem time-wise, so to get home access is awesome. I think there will be a fair bit of genealogy going on over the next 2 weeks. The library has access to a few sites normally but I have specific things I want to search for in Ancestry so now's the time. It's taking me a bit to get my head back into the tree, but I love it and it certainly uses up the time!
Watched some great YouTube clips by our kaiako today. A couple of them have made YouTube Channels which is a great idea to get some content across to ākonga. I have added my channel to the mix and put a new page on my site for these. I haven't put much up on my channel for a while, but there are still some theory sessions for those who want them.
Having the sun out today was great, time to get out into the garden and managed to fill the green bin ready for the rubbish at the end of the week. I need to empty one of my compost bins which will give me more space for garden rubbish as well.
Still managing to get through lots on my list each day - important to make sure I don't just sit around all day - although I could be convinced that researching my family tree isn't sitting around :)
Finished another jigsaw today - Wasgij number 7 done and dusted.

Wednesday 1 Apr
It's April Fool's day. Someone said they sort of wished that Covid19 was a cruel April Fool's Day prank. I think we could all understand that thought. There was a great meme on FB with Jacinda telling us it was an April Fool's joke - we wish...
I had an interesting day today. Lots of different things going on.
I went to the doctor today to get my flu vaccine - I am in the early group that needs this, due to my cancer a few years ago. It was an interesting experience, driving on the very quiet streets, even just driving was an experience. I had to wait in my car until they could see me, and then it was a very interesting experience, keeping distance from others. I feel for all those working in health at the moment, they are doing an amazing job.
I had a couple of really good chats online,with my daughter and with a colleague. I don't know what I would do without that contact. It's so important to actually see people online. I am concerned for those that do not have that ability to access internet or a device - how do we solve this issue? I was talking to my daughter today about the questions we need solving and how to solve them. It's a real issue and I am sure there are some amazing minds out there to solve a lot of what we have to deal with. We just have to find them!
I spent some time out in the garden again today but really was struggling to get my head around the day. I felt a bit removed from people and felt that life was a wee bit difficult today. I don't know how long this will continue, but I know that life will not be the same while we are on lockdown - it's hard. I don;t know if it will be the same after lockdown either - things will change. I hope that people will support each other and make sure that their loved ones are safe and in a good frame of mind at this time. I worry about so many people.
It's hard to do my course homework for week 3 - it's random acts of kindness, which is not so easy when you are at home with one person! However, I am still managing it so far :)
I made tomato sauce today - made soup a few days ago and the amount of tomatoes in the garden, plus some from my nephew have meant a huge amount of cooking going on! It's great though - I'll keep some aside for others once we get out of lockdown.
I do love the sports news at the moment, watching how people are doing their sports training, it's been entertaining. I have been trying to keep fit and keeping the weight off that I have lost over summer - long may it last.
Loving the videos of my great niece that keep coming in - hope all is well up there in Auckland.
April it is. Stay home. Stay safe.

Isolation 2

I was going to put a day number, but actually I'll forget which one I'm up to, so the day will have to suffice.

Friday 27th Mar - I only know it's Friday because I put the rubbish bins out last night!
Last night we had the first EdchatNZ for a while. I had forgotten how fast these chats go - I was really having to concentrate to keep up, but such a wealth of information from so many kaiako around the country. I added a few more docs to my site from the conversation, and also from my Facebook reading. I must say, I am enjoying the amount of time I have to upskill and read articles. Love learning!
Talking about loving learning, I am now on week 2 of the Social Emotional course and have put my notes on another blog post.
Today was a mix of work, jigsaws and exercise. I am still getting through 8 or 9 of my list of to do things each day which I figure is pretty good. My son went to the supermarket today to get some essentials, I've been baking and making soups so needed a few things to keep that up. I did like a comment form a friend today - he bought wine and ice cream in his shop and when they asked if that was essential, he told them his partner would probably murder the children if he didn't get them! I can totally understand.
One thing I love is the creativity of people that is coming out while we are at home. There are so many amazing videos coming out on FB, on the news and on YouTube. It would be great to have all of this every day!! Lots of humour and lots of craziness. It's good to have a laugh.
I bought a colouring book online today. Couldn't resist. Joe Mcmenamin has made this great colouring book that has information about our NZ birds and is just gorgeous and costs only $10 for a download that you can print out many times at home. If you have a printer at home and a few colouring pens or pencils then this is a great option. I'll be colouring in this week for sure. Reminds me of having my concussion - many days at home with not a lot to do and colouring in was my saviour over that time.
Going for a walk today there were a lot more people out walking. I can only think this will be good for the health of our nation eventually - getting out for a walk is probably not normal for a lot of people and I hope everyone will take advantage of the time to get a bit fitter, not just sit on the couch. Speaking of that, I just heard tonight that Les Mills is teaming up wth TVNZ to do workout sessions free on TV. Monday 9am TV1 and TV 2 at 3pm for teenagers  - might be worth a look!

Saturday 28 Mar
Had a nice quiet day off today - lol!!
No, really. I didn't do any work today and did a lot more lounging around and not being on a device. We managed to finish the first jigsaw today - Wasjig number 6 done and dusted, with 3 pieces missing! Got a few more to do, so will post as they get finished. Did a load of washing, went for a walk, made cookies and cooked tea and read a book, that's about it.
Had some good conversations with my daughter today and she said something that really resonated with me. We were talking about the difference now to the aftermath of the earthquakes and she said that we had swapped the physical essentials for the emotional essentials. After the earthquake we struggled for power, water, food whereas now we have all of those but don't have the social contact. A lot of things are the same, no school, no traffic, many places are shut but those things are different. I thought about this for quite a while today. It's certainly bringing back memories of the quakes and many families will feel the same but different as well.
I was also thinking more about education and how we can reinvent some things. What can we do to make it more equitable in this situation? How can we change what we do and how we do it, and how can we not go backwards once things are a little more 'normal'? There are lots of things going through my head today, with time to think.
I am blessed to be in a good situation at the moment, but I know many others are not. It hurts sometimes.

Sunday 29 Mar
Had a great Skype chat with my cousin in England this morning. We try and catch up when we can and it was really interesting to see the similarities in the way the countries are dealing with COVID19. It was good to check in with the whanau, make sure my relatives were all OK over there. It may mean a change in him coming here next year which was planned - could be a while before we see each other in person again.
I had already decided that this weekend was going to be a full rest weekend, trying not to do any work or anything too much but still keeping up with a few of the things on my list. I have been very tired and I think quite stressed over the last week. I realised how stressed when I came to the realisation that I really needed to go to the supermarket today. I have been avoiding it for the last week due to crowds and panic buying but it got to us needing some basics.  I really struggled to get out of the door. Tears and a mild panic. Going into the unknown, people around, not wanting to go near anyone, how was I going to cope? I went armed with gloves and a strategic plan that my son helped me put in place so I felt more comfortable with venturing out. It's amazing how much anxiety I have at baseline level and when the chips are down it surfaces. It gave me flashbacks to the earthquakes, putting on a brave face for my children but underneath having a huge fear and stress levels were through the roof. I am lucky now that my children are now young adults and we all share the anxiety gene so we have a joint understanding of what this feels like. Anyway, I made it. Thank goodness I bought wine is all I can say. It felt very odd with so few people around and people keeping their distance for the most part.
Coming home was a relief and I finally immersed myself in a jigsaw for a while, then sat and completed my Coursera blog and then this one.
Time to relax for the evening. Think I might pour myself a wine.