Spent some time here and there over this long weekend adding old pictures from years ago to this site so it's less of a blog and more of a general chronicle.
Backlog
Isle of Palms 2023
Friday Evening Downtown
Thanksgiving 2023
Before
Babcia Has Arrived
It's been ten years since Babcia last came for a visit here. She wanted to, but then again, there was always something: the noclegi business; Covid; other obligations; a bit of nervousness about the whole process.
But now the noclegi business is history, Covid is a manageable worry, and other obligations no longer are. It was still a stressful process for her.
Playing to Learn
Educational technology has come a long way in the last ten years. We've gone from simple programs like Google Docs to interactive learning games like Kahoot and Gimkit.
I use these, but I'm of mixed feelings on the topic.
On the one hand, they do get students engaged. When you're using learning to earn snowballs to pelt your classmates (see below), you're going to forget to some degree that you're learning/practicing.
On the other hand, gamifying learning seems to run the opposite risk: kids are more interested in the game and less interested in the learning, and they're willing to take risks (i.e., click somewhat randomly) to speed the process. And also, does everything have to be a game?
Still, it got some kids who are usually less than enthusiastic about school to engage to some degree for a few minutes. That's a win.
Roadside Chapels, Chyzne, 2004
Saturday
This morning started with a mystery: an unknown dog was roaming around our driveway. When I went out to see if it was okay, he ran down to the fence and hid behind a bush there.
And he stayed there. I took him food; I took him water; I let him sniff me and then tried petting him. He took the food; he drank the water; he let me stroke him a little. We took some pictures, posted them on social media, and hoped for the best.
In the meantime, I set about trimming our second crape myrtle. We had to trim the one because it was sick, infested with some kind of insect that seemed to be killing the upper branches. And after we trimmed one, we couldn't leave the other untrimmed.
By the time I had it almost completed, I got a notification from one of our social media posts about the dog: "That's my dog!" So I shared our address, and she came to pick up her terrified pup.
The rest of the day passes as a usual Saturday: I'm in the yard; K works in the house.
And even when the last light has passed, she finds things to do.
Friends
Two of our newest students have been developing a friendship even though one of them doesn't yet speak much English at all.
