Oh my word, I’m done in.
Somehow, as a dear colleague pointed out to me this week, we seem to have arrived at the end of the Fall semester, still in person for the majority of our classes, masked-up but healthy. Most of the absences were due to the flu, or people feeling unwell after their jabs. I know that we’re all tired though, it has been tense and strange, nowhere near the new normal we promised ourselves.
It’s nice to be back home today although I have a week ahead of grading papers, which luckily for me means reading blog posts, watching videos, and listening to audio recordings created by the students as outcomes. Then thoughts will turn to next semester, preparing projects, some of which are already underway and hopefully a restful break.
Talking of breaks, we had a few days in our neighboring state Ohio, visiting Dayton and Cincinnati, walking across the Purple People Bridge into Newport, Kentucky. We stayed in a sweet little rental cottage, and just as interesting as it was to visit places, it was nice to bed in with a film and a slice of Pizza.
I enjoyed the houses in the St. Anne’s Hill District in Dayton, with so many wonderful buildings with great character. This one is right out of Lemony Snicket and wouldn’t look out of place in Chartres or Bordeaux.
It will take me a little longer to fully reflect on this past semester, I have so many thoughts about my teaching, being on campus, going to meetings, and catching up with colleagues. That part I’m less ambiguous about, it has been lovely to catch up and see people, how I’ve missed their company. I think two years of the pandemic has left my conversational skills just the left of awkward, I could do with a refresher on engaging and thoughtful interaction, perhaps there was a little too much sharing of lockdown tips or talking about my viewing habits.
Let’s take a trip through the week and reflect on a few aspects, otherwise, I might have no recollection and it will have disappeared into the fog of my mind.
Stephan
Teaching & Learning
It’s clear that the students are exhausted as they move into the completion phase of their courses, I only hope that they haven’t left themselves with too much to do. Someone gave me a tip that I should create ungraded deadlines because students need them to help prioritize their time, and although it feels slightly pointless, it gives them the structure to support their learning throughout the semester.
I’m not sure and I feel quite caught, between deadlines that might help focus minds and the possibility that they might be discouraging and that the rot might set in early on for certain students. A design process contains a series of staging posts and I can quickly see who’s struggling and who needs support while letting others know that they’re on the right track and to keep going. Again it’s about not knowing the other pressures my students are under, and where this course comes in their list of priorities.
I wish there was a way of measuring stress, with convenient little red, amber, and green bars and you could see how an assignment in one area might be taking up so much of their energy that adding to their load might completely tip the balance, but I know that there isn’t any way to do this. I don’t think any of us instructors would be comfortable knowing that a task we might set, would have a detrimental effect on the wellbeing of our students. Something has got to be done to manage this as a team of instructors, rather than as individuals providing accommodations and managing issues when they come up.
The next few weeks will be enormously stressful for many students, and it seems strange that we provide the safety net to catch them while not addressing the reasons for them falling in the first place. I know that’s unfair to the huge number of people who provide that support, and work is being done throughout the institution, it’s just that I know that I’ll be getting emails, that a few people may need extra help to get them through the end of the semester, and that it will be too late to alleviate those pressures.
Life Lessons
I’ve been trying to refresh my JavaScript skills, to work on a few new projects, and keep finding beautiful work dotted around the internet, including this piece by Alexander Chen, I just love the simplicity of line, dot, and ellipse.
My sabbatical list is growing daily, but it will come down to learning (for me), reading, and making (the majority of this time). Oh, and I’ve been asked to share, so I have a few visits lined up at various universities and with different groups who also do this work and manage similar facilities. Writing comes under sharing, so we’re still good with three/four categories.
I am truly excited, unsure where the next few months will take me, whether it will mean a reset or inform what I’m currently doing (almost certainly) or take me in a new direction.
Lost and Found
One thing that might screw up my plans is whatever happens next and whether Omicrom sets us back. I’m keeping a close eye on developments as I’m sure you are too, the worry and anxiety are already with us, which is already a disruption. If you’re still holding out, get a vaccine, and if you’re already vaxxed, get a booster, not my words. Also, remember this? It’s still relevant I think.
There were a few comments in our classes about how much more we could be doing to decolonize learning and in particular stop adopting western models of thinking as the only place to begin in terms of frameworks and theories. I need to do more, in all aspects of my work, this isn’t easy and it requires work on my part. Two posts on the ALT website look at how we can decolonize learning technologies, part 1 looks at perspectives around decolonization and part 2 continues the conversation.
I’m determined to learn my keyboard shortcuts for diacritical marks (ôéêç…etc) once and for all, on my phone I can switch easily from one language to another, but only certain apps on the desktop are responsive in the same way and if only a part of a sentence is in French say, in an email, then it’s painful to change the entire keyboard. There are a few sites that can help, including howtotypeanything.com and a useful cheatsheet that might print out while you’re getting used to it.
Thank you
I don’t have much more to say about the trip to Ohio, just that it was good to get away, and even though there wasn’t a huge amount to see, it was good for the mind and probably gave me the energy to get through this final week.
It was fun to be in Dayton, home of one of my favorite bands of all time, The Breeders, and I can understand why the music is gritty and stark at times. My understanding is that Kim and her twin sister Kelly still live in the area as they’ve been taking care of their mum who has Alzheimer's disease. I wanted to leave you with “Wait in the car” which our boys might identify with as I lept out to take photos of street art or whatever local record store we were passing.
I’m hoping you’re well, take care of yourselves and keep going, the winter break is just around the corner and soon you’ll be wearing your favorite jumper, slowly being absorbed into the couch as your eyes close and your hand struggles to hold a glass of wine.