Easing back in

[herbgeek]

So I struggle to understand the difference between feedback and suggestions.

I understand it like this (and CL, feel free to tell me I'm completely wrong): feedback is comments on what someone has told you they intend to do, suggestions are new items that the person did not say they were doing.

Feedback could be: I don't think doing what you mentioned in that order would be best. What if you do the 3rd item on your list first, because first thing in the morning is when you've said you aren't quite awake and this 3rd task doesn't require much of your attention. Then you could do the first task that is most important to you, later when you are awake and can give it proper attention.

Suggestions would be : why are you doing those tasks? You should be doing this other set of tasks instead. Or why don't you elimate tasks 3, 4 and 5 and just focus on tasks 1 and 2. In this case, the poster has said they intend to do all 5, and this suggestion is not helpful.

[Chicken lady]

Yes herbgeek!

mschrisgo2 - two binders! I’m impressed! But yes, you get the challenge!

i currently have a daily calendar with a column for materials needed that day and an hourly schedule on each page, a master plan book with weekly double spread pages for each class topic and activity that week, a color coded hanging file folder for papers/handouts for each class, a large binder with color coded dividers to keep my pottery classes in - each day has a single page with space for topics/notes at the top and attendance and notes on each kid below, and each class has a section for a double page spread project record for each kid. And small color coded binders for each non-pottery class, but I haven’t figured out what their pages should look like besides attendance and topics/notes. All this fits in a hanging file crate.

[Chicken lady]

Yesterday my dh gave me our concert schedule for fall (we get a subscription series every year, it is something we both enjoy doing.) we have concerts on October 6th and 20th. My parents had asked if they could visit us in October, so I gave them the schedule and they asked if they could come the weekend of the 13th. We offered to get them concert tickets, but they were not interested. (My father doesn’t like classical music - I think because he associates it with his father, but that’s a whole ‘nother story)

so that is october. Something three weekends in a row is a lot for me.

september - there is an art exhibit downtown I would like to see, but it ends sept 9th, so I probably won’t. Dh would probably point out that I could easily go after work, but going downtown alone is exhausting and stressful for me and seeing this particular exhibit is not a major life goal.

also in September are two other fall activities I generally enjoy. One is the renfest and the other is a fiber arts festival. (Renfest continues through October, but...)

the only person I know who would want to go to the renfest with me is dd2, who just moved away. Dh took me to the fiber arts festival last year. I am comfortable going to either by myself, but the renfest is more fun with a friend, and the fiber arts festival is so big that sometimes I get overwhelmed. The thought of wandering around like a concussion victim unable to decide I am ready to go home is not enticing. Also, I do not need anything from the fiber arts festival except maybe more socks - which I can order on-line - having saved the website of the person who sold them to me last year. I haven’t even used most of the ideas I collected last year.

Another traditional sept/oct activity in my house is the trip to the apple orchard followed by canning applesauce. Last year I attended both festivals, but I did not make applesauce. I have missed having the applesauce this year. And my annual fall/winter pottery sale is in November, but most of the prep work needs to be done in the next eight weeks. The class I am taking runs six more weeks.

so, being realistic about my available time, my eight week plan is:
work
class
keep trying to make progress on the house/barn/yard
Volunteer at the food bank 3 weeks a month (skipping the Monday my parents visit, the September Monday I have a doctor’s appointment, and maybe one more Monday in October)
2 concerts
a visit with my parents
pottery
applesauce

in addition to this I am attempting to add a structured exercise routine in which I do yoga at home with dh two mornings a week and swim after school two nights a week. The nights I swim, I will not make dinner.

feedback?

[SteveinMN]

so, being realistic about my available time, my eight week plan is:
[list ensues]

in addition to this I am attempting to add a structured exercise routine in which I do yoga at home with dh two mornings a week and swim after school two nights a week. The nights I swim, I will not make dinner.

feedback?

I find that plans like that are quite helpful to me but that they never account for the things that creep in -- and something always creeps in. New projects at work; the scope of "homework" for the class; critter issues; etc. Will incorporating some of those be an issue? Is there anything on your list that is either expendable or can be rushed/skimped on without a great deal of regret?

[Chicken lady]

Oh dear, that’s pretty much the bare bones part of the list.

it does not include dishes or clean clothes, emergencies, non-family social activities, surprise visits from kids, housekeeping, reading, baking, or cheese and ice cream making.

however, “progress on the house/barn/yard” I thought I left pretty flexible. It could be sorting through and reorganizing the room Dd just vacated, or it could be hanging a picture in the bare spot she left on the wall...

the He amount of work I do for my class and sale are flexible because they matter only to me- so if something else becomes more important to me I can cut there, and the unmentioned dinners I am working on. Dh will probably get tired and punt on yoga sometimes. The pool will have a crisis and close. (I lost 6 weeks last year) and I am an hourly employee at work, so I am struggling with boundaries. It is hard, because 90% of my job, I would do for free.

the woman running the new records and communications system must have realized that none of us were going to watch the 7 (unpaid) hours of training videos because she is now sending us “5 quick tasks” to do every week with very detailed instructions. She says to let her know if we need one on one help and that she will be sending these every Saturday - please try to do them before Wednesday so she has time to help us before the next one. Our workweek is tues - fri. I am processing how I feel about this, because she keeps presenting it as this great resource we are being given and I have yet to see any way in which it will help me. However, I am willing to devote the ten daily minutes I previously devoted to posting class activities that nobody ever read to doing her tasks. I will not be posting the class activities however. I often stop this, and several months later the administration notices and asks me to do it and then I do for a while. This time I will say “I know, I have been working on learning canvas so I can use that.”

Last night I checked the foodbank website and it said they were open today. So this morning I drove over, and the cardboard sign on the door said they were closed. So I drove home. I had no exercise on my plan for the day, so I spent the time working on my stalls. Two of them are now past “minimum needed” and well into “really good” (the rest are still at minimum.)

now it is the time time I would normally get home and I have finally stopped dripping, so I am going to go take a shower and work on the things (laundry, dishes, baking and lesson plans) I had planned for my afternoon.

[Teacher Terry]

I use canvas for my online class and taught myself with no instructions. It is so much easier than blackboard. It has made my life easier.

[Chicken lady]

I have no idea what blackboard is, except that it must be something like canvas.

i currently use I have no idea what but attendance is one page I pull up from a bookmarked link “check absent students” and I have another page for each class with a class list, a row of e-mails for parents and kids (I can e-mail all or selected kids and or parents) and a box at the bottom where I am supposed to summarize what we did that day, but usually don’t because I established that no one reads it. (I asked for parent feedback in the class summary. I offered prizes in the class summary. No feedback. No prizes claimed.) My administration usually checks on me in November. Then I do it until Christmas and never hear about it again.

i write assignments on the board. If they need an electronic copy, they can take a picture with their phone. I write legibly faster than I type.

my classes are all hands-on. My grades are narratives. Why do I want canvas? (Real question. Tell me what I should be excited about?)

[Teacher Terry]

It may not be useful to you. My college class is online so everything comes electronically and I grade on there. I also leave feedback on every assignment for every student. Email is our main method of communicating. It is so much faster and easier than Blackboard.

[Chicken lady]

That’s what’s making me grumpy about it. I’m pretty sure it isn’t going to be very useful for me. My best hope is that the e-mail part will work better. Currently no one can figure out why, but when I click on a person/group to email it insists on using my personal e-mail instead of my teacher email so I have to copy the address line, go to my teacher email and paste.

meanwhile, it is bright and sunny here, but hot. I am so pleased with my stall accomplishments this morning that even though my lesson plans for the week are not done, I am enjoying relaxing by my giant windows reading and snacking on frozen blueberries. I did my baking and some dishes and laundry.

we are going out to dinner with the in town kids tonight.

[Teacher Terry]

The email works great. It allows you to choose to have your messages to be sent to your canvas email only or you can also have them sent to your regular email. I chose both. That way I know immediately if I have a message and can respond. Because I only teach one class I respond 7 days a week unless I am out having fun. It doesn’t sound useful to you except for email. I hate when I worked for the state and they wanted you to learn something you would never need. But at least we got paid.