I read a book this week!
I know, that doesn’t sound very exciting, but trust me, I’m dancing at my desk with this news! You see, I’ve been having a very “2020 2020,” as a friend so aptly put it, and dealing with my ongoing depressive episode has at many times felt like just the tip of the iceberg of craziness that this year has thrown at me (and all of us, really). Depressive episodes can last anywhere from 2 weeks to most of 2020, in my case. All my grand plans for 2020 have been postponed to… 2021, maybe?
Author: Brain Admin
Techno-savvy or a Passionate Language Teacher?
It was mid-March when we were busy with the 2020 Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Annual Examination for grades X and XII, used to determine grades and college paths. Suddenly a brake was applied to the usual educational scenario due to the lockdown announced in our country, India. We were unable to meet our students and worried about their studies at the same time.
Keeping it Going
In their book The Psychology of Work and Organizations, Woods and West (2010) remark that organizations and the individuals that comprise them are in some ways like a single organism with an immune system ready to fight change. However, COVID’s arrival created an unprecedented need for educational innovation, instantly breaking through our defenses and forcing us to rapidly adapt to a new teaching environment.
Notice the Change
Lockdown in our small house in Melbourne this year meant: no travel, no office, no commute. For the first time, I was restricted to our small house and our small garden, but I learnt that this might also be an opportunity.
Locked down and curfewed-in, during the July and August winter, I gently sawed away the stray branches from the maples and the Ornamental Cherry Blossom tree in my garden so spring could bring leaves and flowers.
Building Sustainability Through Online Learning
Chito wants the United States of America to be run by a President who feels a sense of crisis about the environment, and who tries to solve environmental problems. Seto routinely criticizes more progressive political agendas as being socialist. “Which one, Chito or Seto, do you want to talk to?” asks a Japanese second-year high school student. “I think I’d like to talk to Chito because I’m also interested in environmental problems.”
Survival of the Fittest
Survival of the Fittest By: Maruska Nizzi Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on linkedin This meme was sent to me in April. Living in Bergamo, Italy, a daily
What is Normal?
If you are a human on planet earth, then you’ve probably had a rather interesting 2020. Congratulations on your newfound IT powers and commiserations on your shriveled-up adrenal gland. Looking back to April, it’s amazing to think how suddenly the education system changed for educators and our students.
Predictions, Habits, and All that Fat
A lump of lard. That’s what the pandemic turned me into. Doing all my lessons from home (i.e., none of the exercise I usually get by walking to the bus stop) + the ready availability of cookies and other tempting snacks in said home environment = more Stephen. Much more Stephen.
Tiny Squares
As an extrovert, I need people. I crave the stimulation that comes from interacting with a dear uncle, an old college friend, or a stranger at the bus stop. When the pandemic blindsided us all in early 2020 and the lockdowns started, I feared that, as a social person, I would not fare well.
Why We Are Here
Assuming that, on some future date, there will still be enough people around to remember 2020, we will not have to state that it was a year of upheaval and change. And so, since we always devote our January issues to stories from subscribers, what better topic could there be than how 2020 has changed us as teachers, as humans. And that is what we offer you: thirteen stories from people all over the world about their pandemic-related growth.