I’ve been working on a volunteer project for a few months. It had run into a logjam. Today I had a great Zoom call with the right people and we broke through the problem area. Now I can make progress again. Feels like a nice way to end a Friday.
T - 6: My Tech Setup for Zoom Teaching
- Computer: iMac circa late 2019
- Second Screen: Samsung display in portrait mode
- Microphone: Audio-technica ATR2100-USB plugged into Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
- Tripod in front of screen will hold my iPhone 11 as webcam running from Reincubate Camo, which will feed Zoom
- Keynote presentation running in Window mode
- iPad Mini (not shown) running as remote for keynote, with Apple Pencil so that I can write on slides as needed
- Green screen fabric backdrop which shows a neutral blue-ish photo as virtual background in Zoom
- Vari-Desk Standing desk so I can stand while teaching
- 2015 MacBook Pro which will be used as a confidence monitor to confirm students are seeing the correct view of slides
- lots of sticky notes with important key stroke commands
Currently Reading: The Margot Affair by Sanaë Lemoine 📚
COVID-19 Ski Day: happy trails with a good ski buddy, all masked up.
Finished reading: Harvest by Jim Crace 📚Dark and depressing, albeit well written. It’s a novel about the time in England when the economy switched from agrarian commons to capitalist exploitation.
I’m pretty happy so far with Reincubate Camo to turn my iPhone into my webcam when I’m teaching. I have an iPhone 11 and one funny advantage is that the dual camera system looks like two eyes, so it’s easy to know where I should be looking. 🏫
T - 9: Teaching again
The Agile Project Management course that I teach begins in nine days. The 2021 version is almost a complete rewrite as I shift from 50% online to 100% online (thanks COVID-19). Here’s my Curio planning file, currently on its 19th revision.
I added about 33% more butter to my sourdough muffin batter this morning, “just to use it up.” Oh, that’s good.
My cat types part of my post, and I talk about wet snow
Wet, heavy snow here today. Me and hubby were good and went out I. `1 n N (last few characters were typed by my cat) anyway, we went out in the warmest part of the day when it was still raining and shoveled so that when it freezes tonight, while it will be an ice rink, at least it will be a level and smooth ice rink. Which might not sound like a good result but it’s better than uneven frozen lumps.
Am I showing my age if I say how much I LOVED this episode of Song Exploder | Yusuf / Cat Stevens? 🎵
I’m almost embarrassed at how well tracking is helping me stick to my 2021 resolutions. Note that one of them is posting to Micro.blog.
Just finishing up my Toastmasters club meeting at 7:30 PM on a Thursday. Even though we’re on Zoom and even though I miss seeing my fellow members in person, I’m still finding Toastmasters to be a worthwhile use of my time. Good to be able to practice Zoom speaking skills!
Attended an interesting webinar about assessment in teaching. Turns out most of us don’t enjoy grading. Personally, I love providing feedback and feel that I’m good at it, but I don’t like grading. If I’ve done my job well as a teacher, every student receives an A. 🏫
And I still want an “edu” or “teaching” or “school” link in Micro.Blog Discover. 🏫 Oh, hey, maybe we have it and just need to use it? micro.blog/discover/teaching
Have I mentioned lately that it’s T - 15 for teaching? 🏫 Ack! No, really, I’m ready, it’s just that converting from 50% online to 100% online has basically meant creating an entirely new course. Though I had already flipped my classroom so all that video can be reused, at least.
No Learning without Risk - First Dose First, and also some Agile
An interesting article making the case that countries should shift their vaccine plans to “First Dose First,” to get the maximum number of people at least partially protected. I’m interested in the Agile concepts that are buried here, such as “the best decisions are based in data and sometimes to get data we have to do an experiment with an uncertain outcome.”
No Learning Without Risk - Marginal REVOLUTION
Put differently shifting away from the default strategy to an alternative such as FDF or fractional dosing might be considered to be “risky”. But in this context, learning requires risk. When learning is desirable, it is also desirable to take on risk. Risk aversion can prevent learning and thus can be dangerous.
Currently reading: How to be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi 📚
Finished reading: Ark by Veronica Roth 📚
Finished reading: Randomize by Andy Weir 📚
Links to good Mac keystrokes
Saving this here so I can find it again: Mac Shortcuts for a More Efficient Mac Workflow | Software Development Blog | Detroit Labs
If you’ve been using a Mac for a while, you likely have tons of tricks and shortcuts that you use every day to make your life easier. In an effort to share our knowledge, we’ve created a living list of Mac shortcuts to help you be more efficient.
A [Gift] Economy of Abundance - good reading
The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance – Robin Wall Kimmerer
Gratitude and reciprocity are the currency of a gift economy, and they have the remarkable property of multiplying with every exchange, their energy concentrating as they pass from hand to hand, a truly renewable resource.
Copying @burk My favorite Fitness+ instructors so far:
- Jessica for yoga
IMHO Dustin’s yoga is too hard, without appropriate accommodations for the less knowledgeable.
More scary reasons to be careful
How COVID-19 Attacks The Brain And May Cause Lasting Damage | New Hampshire Public Radio nhpr.orgRead: www.nhpr.org
Finished reading: You Have Arrived At Your Destination by Amor Towles 📚
Finished reading: A Kind of Freedom by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton 📚Definitely worth reading, but such a sad tale of white oppression of black people over generations.