Virtual Professional Development

For two days, I had to be on my computer from 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM for online training. The topic: Professional Learning Communitys (PLCs). 

I set my alarm for 7 AM each day. Carrie needed me to help with the barn each morning and I wanted time for my breakfast and morning study.

Shane got a lot of electronic time those days. He was watching Mega Man, Looney Toons, and Pink Panther for each of my 2 hour beginning sessions. Carrie was at the barn all morning Wednesday and then she trailered Sam on Thursday, so she wasn't able to keep him busy.

There were some creative viewing positions. I captured one of the best.

Shane completely gets that from my side of things. If Nana's reading this I'd being willing to wager she laughed and said out loud, "That's just like Mike!"

Well, I'd kick Shane off the computer for my lunch break. He'd spend the time eating and telling me about everything he watched. I'd kick him outside to water the garden before he could come back in for more electronics. It let me start the next session and feel a little less guilty about him being a bum.

What the picture isn't showing is Shane pointing the hose in the air and dancing underneath it. I wasn't quick enough on the draw.

What he is doing in the picture is making whirlpools in the flower pot. 

He had to have spent half an hour each day trying to flood our back yard, but I was willing to allow it for him to get some Vitamin D and me to get some space!

At the end of my class each day, I was drained. I wanted to rest.

At the end of my class each day, Shane was excited. He wanted to play!

There's an inherent contradiction there.

Shane was talking about Saturn's rings and ice asteroids one day, so I turned on the Blitzkrieg episode of Robotech. The veritechs have to fly through Saturn's rings.

This is one of the few episodes I had on VHS in elementary school. It's ingrained in my brain. It was a low involvement activity and kept Shane mesmerized.

Loki is just like Shane, by the way. He wanted attention, too, since I was off the computer! He kept bringing me toys to throw.

I liked having something to do, but I'm glad it's done. Sitting still and focusing on the computer screen for that long isn't one of my strong points. I'd hoped to multi-task and write, but I wasn't able. I couldn't focus well enough on the training and went with being honest (even if I could have read the whole transcript of the first day in an hour........but the pay was an hourly rate, so sure, I'll sit!).

UPDATE: So...I may have found some time to multi-task on day 2. I'd type through some of the small breaks, because I was already on the computer and Shane was already busy. I'd also type through when someone asked a question I felt was well explained. I do listen to what the question is even when it's not for me. 

The question itself can be interesting. It's something I pay attention to in my own teaching. Why was the question asked? What part of the explanation wasn't clear? Was there a word they got hung up on? Or were they not paying attention? If they weren't paying attention, why weren't they? Was there a distraction in the environment? Was the initial explanation too long and boring? ....or were they just not paying attention? Were the on their cellphone? Or maybe typing a blog post on the side....

Almost a year later...

I'm glad someone got a kick out of them. John and I played once almost a year ago.

Twenty minutes of fairly contained children is worth something to me. I think they only broke one.

First Game

Robotech nerdiness follows:

Nerd Day

John came over Saturday and we had a nerd-fest. We worked on our "fragiles."

I made a lot of progress. (I'll upload a pic later...gmail is acting silly)

I hope I can sell some of my excess models. I originally thought it would be great to buy enough and then sell enough to pay off my investment. I knew that was too starry eyed and dreamy to be true, but I figured I could recoup some. I got a better deal by buying more. That was before all of the delays hit and it took a year longer than expected to materialize.

Right now, I've got one box up on Craigslist. If I don't get any bites, I'll try eBay instead.

EDIT: I did manage to sell the one box on eBay. Hooray!

From My Childhood With Love

Do your remember the kickstarter I backed in May 2013? A year past the anticipated arrival, John got his box!

It happily coincided with a day I was in the neighborhood. I dropped by to "help" him open it.

Last Saturday, John came by and we started to work on some of his new models. John was kind enough to leave me some sprues since my box had not arrived.

I sent him this picture on Tuesday.

If the man was going to give me the sprues I figured I should do something with them! In my youth when income was disposable and time was abundant, pewter models used to have an agent coating them you had to 'wash' off before priming. I don't know if that's true for the ABS plastic the Robotech models are made of, but a quick rinse didn't hurt anything.

The new models aren't the most beginner friendly. John and I both weren't overly fond of the flight stands. We prefer the acrylic see through kind like x-wing has. John asked me to take a picture to see how thick they were so he could maybe find a replacement.

The flight stand is probably the biggest piece in the kit. Some of these things are tiny. There were some weird decisions where I don't know why they would split a piece if there's no way to change poses, but nothing gets everything right the first go around.

Still, fairly complicated builds.

Not that I had the instructions. John left those behind! I'm not huge into modeling, but I do like puzzles.

Tuesday I had a work from home day. I figured I'd spend some time in between grading and planning assembling.

I was pretty productive - modelwise.

I did get work work done, but I spent longer on the models than I expected. There was something cathartic about a quiet house and the ability to zone in on something creative.

The planes were by far the easiest to assemble. None of the models were designed to be easy to mod, but I played a little with the tail fins to see what I liked.

The battleloids were by far the most annoying. On the left, you have Lt. Quarterback and on the right Corporal Hands-Were-Hacked-Because-Nothing-Fit-Right. They'll be fine for tabletop quality and a joke or two.

Guardian mode was medium difficulty. If I could redo the one on the left I'd move the gun stock inside the arm. As is, that one can be the designated first casualty.

I enjoy the building more than the painting. If snow days are abundant, I may have it all done by spring, but I wouldn't count on it.

I'm almost out of all the models John gave me. I hope my shipment arrives soon. I want to sell one of the boxes to try and turn a small profit (and pay off some of the money I spent). Then I want to open the other one and build some more! 

If I have the time. 

Wrestling season starts next week, I bet I'm going to be pretty busy, and 'toys' come pretty late in my list of priorities. They do look pretty neat, though...