Welcome Back...to Chores!

After over 2 weeks of cousins and play time galore, Shane returned home to chores. The mornings are cool out, too, so he had to wear a coat!

Scooping horse poop in the cool is a big change from Pop Tarts and TV time in the morning! 

Don't worry too much about Shane. We really don't work him that hard. If I get half an hour of effort out of him, it's fine. Chores are a good excuse to make Shane outside. He usually has to hang out for an hour, but he chases bugs, twirls in circles, or runs with the dog for a chunk of it. Shane likes to talk and be around people anyway.

Sometimes funny things happen if you're observant. We heard some odd noises while we were working. It was Maddy.

You have to be clever about scratching your butt when you have no hands! We got a good laugh out of it.

And then I sent Shane to run and collect the bucket before it got bent out of shape!

The cats were out while we worked. Aria kept Shane and I company from a hay feeder.

From there it became a normal school day. I went to work and Shane.....Shane's computer broke. 

A fan failed and there were all sorts of error bleeps. Thankfully, Shane doesn't do anything other than zoom and browse the internet, so it functioned for the day. We'll need to contact tech support and get a loaner at some point. It's a short week, so it won't happen until after break. 

Shane was in class until around 3 PM and took care of his Japanese practice. I got off work near 5 PM, we did evening chores, and then relaxed with electronics for the night. A much quieter day than he's probably used to, but normal for here.

Some of the cats may have gotten complacent while Shane was out of town. That's not a smart place to sleep, Moose.

I was talking in general, too. I gave in to temptation and his the start button on the walking machine...

It led to Loki showing off his treadmill skills. 

Loki learned, because of Shane! 

Shane ran with Loki some and it wasn't really all the quiet. You can definitely tell Shane's home!

November Virtual School at Nana and Pop's

November Nana-School started off with a party. 

There were trees to climb, games to play, and a 'queen' to walk!

The good times rolled!

Bryce left and things quieted down, but only a little. Shane and the cousins played every day like their days were numbered!

Nana and Pop were on it when it came to Shane's school work. I texted them pictures of whatever the bus dropped off and they'd help him attend AND pay attention in his classes.

And they'd quiz him outside of class, too! There was a clear reward structure based on performance. That's the sort of thing I'd want to do with unlimited time and energy. 

Structure is good for kids. You don't want to overdo it, but I knew Nana and Pop wouldn't. There were tons of time to hit up playgrounds and have fun!

 

And hopefully Shane's positive energy and novelty made things more fun for everyone!

Schools are back to in-person in SC. Class sizes are small and the wee ones are the least likely to catch anything. Hopefully, they just took the masks off for a quick picture here. Evelyn and Cole are not the most extroverted, so they're not going to spend much time inside other kids' orbits.

We'll keep Shane at home for a week once he gets home. I'm not terribly concerned based on my family's precautions, but it doesn't hurt to be considerate (just not paranoid!).

In the meantime, I'm thrilled Shane gets the chance to be around his cousins. He plays with all of them.

I laughed out loud when I read the story. I showed Carrie and Shane the texts, too. He was home by then! It shows his visit had a lasting effect.

But that's getting ahead of things. One of the other perks of Shane visiting Nana and Pop is he gets exposed to new things. We have our own routines here and Carrie largely controls the TV. What she watches is different from Nana and Pop. I remember watching Nick at Nite shows and other things like Murder She Wrote at Jama's house from my own childhood. That knowledge has made me able to make references and jokes with older colleagues to connect with them.

I mentioned Shane got to see some Highway to Heaven to some of the barn people and Barbara said she loved Michael Landon! Variety is a spice of life. I'm convinced God wouldn't have made such a diverse world if he didn't want us to experience diverse things.

We kept in contact with Shane over the phone. I think he started to miss us more (or Nana wanted us to keep him busy some) the second week, because we got more calls then.

In addition to calls and texts, Nana wrote emails. 

Some were funny.

Shane has been enjoying taking baths, but after the typhoon in the bathtub last night, he will have to take a shower next time. We'll let him take a bath again in a few days after the memory of the flooding lessons. No one enjoys water play and simulating hurricanes more than Shane. 

Some were cute.

Shane asked me today what I would do with it if I won a million dollars.  I said that I would probably donate some and save some of it, but wouldn't change my lifestyle. He said he would pay for a 2nd week's rent for the beach house and for a cruise for all the family so he could have more good times with his cousins. He sure loves family. 

Some were future blackmail material.

Yesterday, I asked Shane to explain why his poop coats the front of the toilet bowl where there is no water. I asked him if he sat on the toilet backwards. He said, no, that that would be ridiculous. He also explained that he sits only halfway back on the toilet seat so that toilet water will not splash on him when his poop drops. He likes his poop to land in very shallow water so there is no splash. Since he has a voracious appetite and loves fruit, I have been cleaning the toilet more often than desirable. Once I made him clean up after his "art work" in the bowl. I have suggested that he put 2 squares of toilet paper on the front of the bowl where his "art work" is landing frequently or put 2 squares of toilet paper in the middle of the bowl to prevent the splash as he sits further back. Honestly, I have not had a problem with splash-back myself, but I can empathize that it doesn't sound pleasant. 

And others exemplified he's my son.

Pop picked up donuts this morning and is bribing Shane to work harder with one. It takes a lot of encouragement and hands-on supervision to keep him working on his assignments. Shane says he's tired when it comes to school work, but has boundless energy otherwise. Pop is very determined though and persists in getting Shane to work. Shane reminds me so much of our sons growing up. The twins worked too hard and you boys excelled at relaxation. I told Shane that his standard for work will determine what kind of house, car and lifestyle he will have as an adult. I think he is tired of me nagging him to work harder. Expect complaints when he gets home. hahah

Oh boy! Nana's a better writer than she admits. I can hear her telling the stories in her own voice when I read them.

There was one paragraph from an email that came to mind when we were discussing when we'd meet up for the hand-off.

Pop keeps trying to get Shane to do the See-Saw assignments, but Shane says he can do them next week, that there is no big rush. Good thing Pop is bigger and wil make him do some of those assignments. 

Natural consequences can lead to intrinsic motivation! And they did here!

I'm looking forward to seeing Shane again, but I'm also looking forward to the next time he gets to spend time in SC. Maybe we can make a whole family trip if we get a barn sitter. I've been ready for it, and Carrie brought it up!

Last Days "Off"

"Have fun on your 2nd honeymoon," Grandma said.

If she thought we'd have lots of spare time with Shane being away, she wrong. Shane being out of the house gave us an extra hour or two tops! There were lots of chores and work to do!

I took this picture when I was picking up stems from a feeder. It reminded me of a boneyard.

I spent a large chunk of my Friday making up a unit test for triangles after my office hours. I probably could've got done faster, but I got the idea in my head to add superhero stick figures to some of the questions.

Hopefully, I won't get sued.

I don't have the time or talent to make them all myself, so the internet came to the rescue. It wont' be enough to make anyone who hates trig like it, but if I can get a smile where there normally wouldn't have been one, I'll take it.

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Virtual school has only gotten more draining with time. I probably work at least 65 hours a week between it and the barn (and paid for 36.25!). 

It's gotten more frustrating, too. I have students who don't show up at all and others who do maybe 10 minutes of work for the week. Meanwhile, I think 5-6 hours of work a week is fair. Split between 4 classes, that's an expectation of 20-24 hours per week....and the students who actually give a consistent effort have made progress and can usually finish faster than that. In physical school, I could hunt slackers down, but in virtual school it's much harder. 

Saturday I got to take a break from grading to do something I've wanted to do for a while: We went to the dump!

Some tasks are 'Carrie-locked.' She knows how to haul and she's good at it. We need to get the small trailer inspected, so we can haul the gator and mower to get serviced. But for today, I got to help put on my first hitch lock.

Then I filled up the back of the truck with over 200 lbs of trash (according to the dump's scale). 

Including at least 20 lbs of cat waste (according to "That's a lot of poop!"). We left the metal trash can at the dump when I realized there was nothing to brace it against once I threw out all the bags. The cat pee had corroded the inside and it had warped over time, but it still felt a little wasteful. 

Shane going to my parents didn't give us a ton of time off, but the time it did give us off helped. For me, it was one less thing to juggle. I knew he was getting the best care and attention and I got to turn my focus elsewhere.....but apparently not to blogging! My last post was right before Shane got home and I didn't start to catch back up until Thanksgiving break! But it wasn't that I didn't have ideas of what to write.

I took this picture while trying to scoop poop in the waning light. There's still plenty of light to see and walk around, but the turns start to blend with the dirt in the shadows. It all sort of blurs. The big piles are easy enough to distinguish, but sometimes I'm scooping at nothing looking for little bits while stepping over (or on) others.  

I imagine it feels similar to slowly losing your vision. You think you see well enough most of the time, but then you find you're missing more and more little bits and it gets harder and harder.

And the metaphor could be extended to being desensitized to something. Or to having the right tools for the job, like light!

Sometimes mundane tasks are great for having time to think. I work in the quiet when mulling something over, but will put on music or the Dice Tower to fill time, as well.

Our Paths Diverge - Shane's Tale

Shane had the most fun weekend out of the three of us. He got to go to SC and play to his heart's content!

Bruce, Reyna, and Bryce were staying at Nana and Pop's. They'd driven down for a short vacation and even offered to pick up Shane on the way. 

Bruce and Reyna are long time family friends through church. If anything were to happen to them, Nana and Pop have already said they would adopt Bryce (which would make Bryce Shane's uncle and my brother in a weird twist of events!). 

Shane and Bryce have known each other from a long time ago. They've bounced on the trampoline together at Nana and Pop's old NoVA house and even attended the same daycare while Carrie, Shane, and I were moving to Charlottesville. 

It's been a while since they've seen each other, but Nana said they hit if off again right away.

She said that all three boys played supremely well together. There was no pairing up and excluding anyone. It was a happy company. She enlisted them as "the queen's guards" when she took Indy on her walks (with Indy being the queen). Shane dubbed them the "three musketeers" instead and they all ran along too far ahead to do much guarding!

The timing really worked out well in that Kathleen and Stu rented a moon bounce to celebrate Evelyn's birthday. Evelyn didn't want a party. That was convenient in COVID times and the pandemic had driven down demand/prices for moon bounces, so Kathleen had been able to get a big one for the whole weekend at a good price! Shane and Bryce became the party goers and it was a fun weekend of climbing, bouncing, running, and playing the disaster survival game as a team on Roblox that Shane loves.

The boys had the time of their lives.

Nana said that Bryce begged to stay an extra night. Reyna said he cried when it was time to leave, too! 

I couldn't be happier that Shane got the opportunity to be with everyone. By being at Nana and Pop's he gets exactly what he needs and what I can't provide here right now. It's good for him and good for them, too. Shane brings a lot of positive energy and he plays really well with all of his cousins. I'm a proud dad. 

It's good for Carrie and me, too, as we've got plenty on our own plates. We're hoping everyone loves the time Shane is in SC and praying everyone stays healthy!

Parent Teacher Conferences

Monday was parent-teacher conferences for me. They didn't start until noon, so I had plenty of time to do horse chores (95 %solo, because Carrie's gut was acting up).

I talked to 12 parents like this.

Most went really well. There were three kids who needed wake-up calls and are probably regretting their parents talked to met. 

Yet those kids should be thankful their parents scheduled a conference and they have someone on them to keep them accountable. There are kids who have failed to log in at all. The kids scrambling have plenty of time to get things on track to get credit.

It wasn't the hardest day, but it was weird how drawn out everything was. Conferences were scheduled in 10 minute intervals from 12 - 7 PM. A chunk of mine ran over (including one where the woman was at work, had trouble with the audio, and took us outside while trying to fix it) and then a 10-20 minute window before the next didn't afford a lot of time. I ran an open office hours for over an hour, but only 1 kid showed up to talk and he didn't have any missing work!

I liked having a break in the routine. I'm looking even more forward to having a full day off tomorrow.

Shane's parent teacher conference was the week before. His teacher has really loved having him in class. Shane is a personality. He's positive, he talks, he reacts, and injects life into the class. One day he was late logging on and she said she felt the difference. "Where's Shane!? We need him!"

His issues are the opposite of the high school. I speak to a room of muted microphones and cameras. Shane's teacher has to turn his camera off when she can see the food stuck between his teeth or he's using it to look up his nose! I laughed out loud when she talked about how Shane likes to share his 'research' with the class. He'll talk about storms or ants...and sometimes it's clear he's reading something off a page! Shane sure loves to talk!

It was nice to hear all those things. He's doing well academically and she mentioned she needs to find more ways to challenge him. He has trouble focusing and listening at times, but she mentioned he accepts redirection well and never consciously disrespects her. 

Right Outside My Window

Virtual school went from being "less work is more" to plainly "more work." I have to convert everything to be used online and it takes longer for me to grade through things when kids turn them in at all hours of the day over weeks instead of in one big bunch.

This past week (10/22), I was so busy with Shane and horses in the morning I ran out of time to convert something. I posted a PDF instead which promises more work on the backend when I have to grade everything by hand. And some kids will submit over email, some will take a picture of a piece of scrap paper held at odd angles, others will post online like they're supposed to, but only the front instead of the front and back, etc.

A lot of my kids (even the honors ones) seem to be weaker at algebra skills this year (Possibly because of how last year ended!). These questions are examples of some problems I put up. I expect the honors kids to be able to attempt them on their own and either get the solution on their own or understand it when I start to go over how to solve ("Ooooh!"). With my other classes, I plan for everyone to be able to understand the solution by the time we work through it. I want all kids to see how the patterns line up.

Hint - If you haven't done math for a long time, the big ideas are this:

• Midpoint and bisect are a fancy way of saying "Cut in half" or "divide by 2" in Math-ese.
• The 'equation' I teach for that is either "The big thing / 2 = the small thing" or "2 of the small thing = the big thing."
• The other 'equation' used on the line is "Part + Part = the whole thing"

 

These problems are examples of where the calculations are what make things more difficult rather than the concept. "If you can't see what it is, change the numbers to something easy and look for the pattern. If the big angle was 80, what would it be cut in half? 40! The numbers will change and get harder, but the pattern will stay the same. Use easy numbers to look for that pattern."

I won't give all the answers, but the bisected angle problem goes something like this:

The big angle = 2 of the small angles.  

The big angle's measurement is the secret code 8x+19. 

The smaller angle's measurement is the secret code 6x+1.

Therefore, 8x+19 = 2 (6x+1)

If kids get that far, they can type it in the computer and it solves it for them (know how to use your tools whether it's a saw or a computer!).

I do all my teaching and working sitting on the floor by a window in the bedroom. A window that sometimes odd things happen out of it!

The heavy machinery that drove by in the previous picture was a tractor.

It was pulling a device that cuts a narrow furrow in the ground and fills it with grass seed.

Carrie is serious about pasture management and wanted to set the barn up now for future success. It did my heart good to hear her talking to the guy and the words "we can do the math to see exactly how many bags of seed we'll need" were uttered.

Definitely something to bring up to the class as a real world application! And I was able to hold my computer up to the window so my 4th block could see the tractor roll by, too.

I checked in on Carrie and the barn in between classes. This happened while Shane was in SC or I'd have needed to check in on him, too!

Maddy was the most dissatisfied with the interloper.

It had the audacity to drive up to her run-in shed!

Her face says, "WHY HUMANS!? WHY!?"

Another day (also the week Shane was out of town) I noticed a trailer park outside during my final block.

We were hosting a virtual riding competition. The trainer who used our arena for the clinic, Heather, was entering Worlds for western dressage (or something like that).

Carrie and her husband were the official videographers. Heather practiced until the sun dipped lower behind the trees and then did her routine to send off to the committee! 

I haven't heard how she did yet. I don't know if the people who advance will head to a new bracket (virtual or in-person) or be given a prize (virtual or in-person!). 

I'm not the biggest fan of teaching virutally, but it is nice to be home so much. Otherwise I'd miss out on seeing some neat things.

It keeps me close to my other 'office.' At this point, I'm almost willing to call it 'the family business.' I don't always have time to change out of my pajamas before it's time to work!

Horses poop. I'm a big part of the process from stall to hopper.

If we could find a way to monetize this stuff we'd be rich.

I actually like zipping around on the mower. I'd go even faster if I could!

Fall observation - You can see the vapor trail behind the mower in the mornings!

Shane's back in town, so he adds another step to the day. I plan on teaching him how to use the equipment to help out more when he's older. Pop taught me to use the riding mower long before I could drive a car.