Where’s Hugh?

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These are strange times indeed. Working from home or not working at all... eating in all of the time. Fighting off boredom, panic, fear... As an extrovert social distancing is terrifying! So what can we do? Well strange times require strange measures so here's the plan! Make a daily schedule. Here's what mine looks like: 8:30am Socially distanced walk through ravine with neighbour/friends. We chat, watch squirrels chase each other, try not to face-plant in the mud on the embankment and make our way around the hood all the while maintaining our distance from each other. 9:30 am Breakfast and phone calls. I have elderly parents who require checking up on. So I call George and Effie and find out what's on tap for dinner and find out how my aunts/uncles are doing and then I'm told off for not feeding my son properly... the usual. 10:00 am I trek upstairs to the "office" which I share with my husband who is stressed to the gills and I remind him to use h...

Hugh's Daily Recommendations for a Monday... Book: Saturday Night Ghost Club , Craig Davidson Playlist: Have a Great Day! SPOTIFY Movie: Shaun of the Dead , Simon Pegg Activity: Walk! 

I’ve been chatting with people here and in Europe and as the intensity of this virus steamrolls across the planet there is an increasing need to connect and share our stories. I’m hearing about long lost friends reconnecting via Skype, and I am connecting with cousins I haven’t chatted this much with EVER and others I lost track of. We have reestablished a lifeline online. Through jokes and memes and insta etc we are recreating community and sharing the burden of these trying days. Zoom, FaceTime, WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangout, etc. are making it possible to keep connected and to challenge isolation. I’ve had group wine parties, and Zoom dance parties, as well as a FaceTime purging if my closet... I have daily phone calls, weekly calls, weekly walks online with friends, as well as online group yoga classes, etc. We watch Netflix together and share the latest news and stories, good and bad.  So if you’ve been thinking about checking up on someone just do it! It mig...

FITNESS APPS & RESOURCES  YOU CAN USE AT HOME 1. Nike Training Club *  2. Bodyweight * 3. Mossa Move ** 4. 7 Minute Workout ** 5. Down Dog | H.I.I.T. ** 6. Down Dog | Barre ** 7. Headspace (meditation) ** 8. Tone it up ** 9. Yoga with Adriene (YouTube) * 10. Insight Timer (meditation) * 11. Fitnessblender (website) *  12. Breathe App* *Completely free ** Offers free trial

I have been cleaning out my old emails etc and came across a site I used many moon ago: The Paperless Teacher Blog! I thought this was a funny topic so I took a look and I found a great entry entitled 21 things that will become obsolete in 2020! Take a look at what was spot on and what we are still (sadly) doing in our schools: 1. Desks The 21st century does not fit neatly into rows. Neither should your students. Allow the network-based concepts of flow, collaboration, and dynamism help you rearrange your room for authentic 21st century learning. 2. Language Labs Foreign language acquisition is only a smartphone away. Get rid of those clunky desktops and monitors and do something fun with that room. 3. Computers Ok, so this is a trick answer. More precisely this one should read: 'Our concept of what a computer is'. Because computing is going mobile and over the next decade we're going to see the full fury of individualized computing via handhelds come ...

I have found myself structuring my days around walks and bike rides (socially distanced of course!) With the threat of being on lockdown I am taking great pleasure in my ability to be outdoors and with that is an increased desire to get my steps in, to sweat a little, become a little breathless and to enjoy the onset of Spring. Perhaps it's also about getting healthier to become less of a target for this horrible virus, and it is a lot about clearing my head, and doing something I have CONTROL OVER. Apparently many others feel the same as our neighbourhood is full of walkers and runners and cyclists (all staying well away from each other). When the day comes and we are stuck in doors we have other resources at our disposal to Keep fit while Keeping to ourselves. Here are some suggestions from Travelocity.ca: Whether you're a regular gym bunny, or simply at risk of going stir crazy if you don't channel some energy into exercise, now may be the time to take an online...

March 23 blog This is what I’m reading: Son of a Trickster, Eden Robinson Native writer known for her dark humour    doesn’t disappoint in this story of Jared a teen who has an addict mom and substance abuse issues himself. He just wants to finish grade nine and move in with his grandma(nit the one who hates him). This book was addictive but so sad for me to read. The end made it worth it though I’m not sure I will be reading the sequel.  :  https://books.google.ca/books/about/Son_of_a_Trickster.html?id=S_AqDAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y The City and the City, China Melville I started reading this steam punk writer because he looks badass - and I fell in love with his wickedly smart writing. Not for fluff readers- the work is worth it. In this one there has been a murder and the body ended up in the wrong City. There is no freedom of movement between the two cities - kinda like us right now. Melv...

Adults need learning too y’know!  It’s not just kids who need to keep their minds sharp during this bizarre time: we do too! So here are some of the best free online courses for you!   JSTOR, an online academic resource, made more than 6,000 ebooks and 150 journals accessible< http://www.universitytimes.ie/2020/03/jstor-makes-database-accessible-to-the-public/ > without a university login. Cousera - great free courses for adults- MIT also offers free courses of interest:

The Minister of Education announced today that in lieu of classes, student have access to an online elearning resource (link below). The content offered is NOT CREDIT BEARING. The TDSB has a communication scheduled for Sunday to its teachers. Stay posted. https://lah.elearningontario.ca/

UPDATED DAILY! Distance Learning for the days and weeks to come Here are some great sights for parents to use with their kids during social distancing. Many of these I have used in my own classrooms with my students with reading abilities from grades 1-12.  Wideopenschool.org is a great site to help parents who are home-schooling. They have a great weekly parent info booklet too, with goal setting, etc. Teaching kids news is a great site for non fiction for kids. Current events and kid-level explanations of current events are made readily available on this free site for parents and educators.  If you want to reduce your screen time, audio-book service Audible has lots of free stories available, which can all be streamed from a laptop or smartphone while you're doing other bits and bobs. They're also giving away hundreds of kids' books while schools are closed, and you don't even need an account to listen to them.  Google Arts & Culture is an app ...

Great games to play  If You Want Something To Play With The Kids: Telestrations Telestrations is like a combination of the whisper game Telephone and Pictionary. Players draw a word and pass their sketch to the player next to them, who writes down the word they think the first player was drawing. Then, the next player draws the word the previous player guessed. The game continues this way until the final drawing or description comes out wildly different than what everybody started with. If You Want Something Cute, Quick and Wordy: Bananagrams If you don't feel like playing Scrabble, this fruit-themed word-building game is a great alternative. Everyone tries to use small letter tiles to build word grids faster than everyone else. The tiles come in a fabric banana, and the game is always fun. If You Are Dipping Your Toes Into Complex Board Games: Catan A slightly more involved game than Risk or Monopoly is Catan, previously known as Settlers of Catan or Settlers. T...

I love my son. I love my husband. Both are driving me crazy. My husband is retreating into work - my son into his online world leaving me staring around the room saying “where is everyone?” Yes, I’m the extrovert and I’m going nutters! So I was really happy to come across this article on wired  https://www.wired.com/story/coronavirus-surviving-quarantine-without-killing-partner/ The gist? Extroverts will have a harder time with isolation(Obvs) and couples will need to approach this time as therapy. Well, that said both need to do so- not just one person saying what she needs as she does the dishes and he stalks away.... ooops sorry about that....  So in the spirit of keeping it together (and your marriage together too) take a read and then hunker down for some work to keep us all together, happy, and healthy! 

7 Things to Consider If You Find Yourself Working From Home Check out the  story  from  houzz.com I am thinking of getting a yoga ball chair:  Anyone use one b4?

Check this out! Some great tips for working from home for first timers! I am going to organize my work space right now - A https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/17/never-make-these-6-biggest-mistakes-working-from-home-says-guy-whos-done-it-for-10-years.html

Standardized tests cancelled for the year! What does this mean? All EQAO testing including the grade 10 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test and all math assessments (grades 4,6, &9) are cancelled. What does that mean for secondary students? Passing OSSLT is currently a high school graduation requirement a but given the circumstances this years writers will likely write next year OR be given the option to take the Ontario Literacy Course (OLC) in lieu of writing the test.  Nothing will happen before September so do not panic. The scores are not communicated to uni. It’s pass/fail. Hope this clarifies. If you have any other questions/concerns send me your questions via commenting on this post and I’ll do my best to answer! A

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From the Globe and Mail: Canada, here’s how we are going to survive this pandemic together -  https://www.theglobeandmail.co m/canada/article-canada-heres- how-we-are-going-to-survive- this-pandemic-together/?utm_ source=Shared+Article+Sent+to+ User&utm_medium=E-mail:+ Newsletters+/+E-Blasts+/+etc.& utm_campaign=Shared+Web+ Article+Links

Hi all. Hope all is well and the most serious thing you are dealing with is the boredom of your kids at home.... Well here are some reading strategies you can use with them. 1.Have them read for 10 minutes and have them note the number of pages they get through. Then have them set goals for themselves: ie. read 1/2 hour every morning and before bed. 2. Have them order their favourite books online and/or arrange a book swap with neighbours in a socially distance drop off! 3. As well, have kids note the number of pages read each day. Create a graph for the week and then at end of week have them write out a goal for the following week, etc. Have prizes for the most improved reader, the most books read etc. 4. Have family book clubs for books shared amongst you. As well, have the kids design a book cover for their book or a Movie Poster for the film version of their book. They can use PIKTOCHART to do this! Also, creating a character profile on FACEBOOK or on INSTA. Feel free to...