I bought my current desktop computer over three years ago during senior year of college. It is a business-class Lenovo desktop that cost me under $400. I slowly added memory and storage as needed. It started out as an inexpensive way to get consistent performance, give me a place to play games, and was a general workhorse I could rely on.
Continue reading “An Overdue Fresh Start”A Brief Encounter
I watch my shot glide to the basket on hole 18. It’s a short hole to finish the course, but treacherous. The basket is perched in front of a large boulder, and anywhere off a straight line to the basket is a precipitous drop-off.
My shot lands a little short, to the left, but on the flattest line down to the basket. It’s my typical safe shot. I hop off the tee pad and collect my things. As I begin walking down the path, a little tuft of fuzz catches my eye. It’s quite still overall, but the bits of fur at the end wiggle in the light breeze.
They’re mostly black, with a clear white stripe down the middle.
Continue reading “A Brief Encounter”Tutoring Again
I’ve started tutoring through an organization called Step Up Tutoring. They run online-only free tutoring for students in grades 3 through 6 in the LA school district, one of the largets in the country. They haven’t been around long, but have already developed a great relationship with the district and a pretty robust network of tutors (mainly in California) to work with the students.
Forms of Reading
I’m starting to fall behind on my self-stated goal of reading 24 books each year. I had a wicked start, but have been stuck on a single book for the last couple of months. It’s a good book, but I haven’t been taking the long chunks of time I need to get through it.
Continue reading “Forms of Reading”Video Theater
My friend Brandon wrote a short play, Cameo, for performance over Zoom. It was part of an event put on by Invisible Disco Productions, and was the final of four plays put on, each about ten minutes long.
Continue reading “Video Theater”Virtual Classrooms
Every student that was previously instructed in-person by my company has been on Zoom for over a year. While we’re making plans to transition our learning centers back to in-person come this Fall, we have also spun off a permanently-virtual version of these courses. Instead of letting this year be a fluke when considering curriculum and instruction, there has been significant time devoted to improving the experience of student learning in this online face-to-face environment. Here are some reflections on what I’ve learned over that time, both in teaching last year and helping adapt our curriculum.
Continue reading “Virtual Classrooms”Evidence-Based Education Part 1
We have had several sets of federal education standards, the most recent being Common Core, but the focus has been on what, not how. These standards outline a broad set of topics and skills students should accumulate, but very little guidance on how to go about it.
Continue reading “Evidence-Based Education Part 1”The Smell of Home
After a couple weeks in Minnesota, I’m back in my San Francisco apartment.
A key indicator of your living situation is taking a big whiff of the air the moment you walk in the door, because that’s what other people smell when they arrive.
I’m happy to report the smell was pleasant and flowery, as well as comfortable and familiar. Erin and I have discussed what we refer to as “home” these days, and this apartment certainly has a lot going for it.