How do you survive social distancing???

The past few weeks have been very hard for many of us. Adjusting to life at home comes with many challenges, but I have been working hard to find ways to keep myself busy and motivated while away from my usual routine.

I am usually I very social person, and being away from friends and support networks that I have leaned on in State College has been the most difficult part of this transition. We all know its very hard  to stay motivated if you are constantly feeling lonely and down. To combat this I have taken time to meet with friend groups over zoom. Sometimes we are just hanging out, and others we are talking through some of the struggles we are facing and try to help each other cope. It truly makes such a difference to know your people are still there for you and to just get some time to have fun.

I have also taken some time to work on some professional development. During this time Penn State Extension has opened up many of their online courses for free, and I would encourage you to check out their site for a full course list. I decided to enroll in the National Safe Tractor and Machinery Operation Program to become certified to teach this course to students. Additionally, I have been continuing to reaching out to potential cooperating centers and networking with teachers. It's not much, but I want to make the most out of the time I have to continue to diversify myself and gain experiences that I can share with my future students.

Just a few of the courses offered by Penn State Extension through the month of April. Once you register for a course you can access it for a year.

Finally, I have found it very beneficial to stick to some of my old routines (which is quite difficult at home with my family). For example, I would often cook dinner at my apartment for myself and my roommates so I try to take over the cooking sometimes here at home. This is an activity that I really enjoy and its nice to feel productive outside of doing homework assignments.

My favorite recipe: Buffalo Chicken and Potato Bake

Check out the recipe here. Also I think you can always add a little extra bacon!

Overall, I think the key to surviving the social distancing lifestyle is to remember why we are doing this and that it won't last forever. Hopefully we can all grow from this experience and come out stronger than ever. I hope everyone is staying safe and well, and I'll talk to you again soon!

Question: How are you surviving social distancing? Any tips on how to stay motivated while away from school or work environments?

How's the search going???

The past few weeks have brought about a lot of change in our lives. The transition from my normal routine has come moving out of my apartment, being separated from my people and support groups at school, learning how to manage my time at home and on top of all of this figure out a way to "visit" potential student teaching sites with every PA school being closed.

The meetings I had scheduled for my top schools all fell after spring break, so when the news came that we would not be returning to school and that for the health and wellbeing of everyone we were to practice strict social distancing I didn't know what to do.

In order to still have time to talk with teachers I sent out emails requesting zooms sessions. Thankfully, in the midst of all this craze and uncertainty most teachers were very willing to work with me. My first scheduled virtual meeting was with Mrs. Fulton and Mrs. Nailor from Big Spring High School.

My first challenge was to think of questions that would help me get a good picture of the program without being able to be there in person. Some questions I came up with were...

• What does a typical day look like?
• How many and what kinds of students do you normally have? (age, background, etc.)
• What are your students usually excited about?
• How do you utilize your facilities to maximize student learning throughout the year?

Except for a few technical difficulties (we all live in very rural areas where internet connection is known to be spotty) I feel that the zoom meeting was a success! I left the meeting feeling very excited about the opportunities I could have at Big Spring. Mrs. Fulton and Mrs. Nailor were extremely helpful in helping me to "see" their program and I know they would both be very supportive mentors if I end up student teaching with them next spring. 

This unconventional search process is definitely not ideal, however I feel that it just adds another educational opportunity to this whole experience. Hopefully, when this pandemic finally calms down I can visit my cooperating center in person and begin to form relationships with the students and teachers, but until then I will continue to find ways to connect from a distance. 

Question: What are some other methods I could utilize to connect with potential student teaching sites?