Blessings

I’m counting my blessings this Christmas season. I have the most wonderful quarantine partner (and life partner) in my wife. We are enjoying deep conversations about what the future holds.

Even though we can’t be together with our kids or other family members, we do have each other. Technology allows us to be “with” our kids virtually on a regular basis. So, yes, I feel blessed.

My oldest daughter is now a homeowner. I really do miss being able to be with her and help with all of the “to-do” projects. I look forward to when we can be together and tile, or add electrical outlets, or fencing or whatever she wants.

Gifts

I got an Apple Watch this Christmas. I’m truly enjoying this. I can see the motivation to move more, to excercise more, to be conscientious of healthfulness. It seems as though those little “pushes” can be powerful. I’ve learned this a couple of times (at least once with Badges in Moodle). I am a fan.

I also got a wonderful cap from Boston Scally. Quality is definitely worth the cost here.

Time to Reflect

I’m trying to take some time away from work as well. I’m still keeping up on email, but I’m limiting that time. Instead, I’m trying to take some time to reflect and rejuvenate. This is valuable time for me. I’m reading “The Promised Land” by Barack Obama.. (Ok, so actually, I’m finishing up How to be an Antiracist, by Ibrahim X. Kendi, reading “The Promisde Land”, and have Atomic Habits by James Clear on deck). Interesting to me, all are physical books. I was going to purchase the electronic version of “Atomic Habits”, but the physical version was cheaper. Go figure, the hardcover was cheaper than the electronic version. No reason to add logic into this.

Friends

This has also been a chance to connect and catch up with some friends. Even though we can’t go to restaurants and enjoy dinner and a beverage together, we have been able to connect regularly virtually.

Education

I’ve been thinking about education tons. This is part of the rejuvenation process. I’ve spent time thinking about what education is and what it should be. I have ideas, which I’ve expressed in many situations and platforms. I’d like to be able to see some of them to fruition.

Podcast

I’ve continued the Middle School Matters Podcast with the wonderful Mr. Shawn McGirr. If you’ve not listened, please do me a favor and go listen. We would really love your thoughts on the show. We’ve been doing the Podcast for over 10 years now. Shawn is a great teacher and a great friend. I’m proud of the work that we’ve done on the show.

After listening to Middle School Matters, try out The ArchiTechs of Learning Podcast. Although I don’t have a direct connection with this podcast, this is from my Tech Coaches (of whom I am overwhelmingly proud). They are smart, grounded in reality and excellence, and just wondeful people.

Well, my main computer decided it had had enough. I’ve been leaning on it for about eight years now. It decided that a whole clean, fresh reinvigoration was appropriate. OK. No big deal. Death number one is the OS.
So, clean install of the OS time. This will take some time, but not a hugh deal. Bringing the computer back to life all fresh and newly minted does have some advantages.

Clean install completed. Let’s rebuild from the back-up. This is where the dreaded double death comes in to play. While restoring files from the back-up disk, the back-up disk decides to give up the ghost too. Death number two.

Fortunately, I have a multiple back-up strategy. This is now going to take a bit longer. It’s always good to check your back-ups, but how about your back-up, back-ups? I was faced with the possibility of having lost some really recent files. However, I was confident that the important things would still be available.

Between utilizing several sync services, including Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, and application specific sync services, I had ready access to the most commonly used and important information.

However, there are some files and information that I don’t want on those sync services. Those are kept in a couple of different places for security and privacy issues.

I’m happy to report that I was able to recover all of my files. I have another hard disk on the way to replace the one that went “kaput”. I still have a bit of work to do as I’m taking this “opportunity” to do some spring cleaning. Instead of blindly restoring everything, I’m reviewing files. I’m adding applications as I need to use them.

This seems like a good time to remind everyone (and me) to prepare for a computer crash BEFORE it happens. While we are currently living our lives more and more based on other people taking care of our data, if you do have data that is yours and yours alone (and you probably should), you’ll need to follow a robust back-up strategy.

3-2-1

Generally, a good back-up strategy follows the 3-2-1 method.

• 3 copies
• 2 formats
• 1 off-site

The three copies is crucial. In my case, I lost two copies of many files: the file on the computer (i.e. the original) and the copy on the back-up drive. Note that the back-up drive was fine, UNTIL I called on it to do the back-up. Having a third copy was crucial for me.

Two formats is also best practice. This can mean burning the data to a CD, putting it in the cloud, or printing some of it out (yes, these should be very limited). Quite frankly, the two different formats is becoming a bit harder. At the very least though, make sure that if you are using just hard drives, that the hard drives are of different ages.

One off-site copy. I can’t stress the importance of this. Take a hard drive to a friends house. Put it in a locked box for extra security. Offer to keep a copy of data for them. You should remember to update this regularly, but it can be a good excuse to get together (when we can do that again). The key here is that a fire or local disaster doesn’t rob you of all your data.

Plan now

The most important part is to be thoughtful and vigilant about your back-ups. Add this to your calenadar. Put it on your To Do list as a recurring activity. Know what data is absolutely crucial to you. Evaluate where you are comfortable having that data. Make sure that you put your data in multiple places. (It’s also best if you create a little “catalogue” of where things are.)

So, it’s been way more than a week since I posted a weekly review. I’ve been working lots and lots of hours over the past weeks. This left very little time. Unfortunately, it left very little time for much of anything. With a pandemic going on, and education trying to make some adjustments, my job has become overwhelming.

Work

I’m working on a state committee that is trying to address Keeping Michigan Learning.

Meanwhile, I’m also working with teachers and principals to help them understand what technology can and can’t do. This is something that I’ve working on for the past 10 years. I’ve had a really tough time getting people to take action.

Seriously, here is part of the issue for me. Technology isn’t just “good for now”. These are skills and strategies that could have been assisting lots of kids. These are things that could’ve led to greater learning in students. We could have benefitted many, many kids.
But, I’m really not cranky about this.
There is an old adage.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.
The second best time to plant a tree is today.

So let’s plant some trees (metaphorically). Let’s not look at how we are going to survive the next four months. Let’s look at the next five years. How can we help kids learn? How can we help them become empowered learners?

Personal

On a personal level, I wrote a mailed a couple of good old fashioned letters today. These letters were sent off to my kids. It is kind of funny to call them “kids”, they are both mature, responsible, admirable adults.
I’m really trying to get back to some semblance of balance. I’m trying to do more around the house. I’m trying to take care of things that need to be taken care of.

I heard something about how some people are constantly just living day to day in this environment. I understand that. I’m really trying to live for today while planning for tomorrow.