Until I was on lockdown here outside Houston, I was posting about how to spend your time productively on all things English. I hoped that my friends in other areas of the world, like Korea, Doha, or Norway, might find some fruitful ideas in my blog.
Now I’m stuck at home, and I’m finding it harder and harder to tame my thoughts and force them into a tidy outline that leads to a coherent blog post.
I’m done waiting. It’s time to move ahead anyway!
Update on my projects: I’ve begun teaching poetry and the common app essay on Outschool (also a life skills class on telephone communcation, which I’ll start in May). I had applied and begun putting together courses before COVID-19, which has definitely pressed the accelerator on the process. I’ve met some lively, intelligent, upbeat students and been so appreciative of this new venture in a stressful time. It’s helped me focus on positive activities and moving forward each day!
Outschool, like many other platforms, is stepping up during current closures to provide free classes for learners age 14-18. You can read more about the program here: https://blog.outschool.com/free-online-classes-for-public-school-students-affected-by-closures/
Outschool has been running group classes for years on Zoom. Isn’t that great! All my kids’ teachers are having to scramble and learn in a rush.
In a stroke of luck, I visited a charity store in Austin right before it became a very bad idea. And I bought several used books–I have new stuff to peruse! I’ve chosen Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged to kick me off. A friend is joining me. With 1070 pages, it’s sure to last.
It hasn’t grabbed me at the start, but I will continue. I got sidetracked by Liane Moriarity’s The Husband’s Secret from my elibrary. It gets my thumbs-up as a distraction!
