Learn Tech with Ruth

We have made it through an entire year with in person teaching during a pandamic. Let that sink in for a moment. We did well. Students learned a lot and we had smaller class sizes due to some students going on virtual school. In some regards this was a good year. It was peaceful. Virtually no discipline issues with any student in my classes. No, not all had the best attitude every day. But they came to school. We talked, we laughed and we learned. As a teacher with now 34 years of teaching behind me I am satisfied that I did my best. I am now slowly shedding the mask. I went to Walmart without one (yes, fully vaccinated). I felt a bit like a rebel doing it. Most people didn't wear one either. For some reason it is hard to plan things for this summer. I don't need rest. I need some excitement in my life. I want to travel somewhere but I can't decide where to go. Initially I wanted to do a cross country car trip in the SUV, but now that seems too hard. So we are doing smaller

Today is the last day of Fall Break. It was a great one. Our weather was in the low 70s all week long and I got to go out in nature to experience some new trails plus kayaking. It was really nice to not think about school all week. Don't get me wrong. This wasn't by choice. We were literally told not to do school work this week and to get a break from it all. So I just followed orders. There was this World Language Teacher Summit going on all week and I did buy the sessions for it. I will be watching them over the next few weeks to see if I can use some of their ideas. But, not this week. Nor did I make much progress reading my book I got from our assistant principal, the Die alte Dame am See. I was just out in the woods, trying new trails, more difficult ones than I usually do. Oh and the kayaking, so much fun. They rent kayaks out here at the Fort Loudoun Historic Park. You pay, get a paddle and a life vest and you're on your own. They are kind of trusting you not to get

Just made a new video to keep some routines going around here. The country is going through some horrible situatons with the racial injustices and the coronavirus fears on top of all that. It's very difficult to wrap your head around all of that. I do hope that good with come from this and that the injustices will be corrected. As a world language teacher I am not new to discussions concerning social injustice. This is a conversation that comes up a lot in our classes. I am hoping and praying that we will now be in a position for lasting change to make this world a better place for all.

It's summer time. Wow. Hard to believe that we are really free for the summer. Two whole months. If only one did not have to worry what will happen in the upcoming school year. Will we will back in class with our students or will we be teaching hybrid classes? No one knows at this time. So I am keeping super busy creating little instructional videos for teachers who want to try new tech things. Check out the one on remove.bg. It's super easy to remove the background in any pictures and replace it with a new background. I love it. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel if you would like to get new videos in the future.