Items

• 
  2020-06-26

  My new hobby

  During the summer of 2020, not a lot was going on in my life. I had just recently finished my undergraduate degree and had little to do on a daily basis, there were no jobs, no friends, not even family. Gradually, I got sick of just playing video games day in and out; however I wasn’t getting sick of the music of these games, many of which used the banjo. Some of these songs seemed pretty simple, and with my previous experience rudimentary experience with the guitar I figured I’d be able to some of these tunes. I started picking up my dad’s banjo, which is in the photo I provided on a daily basis; using YouTube tutorials I started to pick up the basics. In all honesty it was pretty easy to pick up, and just a relaxing experience, I even grew to like the feeling of developing callouses on my fingers? That’s a little weird but it felt like they were physical reminders of how much work I was putting into learning this new instrument. Recently I’ve kind of stopped playing, but I still love just plucking at it every now and then. My friends online similarly liked hearing me play every now and then, so in a sense it was a great coping mechanism to boredom and loneliness. However, I’ve really stopped even plucking at it, I don’t feel a drive to do much anymore; so I just kind of stare at it now every now and again, which is incredibly weird. This item maters to me as it helped me through the initial stages of the pandemic, and helped me stay mentally active during quarantine. However, as the pandemic has dragged on I kind of have lost the desire to play it, or do much of anything else really. I’d like to add this item to the collection of performing arts as it is a musical instrument, and I would perform for my friends on Discord every now and then (but then again I’m not a professional artist or performer so I don’t think it’d be appropriate for me to be in that collection) Mental health on the other hand is a way more accurate collection for this item, as it really helped me stay mentally active during the pandemic.
• 
  2020-04

  Banana Muffins

  When the pandemic began, the company I work for sent us all to work from home. While I did some baking and cooking before, I took it upon myself to grow and learn more. Plus, in the office we usually had some sort of food available, and now I had to provide that for myself. I began looking up recipes to make at home that were fast and easy, yet really good. I stumbled on this recipe and now it is my go to recipe. The smell from them baking and after they come out of the oven is great, and they don't take too much time. The smell lingers in the house the rest of the day as well, and the I love the flavor of these muffins.
• 2020-12-15

  Scraps To Sale

  Sydney Sousa is a trained artist who has been been directly effected by Covid-19 frustrations as a small business who trying to stay afloat. As an attempt to help conserve money during this difficult time Syd has resorted to cutting open and scrapping the last bit of paint within her tubes. As a small business its hard to buy in bulk as you may not need that much product at ones however it is often cheeper this way, especially with a decrease in sales during COVID-19, its been difficult to manage money. Similarly, as a business she experienced frustrations with new regulations such as store hours or limited products because of limited manufactory. Syd expressed that not only is this a tool she uses to save money but also time as sometimes she most be creative to create solutions to problems COVID-19 presented her.
• 
  2020-12-14

  COVID Calm

  Brie Breyer is an example of a person inspired by the stillness of Covid who has been able to compete with her creative side for the skills and opportunities to become an entrepreneur. Brie has begun briecrafts on instagram which is a store dedicated to homemade jewelry and furniture handcrafted. Brie has explained that the break in that COVID provided her allowed her to explore her creative being by learning tools that she already possessed. Brie’s motto is discover by doing, not only has she developed new techniques and enquired skills but also discover a new passion. Although Brie is unsure of her future possibilities she expressed greatly that she feels a sense of accomplishment discovering this new ability.
• 2020-12-14

  Thanksgiving 2020

  The Thanksgiving that I had in 2020 was in some ways different, and some ways the same. I would normally go to my Grandparents house, and they would invite family and friends over too. But this year, only my family was invited. My grandfather had also passed away in October, so only my grandmother was there. The food was the same, but the company was very different. It felt more lonely this year, because of the lockdown. My Thanksgiving was different in some ways, but familiar in other ways. Overall, it was a fine experience, but obviously not as good as previous years.
• 
  2020-11-21

  Through Their Eyes: Freshmen Study Habits

  The freshmen experience has changed tremendously because of COVID-19, and this has forced the majority of them to adapt and change their routines in this new online learning environment. Attached is an interview with a St.Mary’s freshman’s experience as an online student, and how she has adapted to her environment in order to be successful in college during a pandemic.
• 
  2020-11-16

  Oral History with an Anonymous Teacher

  I've chosen to submit this interview, because it captures the raw and real experience of an (almost) brand new teacher. Someone who has recently graduated (May, 2019) and barely dipped their toes into the teaching world. She has had to adapt to not only teaching a subject different than the one she studied for in college, but also navigating the trials of teaching in a pandemic world. This 40 minute long interview that show cases the emotions and trials that a teacher has to experience. On top of issues like student engagement, and teaching unfamiliar material she has to ensure that she's accounting for all her students attending, both the ones physically and online, while juggling asynchronous and synchronous classes. One particular poignant quote "It's not that I'm trying to relax and be happy or anything. It's just trying to find downtime to just have energy" really sums up the energy of how the year has gone for this new teacher. This perspective is important, as it shows the reality of how strenuous the pandemic education scene has been for educators, and the problems it's creating for students, as this person discusses. The pitfalls of technology that are harming rather than helping, and causing issues that might reverberate in the futures of the student's academic careers.
• 
  2020-09-09

  Jewish Melbourne: Melton Spring Program email

  With the pandemic lockdown, Melton School moved to online classes for its adult education program
• 2020

  Scientific consensus on the COVID-19 pandemic: we need to act now

  The main point of the news article is to inform the audience on the news and history of this world. The article explained how SARS and COVID are actually very similar. I chose this article since it was extremely informative and learning is very interesting. This article reveals that life during the pandemic is just reliving the SARS in the modern day. The news article also reveals how severe these illnesses cause amongst people. This news article is important since many Trump supports and others downplay the severity of the virus even though it has killed many people. There is no bias in this article. Everything is state facts and reporting on the news and opinion. The media is responsible for dragging people who don’t listen to social distancing rules. Many ignorant celebrities like Bryce Hall and other Tik Tok stars are throwing parties during the pandemic. The role of the media is to rain hell on these degenerates to alert them since they are obviously not woke. The media also lets America know that they shouldn’t have voted for Trump since he took no action until months after knowing about COVID-19.
• 
  2020-09-08

  Child Struggles with Distance Learning

  Tell us a story; share your experience. Describe what the object or story you've uploaded says about the pandemic, and/or why what you've submitted is important to you. This story is important to me because while I do not have kids, I believe education is so important, especially the quality of education they are receiving. I have many friends that are teachers who are struggling with distance learning themselves and have also questioned the quality of education that children are receiving now as they believe any one-on-one help they would be able to give in a classroom is unavailable now to students who already struggle with learning in a regular classroom setting. It is difficult enough for adults to be self-motivated with online education and for kids this has been deemed to be extremely difficult.
• 2020-03-22

  Quarantine Day 7 - 22 March 2020

  It was only the seventh day of quarantine. While my two younger children, (then aged 6 and 3) were still enjoying the "newness" of learning from home, my oldest child (pictured here at age 10) was done learning from a distance. In these three photos, I captured my son physically crawling across the floor to the dog's bed in order to cry. He would eventually cry himself to sleep simply over having to learn virtually. He had had essentially no warning that his life would forever be changed when he left school on March 13, 2020. He went from school five days a week, hockey practice five days a week, and a constant stream of friends to play with to being shut in his house with his parents and two sisters. From Day 7 (documented in the picture), he did not cope well with the change. This is the first documentation I have of what would be later diagnosed as his depression.
• 
  2020-10-20

  Sight words

  Virtual learning has been a pain in the butt for a lot of moms. I don’t think I’ve ever related to someone when it comes to parenting like I did with this Florida mom. Although my daughter is no longer doing virtual learning here in Arizona, I do homework with her and am very familiar with sight words. It’s funny and comforting to know that I am not alone in my feelings.
• 
  2020-10-01

  TD3 20-21 School Plan

  I chose a PDF file detailing Tempe Elementary School District’s (TD3) plan for the 2020-2021 school year. This details when and why the school district is pushing back in person start dates and what they are doing to help the students/staff during the pandemic. It’s important to me because this is the school district I work for so it has an affect on what I do.
• 
  2020-03-16

  The Beginning of the Decline

  My six year old (shown here) and my ten year old began distance learning March 16, 2020. This photographs captures my kindergartner's first day of distance learning. She found it new and exciting but that feeling did not last long. This photograph is entitled "The Beginning of the Decline" as it was the last photograph I snapped of her before she would be diagnosed with anxiety. Arizona State University, HST485
• 
  2020-08-10

  Growth, Gratitude, and Green Babies

  Teddy Roosevelt said, "The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future." As the pandemic and panic seemed to spread wildly across the globe, I found myself turning to my relatives for answers and advice. When specifically in their lifetime did they remember a time of uncertainty? What did they do to maintain a sense of direction, clarity to make decisions, a sense of well being and safety when each day's events are unfathomable? My mother responded with stories of her mother. My grandmother has always been the most resourceful person I know. Growing up in the Great Depression planted seeds of ingenuity and self sufficiency in her, which she continued to cultivate along with priceless experience and knowledge. She recalled people taking responsibility for their situations and security, and doing their best to make the most of what they had, which at the time wasn't much at all. I will never understand the scarcity she faced in that era, but I did experience the eerie alarm that washed over my fiancé and I entering a nearly empty produce section of our local grocery store, then another store, then another store. Almost every store in our small town of Lewes, Delaware had been almost completely panic-bought out of produce, meat, cleaning products, and hygiene products. It was at that time we decided to take a life lesson from Grandma, gain some grit, and get our hands dirty. Early June, we began a basic herb garden to get the hang of being "new parents to green babies" as we expressed it to our friends and family. We soon adopted a couple of tomato plants, bell peppers, red lunchbox sweet peppers, and as of recently, sunflowers. August brought our efforts to fruition when tiny peppers and tomatoes started to develop and today we plucked our first ready to eat hamburger tomato along with a few green bell peppers and scarlet red sweet peppers. Tending our garden has grown more than just invigorating herbs and veggies, but it has cultivated therapeutic peacefulness and tranquility while watering, cleaning, and caring for these little forms of life. We learned first hand the valuable lesson of just how giving and selfless nature is, ex. planting one seed and getting three pieces of fruit in return from that one plant, or planting one bulb which springs forth four blossoms. Giving life and helping maintain that life in something smaller than you grows a beautiful relationship between humanity and nature, a relationship which has become more and more distant. Growing a garden reconnected us to the knowledge, innovation, and self reliance, of our grandparents. It reconnected us to getting outdoors, getting our hands dirty, and getting into a flow state of mental clarity and caring for another living being apart from human kind. It reconnected us to nature, to the valuable lesson Mother Nature can teach us about selflessly giving and sharing, and a reminder of the respect she so deserves and is so lacking in the current state of the environment. I hope our story of our little backyard garden will encourage you to plant seeds of your own, to look to the priceless knowledge and experience of your relatives for advice in facing an uncertain future, and to share your lessons and stories of how COVID-19 impacted your life as well.
• 2020-05-21

  How will quarantine learning affect the quality of education for young students?

  This entry reflects my thoughts on the future repercussions of a lesser quality and quantity of the learning of rudimentary topics for elementary school students, which directly affects half my siblings. If the pandemic continues at full force and people continue breaking quarantine, then this learning will be further disrupted in both quality and quantity.