As of today, all nine of our ICUs at Central Peninsula Hospital are full. Eight of them are from COVID patients. Several of Anchorage's hospitals are also at ICU capacity. Never before have the hospitals been under this level of strain. [Drive safely, people.] Meanwhile, the vaccination rate for our borough is only at 46%.

I was missing a third of my students in three of my six classes today. Some of them will miss the next week of school. Anticipating that circumstance, I have been placing everything for my courses on our district learning management system, Canvas. Still, we have students who will go to homes with poor or no Internet. 

This was preventable, and we still have the chance to curb this. While I pray that things will not get worse, I am not optimistic for our community. Our population is avoiding an FDA approved vaccine, but some of those same people are turning to medicines (such as Ivermectin) that the FDA has specifically spoken out against for use as a COVID treatment. Extremists have been standing at one of our main traffic lights with sign protesting the vaccine and mask-wearing.

Sadly, only direct experience has changed the minds of a couple of people I know from the area. It took hospitalization for them to recognize that COVID is NOT just another type of flu. Now they are continuing to suffer from the long-term effects that this disease can bring.

For my part, I've kept such observations to myself while in my classroom--the situation is too politically charged. Instead, I continue to wear my mask and do not let my students deviate from the seating chart for more than one short discussion period [My seating chart does have students in groups of four facing each other, but it keeps them otherwise more spread apart than other arrangements I have tried]. When asked why, I tell them this part of the truth: I want them in school, and I want to be able to stay in school to teach them. These precautions on my part will hopefully reduce the chances of them (or me) being sent home as a close contact.

However, those precautions might just help keep them from getting or spreading the disease as well. They might keep open an ICU bed when it is needed. They might make it so that this is not their last year with one of their loved ones.

Today is the start of my 13th--and hopefully final--term of working on my doctoral study (barring any unforeseen catastrophe). My dissertation has been resubmitted as is currently awaiting URR approval (which will be a Dinobot-worthy achievement). I am really ready to get this done. 

As a recap, my doctoral journey began in August of 2016 while I was still working at Skyview. I was supposed to start in 2015, but I had delayed a year due to the move to Alaska. I took the accelerated class path of two courses (8-10 credits) per term (a term lasts for 11 weeks with a one or two week break between them). I finished the coursework in early June of 2018, officially becoming ABD (all but dissertation).

On June 19, 2018, I started working on my prospectus. A massive unexpected setback occurred in January of 2019 that required me to go back to scratch on my prospectus. I tried salvaging what I had already built for a few more months, but finally fully restarted my prospectus in April. My prospectus was approved on October 22 of that year, officially making me a doctoral candidate (although I have not put that in any of my signature lines).

My proposal finally reached university approval a little over a year later on November 2, 2020. I successfully defended it the following week on November 9th, but I did not receive approval to begin my research until January 20 of this year (there was an entire month lost over the word "video"--I'm trying not to be bitter about it). I closed my research on May 20th (two months later than planned due to reluctant participation). The last bit of May and first part of June saw a whirlwind of progress as I analyzed my data and wrote the final two chapters of my study by June 13th. Since that time, I have been in a review, revise, rewrite, and resubmit cycle. 

At this point, I am waiting on URR approval to move my paper to Form and Style. I believe that my paper already meets their requirements, but I might have overlooked some small detail. I then defend my dissertation--a process that is not much of a concern as I do not have issues about presenting myself as an expert in front of people. From there, it moves to final approval and publication. 

The timeline is a bit tight, but doable, for me to receive that final approval by the middle of November (the end of this 13th term). Prayer has been and will continue to be involved. It is also welcome.

In today's Gospel, Jesus once again rebukes the Pharisees for clinging to ritual and the letter of the law over truly embracing God's love. In His comments, He states one of the main tenants of His teachings that differentiate Him from the other religious leaders in His time (and, sadly, in our time as well). He tells them that outside influences are not what defile a person. Instead, we need to combat the evil that defiles us from within our hearts.

However, it's so much easier to blame someone or something else for our actions. Abusers will try to say that they were provoked. Rapists will try say that they were seduced. Businesspeople will try to blame their unethical practices on the "way the system works." People will blame alcohol, drugs, and even society for their actions. On a smaller scale, how often do children try to get out of trouble with the argument "They made me do it"? All of this is an attempt to absolve ourselves of responsibility, something that Jesus says is solely on our shoulders.

This doesn't mean that circumstances cannot affect our behavior. As humans, we tend to react to the situations that present themselves. Rather, Jesus is telling us that we need to work on tending to our own souls so that we can better face the world around us. We cannot look for items of the world to purify us, that must be an action that comes from within.

"The devil made me do it" is not a defense that Jesus would support.

I had an unexpected setback (another one) on my doctoral study last night. I believe that I have done what I needed to get it back on track, but I won't know until tomorrow. One way or another, I need to go to bed soon to make up for some of the lost sleep this week.

A student asked me how I can stay so positive all the time. I told them that I'm not, that I allow myself to be mad, sad, and frustrated as the situations allow. However, I also try to take the positive, or at least humorous, view of a situation if it is possible. This allows me to continue to act in manner that can usually handle the issues at hand while still staying in accordance with my beliefs.

It helps that I love my life, my family, my friends, my students, my job, my community, my nation, and my world. Sure, there are aspects that could probably be changed for the better, but I generally feel quite blessed. Still, I recognize that not everyone has been as fortunate as me. Thus, I try to spread the joy and enthusiasm that I have without requiring that anyone else join in. 

I have plenty to spare, so I like to use it to brighten people's days.

I can hardly believe that tomorrow is the end of our second week of this school year. Every year, I am amazed at how quickly time passes. Right now, I am stumbling to stay ahead of my students while still trying to juggle my other obligations in life. I'm almost a week ahead for all of my classes, even after having to rearrange my schedule and Canvas assignments to accommodate the extra days of testing we did this week.

The issue is that I like to have things ready even farther out in advance, a whole semester if possible. Some of my former students might remember that I would hand them a tentative schedule for an entire nine or ten week period. I'm not there yet with my classes this year, but I feel like I'm getting closer.

… If only I had more time.

I did not post on the 25th because I received a surprise request in the evening to turn in my revision of my dissertation based on the URR's comments by the afternoon of the 26th. As I would not even be home until after the afternoon was over, and as I thought I had through this upcoming weekend to complete my edits, this necessitated a late night of finishing my corrections. I managed to get them done just before midnight--which was sooner than I thought. However, my Internet decided to then give me grief, taking half an hour to finally attach and send my draft.

This request took my committee chair by surprise as well. He indicated that this was a good sign that the URR might be planning to move my dissertation on to the next stage--Form and Style. In fact, several of the corrections the URR requested were already Form and Style issues. I am really hoping that this is my final semester at Walden, but I still have a gnawing worry that something will come up to delay it again.

I'm not built for staying up late and getting up early any more. It didn't help that my mind was rushing when I finally got to bed and still found myself staring at the clock at 1:15 in the morning--with a 5:15 wake-up time. I'm glad that I've developed a taste for coffee.

Okay, now that I've watched the trailer for the new Spider-Man movie multiple times, as well as a couple detailed break-down videos, my excitement for it is at an all time high. It's a long four months between now and when it is released. However, that then makes me wonder if I will see its release in the theater or not. With COVID numbers still on the rise, I have already decided that I will not Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings at the theater. We made a similar decision for the Black Widow movie, and while I enjoyed the movie, it was a bit of a let-down (although that could be because they gave Taskmaster the Wolverine-Origin-Deadpool treatment). 

I love watching movies in the theater. Sure, there are downsides, but the experience between theater and home theater do not measure up. I am also concerned that not voting with my theater tickets might start making studios move away from making the movies that I personally enjoy. 

That, and I get movie popcorn (no microwave version comes close).

Perhaps the situation will be different in four months, but that certainly does not seem likely. It is far more likely that we will order a couple of movies on premium access and watch Spider-Man at home even though I am not a fan of that business practice. I certainly won't want to wait until it comes out on DVD.

I am truly split when it comes to standardized testing. The data-driven part of me wants to have an unbiased and broad-spectrum view of where students are in their learning. I also believe that certain tests are necessary to measure a person's level of proficiency. For example, I believe that a driving test should be a necessary requirement before a person can get a driver's license.

However, there are so many ways that standardized tests fail to properly measure a student's level of achievement. I have seen great students perform poorly on tests which covered information that I know that the student knew well. Less frequently, I have seen poor students luck their way beyond their ability. More often, I have seen students blow off tests because they do not understand the value of them or are afraid what the test might say if they give it a true effort.

The tests are a period of stress and confusion. Not only does the testing time itself take away from instruction, but the aftermath of the tests can lead teachers to focus their efforts more on helping students navigate the tests rather than actually learn the material. There are methods to test-taking that can provide better results than actually learning the material … at least, for that particular test.

However, to circle back, without some level of standardized, unbiased testing, it is difficult to know what skills might need reinforcement. Having a baseline can also get teachers to have a common set of data on which to base their decisions rather than trying to feel their way to the problem. It can also be a way to demonstrate proficiency and even mastery so that the same educational path does not have to be tread time and time again.

I will say, though, that proctoring those tests is both mind-numbing and exhausting.

In today's Gospel, Jesus warns that His teachings are not do not change just because people do not like them. Specifically, He had just spoken about the need to eat His flesh and drink His blood, and many of His followers were finding that difficult to … well … swallow. As a result, many of his disciples leave Him and return to their previous lives. 

Jesus' teachings are both easy and difficult to follow. The simplicity of loving God with all of one's heart, mind, and soul combined with loving one's neighbor can lead people to overcomplicate the matter, looking for excuses to not change their lives in meaningful ways. Many people hide from Him behind rules and traditions, claiming to follow His will while still so clearly following what they want His will to be. This is why most of His arguments were with the Pharisees. They insisted that God's will was to follow laws and ordinances in the strictest senses, yet time and again, Jesus pointed out the hypocrisy and emptiness of their devotion to tradition rather than God.

This is why the disciples in today's Gospel left. They were looking for a militaristic messiah who would bring them to power, crushing their enemies in the process. Instead, He told them to love those very enemies. They wanted a royal dynasty to restore the throne of David, and He instead told them to devour His flesh and blood, placing that royalty within everyday people.

Too often we make Jesus what we want Him to be instead of what He is. We do the same for ourselves. We need to be willing to accept the truth about ourselves too.   

Sure, it's WAY too early to start planning for this year's movie marathon for my birthday, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to plan it anyway. In a conversation with Katrina and Peter, who will be up here for Christmas, it was revealed that they would like to do a Batman movie marathon, starting with Keaton and ending with Bale. While the first four movies are just about two hours long, the Nolan trilogy gets progressively longer. Still, after crunching the numbers, I think that it is doable even if it means getting up early and staying up late. The tentative schedule is:
7:00 AM - 9:05 AM        Batman (2h 6m)
9:10 AM - 11:15 AM        Batman Returns (2h 6m)
11:20 AM - 1:20 PM        Batman Forever (2h 1m)
1:25 PM - 3:30 PM        Batman & Robin (2h 5m)
3:35 PM - 5:55 PM        Batman Begins (2h 20m)
6:00 PM - 8:30 PM        The Dark Knight (2h 32m)
8:35 PM - 11:20 PM        The Dark Knight Rises (2h 44m)

Now I just need to wait for four months and a couple of days.

The first week of school went by at a brisk pace. While it was great to be back, there are tasks which are piling up. The following is a list of those things that need to happen in the near future:

1. I need to catch up on sleep. According to my Fitbit, I averaged only a little over 5 hours of sleep per day as I stayed up late every night getting things ready for the following day. I'm not sleeping in as long as I would like this weekend, but I'm at least not getting up at 5.

2. I have student work that I need to grade before Monday. As these are some of the first assignments, I need to get them in so they have some sort of grade in PowerSchool. Also, it is best if I do not fall behind right from the start as I have five classes of essays (which I use as a baseline for my students' writing skills) coming in next week.

3. I need to make PDFs and then recordings for one of my classes. I'm still irritated that the district stopped our subscriptions to the online materials for our English textbooks. Without a text-to-speech resource, I record myself reading the stories I assign so that students who struggle with reading (or who just prefer listening) have that resource.

4. I still need to get my courses planned through the semester. My point-based system requires that I keep the larger picture in mind as I put together the smaller pieces. I then need to get those pieces onto Canvas where the students can access them.

5. I have some preliminary notes from the URR on my dissertation for changes I need to make. This is not the official revision request yet, but the URR gave me early advice so that I can work on it while he completes the rest of his review. The URR made some really nice comments, but there are a couple of places that do need a good deal of work.

6. The lawn needs to be mowed, particularly in the dog yard. I'm still not mowing the clover-covered sections as they are still flowering, and I'm hoping that they will go to seed and spread even more. Still, there is a significant section that still needs attention. I do plan to hand this task off to one of my sons, but there will be some whining.

7. I won't get to it this weekend, but there are still a number of trees that I want to take down before this winter. On top of that, there are over fifty felled trees that still need to be cleaned up. This is not a task that I trust to my sons, but I do not have the time just yet.

8. I need to relax. I'm wound pretty tightly right now--almost to the point of paranoia (but is it paranoia if they ARE out to get you?). I get to play some D&D, so hopefully that will help.

I should probably get to work on the first item right now.

I made the decision a long time ago to try not to write posts when I am too angry or too tired. I am definitely the latter, and I do not foresee having time in the near future to write a post-dated entry for today. In fact, I've just been staring at this screen long enough that the computer tried to jump to its lock screen. 

I will need coffee tomorrow.

I'm tired, so this will be shorter than it deserves. 

The students who are coming to our high school and wearing masks throughout the school day are demonstrating a level of courage that humbles me. Even though at present the district "highly recommends" wearing masks while indoors, very few of our students (or staff) are. This morning, I had students who were trying to pressure me to take off my mask for a bit so that they could "see my face." If that is how they would pressure an authority figure, I suspect that they might exert even more pressure on their peers.

Yet I still have at least one student in nearly every class of mine who is wearing a mask. Against the community pressure, clearly distinguished from their peers, they are courageously protecting their fellow students while members of our community (ironically) refer to mask-wearers as "sheep." I don't look down on those who students who are not wearing masks because misunderstandings and misinformation about masks and vaccines are replete in our community, but I am quite proud of those students who are able to stand against such a sweeping tide of peer pressure.