WatchDevRun

Summer has begun and with that comes warmth, ideas and of course goals!  Realizing it's been almost a full year since we've moved back to the US is kind of wild and to think how much my life has changed in the last year.  I mean I'm contemplating a marathon, I like my job again but the part of me that wants to look and analyze data hasn't left.  Instead it has definitely gotten stronger! In the last week I've been taking a more in-depth look at Numpy and Pandas, both libraries that work with Python.  The more I learn of how these two work together the more intrigued I am. The ability to work with numerous libraries is what helps to make Python interesting and insightful. As I dig deeper into the various libraries Python uses, the more I realize it really can be somewhat intuitive to work with. This doesn't mean I don't make mistakes but in order to fix these mistakes it is much easier as I have a greater understanding of what the code means and how to adjust...

At the end of April, I received an email stating I had received a scholarship from DataQuest to work through the Data Analytics program they offer.  It's an online course that teaches the skills needed to move on to working in Data Analytics.  This is what I had been waiting for!  In the midst of the pandemic, I had received something that would help me see the world in a different view.  This scholarship is so much more than that, it gave me the feeling of someone believing in me and the way I see the world.  Most people see the clump of trees that I run by and see all the trees.  Data Analytics give you an ability to see the trees as individual and use the patterns they produce to tell you so much more about them and how they interact with the world.  It's not just important to see the big picture but to separate out the parts of it and see what it means.  Although these trees look like a clump at the end, each one is changing color at a differe...

Last week marked a few occasions in this ongoing saga of the pandemic.  The first included a completed week of remote learning, not only as the teacher but as the parent.  It has been a learning curve for all of us as we have worked to figure out the remote learning process that works best and how to make all the pieces fall into place.  It wasn't perfect but nothing is ever going to be....not in life and not during the middle of a crisis. Most students want to be engaged and are thrilled to have an opportunity to use Google Meets or any other video conferencing just to have an opportunity to talk to teachers and peers.  It has been enlightening to find out that students do miss the people who are a part of the school, as much as the staff does. As a teacher, I'll continue to worry about the ones I can't reach but I'll also continue to do what I can, that's all I can do. On the parent side is incredibly grateful for my daughter's teacher and the staff ...

Another week and another way to figure out how to 'survive and thrive' through the pandemic.  It's been an interesting week, to say the least... Spring break was upon us, so there was no distant learning for my child but I was walked through what my new job will be looking like during this face-to-face shut down.  And I think we'll be ok overall.  It's a total change for a lot of our families, including my one but it's one that will work out and I think we may look at education and life differently in the future. Finishing off the week was Easter, like many people, we did a virtual Easter with family.  Everyone had their own table and food and we went about it together.  It was good but different, we've always been gone for Easter so actually doing it like that wasn't much different than normal, for my family. Now we go into a week that is a learning curve for everyone involved - parents, students and teachers alike.  Monday, April 13th students i...

I've never been as grateful for this image on my morning run as I was after the news was released that Michigan will not be re-opening the schools this academic year.  As a parent, it's going to be rough. I have an only child so her whole social world will, and has been me, for the last 3 weeks already.  Add in we just moved back to the US so a lot of her friends are still overseas makes this a bit harder.  As a teacher, knowing my students are home and not sure how they're doing, except the ones who email me back, that is just as difficult.  Not knowing how to provide the right instruction to help them stay as successful as they've been this year is going to be difficult but we'll manage.  How do I know we'll manage?  We're teachers.  We walk into a classroom every day not knowing if our kids have eaten, slept much less gotten any work done.  We don't know who is getting abused at home or struggling to get electricity or internet s...