{"id":25511,"date":"2020-05-02T08:18:56","date_gmt":"2020-05-02T12:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/?p=25511"},"modified":"2020-05-04T09:30:34","modified_gmt":"2020-05-04T13:30:34","slug":"how-are-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/how-are-you\/","title":{"rendered":"How are you?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I mean really, how are you?<\/h4>\n

More than anything I wish I could sit down with you, face to face, and have a long chat. I’ve been missing my community: the teachers and students I get to work with, the educators I get to learn alongside, the folks I see at conferences and restaurants and grocery stores. I’d love to smile at each of you, offer a hug where appropriate, and just share a moment of “we are in this together.” I miss the joy of human connection! And it was really getting me down.<\/p>\n

Then my colleague Katy Farber mentioned a new idea for students during this time: an independent hands-on learning experience called: The Joy Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Joy is exactly what I needed.\u00a0AND it’s a way to communicate with my community.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

So I went for it. I stepped through her plan.<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Discover your interests<\/h4>\n

I was really interested in finding a way to communicate with others, those who might also be lonely or struggling in this challenging time (BUT NOT BY ZOOM! I REPEAT, NOT BY SCREEN!).<\/p>\n

I’ve been inspired by the stories on social media and the news of folks writing in sidewalk chalk, sharing signs of gratitude, and hiding stuffed animals in windows for young children to spy on walks.\u00a0 But I don’t live in a neighborhood with sidewalks or young walkers…<\/p>\n

2. Discover your community<\/h4>\n

I live in a BEAUTIFUL place with lovely hiking paths and walking trails. And more folks are walking these trails than I’ve ever seen before. But with social distancing guidelines in place, we smile and move on, isolated from each other even as we share the trail, the view, the sound of the river.<\/p>\n

3. Find the overlap<\/h4>\n

I’ve been repeating little mantras to myself when I need a boost… what would it look like to share these with my community?<\/p>\n

Enter the tree cookie.<\/p>\n