Life in the Time of Covid-19: Journal Entry 7

Today I had a glimpse of what our education system will look like around the time I retire.  No, I don't mean that our students and teachers will no longer be in a physical classroom.  All I can say is that I can see how the technology out there, that I didn't even know existed, is going to augment and organise our learning and teaching into something more manageable and, at the same time,  infinite, in its scope to reach and engage all pupils.  

Today, I attended the last 2 of the 3 webinars on Microsoft Teams.    This was a taster.  The objective was to show the possibilities and not to make us proficient.    That will take years.    It had to take the tiny pathogen Covid-19 to  kick start  a shift in the way we use available technology to enhance the learning and teaching experience in our classrooms.   

After the heavy rain of a few days ago, our electric oven  was tripping the circuit breaker every time I put the oven on.  A reminder that all is not well with our electrical wiring.  This is not the first time it has happened.    Like the last time, the oven eventually - once the wiring  dried, I suppose - stopped  the tripping.  How I'd love to gut the kitchen and start again, wiring and all. 

 I find the idea of finding an electrician to do some work daunting in the best of times.  In the time of Covid-19 I didn't even bother going through the motions of looking for one.  I recently read about a woman whose washing machine broke down.  Her new washing machine was delivered to her doorstep but the person delivering it refused to enter the house so there it remained.   

All this made me stop and think of my grandmother's generation.  My grandmother had 5 children under the age of 7 during World War II.  She went on to have  3 more after the war.  How on earth did  people manage the hurly burly of running a household with that many children, without a washing machine or the internet or any number of things we take for granted?

I suppose you make do if you have to.  You make the best of things.  I'd already identified some hob recipes - kusksu, froġa, soups...  My mum reminded me about qarabagħli mimli in broth today.  I think I'll still go ahead and put it on the menu for next week.