The Astronauts

 From a Lynda Barry book, I've used the idea to have the Thirdlanders draw self portraits on occasion.  Draw yourself as Batman, a monster, an astronaut.

This week we drew ourselves as astronauts. The Thirdlanders were to write a few sentences about their most recent trip into space to go with their self portraits. 

Many asked me if their writing could be fake.  

I repeatedly responded to that question and even made general announcements to the class.  Even after the general announcement, a third lander raised her hand to say, "Can this be fake because I've never been in space before?"

"Yes, your writing about your space travels can be fictional," I told her.  The Thirdlanders have typical listening issues, but aside from that, they seem to have a tenuous grasp on reality that simultaneously concerns and cheers me . 

The Classroom

 I've been back in person with the Thirdlanders for 4 days, though it feels like much longer. 

Mask wearing is going well, social distancing less so.  

On Thursday, I gave directions for using the tablets to request library books from our awesome school library.

Many Thirdlanders had issues with the directions, but we were slowly getting there.  One patient gal waited quite a long while for assistance.  When I finally got to her, she said, "I've put in my username and password 5 times and it doesn't work.  I don't like to touch their stuff, but I typed in her information and the library catalog instantly popped into being.  I asked her what kind of books she wanted and she said, "Strega Nona books."  I told her to go ahead and type Strega Nona into the search box.  She looked worried and I asked her if she would like me to type the titles.  "Yes," she answered, "Because I don't know how to speak Italian."

So we're rolling along. So far no one seems to have covid and most of us are enjoying our time together.  Another Thirdlander said to me on her way out Friday, "This is going way better than I thought it would."  I'm still nervous about someone getting sick, but so far we're all in good shape.  They're a sweet crew and if we can stay healthy, all should be swell in Thirdhand.