Work at home and stay at home. Interactions with others - friends, co-workers, students are now via zoom. No more attending church, going to restaurants, plays, movies, concerts... Much more isolation! A positive has been seeing more neighbors while walking early each morning - while socially distanced!

Seeing the numbers of infected and those who have died is alarming to say the least. These numbers have become one of the 'facts' of our new normal.

I take many more precautions and am more focused on mask wearing, hand washing, constantly using sanitary wipes when i go to the grocery store or pharmacy. I am thankful that i live in a county where leaders are taking COVID seriously and mandating mask wearing and limited numbers in social gatherings.

I have not more or less stress during the pandemic. So my usual ways of handling stress have continued during the pandemic - walking every day, having zoom or phone conversations with friends and family, focusing on my work 'to do' list, watching some favorites on TV during evenings when i am not teaching.

The biggest effect has been 'work at home'. I adhere to the same schedule that i had while physically present in an office with co-workers - start work between 7 and 8 am, take a 30 min. lunch break, back to work from 1 to about 4 (unless i have an evening class from 5:30 to 9:30. I am actually more productive working at home because there is no 'drive time' to and from the office. 

My office is a card table in my basement (which is thankfully finished and has heat and AC!) and looks out at a lovely forest frequented by deer, coyotes, squirrels, rabbits, birds and even a bobcat upon occasion! This is a much more serene view than i have in my office at the university! I keep a 'to do' list so that i make sure i can prioritize what needs to be accomplished day. Not a whole lot different than my work day at the office. 

The one thing i do miss is going to lunch with co-workers a couple of days a week. Also access to a copy machine for those longer documents that require a hard copy.

(About the home office:)  Sort of - it is a card table in my lower level and a laptop. Comfy chair. Have set up a bookcase in my storage room and have a filing cabinet for class notes and other paper copy artifacts. Most of my files are on a jump drive so not much different than when working at the office. Have had to bring in a couple of tall lamps for additional lighting when meeting with students or teaching zoom classes at night.

Zoom Zoom Zoom!!! Prior to COVID i taught in a classroom where during any given class there were face to face students, students on Zoom and students at a satellite facility who were joining class using an interactive distance learning medium. Most of the time there were significant challenges to make sure all students could see and hear and participate in instruction. A positive about COVID is that now ALL students are on Zoom! While zoom has

its limitations in terms of pedagogy, I use large and small group discussions (small groups meet in breakout rooms), individual and small group presentations, case studies, etc.

(About web conferencing:)   Better in ways because all students are using the SAME platform (see response to previous question). The one big disadvantage with zoom is the inability to engage small groups of students in 'hands on' activities like building a tower using materials that only one member off the group has to demonstrate synergy.

I teach doctoral students so they are much more independent in their need for support. I send out frequent emails to my advisees (at least once a week), zoom regularly with them (at least every 2 weeks when i am not in class with them).

Only a couple of doctoral faculty at my institution are more than 1/2 time so we did not have a lot of engagement prior to COVID. Monday was usually a good day for most faculty to be on campus because of faculty meetings so this was also often a day when several folks would gather for lunch. Primary engagement is once a month in a zoom faculty meeting.

(Any new technologies that are helpful?)  Haven’t found any!  

(About superpowers that have helped with coping: )  I am a pretty 'low-key' person. I have never been a person to be stressed about much. I read for enjoyment - especially on weekends - walk 2 miles every morning at 5 am, focus on work during work hours, and enjoy interactions with family and friends via zoom or phone, and watching movies on tv (Yay - the hallmark Christmas movies are here:-). None of these are 'superpowers' - just a day to day plan for enjoying life.

Because of our country's division related to common sense approaches to limiting COVID, I think what we have experienced the past few months in terms of mask, social distancing, etc. will be the 'normal' for at least a couple of years. Higher ed will continue to be challenged with having undergrads on campus and university budgets will be stretched even further with both dwinding numbers of high school students to recruit but also faculty willingness to teach hybrid or even totally using distance learning mediums. Athletics, performing arts, recruitment, residence halls, social gatherings - almost every element of faculty life will continue to be impacted for at least a couple of years maybe longer. As a nation we have become very divided - similar to a boiling pot on the stove that is ready to spill over. Some want our country to return to the 1950s version. Others recognize that the world has changed dramatically. I fear that social unrest and potentially even violence will continue to be the norm. There is so much vehemence, hatred for those with different points of view, and no willingness to enter into dialogues to both 'hear' other's points of view or trying to find common ground. COVID and politics have resulted in a divided country that will be difficult to bring back to the values and forward thinking that promote a healthy democracy.

The growing challenges affecting our nation: unemployment, poverty, homelessness, number of people who are infected or dying due to COVID, and growing divide among factions within the country. But also, resilience, the powerful examples we have all seen of individuals helping others, and inner resourcefulness of many to make it through the day with optimism and a smile on their faces.

(About preparation for future pandemics?)  I don't know that i would do anything differently. - I have been wearing a mask and socially distancing from others since these were recommended actions for limiting the spread of COVID. However, I believe that national leadership should have mandated mask wearing and social distancing. I don't know if a nation can prepare for a pandemic - each set of circumstances is so different and the strategies to combat a pandemic differ widely. We have learned that a vaccine can likely be created in less than several years, but the proof of effectiveness in distribution or willingness of people to be vaccinated remains to be determined.