week 10: Adaptability Required

I had a new experience this afternoon when I was teaching virtually and our district’s internet went out. By the very nature of virtual teaching, the internet is a necessity. It took me a couple of minutes to realize that it was the internet and not my devices malfunctioning. I immediately joined the meet on my phone and was able to give my students directions. I tried to continue to teach the math problem we were completing while simultaneously troubleshooting my computer. The internet appeared to reconnect so I quickly joined the google meet again on my desktop only for the internet to crash a few seconds later.

 
Eventually, I thought about holding my phone up to the physical whiteboard in my classroom to teach the remaining 15 minutes of the lesson to the best of my ability. It was rough. My left hand got tired holding my phone while my right hand was writing on the board. My audio cut in and out so kids couldn’t clearly hear my instruction. I finished the lesson to the best of my ability, but covered about ⅓ of the content that I needed to. It was frustrating. I remained cool and collected, but left school feeling like I hope that never happens again.

It’s interesting to think about all the elements unique to online learning. The internet has gone out in the building before, however when we’re in person it’s much easier to adapt quickly. It also made me think about how a more discussion based class like social studies could perhaps more seamlessly change lesson plans on the spot. I don’t think I’m going to redo that portion of the lesson tomorrow. This year is so mumbled jumbled that I know the kids got exposure to the topic and I feel like the best decision would be to continue to move forward with content.