Epic Fail

Have you ever had "one of those days"? You know the one...you might call it an epic fail. Nothing could or would go right.

I like to problem solve or be the problem solver with technology at school. Most of the time I can help get a solution. Today, a poor teacher had guest speakers and had to try two computers before calling me. I can't get the flashdrive to work. Try with the third computer and think that it is fixed....only to find out the computer power (even though plugged in) dies.

Epic fail?
What are these guests thinking? And a poor frazzled teacher! Classroom waiting.

Most of the time technology works for me or I can get it to work. So I might not have double checked as much as I should have today with the tools I wanted to use in my own class. At the bell is not the time to figure out that the USB web camera is not working with the program you want to work with. All the time that was spent downloading the software and gathering supplies...not to mention the "what now". A class of students eagerly awaits the plan for the day. I'll just say that something came together, but we had less than usual behavior in the room as I at times scrambled. 

Epic fail?
Spur of the moment pull an app from the air to have some download...only to realize it doesn't have the photo/camera option you want after killing time to get it downloaded
Computer class chair train (don't ask...but I wish I had taken a picture) while waiting
One computer for the class- stop-motion animation all using photo booth 
Mix in a little laser pointing (prop), toy cars, puppets, and more.

I'll be honest today felt like an epic fail. Technology can fail....not function, lose power, wig out, be uncooperative, etc. However, I hope the students saw resilience, persistence, humbleness (yes, things like this happen to everyone), humor (that sometimes it is okay to create a train out of computer chairs and ride them around the room...for no other reason than teamwork and fun). And we did make a little animation action.

I will enter a win for today. For nothing else, there is always learnIng through the failed attempts.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Launching

Image
This little rocket ship may not seem like much. If it caught your attention, you might look at it and wonder about it. Why does it have a circle on the right upper side? Is that an open window? Why are the letters "L" and "M" on it? What if I were to tell you that only graduates receive them? That the letters stand for "Launch Me". And that circle on the side, is so that it can be worn with pride.  But no, it has nothing to do with NASA! However, everything to do with a launch. Intrigued? So was I! Here is where it all started: Was I ready to take my skills to new places? As an instructor or presenter I know that I can keep refining and fine tuning my presentation skills. So, what would it hurt?! Sign me up.... So this last week I spent two days in Hutchinson at ESSDACK with two top notch presenters and forward thinkers. One is pictured above, Kevin Honeycutt . The other can be found with all things PBL, but also as co-collaborator wi...
Read more

A Yellow-shirted Girl's Announcement

Image
Recognize that yellow-shirted girl? Somehow I ended up being the "star" of the Central Christian College Education Department advertisement. At the time the picture was taken, I was part-time. At the time of release, I was serving as an adjunct. At the time of this writing, I am announcing that I will be full-time! That yellow-shirted girl.... is now..... Education Instructor & K-12 Professional Development Coordinator for Central Christian College!
Read more

Combine Literacy and Technology

Image
Here are some resources to "combine literacy and technology" (taken from my Combine Literacy and Technology presentation). 1. Big Huge Labs ( www.bighugelabs.com ) Take your pictures and create fun projects with them. When I shared this I featured the motivational poster. If you are like my husband you might like making a " demotivator ". Teachers could use this site to create a poster without the title or description and have the students come up with them! Or teachers could fill in the title and description and have the students find a fitting picture. These two options would provide a way to use the site without students being on the computer!  2. Superlame ( www.superlame.com ) This is a very easy to use site that again uses your pictures. No logon required and free to use! Take a picture and add a speech or thought bubble to it.  Here is one that I made: 3. Jing ( www.techsmith.com/jing.html ) This is one of my top ten sites also! I LOVE ...
Read more