My technophobe days are over at last! I am now among the anoraks (aka 'techies') of the teaching world, armed with my sturdy laptop case with projector bag slung over my shoulder as I stride confidently into the classroom to treat my learners to picture shows of gasp-making awesomeness..
Well, that was the dream..
The reality was somewhat different!
I decided to try it out at home and put some worksheets up on the lounge wall (not good timing, since Champions League was on the TV at the time and groans were to be heard from the depths of the sofa where partner was recumbent with lager and crisps ready for a footy evening.. undaunted, I ran a parallel viewing opportunity for the rest of the household in the form of Parts of Speech followed by Word Tag quiz).. so far, so good
My next tutor session was scheduled for the following day, so I included an 'Introduction to Online Tests' in my session plan, sketching in approximately 15minutes as the time slot... The first five minutes were spent looking for an extension lead, since desk and plug socket were yards apart.. the next five minutes looking for a thick book (mysteriously in a learning establishment there were none to be found! Only wafer-thin Readers Digests) in order to aim the projector somewhere vaguely in the direction of the whiteboard and not at my knees. The next five minutes I had to unscramble my desktop icons on the laptop to remember where I had stored my televisual feast of learning.. the class by now were doodling in their notebooks or looking out of the window. Then, tra-la! Up came the selected first page of links in glorious technicolour on the whiteboard, not a camera-shake in sight... success! Ah, but what was that mysterious glow on the laptop keyboard, followed by an intermittent bleep...? O joy, the power was fading and, well, dear Reader, you can guess the rest... Intrepid Tutor had left the transformer at home and the battery was dying...
Lessons learned, but not by the intended learners that day!
The projector and laptop have lived quietly ever since in my office cabinet, languishing beside discarded Sony Walkman and long-dead Betamax videos. However, life springs anew and the trusty equipment is due for another outing this coming session when I want to do some Practice Tests 'live' in class. To this end, I am wielding yet another sparkly new gizmo- a mobile webstick! Do I feel confident? Watch this space...
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2 comments:
Anne, you describe what so many of us have experienced so well!! Thank you for posting this description of your "initial assessment" - we will look forward to reading of your progress and achievements !
(sorry, v.cheeky, I know)
I so understand the frustration Anne! I've been close to tears but persevered, with a lot of support from colleagues and the blog, and it's worth it!
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