My First Few Days of Distance Learning

 I worked all summer preparing.  I created countless hyper doc slideshows for my students, watched  tons of videos on YouTube about a variety of tech tools, and planned for the unknown.   Although we were not even told whether we were going back or not, I had a feeling.  I knew we would not be given curriculum. I knew we would have to fend for ourselves; I was right.  To our district's credit, they did offer to pay us for six hours of professional development the week before we normally go back. However, I will tell you that six hours is not enough. Sixty would be more like it...maybe even 600.

Anyhow, I went to Walmart and bought a white sheet to hang on my wall, bought some twinkle lights, and went to school and took some of my inspirational plaques off my classroom wall. This became my teaching background for distance learning.  Then, after doing some reading, I decided that I must have an additional monitor for my Google Meets.Otherwise, when I am presenting, I cannot see my students. I tracked one down. Then, I discovered I needed an HDMI cord to connect it to my school Chromebook. Down to Frye's I went. I connected the cord and it worked!  Whoo hoo! I also had ATT come out and upgrade our internet speed and put in a mesh extender; I wasn't taking any chances on shoddy internet. I was ready for this beast called Distant Learning!

FEELING HOPEFUL BEFORE MY FIRST CLASS

Then...school started. I had done a million practice runs before my first day and felt confident. I turned on my twinkle lights and got ready to meet my students. I was excited and nervous. I had reason to be nervous; nothing worked!  When I tried to open something in my drive, it froze. When I tried to present something to my students, it froze. I kept getting dropped from my own meetings!  I was so embarrassed. What would my students think? What would their parents think?  Even worse, I didn't know why it was happening. I managed to survive the day...barely. Talk about bad first impressions.  I figured it had to be my internet, so I called my mom and asked if I could do Day 2 at her house. I knew my dad did Zoom meetings all the time from home with no issues.  

I arrived the next day with my Chromebook and extra monitor and set up shop on two TV trays.  I just KNEW things would go seamlessly...NOT!  Just as I was telling students to not worry if they got dropped from a meeting and to just rejoin, I got dropped from my own meeting. 

 "Mrs. Karney, we can't see your screen." 

"Where did she go?" I heard, as I rejoined the meeting.

I pretended to be calm for my students, but I was sweating and my heart was pounding. I was just ten minutes into my advisory class!  I told my students that I was going to let them go early and raced to school for PLAN C.  I was so stressed that I forgot my shoes!  Even worse, I had no lunch. I tried to log in to my computer, but alas, the mouse battery was dead!  I ran next door to pilfer a battery from a colleague's mouse, but apparently someone else beat me to it! Meanwhile, the clock was ticking, and I was almost  late to my own class.  I have only been late TWICE in 30 years!  I finally tracked down a battery and logged in. My heart rate was probably 160 at that point. The good news is that everything went smoothly the rest of the day. Other than eating some stale Tootsie Rolls I found in my desk drawer for lunch, I had no problems.  

I realized that my problem was my school Chromebook, so after school I drove straight to Costco(yes, I was barefoot) and spent $700 on a new computer.  Unfortunately, the HDMI cord I had didn't fit my new computer, so off to Frye's I went. From that point on, my technology has been stellar!

Although this was a dreadful experience, I hope my students learned something from watching me endure it.  Life happens. Things go wrong. We are not perfect. We can't control everything. We can't give up. We must give one another grace.  My students were so sweet about everything and kept reassuring me that it was okay. I also received some  very kind emails from parents offering their support. I had made sure to write them and explain the situation.

As teachers, we must always extend grace and understanding to our students. They need it now more than ever;  we all do!