Twice on Tuesday it seemed like things were close to falling apart. First, the set of laptops I had for the day would not connect to the network and my first period was nearly wasted. Plus, my students couldn't remember their usernames or passwords and class was at a literal stand still. I just had to stop and think of what else we could do. Quick. Luckily, I realized I could make Friday's activity work instead, so we adapted.
Then, after nearly 40 students had already turned in permission forms I had sent home, I realized that I not only had forgotten to remind them to put their names on their papers, I had also neglected to put a place on their paper for their name! Now I had a stack of permission forms, turned in a day early, only identifiable by their parents' illegible signatures. So I took a breath, reminded the rest of my classes, and was happy to see that most of my students had written their names without my hope. Problem averted. I'll tell you what- I'll never make that mistake again!
The next day, I got to school early, got all of the laptops working (well, several wouldn't work no matter what I did), and was able to make up for lost time. Now, if only all my students would listen carefully when I give directions or read the thorough directions I provided on our class website, things would have gone smooth as butter! Ultimately, we got it all done without undue blood, sweat, or tears- and it was a lot! I'm proud of my kids.
There was a moment when everything was going perfectly. With too few computers, some students were registering for the websites we would be using, and those who were waiting were quietly reading. This time, when I took a moment to stop and assess, I found myself thinking, "I'm doing it! It's working!" And you know what, it was awesome! So I took a picture :)