When churches and schools closed, I was sad about being barred from my beloved students, but what could I do? The only senior citizen in the class, I was most at risk.
When I groused to my uber-helpful and very tech astute elder sister about missing my students, she suggested I download a program called Zoom, gather up my kids and teach online.
I laughed and laughed. Because . . . see above. No way I was going to ‘gather my students’ and learn something new. Especially something that could possibly require online computing.
When the ‘powers that be’ announced I would teach every day on a newly-discovered program called ‘Zoom’, I laughed again. Then cried a little. Surely they knew me better than that?
Nope. They promised to help me learn. Promised I would enjoy it. Promised I would be a tech amazing whiz-senior before the week was out. But firmly told me to ‘do it’.
Now every morning, I am seated at my desk in front of 23 teenagers, teaching. Watching videos. Following Power Point presentations. Even separating into ‘rooms’ to work as individuals or groups.
I am the king of the world! Yes, it’s a small world, peopled with teenagers 14 to 18, too polite to laugh out loud when I screw up. (Which I do.)
But I’ve done it. Learned a new program. Implemented it without too many disasters. And best of all, I get to ‘see’ my teenagers nearly every day! It’s a beautiful world.
I was assigned the word count number: 31
It was submitted by my best blogging friend, Karen of Baking in a Tornado.
Thanks so much, Karen! You are awesome!
Here are the links to the other blogs featuring this challenge. Check them all out, see what numbers they got and how they used them.
Links to the other Word Counters posts:
Baking In A Tornado
Spatulas on Parade
Messymimi’s Meanderings
I've been avoiding learning about Zoom, but I think I'm going to have to just go for it!
ReplyDeleteWell, I had thought I was "all that" when I learned zoom too, but now that you've mentioned the ability to separate into rooms? Guess I'm just partially that.
ReplyDeleteYay for learning new things!! Congratulations and I'm so glad you're able to continue teaching!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations. I am going to dip my tentative toes into the zoom waters later today. I am not looking forward to it, but this post gives me hope. A smidge of hope.
ReplyDeleteYay, Diane! I thought Zoom was above my pay grade too, but now I do it twice a week with family and a writing group. Who knew? Maybe we're tech savvy after all!
ReplyDeleteThat's wonderful. Please, however, think of security and make sure your sessions are always password protected. It's so horrible to bring this up but at least one friend was at a religious gathering on Zoom that was "Zoom bombed" by a hacker, and, especially with children involved, you do not want that. But don't be frightened - Zoom can be such a wonderful tool. Maybe you can teach us!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! You are doing wonderfully well.
ReplyDeleteKudos to you--I have had issues with Zoom like crazy and finally gave up!
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