Technology for Losers: Teaching in the Pandemic

When it comes to technology, I would say I am not the worst at it, but I’m also old school in a lot of facets.

I mean, I’m not a dinosaur, but I like reading real physical books, I hate those kiosks at restaurants where you check yourself out and I would always, 100 percent prefer to do a professional development training in person rather than online. That has made these last few days at work, a challenge, a week of growth, a real kick in the ass.

But I’m not going to be left in the dust you guys.

I will bitch and moan like the rest of them, but I am going to get on the train and embrace all of this crazy google meet, google classroom, seesaw, jamboard jamboree, like the rest of them. This led me to yesterday evening. I said to myself I am going to make one of the Bitmoji classrooms. I am going to impress the ever loving crap out of my families. My virtual classroom is going to look so good, the cohorts will compete over how much each of them can be with me. But then I realized I didn’t have a Bitmoji. No problem. That is what my 11-year-old is for. After a lot of blah blah blah, I can’t believe you don’t have one already Mom, I was on my way to creating her. The virtual me. I thought when I began, I would look a little more like Jennifer Aniston. I ended up looking a little bit like Drew Barrymore and that crazy Mom from that show Reba. Oh well right? That camera can’t capture all of my fabulousness. I spent thirty five minutes picking out my outfit for my bitmoji. I’m slightly embarrassed by this, I mean I guess I just really wanted to find the Stitch Fix outfit that I just received and when that wasn’t available I wanted to show off those virtual cheekbones and calves.

Once I created my avatar of my true self, I watched a Youtube tutorial that told me now I needed an extension and some backgrounds and transparent furniture. Oh my lord, I began thinking to myself. Maybe I should give up, just put one of those icons on my SeeSaw account that reads in construction, for good. In big bold letters.

Then two hours laters, I had created a half decent classroom, but that is not enough in todays climate everyone. You also need to have text boxes that lead to links and the links should lead to somewhere and videos should be made and those videos should be engaging and once down that rabbit hole I had to figure out how to get this classroom into the computer. I ended up assigning it to each student. Is that even the correct path? I don’t freakin know. I felt a little like Michael on the Oficce, when he drives into the pond because the GPS told him too. I’m trying you guys. I’m trying real hard. If my virtual classroom is a bust, then my in-person classroom will have to make up for the shit show that I have created. At the end of the day, all I want is for my classroom parents and my co-workers to say, she is a hot mess, but she is still intentional and motivated to be the best teacher there is to these kids.