Everyone in our school district received an “emergency” email one morning last week.  We were to shut down every computer immediately.  A virus had gotten in the system, and even one computer left open would increase the system vulnerability.  So every computer in the school system was shut down.

We expected to receive a call without a couple hours that we could turn the computers on again.  We waited, but the call didn’t come.  Alas, we were unable to use the computers again until the next day.  It was a vivid lesson, however, in how much we’ve come to depend on computer technology in the classroom.  Because I like to document events, I jotted down each time I started to do something and then realized I couldn’t because the server was down.  I needed the computer to:

(1) email the principal about a book order waiting to be placed

(2) look up prices and shipping information about Junior Great Books

(3) notify the resource teacher the times that I would be available to work with a student she’d discussed with me

(4) order the book Move Over, Rover by Karen Beautmont  (Another teacher had loaned it to me.  I LOVED it, and I wanted my own copy)

(5) send a thank-you email to the above mentioned teacher for recommending and loaning the book to me

(6) type up the “Planning Information Record” and “Lesson Plan” for my second observation

(7) email pastor Tom about a project at church

(8) go to the state website to get the forms I need for my second evaluation

(9) catalog the new book/tape sets for the book room

(10) email the teachers asking for gallon zip-lock bags for the book/tape sets (The teachers get them from students as part of their student supplies, and many of them have extras.  I use lots in the leveled bookroom)

(11) work on the December reading newsletter

(12) check news while I ate lunch at my desk (I discovered that lunch was rather boring without AOL news online to entertain me as I ate) 

(13) look up information on Amerigo Vespucci for a lesson on explorers

(14) work on my school web page

Besides my own inconveniences, the school lunch room was off schedule by about 10-15 minutes because the cashier had to manually record students’ information.  And, as teachers are aware, when a cafeteria is off schedule, that makes the rest of the school off schedule as well.

Despite the inconveniences, the next day the computers were up and running again, and the previous day was just a tiny blip on the screen of the school year.  Productivity for the day didn’t stop.  It was slower (looking up information in an encyclopedia instead of online), postponed (I’ll work on the newsletter and webpage another day) or changed forms (I walked to classrooms or the office to talk to people in person rather than sending out a 30-second emails).   

However, life as we know it was not ended by the lack of computers for one day.  We adapted.  In school, as in life, FLEXIBILITY is the key to success.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 18th, 2006 at 7:58 am and is filed under Teaching/Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.