In my comp class today, the plan was to finish watching Mulan to prepare my students for their definition argument paper. So imagine my surprise when I get to the classroom and see that they have CHANGED THE COMPUTER. And? There is no longer a tower!
Luckily, a CD/DVD drive was on the now tower-less computer, but it took me a minute to find it. Then, I had to figure out how to start the DVD since, of course, it didn’t autoplay nor would it load in Windows Media Player. The good news is that I had been down that road before in another classroom so knew to look for the VLC player, which was actually there and working.
So, we got to finish the movie, and I got to assign the paper. Whew. Because I really did not have an alternative if the classroom technology wasn’t working. Especially since Mulan is no longer on Netflix, so it’s not like I could have used that option either.
But now I’m wondering if that means I should carry my portable DVD drive with me JUST IN CASE whenever I plan to show a movie in class. I mean.
The Englishist 
Do you use expert 21?! I taught Mulan with the movie as well
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Technology in the classroom is great when it works. But when it doesn’t and you are left in the lurch . . .eeek.
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Technology can be so wonderful and so horrible! I’m glad everything worked out for you. When I first became a coach, my mentor told me to always have a back-up plan in case the technology isn’t working. That advice has saved me more than once!
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Tech hurdles are stressful .. finding workarounds? A sense of victory!
Kevin
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Those best laid plans? Yeah, they’re just plans. Nice work troubleshooting and then executing!
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Glad you were able to persevere and find a solution. I think it is good for students to see us have to find workarounds, especially when it is done with a positive attitude.
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