The 7th graders had a test. It was a simple grammar thing--they had to identify the subject and the verb in various sentences. It didn't take them the whole period.
Then I was to put the key under the document camera and project it onto the board so the students could correct it.
Document cameras and projectors have become pretty standard in classrooms nowadays. I know how to turn the things on and diagnose most problems. So, when it came time to do the corrections, I didn't anticipate any problems.
The projector turned on. The document camera worked. But what got projected onto the board was a white blob. I tried to focus the document camera. Turned it off and back on. Tried to make the thing bigger. But no matter what I did, words did not appear on the screen.
(As I sit here and type this two days after the event, it now occurs to me that I didn't check to make sure the projector was in focus. *facepalm*)
Students came over to help, but they were as flummoxed as me.
After five minutes of this, I decided that the best way to do this was the old-fashioned way. By reading out the answers.
Ah well. At least it got done.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
19 comments:
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How very frustrating! At least you had a simple solution to hand though :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it was simple. I spent twice as long reading it over with them.
DeleteI thought you were going to say the document was upside down and the printed side was facing down. Haha! I worked for the bureau that issues licenses to doctors, nurses, etc. in TN and I was in charge of the multimedia for all of the licensing meetings. They liked to use the document camera occasionally when they wanted to present evidence...most of the time it was on the laptops (now iPads) the board members used to view documents, but some attorneys were old school. So I'd get called down there with them in a panic when things like this went wrong. They only used that thing once every couple of years, so I never could remember how to fix the zoom on that thing...and there would be a roomful of people, sometimes the news media with cameras pointed at you (although they didn't care about footage of me looking like an idiot for their evening news!). It was a lot of pressure...I definitely don't miss that!
ReplyDeleteUpside down document I could have figured out. I hope. It's no fun to be the tech guy, is it?
DeleteAhh technology, I think I would have hung my head low if the students figured it out and showed me:)-glad it got done anyway
ReplyDeleteThe amount of times technology lets us down it isn't funny. Especially microphones. They NEVER work! It probably wasn't out of focus, just broken.
ReplyDeleteYou probably didn't notice that one of my labels is "technical difficulties". It happens enough that it has its own subsection on my blog.
DeleteNone of the kids thought about it, either, and they may not use it, but they've been around it as much as you have. Who knows? Maybe it was just busted.
ReplyDeleteYou were adaptive and problem solving to get the work done!
ReplyDeletebetty
I adore technology when it works. I have horrible anxiety when it doesn't - especially in front of a crowd. I used to do a lot of training in my past life and somehow managed to check out the worst of all power point projectors for my classes. It can ruin a perfectly good day just like that! Congrats to you for staying calm and getting it done
ReplyDeleteI've gotten over worrying about things like this. I worry more about what the students will do when I'm busy fixing it, though.
DeleteTechnology can bite many times! At least you had a physical copy of the answer key. It's the worst when the plan is tech-based only, but it doesn't work.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah! If it had just been on the computer...
DeleteLOL. If all else fails... Oh my. What an awesome experience. I had a total fail with technology yesterday, but I'm proud to report it didn't end up in a broken monitor. That's say TONZ for me. ;)
ReplyDeleteI was hoping at the end you'd have a MacGyver-like solution to the problem. But your way was better, I think.
ReplyDeleteI wish I knew how to fix such things. Although, rebooting solves a multitude of problems.
DeleteWhen it comes to technology or equipment, I always figure things out after the fact! Why??! :) Hope you enjoy a wonderful summer!
ReplyDeleteI think in anything we must make all the mistakes first. In public.
DeleteSometimes the old fashioned way is best. But what do I know? I still prefer paper books to digital. :)
ReplyDeleteVR Barkowski