Upside Down Learning

Some days in an elementary classroom, the unexpected happens. You have no idea how it happened or why it happened, but it happened. Take this technology glitch when the learning goal and features of persuasive letters flipped upside down.

Ms. Hakes-Anderson's parting idea of "helping"

 I tried the usual ... every button on the remote ... parts of the program on my computer ... buttons on the smart board ... buttons on the projecter. I asked for student input. I shut down EVERYTHING: computer, board, projector. I asked for help, "ask three, then ask me" (not my phrase in class, but other staff use it). Ms. Hakes-Anderson, Mr. Lyon, and Mr. Greninger all came in to share their thoughts. Ms. Hake's thought taking a picture and asking the tech people would be helpful. One helpful student suggested I flip the picture and post that ... I was working on that, when Mrs. Goebel, IT Department, arrived. She went right to work, patiently going beyond the buttons on the remote that I had already abandonned. I don't know what she did, but she worked her magic, and we were back in business.

I took comfort in knowing that Ms. Hakes-Anderson, Mr. Lyon, and Mr. Greninger, nor Mrs. Goebel had ever seen a board flip like that. I was very thankful that there were people to call to help me out. I was also appreciative for my students who accepted it as part of our learning experience and kept on track with the learning goal that lacked ideal readability.

Some days, we just accept there are upside down events, and we do our best to make our learning happen anyway.