As I stood speaking in front of a large audience, my computer went to sleep and I had to log back on. I went back to show them teachers different examples that were housed online, but realized that my WiFi had disconnected and tried to get back on. A simple issue to deal with when I am by myself, all of a sudden seemed to be terrifying in front of 100 plus people as I was not able to connect. The crowd, although being patient, started to talk while I was dealing with technical issues. By nature, when I am nervous, I begin to sweat, and when I realize that, my heart begins to beat significantly faster. I obviously was getting nervous, but fortunately was able to get back online and continue my lesson. That being said, the loss of momentum in what I was trying to teach also led to a loss of attention from some of the participants. They were physically there, but their mind weren’t coming back. Those few members of the audience were done listening to me for the day.
It is important that teachers exhibit resiliency in the face of adversity and understand that not everything is going to work, all of the time. But it is also important that in our work as school administrators, that things work as best as possible to not only serve our students, but also our teachers.
One minute in front of a classroom when something is not working, can seem like an eternity. Those “minutes” need to be as few and far between as possible.