Monday, August 17, 2009

outsmarted by the smart classroom

So, I requested one o' them smart classrooms for my lit classes this semester. (Comp will continue to take place in the dumb classroom, because, well, comp class always makes me feel dumb, and besides, I couldn't justify tying up the fancy technology when a third of our class sessions are given over to conferences or peer workshopping or some such.)

I swear. This technology has it in for me. I don't want to turn my back on it because it will probably end up strangling me with one of the power cords.

Something has gone wrong EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Granted, today was only the fourth day of the semester, but this does not bode well. I haven't been able to figure out how to turn the sound system on, or the projector unexpectedly dies, or the cable connecting the computer to everything else becomes unconnected.

I hate things that make me look dumb in front of my students on a regular basis. (And it's always in front of students, because even when I try to get to the classroom at 7:30 to test out the equipment for my 8 a.m. class, there's invariably a student already there. Since when do college students go to class at 7:30 in the morning? I suspect they are secretly vampires, or something.)

On the other hand, I love being able to show things like this, so I suppose it's a wash.

2 comments:

Susan said...

How can your students NOT get into Beowulf after that?

undine said...

They go at 7:30 because they know that the smart classroom equipment vs. instructor dynamic makes this their own live version of Punk'd; at least I'm convinced that that happens when I teach in one.

It's worth it to show those great clips, though, and there's a finite number of things that can go wrong after the first week.