Apr
21
Tags
A Most Frustrating Day
As a teacher I am used to things going wrong, a child’s pen exploding, the computer refusing to boot, the screen freezing: A bomb scare (on my first teaching prac, during my first observation). But none of that, not even sitting in the school’s old TB wing for bomb disposal to sound the all clear, prepared me for today.
At 8am I logged in as I have done since the apocalypse commenced (I’m usually in work by 8:05, so it makes sense to keep to this routine) and answered a few emails. Then I went on to give feedback on things that came through last night. Finally, I went to set the work for the day.
Now I must admit that I had an inkling today would not be easy. Over the weekend this happened to my laptop.
On Sunday we transfered everything over to the cloud. It took 4 hours.
This morning, using husband’s laptop and my profile, I went to the cloud to upload today’s stuff. Stuff, I’d lovingly prepared over Easter. The cloud has not syncd with the profile on the laptop.
By 9.20am, I’d paged Doctor Google, shouted at a YouTube video for waffling and commenced the Sync. I am still waiting. It is now nearly 3.30.
So slow is my internet that it keeps timing out on me. I have reset the box more times than the Pope has been asked of he’s Catholic. I am at my wit’s end.
In a desperate attempt to avoid something reckless, I am currently writing this on my phone.
Well in that case, surely you can tether the laptop to your phone data. I could but then how am I going to see the work kids send? At least I have the aps on the phone and can comment. (Unless, of course, they’ve uploaded a photo… because my phone can’t access enough bandwidth to look at them either.)
What Ofsted would make of all this, I really couldnt give a flying… If they want to do better, they can.
I’m supposed to try and phone a vulnerable student today, and email some of my form. I have two phones, one on EE and this one on 3. Each phone call on either phone cuts out in under a minute.
Don’t get me wrong, it is not my internet/phone providers’ fault. There is no blame,
The Internet/telecommunications world was not designed for these unprecedented times. Besides as every teacher will tell you, if it can go wrong, it will.
We must make do and mend as my Nana used to say and my mum still does. There must be ways round it. Carrier pigeon and morse code spring to mind, but I’m not sure how well that’ll work.
Still, a new screen is due by the weekend and Covid-19 delivery permitting normal service resumes soon after, so there is light at the end of my tunnel…
and if the sync hasn’t happened by then, all will be well when OH fits the new screen. I know this frustration is temporary. But it doesn’t help when every plan you can think of backfires and only time and patience will do.
Fortunately, after 5 tonight things will calm down for an hour or so. Hopefully in this slot the syncing will happen. If not, I’ll have to set the alarm for the middle of the night and try again.
One day, I know, we’ll all look back on this and laugh.
But possibly not for a very long time.
More than a Cat 