I just had one of those nights. And, it HAD to be my last Intermediate English club. My lesson plan revolved around watching an episode of 'Burn Notice' and following it with carefully chosen discussion topics. I should have know: technology and I are not very often friends.
The first hurdle to overcome was the fact that the room we always meet in had been taken over by another group for some kind of meeting. We then relocated to a secondary room...which was also housing a meeting. Really? Yes. Vova and Tanya graciously agreed to move their meeting into the computer room so that we could use Room #2. While Stas was setting up the projector, however, we encountered our series of issues.
From previous experience, I knew that my laptop and the projector at the Christian Center were not compatible, so I planned on using the church's computer. Stas set everything up and turned to me for the movie, which I had in DVD format. He informed me that the disc drive on the computer wouldn't work but that he'd check for another laptop in the building that might work. I pulled out an old standby activity to use with the class until Stas returned...to say that no other laptops were available.
So, we decided to move to the computer room (kicking out Vova and Tanya yet again) to watch the movie of one of the larger screen computers. Surprise! The computer won't read the disc. Of course.
At this point, I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel to come up with something to do to keep us going, because did I mention that half of those present spoke pretty good English and the other half almost none at all? Always a challenge.
Well, Nastia came to the rescue with a program that, when downloaded, will allow Ukrainian computers to play American discs. Whew! So, with 15 minutes of English club time left, they say that they do, in fact, want to watch the episode. We do. We go over time, and I had to rush the discussion part.
However, I was able to give some gifts from my heart before we left. This was my last English club teaching by myself, so I gave copies of the New Testament to my students, as a way of expressing to them how much I want them to have the same hope that I have. I don't know how many of them will read it, but I pray they do. It's so important to me, I want them to know the same peace that I do.
So, maybe the evening was salvaged after all. :)
1 comment:
You definitely get the "Best Thinker on Her Feet" Award in my book.
Sowing seeds . . . I'd say the evening was a success!
Post a Comment