The first week of school is always like this: a total hurricane. Each morning, I face a flood of emails. This year, there are more than usual because of rising sea levels. No, I mean, because we have a new parent portal that isn't exactly working the way it was promised to work. There are random errors, flaky errors that cannot be reproduced. They leave the parents feeling frustrated when we try to reenact the error and do not get the same response, and we are also left feeling frustrated when we do reproduce the error, but then the tech support team for our new product cannot reproduce the error. It is during these times that I feel as if I am wasting valuable minutes. I could be thinking about some incredible new lesson to teach the students in my classes. I could be reinforcing the crash-course training my new faculty and staff received last week in "meetings week." Instead, I'm answering emails and trying to help a company debug their product. Sooooooo not what I signed on for. Friday, September 5, 2008
Overwhelm
The first week of school is always like this: a total hurricane. Each morning, I face a flood of emails. This year, there are more than usual because of rising sea levels. No, I mean, because we have a new parent portal that isn't exactly working the way it was promised to work. There are random errors, flaky errors that cannot be reproduced. They leave the parents feeling frustrated when we try to reenact the error and do not get the same response, and we are also left feeling frustrated when we do reproduce the error, but then the tech support team for our new product cannot reproduce the error. It is during these times that I feel as if I am wasting valuable minutes. I could be thinking about some incredible new lesson to teach the students in my classes. I could be reinforcing the crash-course training my new faculty and staff received last week in "meetings week." Instead, I'm answering emails and trying to help a company debug their product. Sooooooo not what I signed on for. 
2 comments:
And even amongst the flood you float peacefully and gracefully, this is a gift you possess. You don't hear it enough, but we are tremendously blessed to have you and grateful for you.
Amen! I second runsingteach's comment. You are an island of peace and tranquility while the wind is howling amidst and the waves are crashing around. You are a true blessing in our community. Thank you for everything you do!
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