Maddeningly this laptop of mine seems to be formatted to display approximately 95% of any document in full screen mode, thus leaving any control bars or arrows tantalisingly within reach of the slow and spasmodically moving on-screen cursor.
This work laptop is the least joyful teaching tool I have ever used. As I travelled from staffroom to classroom for Mondays period one lesson, I carried my diary, a student copy work booklet, a year 8 Science text book (essential lap top failure insurance), a small empty box to collect student portfolios, and the black skinned beast of disappointment itself. At the locked front door I shuffled items in my hands to free up an appendage and some keys. Through a combination of item overpopulation, first period malaise and the obnoxiously awkward size to weight ratio of one of my items – I don’t have to tell you which one - I felt the precarious balance I had maintained up until this point reach a dangerous precipice. I realised in flooding anxiety that it was going. Turning and twisting in slow motion, the laptop was releasing itself from my hold and beginning a terminal plummet towards the concrete floor. Snapping with all the dexterity and accuracy available to me I performed a high speed reverse hand catching manoeuvre. It was not a success. Instead of plucking victory and minor greatness from disaster, I managed to provide enough contact to the floating laptop to catapult it at increased speed away from me and towards the floor. With a grace and speed belied by its angular and awkward superstructure, the small black slab cartwheeled along the floor and contacted, with a resounding drum like sound, a bank of metal student lockers. It came to rest upside down on the floor with a panel sprung irregularly loose from its exposed undercarriage. “How do you like its chances?” I enquired of two mildly shocked students. “Um, I don’t know sir,” came their dubious reply. I manhandled the displaced panel back into its former position with the subtlety of a boilermaker and opened the classroom door. As the students settled into their seats I opened the worst laptop I have ever had. One cold blue light shone with baleful intent from the computers front edge. Much as it often did upon unexplained periods of resistance. It was not the first time this nightmare specter and I had stared blankly at each other. I reached slowly to press the ‘work’ button. The screen sprang to life and requested a ‘localuser’ log on. I typed ‘localuser’ and gently caressed ‘enter’. A powerpoint slide burst into life. Colour, structure and light - a near miracle of human creation. A device powerful enough to convert fleeting thoughts and desires into solid, presented form - flexible and engaging. Concepts that at one time had been confined to a single human mind were now presented and available for a room full of other minds to appreciate, all thanks to this special machine. A genius box, a brilliant invention, and clearly the toughest, most resilient and best computer I had ever had. As the computer seamlessly connected to the projector and expanded an image from the economical and perfectly ample sized screen onto the white board, all eyes turned to the front for the learning to begin. It was a spectacular journey. Beginning with actively and verbally condemning a device for its weaknesses, and concluding with veneration and praise of that same device for its features and capability. An internal journey of an instant. The powerful life message sparked clear and obvious to me - personal perspective is central to life’s experience. When stacked against some unclear expectation of elegance, fluidity and performance, which resided in my mind, the work computer was significantly disappointing. However when considered against the potential of a broken and genuinely non functioning computer, the laptop suddenly seemed excellent. It had not changed in the slightest, except for maybe one loose panel on the bottom, however my perception had radically changed. The difference was one acute incident which had shocked my mind away from a potentially unrealistic ideal, and towards a recognition of the actually quite impressive reality before me. The interesting point seems to be whether there is a way to generate similar large swings in perception without the concussive event as a trigger. What needs to happen within us to shift our view from negative to positive? How can we achieve optimism from a prevailing state of pessimism? Where do we find the clarity to see the world in a hopeful light? Part of the answer surely lies in the seemingly genuine truth … reality and existence are fundamentally influenced by perspective. Specifically our perspective - the one we foster and influence. The good and the bad in our life is in some way determined by the way that we perceive good and bad. It can change, and potentially that change is something we can influence. Something we should influence
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AuthorHigh school teacher Archives
September 2023
CategoriesThemes |