Just Forget It!

Ok, so today I did something I haven't done before with teletherapy.... I gave up!  I got to my computer and logged in. The student I was going to see wasn't there (again), so I called the school.  Then after another 10 minutes of waiting they called me and said the program wasn't running on their end.  In the meantime, I had looked at my schedule again and discovered that now that I have all of the bugs worked out of it, I could come there live at the same time.  So, I said, "Let's forget it for today and starting next week, I'll come in person."  What a relief, because this session has been a pain everytime we've tried it.
On a more positive note, I had a session this morning with a different student that we made ti through without a glitch.  So, it is possible to have teletherapy without the nightmare:)

Into the Deep Freeze

Here in Minnesota, we know a lot about freezing, especially around this time of year.  For example, today is a balmy 25 degrees.  And we actually think it is balmy- last week we had sub-zero highs (yes highs, not to mention the lows) and windchills of 40 below.  But, my student and I experienced a different kind of freezing today.  Mid-teletherapy session, my student was sharing a video with me- which he had already successfully done earlier in the same session- when his computer froze.  Blue screen.  Nothing on my end but a frozen face staring back at me.  And naturally, when this happens if it isn't the beginning of the session there isn't enough time to reboot the computer and try again so you end up with a shortened session.  We'll try again, and maybe then it will be balmy!

The Recurring Nightmare...

Today, I logged into my room as usual, but when I tried to join the room where I was meeting my student, I had to log in again and again and again and again.  I think you get the picture.  Fortunately, my student was late (again), so the aggravation of having to try over and over was not added to by having someone waiting for me.  By the time she arrived, I was able to join the room and stay there without multiple log-ins. 

It Happened Again... With a Different Outcome

So, today, I had to practically kick out the preschooler I was working with face-to-face so that I could log on to my teletherapy room.  When I arrived, the student was signed in, but I was looking at an empty chair.  Seriously, it takes two to do this!  Well, I waited around because this student always shows up - usually before me.  Eventually, I decided he must be absent because he still wasn't there.  So, I called the school and asked the secretary if he was absent and yes, he was.  Well, at least the teacher on the other end had her part of the job done:)

It Takes Two!

Ok, so my nightmare in teletherapy today was an easy, non-technical problem, which you can probably guess by the title.  No student showed up.  I never know what to do when this happens.  Do I email the teacher on the other end?  Call the school?  Or just wait because it could be that they are dealing with technical problems on their end and don't really want to try to diagnose and fix the problem and be bombarded by phone calls and emails.  Today, I called.  The student and teacher had forgotten me.  And by the time she got on we had about 4 minutes left of our 20 minute session.  Aargh!  Good news is, we both had enough time to stay on longer than the 4 minutes and we did get something accomplished.