IV. My special thanks go
to the team of professionals at Oxinity.com
This isn’t a new entry for many of you -and even if it were, it shouldn’t be taking you by surprise since such are the events in the world today.
“Talk my Walk” will need to stop for a while and we all know why. Even though seeing my baby-project take the impact of this chaos was upsetting, I have to say that I also feel lucky that I am part of the Oxinity team -which was able to foresee what was about to come and what would happen as a result if we didn’t do anything about it in advance.
And of course, decided to take action.
Having taken action before the official announcement of schools and universities shutting down in Barcelona is what allowed me to speak to my “Talking Walkers” to offer them a solution for their own benefit first, for ours and, ultimately, for society’s. "Talk my Walk" is now "Web my Talk".
That sort of fear of the unknown is very difficult to deal with given that it seems to grow exponentially in no time and in a way that no one seems to be quite ready to manage –but in any case, prevention is a must. It is our responsibility at least to help by not contributing to the spreading and protect our students and teachers’ health.
It is by taking action by means of adopting preventive measures that I have been able to offer my students the chance to switch to Web classes and keep up with their learning instead of having no choice but to have them stop due to the circumstances and without any options adding to the chaos of their lives.
And this was only possible because of...
1-…the technological tools that Oxinity provides -not only for students but for teachers too- so that we can have access to our courses both at home as well as with our mobile phones. And let’s be honest, this way, we freelancers in teaching do not have it that difficult for once.
2-… an IT team who worked for never-ending hours to have the system and platform ready for us all to switch to Web classes successfully within days.
3-… and a Management team who has made it happen literally at the expense of their sleeping hours while trying to convey a message of normality within a rather chaotic exception.
And I think this is the key to having at least a go at controlling the uncontrollable. I’m aware of how difficult it is to find a bit of normality in isolation and empty supermarkets. Yet, I believe that there are things that we can do and having schedules at home to stick to is definitely one of them.
My students already have the opportunity to have their classes at home –it won’t be the same as walking for miles if they’d like to be outdoors, I know; but it will still be they and I, with the same content they would have gone through with me outdoors because we’ve got Web access, and the same chance to have a laugh while we learn from each other. Anyone who has ever had online classes with me –or face to face- knows that: laughing in class is also a must.
And maybe it is also time for the “Not-That-Early Birds” to join us. We have to be at home anyway; don’t you want to be on the phone for 30 minutes with me and have a laugh? I’m actually really good at keeping people talking on the phone. Yes, we know you hate to have to pick up the phone in English -which is why you probably need to train it. Get your teleworking-schedule ready and have a go: trying is free! (and it will keep you sane and healthy at home)
But this is my Professionships' entry today and what I would like to do is thank the team at Oxinity.com: had it not been for you, all of my classes would have cancelled until who knows when adding financial stress to an already very stressful situation. Knowing that you had my back then and that you have it now makes me feel that I can rely on someone even if I have to be isolated -and by being able to keep contact with my students, with my real life as it is, I would feel less isolated. You have been great at dealing with this and everyone should know so because, at times, real greatness only shows in having to deal with uncertainty and crisis like this one.
There are some things you can only learn in a storm.
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