In the Classroom

It’s disconcerting when things just disappear from your computer. You know they are ‘there’ somewhere but…

As with other computer mysteries, my tried and usually true method is to go to Google, pose the problem, and see what pops up. I’ve never yet run across a situation that is unknown to someone out there – usually to a lot of someones. And, invariably, there are several options given by people with or without credentials. Usually, I can’t understand what the hell they are talking about.

Currently, my problem has to do with PowerPoint. The 2013 version. I’ve been using it as a ‘teaching aid’ in my “Putting the Story Back in History” class at Grays Harbor College. Each week I show a dozen or more photographs on the ‘big screen’ to illustrate the stories I’m telling – mostly history photos from the Espy Family Archive or images I’ve gathered from other local historians.

“Stay, screenshot! Stay!”

I’ve added photos to the presentation each week and now I’m up to 90 or 100 images in the presentation. I’ve added as I go, saving each new version with the thought that the completed eight-week program might come in handy at some time in the future. But, suddenly things have become unstable and the images have disappeared. Not in every version. And not all the images. Maddening.

Today’s challenges are twofold: to see if I can get the images back and, if not, to see if I can re-invent my wheel (so to speak) for next Tuesday night. Maybe. Maybe not. As we often say around here when I find myself chained to my office chair… it keeps me off the streets.