Mount Redoubt erupted in Alaska recently causing Alaska Airlines to cancel flights.  How many times has something happened when you entered a classroom and it felt like a volcano had erupted and you had to deal with the chaos of the eruption?  The computer doesn’t work, the machines do the exact opposite of what you want, the projector bulb blew, the pneumatic actuator has a leak, the guest speaker doesn’t show, the gripper won’t grip, the demo blows up, the machine catches fire…  You get the picture, and it has probably happened to every teacher where the lecture or lab you planned becomes the lecture or lab you didn’t plan for.  While at the time you may be cursing on the inside and trying to remain calm on the outside;  the real question becomes, how quick can you adapt to the volcano erupting? 

Remaining calm and having a sense of humor will always help.  If you handle the situation right, the students may not even know there was a problem.  And if they do, how can you turn the eruption into a learning situation?  What other tips could you give to other instructors for these situations?

It is only after years later that you can look back and laugh at the volcano.  T-shirt anyone?  “I survived the erruption of…”

Mark Viquesney