This week's question:
Turn obstacles into opportunities. That is what we tell our students (and even ourselves). What teaching obstacle have you turned into an opportunity, and how did you do it?

Here are some of the replies to this question:

One of my students in an art appreciation class is completely blind. I have adapted by making the class much more tactile, using videos that have exceptional descriptive voiceovers, and learning to be more verbally descriptive than I have ever been before. All the students in the class have done their part to help their classmate "see" the art, as best he can.

We already do not use text books. We have them available, but they rarely meet the rigor we are expected to teach with. Our curriculum has been written around hands on activities and problem solving.

Since 6th grade I wanted to become a PE teacher. After landing a job in a great district, withing 3 years I was bored to death. I didn't look forward to coming to work. I took a class with some collegues to learn about computers and how they might be used in schools in 1980. This turned on a light that is still burning brightly today. This obstacle of boredom turned me into a new direction for my career, teaching computer classes, and now I am in my 34th year of teaching and love each day.

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