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There's something fulfilling about showing someone how to do something, and watching that individual "get it".
Perhaps it's in their eyes, their smile, their general uplifted demeanour when that happens, I'm not sure.
But when you witness it, you know.
And it makes a difference in you, too.
The thing about being an expert in an area is that you tend to forget that other people aren't as well-versed as you are.
This can lead you to start at too high a level when showing others what to do, either because you think they already know "the basics" or it just doesn't occur to you that they don't have the foundational knowledge that you do.
Whichever tends to be the case for you, there are people who want to learn what you know.
From "the basics" up.
My entire career life has been in the student market - ages 10 - 19 or so - for the past 15 years. My contacts, naturally, have overwhelmingly been people who work in and around this market.
Yes, I’ve had opportunities and experiences in the adult learner market, but this is a very recent development, starting around 2018 or so.
And then, of course, the pandemic hit and everything went nose first into the ground.
Even a number of the contacts I’d made prior to the pandemic aren’t in business anymore, or have gone to a different industry or job. Essentially, I have to build everything up again, and I’m have the hardest time with Zoom meetings, a format that I loathe.
For those who are quick to adapt and find the new formats intuitive or, perhaps, even better than the formats they are replacing, you’re in a great place. I wish it were easier for me.
There is, of course, the possibility of staying on in the student market by bringing my programmes online. The immense problem is that, because of the nature of the programmes I’ve developed for students, they were designed for in-person sessions and a lot of it cannot be translated online.
Yes, there are alternatives - online labs, simulations, etc. - but even seasoned educators generally agree that they are temporary substitutes for the situation we are in, not adequate replacements. There are intangible benefits to in-person learning that can never be replaced by online learning.
I recognise that they are useful in the current situation and they definitely hold a place in education. That said, because my programmes aren’t curricular, I always intended for them to be as immersive and experiential as possible.
Unfortunately, this means that they can’t quite be translated to an online version without losing a lot of their intended effects.
There is the possibility of creating a new programme aimed directly to be done online, as I’ve done with some of my other programmes (for the adult learner market), but this will take time. Also, those programmes aren’t intensely-hands-on science-based programmes, so it’s not difficult to do so.
Furthermore, because I’ve spent at least 3 months creating the original programmes without recouping the resources I’ve put into it, I don’t feel inclined to create any more new programmes.
The schools seem to think that 20 hours of in-person training should translate into 20 hours of online training, as if they are the same thing. This is something I find strange because they had to translate their curriculum online last year and, surely, they must realise that you can’t translate things minute for minute.
The logical thing to do, therefore, is to move away from the student market and into the adult learner market.
So here is where it circles back to the beginning of this blog post.
I need to connect with people in the adult learner market and ramp this up quickly.
I’m finding some good leads in Clubhouse, in educator circles. I’m also looking at investing in certain online tools to simplify my processes.
It’s not easy, and it’s not going to get easier.
It’s a large transition and it’s going to require a lot of work to get right.
I’ve been disheartened for a month. It’s time to get over the slump.
It’s time to get cracking!
In the past week, I completed a large project with a local primary school - to train their P5s for the upcoming Science Olympiad. It took 4 days of 4 hours each and I felt it to be a little too intense for them. I realised that many of the participants didn't have enough prior knowledge to complete a large percentage of the test questions so I had to bring them up to speed in as little time as possible. 4 years' worth of Science education in 4 days of 4 hours? Well, we tried.
A glaring oversight was that the Primary students of today are getting less and less able to remain attentive for long periods of time. It was immensely difficult for them to sit still for the time of each session, let alone focus long enough to absorb the information.
Gratifyingly, though, I noticed that there were a few who could.
Perhaps all is not yet lost to touchscreens and other devices for instant gratification, including those incredibly annoying 'fidget spinners'.
If you're thinking of getting one such 'spinner' for your child or someone else's child, please don't. They really don't need another distraction. Instead, they need to learn to focus on their tasks at hand.
Focusing is difficult even for adults, what with the myriad distractions around us. As such, I've found it very useful to do a few things to help me focus:
This means setting a specific part of your desk to do work at. Use that space for nothing else but work. When you want to take a break, move out of that space so you don't end up mixing its use. It sounds like a lot of bother but, being creatures of habit, it will really help once you get this going.
If you're the nomadic type, like me, then you need to set up a strong work routine, since your work space will keep changing. Still, try to keep one such space at home, if possible.
For your routine, once you fire up the laptop, you immediately open a document file (or PowerPoint or Excel file, whatever you're working on) before you start trying to connect to the Wi-Fi, which will likely lead you to waste time doing endless searches on Google or some other site.
If you prefer to write, start writing the date once you crack open your notebook / organiser.
I create a 7 Day Plan for myself, in Excel format, in which I have the things I need to do each day already typed out. It doubles as my secondary calendar of events, because I can occasionally lose track of things.
I also keep a notepad-type app on the home screen of my mobile phone. On it, there is a To-do List that I check at certain intervals every day. Any time I think of something that needs doing, in it goes. Every time something gets done, it gets ticked off (and removed).
By having all these things down and ready for the days ahead, I don't have to waste space in my mind on remembering where I need to be tomorrow or what I need to get done later.
Let people around you know not to bother you at specified time slots. These will be the periods during which you do what you have to do.
This may be difficult in an office environment or if you work from home but try anyway. Once others know you have a routine set up, they will learn to respect your time and you will find fewer distractions.
You may even find your co-workers or family reminding you that you need to get work done when your time slot nears.
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