Today I've mostly bin...

[Bunnylump]

Boring boring boring boring exams. And then more boring boring boring exams. I sat through 3 3/4 hours of AS RE, supposedly to read questions to a boy who needed a reader. There were five, one line questions for me to read. So I sat there with a poetry anthology that someone had left lying around and copied out The Lady of Shalott on to a piece of paper, then illustrated it just so I didn't go demented with boredom.

If I wasn't so lazy I'd go and find myself an interesting job somewhere...

[MBH]

What? No puzzles to do??

What a wasteful allocation of bunny-power - there must have been a better way of doing that.

Interesting that someone who can (presumably) write answers for that length of time needs you to read the questions. As one-liners I can't see there needing much 'comprehension' involved (where they might not be able to grasp what is being asked for).

[giraffe]

.......went to local Ford garage (small one) because my remote car key stopped functioning and I thought it needed a new battery. Stop light also went this morning, so needed bulb. Bought battery £4 and asked for bulb. Bloke asked it it was a single filament or double and I didn't know. He said he'd have to sell me both because he had no way of finding out. It's a Ford, they sell Fords, how can he not know, when the bloke in Halfords loooked it up no problem. Bulbs 50p each, so bought both. Tried car key, still not working, went back in and he said he'd have to order a new key and progamme it for me. I was waiting to be shocked at the price, thinking it would be about £30. He wanted £130 How on earth do they justify that? The key and it's electronics must cost about a couple of pounds and a few minutes of someone's time to stick it in a machine to programme it. Needless to say I won't be buying a new key, I'll be using the spare, which I found in the back of a drawer when I went searching for it.

Postman gave me a very funny look when he brought the post as I was sat in the boot of the car. (Changing the bulb)

[Bunnylump]

I would personally prefer things which weren't so fancy. Flipping electronic keys which go wrong replacing perfectly good mechanical ones? What's that all about? Cars with stupid computers and immobilisers which go wrong and cause endless problems, and crucially, no one at home can fix just seem like a total waste of time to me. I get jumpy uppy downy about things like washing machines without proper buttons too. I hate those pad things, which almost invariable go wrong and cost a fortune to fix. Most things these days are too clever for their own good.

I sound like a grumpy old woman, don't I? Well that's because I am.

And MBH, the thing is that when you are reading for a pupil it is usually because they have a specific learning difficulty which means that they understand the subject, and have potential to do well in it, but have trouble with reading or recording. We can not only read them the question (so that they don't miss a crucial instruction like NOT in a question) but we can also read them back what they have written so that they know they have written what they meant to write. IMHO it's about time the exam boards came into the 21st century and realised that those kind of pupils would be much better off if they could either use voice recognition software, or record their answers verbally. But apparently they haven't realised that there is this weird thing called technology... As it happens this particular lad didn't want me to read his answer back to him. So the Lady of Shalott it was.

[Scurra]

When I was at the Science Museum the other week, I was impressed by the fact that they had a steam engine there which had been in continuous use for over two hundred (200) years. Yes, years! As I said to someone, these days we seem pretty pleased if something lasts for 200 weeks...

[clvrlad]

And MBH, the thing is that when you are reading for a pupil it is usually because they have a specific learning difficulty which means that they understand the subject, and have potential to do well in it, but have trouble with reading or recording. We can not only read them the question (so that they don't miss a crucial instruction like NOT in a question) but we can also read them back what they have written so that they know they have written what they meant to write. IMHO it's about time the exam boards came into the 21st century and realised that those kind of pupils would be much better off if they could either use voice recognition software, or record their answers verbally. But apparently they haven't realised that there is this weird thing called technology... As it happens this particular lad didn't want me to read his answer back to him. So the Lady of Shalott it was.

just where were you when i was at high school........

the amount of times a answered a question wrong because id read it incorrectly

in fact a couple of months ago when i resat my forklift license the only problem with the exam part was me miss reading the <insert random profanity> question..

[BassBloke]

As I said to someone, these days we seem pretty pleased if something lasts for 200 weeks...

Or 200 hours, if it's a blimmin iPod.

BB.

[Scurra]

That's certainly true of all the ones that have appeared in Puzzlebrains.

[giraffe]

My Key didn't last 200 weeks. About 170 I reckon or just under 51000 miles.

[Bunnylump]

just where were you when i was at high school........

the amount of times a answered a question wrong because id read it incorrectly

in fact a couple of months ago when i resat my forklift license the only problem with the exam part was me miss reading the <insert random profanity> question..

You see, that's the problem. And yet I am prepared to bet that you know more about driving forklifts than most others? That's why I am prepared to do things like sit for over three hours with a pupil if it makes a difference to their lives in the long run. It's the only thing which makes my job worthwhile, knowing that I might make a difference to someone who truly deserves a break. I've been HATING my job lately, but following an unexpected text from one of my pupils yesterday telling me he's just finished his second year at university with flying colours, well THAT is why I do it. And that call across Sainsbury's "Hey Miss! How are you doing?" (Well, let's face it , it wouldn't be for the hours or the pay or the thanks I get for working my socks off, that's for sure...)

[tricia]

feeling sorry for myself- medication I am on for psoriasis has dropped my immunity to rock bottom - so I now hace a cold and a hacking cough and everyone is thinking I smoke when I don't

Tricia

Ps it cleared the psoriasis!

[Bunnylump]

Oh dear, Tricia, that's not nice. Hope you get well soon!!

[maisie ladybird]

Sorry to hear that you're feeling under the weather Tricia, hope you feel better soon.

[MBH]

Sorry to hear that Tricia - not good when fixing one thing causes problems with another Hope you get pulled together soon.

Bunnylump - it's good to hear the students are still giving you the recognition you deserve I've got no idea how this sort of 'support' might have helped (or not helped) me 30+ years ago. I'm sure my slow and unreadable writing would have been classed as a disability of some sort.

Thinking of your example you gave with the "Not" in the instruction. Do you simply speak the whole sentence in a monotone or do you stress little things like that? Not sure how fair that is for everyone else [but then again I have NO IDEA what medical problems we're talking about].

Long running machines That's very impressive Scurra. People I talk to don't believe I have written systems that I KNOW have been operating 15 years after I installed them. Do it right, and it keeps working

Today I Bin..... teaching computer use to the gardeners and a random selection of other Council staff. How's this for a class:

First two people arriving on time. He is a total beginner, not really touched a computer - she uses computers for work but has no confidence about computers in general (large gaps in knowledge) and wants to know about things like getting pictures off cameras and stuff. [Basic file management the way I do it]. She also uses spreadsheets at work but has no idea how they do what they do, and how she could create one of her own.

I use her computer (operated by her) to introduce him to the major elements of the keyboard on Word Processing.... sneaky way of making sure she knows my standard intro Then I give him a small typing exercise and get him started.

Switching to her, I teach her my "Intro to Excel" standard talk - getting her to type a simple grid showing the possible contents of a cell.

While doing this and being interrupted a couple of times by he Union Learning Rep who has organized this with me, two young guys come to join us. When I met them a couple of weeks ago one had shown a specific interest in Excel since he learned it once but has never used it, while the other was "too cool to learn stuff" and just wanted to check things on the Internet [He was ear-wigging everything I was telling the others but I wasn't supposed to see]

Taught the beginner the editing on Word and started young guy on Excel with the same talk through after giving the first girl a true exercise to copy on the spreadsheet - good practice with calculations (that she knew nothing about before joining me on the bus).

Working between the 3 learning people (and ignoring 'cool' in the corner who was then checking his Facebook) when numbers 5 and 6 arrive - dragged on by the Union guy to make it look like I had a full bus

Number 5 - male - uses internet and email but totally self taught with many miss-steps alng the way. Number 6 - female - writes reports and course work and has no idea why she should be on the bus with us... I suggested that I could fill in ANY gaps she had in her knowledge and to have a think of things she wants easier ways to do, etc.

Number 5 used email but wasn't sure how to go about writing a letter. I started him up in Word and told him to just 'do it' then I'd show him how to improve it.

Back to Number 1 with his beginners Word exercise which he had fairly well finished the typing, correcting, amending bits. I added in shading (for area delitions) and seeing that the Excel people were getting to the end of their typing as well I told them ALL about 'saving'.

I'd got up to formatting cells with Girl 1 but hadn't with Lad 3 before the others arrived, so I did 'Format Cell' on Excel and 'Format Paragraph'/'Format Font' with Man 2 at the same time. This rolled directly into the formatting of Man 5's letter.

[Yes, Lad 4 and Woman 6 have been quiet - not to worry, I think they were picking tips up along the way]

Wrapped the session up, checked everyone enjoyed themselves, and said goodbye.... then sat down and wondered what a lesson plan would have looked like for those two hours.

[Bunnylump]

Lesson plan? Pah. I don't do planning on anything. It works for me.

[LAT]

Hope you feel loads better soon Tricia. That sounds miserable.

What's an area delition MBH? I think I need some training in Word. I use it for e-mails and not much more. I always get irritated when it tries to second guess how I want to format stuff and spend ages trying to stop it doing what I don't want. Excel is so much easier!

[MBH]

Sorry LAT - my fingers getting in a tangle as I tried to remember what I did with everyone.

Deletion!!!! Shading (selecting) an area and pressing Delete or Backspace ONCE to remove a number of letters/words/paragraphs at the same time.

This is the first time I introduce shading and it's the only thing I teach two ways - with the mouse, and with the keyboard - so they can pick the style that makes most sense to them.

My one tip regarding an 'over-helpful' Word, is to type everything PLAIN... then when the words are right go back and add your own formatting. [There - I've just saved you hours of frustration - ]

[Scurra]

My one tip regarding an 'over-helpful' Word, is to type everything PLAIN... then when the words are right go back and add your own formatting. [There - I've just saved you hours of frustration - ]

If only people could understand that, everything would be so much simpler. One of the horrendous side-effects of Windows* was the invention of WYSIWYG** and people started to get obsessed with the idea that layout was as important (if not more so) than the content.

The single best piece of software ever written was WordPerfect 5.1. It did one job, and it did it extraordinarily well. You just sat down and started typing, without getting distracted, and yet underneath the bonnet were tools that are still hard to match in modern programs.

Once people understand that the content of a document and the appearance of a document are two entirely separate things, despite appearances to the contrary, then they often find overblown packages like Word much easier to use!

As for typing "plain", the first thing I always do with a WP package is turn off all the "Autocorrect" features because they are such a PITA. It might look helpful on the surface, but after a while it is actually inconvenient. I don't entirely blame the software writers though - it's a problem that even they can't solve: the program has to be useable by beginners and experts alike, and you can't do both of those things at once without annoying one or other group. So a lot of features that are helpful for people who are not experts are turned on by default because they are helpful: the trick is to learn how to turn them all off again when you have some idea what you are doing...

*Microsoft didn't invent Windows, of course. Neither did Apple, although they like to pretend they did.
**What You See Is What You Get

[MBH]

the first thing I always do with a WP package is turn off all the "Autocorrect" features because they are such a PITA. It might look helpful on the surface, but after a while it is actually inconvenient.

For you more than others possibly I'm thinking of what the spell check would be suggesting for Mannekin Pis

[giraffe]

I've no idea what you mean by typing thins PLAIN. I've given up typing letters and hand write them as I can't get the address in the right place. I may have to go back to it though as the problem with my right hand is making writing more than about 5 sentences difficult.