Education | Piss and Moan

Please, stop already

Posted on March 12, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Josie Stephens on Pexels.com

I am gonna go out on a limb here and assume that you can identify with my pain.

Have you ever been to a training where the person training you had no business training you? Either because they didn’t know their stuff or because they were incredibly inept at presenting the material?

As a former teacher, I of course sat through lots of presentations from people who were good at presenting but there was the occasional person that snuck in once in a while who really had no business being in front of people. It was a rarity though. But…

Good grief, almighty! I have become increasingly aware that the industry I am in now has MANY people who should not be training others. In most cases, they know the material. In most cases. But, whey have no idea how to present the material in an engaging way. In a way that gets you involved. In a way that gets you to care about what you are learning. That helps you get invested in what you’re doing.

I sat through one of those sort of presentations, again, yesterday. Man it was painful. But, after it was all over and done, one of my clients came to the back of the room where I was sitting and gave me a nice complement. I was just attending the session like everyone else, but she came up and said, “I wish you had done that presentation. It would have been a lot more entertaining.”

I guess I am not the only one who doesn’t like to sit through painful trainings with people who shouldn’t be training others.

Useless feedback

Posted on February 12, 2019 by backuphill

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We have probably all been there at one time or another with our jobs. Those instances where the boss, or someone else, gives you some feedback on your job/project/presentation/training and it is utterly useless.

Thanks, XXXXX. If only your input made any difference to me at all.

I have a Teachers Pay Teachers site where I sell materials I created over my 15 years in the classroom. Some things are simple worksheets and some thing are more involved lessons or units. Side hustle? Yes. Gonna get rich doing it? Definitely not. I know some people are making good money on/from the site, but no me.

One really irritating thing that happens when someone buys an item is that they are supposed to leave feedback. Now, obviously, this isn’t a requirement but it is highly suggested. What I have found more times than not, is that those who leave feedback offer nothing valuable. Wanna know the most common “feedback” left on the site?

Thank you.

Now, how in any way is that valuable feedback? Why even bother? Why not just leave it blank?

TpT needs to have a minimum number of characters for feedback. Do you think maybe people could leave a comment that is say, at least 140 characters? Seems reasonable. Get it together TpT! Let’s find a way to make the comments a little more valuable.

How about you? Do you have an instance where you got utterly useless feedback? Tell me about it in the comments.

Sit down and shut up

Posted on February 11, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

One thing I know for sure, teaching a class or training people never goes quite as planned. There are always things you can’t account for, even when you have experience and account for things you know will happen – because they always do.

I was a high school teacher for 15 years. One thing I got used to was that students, no matter how engaging the lesson was, never were really invested in what they were learning. I mean who are we kidding, right? Students don’t see how what they are doing now prepares them for something down the road, in the future. They are too focused on today to understand that. So interest in class was always a challenge, no matter the subject.

Now that I am no longer in the classroom, I am teaching at a different level, so to speak. I am teaching adults (teachers and school district employees) about how to use the software they use every day. Now, we are talking about people with different life experiences than students. People who know that what they are being taught will be useful to them immediately, or at the very least in the very near future. YET, they are, in some cases, a worse audience than high school students!

Teachers are a notoriously bad audience. I know because I was one of those bad audience members. But I see it all the time from adults. They sit and have side conversations, text, look at email, grade papers, etc. I even had one teacher watching the World Cup on his computer while at a training class. Yeah, real professional, buddy.

Listen, I get that teachers have a millions of things on their mind and a billion other things to do. I can totally relate! BUT, if you won’t let your students (or at least have the expectation that your students will not) act this way, why do you think it is acceptable to act that way when you’re in class? You’re an adult, for pete’s sake. Have a little more self-control than your 4th graders for crying out loud.

So, SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!

I’ll stalk you for power

Posted on January 25, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Rahul on Pexels.com

That’s right, I’m watching. All the time.

I am just waiting for you to make a move. A move out of the room you are in to another room. I am waiting for you to fail at something you have been instructed hundreds of times, at varying volume levels, to do and yet still forget to do.

Again, I am one of those dads…

If you leave the room and leave the light on, you better dang well know I will be right there within minutes to make sure you know you left the light on. TURN OFF THE LIGHT!

I am not Tom Bodett, and I will NOT be leaving the light on for you (in case you didn’t get that reference).

Why is it so hard to remember? Why can’t you turn off the light when you leave the room and turn it back on when you come back in? Why do I have to be the power police?

Perhaps I will install motion detecting light fixtures and remove all the light switches…Oh, then that might actually have to make the teens get up and move once in a while. I might be on to something here…

Anyway, can we just do one thing today? Turn off the lights.

Who else has to deal with this, every. single. day.?

Let’s think this through

Posted on January 22, 2019 by backuphill

closeup photo of person holding panasonic remote control in front of turned on smart television

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Last night I had to have a conversation with some family members that I never thought, in this day and age, that I would have to have. Yet, it seems to be a recurring event these days.

We all know about security and the internet and how bad things can happen if you aren’t careful. We also know there are a lot of dishonest people and cheaters out there. So, to some degree it doesn’t surprise me that I have to have this conversation with my family too.

Last night, a member of the family (less than adult) wanted to input our Netflix credentials into an app that would allow the app to log into our Netflix account so that his friends could log into the app and watch a movie with him. So they could have a “shared experience.” Obviously, if brought to my attention first, the answer would always be a “No” for this sort of thing. It was not, however.

Instead, another member of the family (more than adult) agreed to said procedure in a misguided effort to be “a good parent.” Um, wait, you said ok? Why? Explain to me how you thought this would be a good idea.

Long story short – the answer was still, no. On top of it all, I had to kick everyone in the family out of the Netflix account and reset the password, again. Only four months after aforementioned adult decided it would be a good idea to allow someone else of the extended family access to the account. What a pain in the arse!

So, let’s just think this through a little more before we act, shall we?

Red for Ed

Posted on January 15, 2019 by backuphill

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Yeah, I am going there.

It’s about time people listen up and if it takes a strike, then so be it. What I am tired of is that people don’t listen until it takes a strike, then people pay attention.

One reason I am not a teacher any longer is because of the lack of pay, lack of respect, lack of resources, lack of support, lack of (you name it). The thing is, I worked in a school that was pretty good. We had, for the most part, community support and better than average funding. But, it still got to be too much. I was burned out. I didn’t realize it until I found freedom in another aspect of education, but I realized it.

There are a lot of teachers out there, some with more experience than me and lots with less, that have terrible working conditions and barely make from month to month. But, the one thing they do over and over is give there very best for the kids in their classrooms and it is sad that it goes unappreciated and disrespected.

Those kids, people say, are the future. At least that is what they say. However, those same people then tear down teachers, the work they do, and their efforts to do the most with the least amount of resources possible. Teachers aren’t just saints, they are freaking super heroes and it is ridiculous that it has to get to this.

How about we invest in the MOST important resource we have, our kids. That doesn’t mean more testing. That means more funding for buildings, teachers, curriculum, teacher benefits, continuing education, etc etc etc. If you want quality teachers in the classroom, you have to act like it. Silicon Valley (or at least it used to, but tech companies in general) attract the best talent because they invest in it and pay them well. How does that not translate into our kids as our most valuable asset? It just doesn’t make sense.

It just doesn’t.

I stand with the teachers in California ( #LAUSD ) that are striking. They deserve better. The students they teach deserve better. We all deserve a better future and depriving schools and teachers of that doesn’t make things better, rather just the opposite.

Stand with teachers and wear Red for Ed ( #RedForEd ).

abc books chalk chalkboard

Yep, I’m THAT dad

Posted on December 19, 2018 by backuphill

blue and gray concrete house with attic during twilight

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Temperature is an important thing. It can’t be too hot and and it can’t be too cold. That is why I commissioned as scientific study (not really) of the atmosphere in the house and I have set the thermostat to the perfect temp for every occasion and every moment of the day.

So, SO HELP ME if someone touches the freaking thermostat! Period. It was perfect where it was at both in temperature but also on energy consumption. Leave it alone!

I swear the next person I see touch the thermostat…IMA BOUT TO COME UNCORKED!! I’m gonna break their fingers, and the next person after that (since they didn’t learn from the previous example) will get their fingers cut off and feed to the dog (ok not really, but it sounds good)!

Just. Leave. It. Alone.

If you’re hot, wear less clothing. If you’re cold, wear more clothing. Just don’t touch the thermostat.

Anyone else have to deal with this? Am I insane? It is really that hard to just not touch?

TMI?

Posted on December 13, 2018 by backuphill

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Are you all ready for this?

It perhaps falls into the TMI category…

What is the deal with the biology or science or chemistry or whatever behind this?

Consume asparagus = Get stinky pee.

Why?

And I am not talking like hours later. I am talking like within 30 minutes. So weird.

Why?

I suppose I could Google it, since it is the knower of all things. But I wanna know your explanation. Make something up! Tell me the truth. Just give me an answer because, like the old commercial used to say, “Inquiring minds want to know.”

Why?

bathroom interior interior design restroom

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The “shipping and handling” lie

Posted on November 27, 2018 by backuphill

We all know it is a lie and yet we just keep putting up with it because we want our stuff, no matter what it is.

“Shipping and handling” fees are usually tagged on at the very end of ordering something online. They get you all the way through the process only to find out there is that fee…and in most cases the fee is totally outrageous but we’re stuck and they know it.

A prime example is school pictures for your kids. I typically just order the digital image download because they I can have pictures printed as I need them or just for the people who want them. It should be a quick and simple transaction. Instead, there is a company out here (maybe in other places too) that my kid’s school uses that rapes you with the fee.

I am getting a digital download, meaning you have my email address because I am supplying you with a credit card. There is NO REASON to send me a hard copy of anything! Yet, this company insists that you need a hard copy of the “copyright release”. So, they send you, in the mail (that takes a week) for a $1.21, a printed copy of the release and a code so you can download the image. Really? A hard copy?!? You could have sent that in an email, like the second I pressed the button to pay for the photo of my kid.

Nope! Dorian Studios has to send it to you for the tune of $7.00. The photo shows you that clearly it didn’t cost $7 to send the hard copy. Clearly they are making money on the “shipping & handling” when it doesn’t even need to happen in the first place. What a scam and a lie!

#smh

Paper towel thieves

Posted on November 21, 2018 by backuphill

Stop taking the damn paper towels!!

OK, so it is fine to use them, but stop taking the whole roll from the room they were placed in, and if you use the last one go get a new roll. It is really simple, people. Simple.

At work we seem to have an endless supply of paper towels. Each of the main bathrooms has a whole closet full of them. I don’t know why. I don’t care why. I just know because I am constantly going in there to replenish a roll somewhere. Why? Because my freaking co-workers can’t do it themselves.

Keep a roll in the lunch room. Simple. Only, every time I go in there to have lunch, there’s no roll! WTF! I just put one in here two days ago because there wasn’t one in here.

Keep a roll by the coffee machine. Simple. Only when I need to use one, there is no roll again. Someone used the last one and failed to replace it or it was a handy roll to steal and never got replaced. WTF!

I feel like the damn paper towel police, only there should be no full time police force of paper towels needed if everyone was responsible enough to get their own roll of towels out of the supply closet in the bathroom, which just happens to be magically replenished all the time because it is always full. Where is that fairy? Why isn’t she making sure everywhere else has towels too?

Let’s keep it clean people. Make sure there are paper towels where they should be all the time. ALL the time.