kathryn
Cathlete
This summer, I'm taking some free computer workshops (Photoshop, Dream Weaver) in preparation to finally put up a faculty web page.
They are free, but so far, it hasn't necessarily been worth it.
The first two (Photoshop) were taught by a 'good old boy' who liked to tell anecdotes: 15 minutes about race car drivers and races he's seen when we get to manipulating one of the car photos he's provided, 23 minutes (!) at the beginning of the second session, yakking about how when he was a 10-year-old boy scout, he was at camp, and NASA beamed in a special broadcast just for them so they could talk to the astronauts. The guys in the class seemed to dig the anecdotes, but I noticed the annoyed, bored foot movement from some of the other women.
Then, to top it off, after the 20 minute hot air fest, he goes through what was planned for the day a bit quickly (so if you didn't pay attention for 3 seconds, you missed one of the key strokes he showed), THEN seemed to get frustrated when we asked him to repeat what he just did!
I was dreading this second round of workshops (Dream Weaver...can we all sing it?), and it was off to a bad start, because 6 of us gathered in the same locale as the last workshop, but found that it had moved (and was supposedly announced in the verification email, but none of us remember seeing it...actually, I did, but it wasn't presented as a change of venue, and I just thought it was the office location for tech services), but the guy yesterday was 999,999,999 times better than Mister Gabby: well organized, no wasting time with personal anecdotes, he even checked our understanding by having us answer questions by using touch key pads that calculated poll results (yes, this is in the technology department, and they've got lots of fun 'toys' : Gabby had a projector screen that he could use like a touch pad). At the end of the session, he had us go over on our own all that we learned, and checked to make sure that we all got it (I was first done, but didn't get a prize, drat!).
So, I was hoping today would go smoothly as well: different teacher (but not the same as the first), but same room.
I got here a couple of minutes before 1 (workshop scheduled to run from 1 to 3:30) and was surprised to find only one other person here. When it got to be after 1:00, I started thinking something was definitely amiss, so I checked, and the information desk girl told me she was told it was at 2:00. x( Neither myself or the first guy (or another who came later) remember having received any news about the time change, and the original time is what is on their fliers.
I didn't want to drive home, hang out for a half hour or so, and drive back, so, I'm just wasting time until 2:00 rolls around.
I already reviewed what we did yesterday (and I still remember, or at least took good enough notes to figure it out), checked my email (no message telling about a time change), and decided to come here.
Only 32 minutes left to wait! (Guess I should go and pee or something.)
They are free, but so far, it hasn't necessarily been worth it.
The first two (Photoshop) were taught by a 'good old boy' who liked to tell anecdotes: 15 minutes about race car drivers and races he's seen when we get to manipulating one of the car photos he's provided, 23 minutes (!) at the beginning of the second session, yakking about how when he was a 10-year-old boy scout, he was at camp, and NASA beamed in a special broadcast just for them so they could talk to the astronauts. The guys in the class seemed to dig the anecdotes, but I noticed the annoyed, bored foot movement from some of the other women.
Then, to top it off, after the 20 minute hot air fest, he goes through what was planned for the day a bit quickly (so if you didn't pay attention for 3 seconds, you missed one of the key strokes he showed), THEN seemed to get frustrated when we asked him to repeat what he just did!
I was dreading this second round of workshops (Dream Weaver...can we all sing it?), and it was off to a bad start, because 6 of us gathered in the same locale as the last workshop, but found that it had moved (and was supposedly announced in the verification email, but none of us remember seeing it...actually, I did, but it wasn't presented as a change of venue, and I just thought it was the office location for tech services), but the guy yesterday was 999,999,999 times better than Mister Gabby: well organized, no wasting time with personal anecdotes, he even checked our understanding by having us answer questions by using touch key pads that calculated poll results (yes, this is in the technology department, and they've got lots of fun 'toys' : Gabby had a projector screen that he could use like a touch pad). At the end of the session, he had us go over on our own all that we learned, and checked to make sure that we all got it (I was first done, but didn't get a prize, drat!).
So, I was hoping today would go smoothly as well: different teacher (but not the same as the first), but same room.
I got here a couple of minutes before 1 (workshop scheduled to run from 1 to 3:30) and was surprised to find only one other person here. When it got to be after 1:00, I started thinking something was definitely amiss, so I checked, and the information desk girl told me she was told it was at 2:00. x( Neither myself or the first guy (or another who came later) remember having received any news about the time change, and the original time is what is on their fliers.
I didn't want to drive home, hang out for a half hour or so, and drive back, so, I'm just wasting time until 2:00 rolls around.
I already reviewed what we did yesterday (and I still remember, or at least took good enough notes to figure it out), checked my email (no message telling about a time change), and decided to come here.
Only 32 minutes left to wait! (Guess I should go and pee or something.)
