We are hiring a bunch of people & the company is doing a 4-week “bootcamp” training push - every two weeks another round of training is started with a crop of new-hires. I have been doing the Unix workshop (1/2 day) - then they asked me to do the Oracle (1 1/2 day) workshop. I was a little leary of this, because Oracle is a moving target, and I haven’t kept on top of it; however, when the boss asks… So I sat in on the workshop given by another employee (who can’t commit to the time) to get an idea of what needed to be covered. I won’t say anything about the presentation except that I decided that the whole presentation needed to be thrown out and start from scratch. :eek:
I didn’t start on the presentation until last Friday because I had another class to attend. Finished the presentation Tuesday evening so it could be sent to Kinko’s Wednesday, so the manuals could be ready for the workshop which started last Thursday. Needless to say (so why am I saying it?) I was rather insecure about the workshop.
I must say this - the group I had was a teachers dream - interested, active, they had great questions, and also would tell me when they needed something extra to understand what we were discussing (“we need visuals”) I got a lot of good ideas on how to improve for the next session.
So here’s what I really have to share…
At the end of the workshop, they applauded. I’ve never been in a class where the teacher got applauded. :sniff, sniff: I’m so happy.
(and I got two 10’s, a 9, and a 7 on teacher presentation skills on the eval)
You should bask in the glow and glory of a job well done, Zyada. I suspect your group was interested and involved because you were actually teaching them something and not wasting their time. There’s no tougher group than weary veterans of Pointless Seminar Syndrome, so their praise and applause is the genuine article.
Mastering skills is one thing, but the ability to teach others takes both hard work and an elusive gift. Sounds like you plain, flat excelled at both.
Congratulations! You have every right to be proud of a job well done.
Hell, here’s a chilled bottle of bubbly; you’ve earned it!
Having a good crop of students helps you feel better about the job, because they are motivated to learn and involved. Helpful criticism is good, especially in preparing a new class.
But the ability to make it interesting and informative is what makes good students stay interested and involved. You did great!
I agree with TVeblen–you doubtless deserve some credit for the quality of the group. An instructor can REALLY inspire the interest of a class. Speaking first hand, my instructor for my one and only Shakespeare class had a great sense of humor and overcame my frustration with the language (I hated reading the “Shakespearean dialect” at first). You all can see the rest of the story…
Well done! As someone who has done a bit of skills and theory training within my organisation, I can readily identify with that inner glow you get when your efforts are appreciated. It makes up for all those other times when you don’t receive the acknowledgement you deserve.
We used to have a sign at my workmate that said:
Doing a good job around here is like pissing in a wetsuit - you get a warm feeling but nobody else notices.
