When the sky is the limit...

So, I've learned that teaching something with which we are so comfortable isn't as easy as I thought. The first night of class was a struggle for me. I had no idea what my students knew and my first syllabus is now history. When the sky is the limit, it's a far fall back to Earth.

I'm not a computer whiz by any means and other than English, I don't speak computer. I am only qualified because I've tinkered around on computers here and there enough to be comfortable using common programs for word processing, presentations, etc. It was a shock to realize what I know how to do is so far from where I must begin teaching. Baby steps seem too grandiose right now. Simple, slow and just when I think we're ready for something new...take it slow again.

As if teaching basic computer stuff to computer-phoebes is not the worst of my challenges, I must also realize it's not just a second language, but a third language. On top of struggling with making things simple, i.e. how to log on, double click, and move the cursor, I have to be concerned with whether my learners acquire this new lingo.

When I think we've become accustomed to a double click, I sometimes see the "I'm going to tell her anything she wants to hear, just so she'll leave me alone" look. How do I cope with this? Humor. Laughter is perhaps the greatest disarming medicine ever. A joke about not being able to do that myself or simple encouragement not only from me, but also from the other students helps a lot.

Additionally, I have a few learners who are ready for some serious challenges- Word, Excel and then...Social Networking. I'm working on trying to develop plans that will enable all of my students to develop skills that meet their needs. It's been slow this week and tonight is another night.

On a positive note, I asked my students to complete a survey and did receive plenty of information about their proficiency, but more importantly what they want to learn. I was able to broadly categorize their needs into about three areas. I'm hoping to use their needs to guide the lessons and hopefully in the end, everyone walks away with at least a minimal understanding of what they wanted to learn.

This is by far much more challenging than trying to motivate a bunch of preteens and teens. I definitely appreciate my learners' motivation. So, we'll see how it goes tonight- a lesson on Word called "Garbage". I hope it's an easy way to teach some basic skills that are helpful in word.

That's it for now, I'll reflect more later.