[jameswing]

That’s exactly me also, It’s good to finally see that I’m not the only one like this.

REPORT ABUSE

[jameswing]

@slevine “The bad thing is that for some reason people get caught up in very unimportant details of the designs.”

I totally get you on that, I feel that “normal” people try to make things more difficult than they have to be. last year I did a program review, and my adviser came over to look at what I had done so far, and ended up retyping several sections, not to add any usable content, but to make them longer.

@Digifan

I started writing a textbook a couple years ago, I got the outline done, and wrote the first couple chapters before I moved on to another project.

REPORT ABUSE

[jameswing]

I’m actually giving a practical final in a hand drafting class right now. I should be grading portfolios, but have spent 3 hours on here.

REPORT ABUSE

[jameswing]

My original major when I got to college was engineering also, I quickly decided it wasn’t for me, and that I wanted to stay in something related, but where i could be more hands on. I went the route of Industrial Technology, and spent a lot of time working on product design. I Love solving the design problems of something, then watching it being made, or making it myself.

Before I started teaching I had my worst job, I was an industrial engineer, and love the manufacturing part of the job, but had to take over purchasing while trying to design and implement an MRP system. I spent so much time on the phone I couldn’t do the things I wanted to do to make improvements, and so I quit.

You may be interested in something like manufacturing engineering. I was just introduced to the program at CAL Poly, and would have do it if I knew it existed when I was in college. http://ime.calpoly.edu/

REPORT ABUSE

[jameswing]

@zsazsa

@sarge

I know exactly what you are talking about. On my reviews I get really high marks on everything including organization. However, I feel out of control and totally disorganized. The only thing I get marked down for is I talk too fast sometimes.

I think what impresses them is that I use a lot of tools to help stay organized. They don’t realize the amount of time I spend setting things up, and my reasoning behind things.

I started at this college last year and took over a department that had been just about left to die. When you walked into the room it looked like you were going back to the 70s, and the curriculum hadn’t undergone content reviews in 8 years, and no changes to the required courses had been made in 15 years. In this time the technology and role of a draftsman has changed dramatically. so I was off on a mighty mission.

Last year I reviewed curriculum for 4 courses and remodeled the room:

http://www.mccd.edu/academics/divisions/it/drafting/images/cropedsm.jpg

This Semester I have attacked the curriculum again, adding 2 new programs, 6 courses, and revising another 6. People are amazed at what I have done, but all I see is what still need to be done, and don’t think it was really that big a deal. It took 30 hours spread across 4 or 5 days throughout the semester.

As for how I “organize things” I use moodle for all my classroom materials. I have set goals for each week, “Lecture” and introduce the lab, on the first day, lab the second day. The lecture notes are posted to the website, and include only bullet points (because I can’t stand it when people read slides), and images. This semester I started recording my lectures as well. All assignments are posted to the site, as well as rubrics (to help me in grading), and quizzes are online. I also set aside one day per week where I stay late and grade labs.

I got an interactive Whiteboard last year and LOVE it. It allows me to go through page in whatever order I feel like, not just what I had preset. I am also looking at ways I can do other things to help my students, while making it easier for me. All of which will require extended prep time.

We do have a bunch of other admin stuff to do, but most of it is moving online, and easy once you get the hang of it. My biggest problem with it is I will get distracted and start working on something else. I also get frustrated with other professors who are constantly complaining about the administrative stuff, when they have 4-8 people to share in the workload, and who don’t do any new preparation for each new semester.

REPORT ABUSE

[jameswing]

I really enjoy teaching. I get to do something different everyday, walk around, talk, work on my own projects… It is actully the career that I have stayed with the longest. I also really enjoy designing things.

REPORT ABUSE

[jameswing]

@billd

Again your reading from my book…. I have had that conversation repeated to me.

I stunk at writing until I took AP English my Junior year in high school to impress my girlfriend, then I got it.

I did drafting instead of shop, and have really succeeded in it, solving problems. I lost a VICA Drafting contest in high school because I made the drawing perfect, (the key was simplified).

REPORT ABUSE

[jameswing]

I totally understand

REPORT ABUSE

[jameswing]

This has been something I have been working on for a long time. I also find myself repeating myself if I don’t get a response, or later thinking of a way I should have said something differently, and that I probably offended someone, or sounded really harsh.

REPORT ABUSE

[jameswing]

@billd – Are you reading a book of my life? I have the same thoughts, and behave the same way to injuries, and “minor” annoyances.

I did the test on this site and score 9/9 on the first set and 8/9 on the second. I also did this one and scored a 90 with nothing being lower than moderate. Many of the questions i answered moderate to have been things I have been working on to improve, and would have been quite a lot or very high a few years ago.

I fell skiing a several years ago and did quite a number on my shoulder. The week before surgery (I couldn’t lift my right arm above the shoulder, and couldn’t lift anything) I remodeled a bathroom, because it needed to be done before the baby was born, 2 months later.

Or this semester I decided to totally redesign the curriculum for my department (this is my second year in charge of the Drafting department at a college), I edited 6 courses, added 6 more, edited 2 programs, and added 2 new programs. Everyone else is acting like I’m crazy, but I was able to knock it out pretty quickly after I gathered all the material.

But if I’m stuck behind someone going 60 on the freeway I can’t stand it. I didn’t realize this was add until I watched the show.

REPORT ABUSE

[jameswing]

I have been living by my schedule on a PDA/Phone for almost ten years. for the last 5 years I have had a windows phone, and now I can sync it with my work outlook. This had made things so much easier. I have one calendar that follows me everywhere. I have gotten to the point that everything goes into my calendar, and I don’t forget things. I keep my phone on a belt clip that is horizontal. I found that the vertical clips, or the ones that pivot always got in my way, or broke.

The hardest part is getting my wife’s stuff in. She will tell me something, and it won’t get on my schedule, and then she’ll get frustrated when I forget. We are working on her texting me things, so i have it in writing and can put it on my schedule.

I have also linked my outlook calendar to Google so she can check my schedule, which she hates doing.

REPORT ABUSE

[Author]

Posts