Teacher, Teach Thyself

In 1999, I was back in college for my teaching degree after earning a regular B.A. in Literature and Religious Studies in 1990. I had a required Information Media class, fine, but it had a pre-requisite that was kind of an intro to using the library and references.

To save time, I requested that I skip that pre-req, seeing as I had a whole degree already and presumably had learned to find my way around the library. They agreed.

So, my first day in the actual class arrived, and the Professor recognized all the students (save me, of course), and said, "The first thing we're going to do is add on to the websites you all created last term. Here's what you're going to add..."

Um, WHAT?

Website? What is html? What's a file transfer protocol? What the what?

Seems that between 1990 and 1999, something new WAS added to Information Media, afterall.

So, I had a weekend until the next class to build not only what everyone else did before (and all far younger than I), but add the new sections. Without knowing anything about anything.

I went to the bookstore and bought <i>HTML for Dummies</i>. I holed up in my home office all weekend. I sought some advice from my then-boyfriend's good friend who was a computer tech graduate. I typed and tested and typed and tested. I found an amenable ftp application.

And, I drove countless times between my house and campus, because I had Internet Explorer at home and Campus had Netscape (or vice versa, I honestly cannot recall) and the site looked very different in each. And my little 486 computer couldn't run both, and I was hesitant to delete and start from scratch.

And I was working with like a 14.4 bps (or maybe 28.8 by then...) dialup.

I got it done, though! And kept adding to it. And despite its gaudiness and clumsiness--think 1990s MySpace graphics--it did help me land my first teaching job. ("Did you really code this yourself?!?")

From then on, I became that person in the district who was the early adopter, willing to try any new application that might help students (or teachers) with organizing, creating, writing, synthesizing, visualizing, presenting, shaping, and whatever-ing. I was sent to tech ed conferences. I was teaching other teachers on occasion. I was in the first crew to get a SmartBoard. I set up Nings (remember those?) and Google sites for others. I taught distance learning via Moodle (remember that?).

All of this is background to my current state of affairs: Starting this site and blog.

My plan was to bring a few nuggets over from my last blog, the one I don't want to continue because my name is on it and it's part of an educational suite I used with students 20 years ago. I want a new, clean, anonymous (or at least not associated with my meatspace (do they still use that term?) identity, as I'm rather opinionated and political, and weirdos online like to seek out my type and try to get them in trouble ("You shouldn't be teaching kids, you support Trans Rights!").

So, what's the issue? The issue is...I'm having a hell of a time figuring out WordPress interface. And that's after using another WordPress product easily for 18 years. I'm pulling out my hair, and this is new to me. I now know how other people sometimes feel when they're not used to a certain application.

I don't like this feeling. I love learning new things...but this level of absolute frustration I'm feeling, not understanding ANYTHING? GAH! Now I know how students often feel in subjects they're not used to, or don't like. So that's a good experience for me to have.

It's not solving my problems with whatever THIS is (*gestures broadly and emphatically*), but I'll get there. I'm stubborn AF. If I have to break down and watch videos or read a manual (as with that HTML book), I'll do so...although I'd rather just press buttons and play around. However, my usual approach is not doing the job, at all.

Teacher, teach thyself. Or something like that.

Addendum, two days later: I scrapped WordPress and am using Webador (as you can see), which is far easier.  However, I’m still trying to figure out this interface…but it shouldn’t take me as long.  We’ll see how it goes!

Photo Credit: PublicDomainPictures.net