Thursday 7 November

Working backwards

This week I finally understood the logic of, and started to put it into practice, working backwards in order to plan forwards. I don’t know if there’s a name for this. I’m sure I haven’t invented it, and some of you will be wondering why it took me so long. This is what I did.

• I wrote down everything I had to do for each project I’m working on.
• I checked the deadlines and then made myself new deadlines for each project, earlier than the official ones.
• I broke down the work involved into chunks.
• I ‘did the maths’, figuring out how many 2-hour blocks of time each chunk of work would need. Then I got a pile of coloured sticky note strips and I wrote the actual work involved for each 2-hour chunk. E.g. ‘Project X Unit Y Reading text’.
• I got lots of sheets of scrap paper with ‘a week at a glance’ on, to cover the period between now and the final deadline, and I added all the sticky note strips to them, starting with the last ones in each project, near the self-imposed deadline, and working backwards.

IMPORTANT I only timetabled in work on week days. I didn’t include time I’ve already booked off. I left whole mornings or afternoons free (even if this meant being ambitious with what I might fit into another morning or afternoon).

If someone had told me to do that, I’d have thought, ‘gosh, that’s complicated’ but of course, as with everything, it’s just common sense. It was a bit time consuming. Now I have it all worked out but it’s a bit of a mess so I need to transfer it all into something less sprawling, like an A4 notebook. That’s on today’s ‘to-do’ which is quite short.

On that note

A short ‘to do’ list doesn’t necessarily mean I don’t have much to do today. It means I’m just focusing on (in this case) two main things, and a mini thing. There’s research that shows we achieve more when we switch our attention less frequently. That’s another thing that’s common sense. Yet I often find myself working on several things at once throughout the day. This is something I’m trying to change.

Professional Development

This week’s professional development has come via two sources.

One

The first source is the feedback I’ve been writing on our course participants’ second drafts of their materials and accompanying teacher notes. One thing that I’ve been reminded of is how making a few small changes and tweaks can have such a big impact on materials, or, I suppose on anything we write. Especially noticeable this week are things like

how the addition of sub-headings in certain materials can massively help with navigation around the materials.

how breaking down the instructions in a task which requires more than one step can make everything crystal clear,

how teacher notes can take so many shapes and forms, with no one way being superior to another but with context, and ‘end-users’ being the most important aspects to consider when we write them.

I knew all of this but it’s sometimes just as important to be reminded of things we already know as to discover new things.

Two

The second source is from ?a discussion on Linkedin that was prompted by an impromptu poll I set up. I asked this question:

When you are writing on a computer and using a keyboard how much time do you spend looking down at the keyboard?

242 people voted and the results came in as:

• None: 30%
• A bit: 47%
• Lots: 23%

I made the poll after pondering the fact that touch typing is really a wonderful skill to develop. I feel resentful because I can’t do it. Resentful because I was prevented from taking up typing as a school subject, even though it was on offer in my school. This was because it wasn’t an O’level subject with the weight of something like Chemistry or English Literature. Therefore it was deemed a waste of time by my tutor and parents. I wish I’d fought that battle more energetically. Comments in the discussion show that those people who can touch type say it’s saved them hours and hours over the years. Someone else mentioned the fact that they’d recently learnt online. I think this was Lucy Tilney. Thank you! I’ve found a few courses, some are free and some are paid. For now I’m dabbling in this one. It’s for all ages including children so it’s nice and basic. Plus I win badges.

I’m told I could notice improvements in a few weeks if I stick with it. Geminis aren’t known for sticking with things though so … wish me luck! As ?Lao Tzu apparently once said, “A?journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”?

The typing affair has reminded me of the one and only time I distorted the truth in a job interview. I was sixteen years old and the job was for six weeks to cover somebody on maternity benefit, during the school holidays. I really, really, really wanted the job because the timetable was perfect and the pay was very generous. The job title was grand: ‘Area surface mobile plant controller’. It was with the NCB (The National Coal Board) I knew exactly what the work entailed. It was basically speaking on the phone to managers at different coal mines in Wales and checking which shared vehicles and equipment they had on site, and how long they were needed for. This was to make sure that maximum efficiency was being practiced and things like diggers and cranes were where they needed to be at all times. There was some note-taking and tea-making involved too. I knew there was no typing. I was thrown when the boss asked me if I could type. I said ‘Yes’. It must have been obvious that I was fibbing because he then asked, ‘How many words per minute?’ Just think about that for a moment. I had never touched a type writer in my life, and I had no idea how many word a minute I could write with a pen. I blurted out a number. I think I said ‘a hundred and fifty’ and he laughed. It was a guffaw. He gave me the job and on my last day I confessed to the lie. But by then we were good friends and of course he wasn’t surprised. Don’t ever lie in an interview! I had nightmares for six weeks about being handed a big fat hand-written dossier to type up ‘by tomorrow’.

Which lie have you told in an interview? (Only joking!)

Wellbeing for freelancers (and everybody else)

As I said last week, I’ve decided to keep this as a regular sub-heading as it forces me to think of well-being … for myself and because I think it’s of interest to most of us.

This week something major happened when Trump won the elections in the US. Most people I know weren’t happy about this and some were devastated. While social media was flooded with angry or sad posts, I noticed a message that really resonated to me. It was from Chris Packham, an English nature photographer and TV presenter. He shared a photo of himself with his dog on a beach and this short text: “Things have just got a lot more difficult. Here’s what I think. I had no control over what just happened. None. But I do have control over how I will react to it. And I am not going to give up on the beautiful and the good, the grip on my dreams just got tighter.” I liked the message because he’s right. We can’t control a lot of things that might anger, frustrate or upset us. But we can control our reactions. Another friend then told me about an organisation called ‘Recovery International’ which offers support and resources for people who are experiencing mental health challenges. They have a similar message: ‘You have the power to choose. When we can’t change a situation, we can change our attitude toward it.’ ?I had a quick look here. It looks like a useful site. Check it out. It might be useful for you or for someone you know.

If you know of other websites with useful resources related to well-being and mental health, please share them in the comments.

John’s adventure

In August my business partner and friend took some time off to do something pretty amazing. He travelled to Peru’s Boiling River to learn and work in an interdisciplinary environment. This morning he published a blog post about the experience. He writes about what the experience taught him about English language education. You can read it here. It’s well worth a read! I especially like the part about ‘unplanned teaching moments’. It’s got me thinking about my own experiences of these. And whether we can plan them. I know! I know!

Writing

A good week in writing for me. I’ve written:

… this newsletter

… feedback on lots of materials and teacher notes

… a witness statement for a colleague

… digital homework activities

… a couple of readings and listenings for a digital resource

… something that’s a secret. Sorry! This happens sometimes.

Thank you

As always a big thank you for reading, writing, commenting, subscribing, and interacting.