Yes, honey, you were right and other revelations

I know she would rather not hear that right about now. She will worry more when she reads this.

Tammy suggested that I probably needed to take another day away from work, but I am stubborn. I insisted on going to work today. So, here I am, in class, miserable. The funk is trying to keep me in it's grip. I do have moments of feeling good (I think that is just in reference to how bad I have felt in the last 48 hours). These moments are short lived. They are usually followed by me trying to do to much in class and then I have to sit down for a while.

I know, Honey, you told me to stay home. I should have listened. However, my students are so happy to see me. It seems that the sub just read to them from the chapter that I left as their assignment. Today, they are taking a 40 point open book quiz. That saves my voice (somewhat.)

There is a lots of memorization involved in working with electricity, but it comes with doing the work every day. It doesn't come from books for the most part. There is a good deal of book smarts necessary as well, but a good head for basic memory and problem solving is essential. We read it. We do it. It sticks in there then. I try to tie what we do in the class with something we do in the shop. It is just one more way to reinforce the knowledge. It shows the student how knowing something actually applies to earning a living.

I don't want to appear to be kicking the academia, but I do think that, sometimes, they forget that students don't crave knowledge for knowledge sake. I don't think we should be entertaining our students with a song and dance, but do feel we should be giving what we are teaching some relevance to their futures. Even my students that never plan to pursue electricity as a career, can benefit from my class. A basic knowledge of electricity is always a good thing to have.

I tend to score highly on IQ tests because I have spent the last 30 years solving problems. IQ tests are basically problem solving exercises. Problem solving is a mind set. Someone tells me, I have this and this, and I want it to do this. It is my job, daily, to put the pieces together and make something work. Electricity teaches basic problem solving skills. Next semester, my class will move into some trouble shooting exercises. They will be given circuits with something wrong with them. They will be graded on their ability to look at the circuit and access the trouble. Anyone can rip it all out and start over, and there are times that is the solution. However, it is easier sometimes to fix one wire, or one switch, or one outlet.

So, beside loving what I do, I love imparting that knowledge and skill to others, even tho I should have stayed home today.

See, Honey. That's why I do what I do.