This was the scene of mayhem as we attempted to teach a full size class of 25 people to handle swords. (Well, okay, that is an old pic....but indistinguishable from last night!) I love large classes. Trouble is, they make it difficult to give everybody their proper amount of time.
I read somewhere that there is a rule of 10%...that is to say, ten percent of the people use up 90% of the resources in any "system". I found that I spent most of the hour on only 4 or 5 people. Then I found that if I actually dis-engaged myself from that person, that another instructor would quickly latch onto them for much the same reasons that I did. A few poor students get the most attention, the better ones don't get any attention.
There is a lesson here I think...I wonder if it applies to the working world. The less input from the boss, the better you are doing. That was never really MY feelings though...normally as I plugged away through the working world, the boss would watch, and let me weave this elaborate rope with which he would eventually attempt to hang me. Maybe I just had "difficult" bosses...or maybe I was always destined to be gallows bait. Maybe the 10% rule doesn't apply in ALL cases...grin!
Ah well...I was quite pumped last night....lots and lots of people. We filled that room! And good people too! I did an informal survey; about half of them found out about us by word of mouth...a friend had taken the course, most of the rest had seen the posters Jean had plastered all over the College, and a few had actually read the literature the college had put out. The fact that 4 of them had read the literature was encouraging....that info was printed on pulp paper, and was published and distributed for last September! They had hung onto it all this time! Remarkable!
Anyway....today is a full day of armour making....my shoulders are twinging in sympathy already.
(Oh, and Jennifer, I did vote...and the Conservative party got elected. This should be interesting...the first Prime Minister NOT from Quebec in half a century! We have a 4 party system here...the body politic having fragmented over the years. It is also the second minority government...in order for the party in power to pass a Bill, they have to get more than their own party faithfulls on board. This allows elected Members to have influence even if they are not in the "ruling party". It is usually a good system....for awhile. As long as nothing too dangerous happens....)
5 comments:
Where are all the hot guys in armor???? Darn it. Oh, well. I'm glad you have so many enthusiastic students. I definitely believe the 90% rule.
Yeah, I've been following about the political turnover there. Interesting. Much better than the election in Palestine today, that's for sure.
Sounds like an interesting class! Certainly something on the list of things I need to do before I die (watch out, Red Sonja!)
Your comment about the Prime Ministers from Quebec reminded me of a preaching trip I took to Canada year ago.
I preached for a pastor in southern Ontario named Bob Ross. He refused to fly the Maple Leaf flag...still flew the British flag in his church auditorium. He was always ranting against the French, how the Mississipi River starts in Canada, and how the telegraph was invented by a Canadian.
He thought Quebec should be an independent country.
What's up with all that? I've never met any other Canadians with these attitudes.
Stag, what do you think when you see medieval war movies like "Kingdom of Heaven" or "Braveheart"?
Braveheart was the story of a man who became the lightning rod of Scottish Nationalism. As history...well, it sucked. It didn't happen that way. They didn't dress that way. They didn't say or do those things. Why is this important? Well, the movie has become an anthem for modern Scottish Nationalism. Which would be fine I suppose if there was a single shred of accuracy in the movie. I mean, I look at it as a rattlin good movie, better than "Mad Max", and just as fictional.
The separatist government of Quebec is a legally elected political party whose mandate is to preside over the creation of a new country called Quebec. In most respects, they use the same rhetoric as the Confederate Party of the United States used in their town meetings of 1845 to 1865. Your Mr. Ross was likely sympathetic towards their goals, as am I, generally speaking. Though possibly not for the same reasons....I feel that Canada has made too many concessions to that one people, putting huge government departments in Quebec, and choosing most Prime Ministers out of the Belle Province. The cost of official bi-lingualism alone is incalculable... Considering that I believe there are much more deserving potential recipients of government largess than a group of squeaky politicos who threaten to leave if they don't get what they want. Our record on Native Affairs is dismal...our social programs always need to be expanded.
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