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@ -385,35 +385,31 @@ Given all that I need to find myself in a place I was back when I was a kid—as
Those are the two things I have always been. I don't mean those two trajectories revealed themselves to me when I was in college. I mean that I knew these thing when I was eight or nine years old.
I have always scribbled. I got ahold of a manual typewriter at the age of eight or nine (I think it was an old K-Mar model—I know for sure that it was blue and that I found it in our attic) and never looked back.
I have always scribbled. I got a hold of a manual typewriter at the age of eight or nine (I am fairly certain it was an old K-Mart model—I know for sure that it was blue and that I found it in our attic) and never looked back.\footnote{I'm pretty sure it looked like this one: \kref{https://gallery.kjodle.net/picture.php?/628/category/76}{https://gallery.kjodle.net/picture.php?/62\\8/category/76}.}
As for the teaching thing, I'm not quite sure. I've always enjoyed learning things and knowing how to do things and sharing that knowlege with other people in the hopes that that might change their life for the better.
Long ago, I realized that information is just data—which to can get from encyclopedias and dictionaries (and these these days the internet if you know where to look). But knowledge is informatoin in context, where it's part of a whole that helps you understand how the universe is put together and how it works. Most people think that teaching is just about providing information (no doubt a result of are over-reliance on worksheets and scantron sheets and Bush II's policy of ``no child left untested''). And that is unfortunately what a lot of teachers do—they force feed kids information, which most kids retain just long enough to regurgitate on a test and then promptly forget.\footnote{Although some of it sticks with us—Mr. Rex insisted that we would need to know the definition the ``mercantilism'' to succeed in college comes to mind. Oddly, the last placed I was asked for that definition was on his final exam.}
Long ago, I realized that information is just data—which you can get from encyclopedias and dictionaries (and these these days the internet if you know where to look). But knowledge is information \textit{in context}, where it's part of a whole that helps you understand how the universe is put together and how it works. Most people think that teaching is just about providing information (no doubt a result of our over-reliance on worksheets and scantron sheets and Bush II's policy of ``no child left untested''). And that is unfortunately what a lot of teachers do—they force feed kids information, which most kids retain just long enough to regurgitate on a test and then promptly forget.\footnote{Although some of it sticks with us—Mr. Rex insisted that we would need to know the definition the ``mercantilism'' to succeed in college comes to mind. Oddly, the last placed I was asked for that definition was on his final exam.}
But good teacherss provide that context. They provide information, and the context and then guide their students through building knowledge out of that. Because if you can figure out the information and figure out the context and know how to weave those two things into actual knowledge you'll always be able to figure out any task, any role, any job. You'll be able to do anything you set your mind to.
Good teachers provide that context. They provide information along with the context and then guide their students through building knowledge out of those. If you can figure out the information and figure out the context and know how to weave those two things into actual knowledge you'll always be able to figure out any task, any role, any job. You'll be able to do anything you set your mind to.\footnote{I haven't even talked about wisdom yet, which is knowledge tempered by experience. And I don't want to discuss it, perhaps mostly because I lack it. But basically information is knowing what a thing \textit{is}, knowledge is knowing \textit{how to do} a thing, and wisdom is knowing \textit{when} to do a thing.}
(I haven't even talked about wisdom yet, which is knowledge tempered by experience. And I don't want to discuss it, perhaps mostly because I lack it. But basically in formation is knowing a thing, knowledge is knowing how to do a thing, and wisdom is knowing when you should do a thing.)
That was what I loved about teaching—that if I were allowed to do it right I could empower people just now but for the rest of their lives. I once answered a question in a job interview that when it comes to teaching of course I take the long view. The kid I'm teaching today might be working on my brakes in ten years. The kid I'm teaching today might be doing heart surgery on me in twenty years. This is not selfishness. The kid who is working on my brakes is also working on lots of other people's brakes and the kid doing open heart surgery on me is obviously not doing this as a one-off.
That was what I loved about teaching—that if I were allowed to do it right I could empower people just now but for the rest of their lives. I once answered a question in a job interview (and I don't remember that question) that when it comes to teaching of course I take the long view. The kid I'm teaching today might be working on my brakes in ten years. The kid I'm teaching today might be doing heart surgery on me in twenty years. This is not selfishness. The kid who is working on my brakes is also working on lots of other people's brakes and the kid doing open heart surgery on me is obviously not doing this as a one-off.
The point is that human existence is a tapestry. We're all connected, like it or not, to other people. That tapestry has a lot of holes in it (thanks to war, disease, capitalism, etc.) so of course most of the time we can't see a direct connection to some other people simply because it isn't apparent. But we are all connected nevertheless, whether directly or indirectly. Our choices and our actions have effects that we cannot predict on people we cannot even see, sometimes because they don't exist yet.
The point is that human existence is a tapestry. Wwe're all connected, like it or not, to other people. That tapestry has a lot of holes in it (thanks to war, disease, capitalism, etc.) so of course sometimes we can't see a direct connection to some other people simply because it isn't apparent. But we are all connected nevertheless, whether directly or indirectly. Our choices and our actions have effects that we cannot predict on people we cannot even see, sometimes because they don't exist yet.
So anyway, yeah—that is what teaching was about for me—showing kids that they are part of a rich tapestry and that it's okay if they can't see the entire thing because none of us can. The important thing is to know that you are part of something larger than yourself and to know how to reach out to others when you need help or know how to respond to others reaching out to you because they need help. That's how I viewed my mission as a teacher.
So yeah—that is what teaching was about for me—showing kids that they are part of a rich tapestry and that it's okay if they can't see the entire thing because \textit{none} of us can.\footnote{I would like to carve out an exception here for someone like the Dalai Lama, but I think he would be the first person to say that he can't see everything. He can merely see further than most.} The important thing is knowing that you are part of something larger than yourself and to know how to reach out to others when you need help and knowing how to respond to others reaching out to you because they need help. That was my mission as a teacher. I suppose that now, it's my mission with this zine.
It's also why I am not a teacher or now and never will be again—because there is no fucking way that any part of that can ever be converted to a multiple choice question that can be graded by running a scantron sheet through some 1970s-style technology.
Fortunately there there's a sweet spot in all of that that is small but doable. That sweet spot is technical writing. I actually did a lot of technical writing in my last job.
Fortunately there there's a sweet spot in all of that that is small but doable. That sweet spot is technical writing. I actually did a lot of technical writing in my last job.\footnote{One of the best compliments I've ever received is that a former colleague who also left that company and eventually went back to it told me that she could ``see my hand in everything we do'' which is a great compliment, but after all, I \textit{literally} wrote the book on that place. She wanted me to come back, but nope, there were reasons that I left, and they haven't changed.} I took my current job because I was led to believe that it would include a lot of technical writing. The amount of technical writing I've done so far as zero. If I wiped my ass with all the writing I've done I would have shit all over my fingers.
I took my current job because I was led to believe that it would include a lot of technical writing. The amount of technical writing I've done so far as zero. If I wiped my ass with all the writing I've done I would have shit all over my fingers.
Technical writing—that is, writing instruction manuals and work instructions and translating what the chemists and engineers wrote into something that regular people can understand—is what I need to do do because it lands smack dab in the middle of this Venn diagram:
Technical writing—that is writing instruction manuals and work innstructions—is what I need to do do because it lands smack dab in the middle of this Venn diagram.
That's what I'm shooting for. I'm a good writer and I'm a good teacher, so it makes sense to try to put these things together.
So yeah that's what I'm shooting for. I'm a good writer and I'm a good teacher, so it makes sense to try to put these things together.
The problem is that while I've pretty much spent my life doing technical writing, my resume doesn't reflect that. I have always been a jack-of-all-trades/master-of-none so I need to make sure my cover letter reflects that. We shall see how it goes.\footnote{I have a lot to save about this, but I'll hold my tongue for now.}
The problem is that while I've pretty much spent my life doing technical writing, my resume doesn't reflect that. I have always been a jack-of-all-trades/master-of-none so I need to make sure my cover letter reflects that. We shall see how it goes.
If issue \#6 comes out within three months of issue this and has an orange cover you'll know I've been successful.
If issue \#6 comes out within three months of this issue and has an orange cover you'll know I've been successful.
\chapter{Dependency Heck}\label{dephell}