Words to live by

From Thoreau's essay, "Civil Disobedience":

If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go: perchance it will wear smooth--certainly the machine will wear out. If the injustice has a spring, or a pulley, or a rope, or a crank, exclusively for itself, then perhaps you may consider whether the remedy will not be worse than the evil; but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong, which I condemn.

Presentations

A collection of links to great tips and guides for creating presentations--
http://librarygarden.blogspot.com/2008/02/talk-good-giving-effective.html

Curiously enough, found on the American Libraries weekly news feed!
(watch this space for commentary)

Wait, you mean I'm NOT doing it wrong?

Over the time I've been teaching in the SCA (and teaching in libraryland) I've developed a very specific teaching style for the SCA (teaching in libraries, and teaching tech, are a slightly different proposition that I address from a different angle, though there are similarities in my professional and my SCA styles).

But... my SCA teaching style tends to violate EVERY rule of good teaching as I learned it. I may have an outline, but I seldom teach from it. There are few or no bullet points. I may repeat myself, double back, or leave material out. I let people jump in and comment in the class, sometimes dragging us off topic. I even wander from the topic. I tell silly stories. I throw myself on the mercy of the class. I rush around waving papers, I admit when I'm disorganized, I seem to myself like a mess. I bring 8 million times more handout than anyone can use-- I'm the Queen of Handouts. Ok, yes, I do use visual aids and hands-on (and sometimes noses-on or tastebuds-on) realia. But This is No Way To Run A Class.

And yet... it works, for me. In fact, I sometimes seem to have groupies. People who come to the same class repeatedly, or come to everything I teach at Pennsic. I'm not boasting here: I am puzzled.

And somehow, my classes seem to go better when I stick with the style I use, when I start the class with "I hate talking to quiet classrooms!" and I ask people to be sure to remind me to get back to points I've forgotten. Not always, of course, and some people find the Here are Handouts and We'll Pass Around Stuff to Look At And Jadwiga Babbles style frustrating. But the classes are full of energy and most people like them. I keep trying to get substantive feedback on 'em -- my latest attempt was handing out comment cards at the end and asking for one thing each person liked, and one thing they thought could be improved.

Anyway, I came across this link on good presentations in the last list I posted:
Effective Presentations -- More Than One Way to Impress an Audience
http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/categories/businessInnovation/2006/11/15.html#a1697

1. Do your homework.
2. Pick your venues, know your audience.
3. Give 'em lots of new stuff.
4. Make sure your information is practical and useful.
5. No bullet point slides. Interesting, relevant pictures, graphics, screen-shots.
6. Give 'em lots of handouts.
7. Go with the flow.
8. Use multimedia.
9. Speak enthusiastically and passionately.
10. Tell stories

THIS IS WHAT I DO! This is MY Style! Hey, maybe it's not all wrong after all.

On the other hand, having an outline never hurts :)