A pretty quiet day yesterday. I pulled about 100 books for the middle school, and today we're supposed to have some middle school classes coming in, so that will liven things up. The librarian is going to talk to them about "read-alikes," or finding books that are similar to books they're either eager to read or they've already read and enjoyed.
It always intrigues me how much time we spend teaching kids how to find reading that will interest them. I don't ever remember having that problem as a kid. I just went to the library and picked something. And if I didn't like it, I turned it in and picked something else. How hard can it be? Still, this is a major focus of our instruction, and I'm not criticizing the librarians in any way. I do think many modern kids find the choices overwhelming, and granted, there are a lot more teen and young adult books being published these days.
I walked to and from work and then spent a quiet evening at home, reading blogs and catching up on some errands. I'm trying to round up all my tax forms for my tax preparer, a task that has proven rather challenging. But I think I've got most of them now and can submit them within the next few days.
I've noticed that my typing is getting less and less dexterous as I age. When I was young I could type really fast and pretty much error-free. Remember when schools actually taught typing? "Home row" and all that stuff? Does that still happen? (Not at the school where I work.)
I took a typing class in high school but I am mostly self-taught and I do not keep my fingers on "home row." Mrs. Barnard, my no doubt long-dead typing teacher, would disapprove -- but do any of us do that anymore? Most young people who routinely use computers seem to simply develop their own skills and methods.
Anyway, yesterday I tried to type the word "creative" in a blog comment and it came out "ceratob." I fixed it before I hit publish, but not before laughing at my own "covfefe" moment.
I've noticed that my typing is getting less and less dexterous as I age. When I was young I could type really fast and pretty much error-free. Remember when schools actually taught typing? "Home row" and all that stuff? Does that still happen? (Not at the school where I work.)
I took a typing class in high school but I am mostly self-taught and I do not keep my fingers on "home row." Mrs. Barnard, my no doubt long-dead typing teacher, would disapprove -- but do any of us do that anymore? Most young people who routinely use computers seem to simply develop their own skills and methods.
Anyway, yesterday I tried to type the word "creative" in a blog comment and it came out "ceratob." I fixed it before I hit publish, but not before laughing at my own "covfefe" moment.
Someone has plastered these stickers on posts along my walk to work. I wasn't sure what they meant -- it looks like someone making the "rock on" hand sign, with bandages? Well, I Google image-searched the image, and it turns out it's based on former Israeli hostage Emily Damari, who lost two fingers in the October 7 attacks and waved with her bandaged hand when recently freed. Her gesture of resilience has become a meme in Israel and has even been turned into a tattoo on at least one person.
Also, someone lost the head of their cookie. 😞
Last night at about 11:30 p.m. I was reading in bed when I checked the weather and saw "snow showers" predicted before morning. It wasn't expected to hit freezing, but I suppose temperatures at higher altitudes could still produce snow. So I leapt into action, brought in several plants and managed to cover the avocado -- because although it has proven pretty resilient when it comes to cold, I think snow would do it in. Of course, we had no snow.
I may leave the tree covered for a few more days, though, because we're supposed to hit freezing on Saturday. Winter -- ENOUGH ALREADY!
I need to start on the home keys, so I think I look to check that, although I soon know if I have it wrong. There are now some very unorthodox ways of typing, but they seem to quick enough. While typing classes were helpful, it was with mechanical keyed typewriters when I learnt, quite different to what we type on now.
ReplyDeleteI learned to touch type over 55 years ago. I go to the home keys every time. I type much faster than young people who think they type fast with 2 fingers. They don't.
ReplyDeleteSome children aren't reading books because their parents don't.....so the habit is lost.... you're doing good work restoring that.
ReplyDeleteWe had -6⁰C in the early hours of this morning..
I learned to type in the early 1970s on one of those heavy old black sit up and beg typewriters. The sort with ribbons that needed turning and keys that jammed if you went too fast.
ReplyDeleteNow, my fingers are stiff and clumsy and I always seem to make mistakes on the more sensitive keypads of my phone and laptop.
Progress.
I spent the first half of your post wondering where/what/who Ceratob was, lol. That's a lovely white building in the top photo.
ReplyDeleteI'm old enough to have learned typing at our school's night classes (on mechanical typewriters, like Andrew) and I'm so glad I did. It was a good skill for every job I've had, and for typing/journaling (because carpal tunnel), and for blogging. I *do* use home position on the keyboard, but I understand why most people don't. I'm surprised by how fast the hunt and peck youngsters can type, to be honest. They're good!
I seem to type on the computer keyboard quite quickly......I also learnt touch typing many years ago, but don't keep my fingers on the middle row! On the iphone I use the " swooping" round the keyboard style of typing and that seems to work very well most of the time. Apparently it is called " swipe typing"...just looked it up!
ReplyDeleteLove those white houses.
We normally get two fools spring before summer arrives.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn’t have eaten the head of that cookie either
ReplyDelete