Thursday, July 10, 2014

How's your posture?


Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
—Colossians 3:1-2 

“Feet flat…back straight…elbows by your side…fingers on the home keys…body centered on the “J” key…eyes on copy,” I reminded as I milled around the classroom monitoring my students’ keyboarding posture.
That was then—when the school of thought was that “proper” posture would result in greater keyboarding speed and fewer errors. But this is now—and things have changed. Most of my current students have been tapping on electronic devices since they were toddlers. They have their own technique down pat.  Some are faster at typing out a message with just two fingers than I am with two hands. To have them learn touch-typing at this stage would only result in frustration for all parties. As such, keyboarding class has become obsolete.
But when I did teach keyboarding, I covered my classroom walls with “Cartoons on Keyboard Basics” (published by J. Weston Walch). These cartoons featured Pretzel Patty, Peekin’ Pete, Side-Saddle Sig, Stop-and-Go-Sandy and several other characters whose keyboarding posture was substandard.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Too Important to Miss


Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
—Ephesians 6:18  

“No!” Mabel stopped me just as I reached down to scoop up the scrap of paper from the floor, “Leave it there. It’s my reminder.”
“What? A reminder on the floor?” I laughed.
“Hey, it works. You noticed it.”
I had to admit she had a point.
How do you remind yourself of important things? Write them on the calendar, leave strategically placed notes, or make lists?
I’ve done it all. In fact, I’ve even been known to write messages on my bathroom mirror with a dry-erase marker.
Hey, it works.
But I’ve also been known to miss the important things because I’ve overlooked my reminder.