Always Be Prepared

So, our school is thinking about obtaining some new contact management software.  I am very involved in making sure that all of the teachers in our high school are comfortable with all our available technology, therefore I am training on that software today.  I am more than a little disappointed in the training.  They are using a beta version of the software to train, which is so frustrating. It has gone down at least four times, and we have been here for two hours.  There is also any number of links in the software that don't work.  I understand there is a need for beta software, however, new user training is not the time you use it.  You use your best, you are prepared.  This decision will cost the software company a lot of money, as our school decided to scrap it and use a different, stable solution. I'm guessing other schools that are here today have made that same decision.

While this is a real life example of the consequences of being unprepared, it happens all the time.  I see students do it, I see teachers do it, I see my children do it, and I'm ashamed to say that I am sometimes unprepared.  When I fail to be prepared, the consequences don't cost me thousands, but it does cost my students.  If I am unprepared, my students don't have the opportunity to learn what they need to learn.  If they don't have that opportunity, they may not pass that ever present high stakes test, but more importantly, they will not be as prepared for life.  As I teach digital media, what they learn in my class is directly applicable to real life, so if I decide to take the day off, they won't learn what they need to learn for life beyond high school. Don't worry though, they will learn something.  They will learn that it is OK to not be prepared.  They can take this lesson with them into life.  Short term, they can turn their work in late... Its OK, Haselby isn't prepared either.  Long term, they can use beta software to train their clients and lose thousands because it isn't ready to roll out.