Wednesday, July 23, 2003

When playing "Follow the Leader" the key thing is to follow the leader.

I've noticed that whenever you tell a group of people to follow you as you go step-by-step through something, there's always one (sometimes more) that will skip ahead. Which isn't too bad. The problem is that 97% of the time they'll mess up and ask for help, which you can't answer because you're not at that step yet. What is more amazing is when it's someone who thinks they're smarter than they actually are, and usually ends up asking questions A LOT.

I had this one student who would always, and I do mean always, skip ahead, mess up, and ask a question, out loud.

student: "Excuse me! I don't have that on my screen!"
me: "Oh, you went ahead again."
student: "No I didn't. It just happened. The computer has been acting screwy all day."
me: "No, you went ahead, this screen is part of the next step. See?"
student: "OH! I thought I was doing something else. Sorry."
me: "Try to stay with us."
student: "I was, my computer is acting funny."

------ less than a minute later ------

student: "Wait! I'm lost!"
me: "Click 'previous' on that screen."
student: "that's not it!"
me: "Oh, you went ahead two steps this time, that's why."
student: "I didn't do that."
me: "Ok, just stay with us." (kill me)

Advice: If you skip ahead, shut up and wait. Oh, and shut up.

No comments: