Look, Ma, no hands!

I am proud to report that my first community training went well today! There were, though, a few mishaps along the way. The road into Xenia is known as route 35, and branches into a business route into downtown Xenia and a separate route that would lead you around the city and further east, closer to Washington Court House. Because my training was at the Jobs and Family Services Office in Xenia, and because the directions didn't specify, I assumed that I should take the business route to my destination. Wrong choice--I couldn't find my final turn anywhere and I only had about 20 minutes until the class was to begin.

Help!

A little panicked, I called Meredith and she quickly got me back on track. I eventually arrived to find her standing in line at the front desk of the Greene County Department of Jobs and Family services waiting to be directed to the computer lab. At one point, a caseworker shouted through the Plexiglas window casing to see if any of us had appointments. No one responded, but when she saw our laptops and training materials, she hastily directed us to the media room in a different section of the building. We gladly left the line and ventured to our room, only to find it locked. I returned to the front desk in search of the key, but ended up at the end of the line we had just left. Finally, I caught the eye of another caseworker and secured a key to the room. I also asked that someone come and check on us in a few minutes in case we encountered any other problems. And sure enough, when I unlocked the door, we found: no computers. We opened every door we could find, but ended up with a bunch of open closets and exit routes. Eventually, a woman from the office found us and directed us to the right location--a little lab containing 6 computers.

The computer lab was situated in the middle of offices and cubicles, and it was enclosed only by partitions that didn't quite reach the ceiling. Needless to say, throughout the day we could hear noise from caseworkers processing applications with their clients, and they could hear us. While the computers were nice, a little more privacy would have been ideal. This was Meredith's and my first time using the computer lab, and we agreed that I should continue looking for additional computer labs for future trainings throughout the county. I'm working on it!

The presentation went well--I quickly relaxed and felt my voice lose its quiver a few minutes into the training. I surprised myself with my confidence! But I encountered my next frustration when my trainees began using the computers. Out of my 5 students, one was particularly...methodical...during the first practice scenario. She had only made it through half of the program when everyone else had finished the first scenario. I asked the others to try out some optional scenarios so that the woman could have a chance to catch up. Finally, we couldn't wait any longer and we had to go to lunch. She was close to finishing the scenario, but never made it all the way to the end. Fortunately, she had another chance in the afternoon to complete a full scenario, this time with a partner. We moved quickly through the afternoon, and we even finished 15 minutes ahead of schedule! The participants were surprised to learn that that had been my first training, which was a great feeling to end on.

On my way home, I realized that no matter how prepared I am, I can never anticipate the issues and challenges participants may bring to the class, including a lack of computer knowledge. This year I hope to increase my patience and learn how to better troubleshoot when such issues arise. I also look forward to feeling more comfortable navigating each of the 7 counties in my region--that, or getting a GPS unit!