Teaching the Dictionary Building Class

"Hello, all you Eclipse Users!"

I'd mentioned some posts back that I was asked to help teach the Thursday night CAT class with a focus on Realtime and Dictionary Building. Naturally, because I am quite well versed in Eclipse, I was asked to handle that half of the class. The class size of Eclipse users is roughly 15 students in class and another 5-6 who attend remotely.

Even though the position is called "assistant instructor," I've really grabbed this opportunity by the horns and am giving it my all! I've prepared an assortment of Eclipse features and topics that loosely play off the syllabus and have been using lesson plans to teach every week. The teaching format consists of my introducing a topic while showing it on a projector for the class and also sharing my screen for those attending remotely.
Additionally, because I have a tendency to speak like a speed-demon, I create videos on Youtube that summarize the topics discussed in class. A little thanks to Screencast-o-Matic for being a such a great, easy, and free tool!

If you'd like to see my videos, check out my YouTube channel!

It's only been a few weeks, but I just love teaching the class, and I think that some students are getting some real value out of it! At least one student told me that she was actually incorporating my system when it comes to utilizing the preview word glossaries and job dictionaries. That so touched my heart~~

I really have to thank all the other amazing Eclipse users out there for my "power user" status with the program. Steve Kosmata, Jenny Griffin, and of course everyone behind the annual Eclipse convention. That one really is my favorite of all the conventions to attend, and I always learn so much whenever I go.

I believe that utilizing our software to work for us can really save us time, trouble, and money! So here's to exploring the big, beautiful world of Eclipse (or whatever your software may be)!!

180 4-V Passed and...On to Qualifiers!

Oh. My. God.

I can't believe I get to say this, but I am now officially in...

Qualifiers!!!!

I am overjoyed to share that I passed my 180 4-V on September 24, 2015, at a whopping 98.8%!

It was a wonderful test about someone stealing the tortillas! While I was taking it down, there was a moment where I just smiled and thought, "This is the one." Stamina wasn't an issue, the readers were pretty solid -- even with one blooper -- and I didn't let those little words screw me up (thank you, slower dictation practice)! It was sorta surreal, magical, blissful. "Blissful"? Can I really use that word when talking about a test? Yes. Yes, I can.

I was teaching the CAT class that night, too, so I dove right into editing what was a surprisingly clean script to be begin with. I really had to watch out for my KWRAFRPBLGTS strokes because they're supposed to translate to "A: Yes, ma'am," but I guess I haven't defined enough sloppy strokes so it was only coming out as "A: Yes." That was something I had to go over very carefully.
I sent off the PDF to my instructor without even checking it over, and then corrected it myself that same night. I came out of the room in a state of semi-numbness when I reached my final error count.

The official sign-off from my instructor came the next day; and, needless to say, we celebrated with sushi that night. ^_____^

There are now only three weeks before the cut-off date for registering for the November CSR. I would DIE to be able to qualify in time for it, but I know that it's tight. I also believe, however, that the Mock will be much easier than the 180 4-V. It's been just over a year between pass the 160 4-V and the 180 4-V, but now that I have the formatting down of interchange and 10-minute lengths, the Mock is just a hop, skip, and a jump away.

Even though I've been hearing and attempting Mocks for a while now, I've never had to take them seriously, so I need to seriously overhaul that. Oh! I just realize now that even if I don't qualify for the Nov CSR, so long as I pass a Mock, I can at least start focusing on taking the CSR's WKT (written knowledge test,) and I would be very happy to get that part out of the way!

It's all about the positive thinking!! Here's to passing a Mock in three weeks! That's one, two, three...six chances left!