Oct 31 2007
Thoughts on BSL level 2
I’ve been doing BSL level 2 since the fourth of September. It’s not been as fun as previous courses, for a couple of reasons; though neither of them are because it’s harder coursework. For a start, it’s on a Tuesday evening instead of a Saturday morning, so we have to be ready to think and learn after a tiring day at work. Helen’s been finding it really difficult when coupled with her new job. Each lesson is also slightly shorter because it’s an evening session: 2 hours instead of 3, with a correspondingly shorter break too.
The class is also larger than before, with (to my mind, anyway) a much wider spread in abilities. It’s surprising what some people don’t know — or don’t remember — from their previous lessons. So there’s less cohesion than before; I had been hoping for a keener learning atmosphere, but instead it’s the opposite.
In a fortnight we have the first assessment for this course. It’s similar to what we’ve done before (a formal presentation about our jobs) but in more depth, and with more expected of us. I find it difficult to describe my work because there isn’t much that’s physical — physical things are easier to explain without sophisticated vocabulary. So I resort to the rather mundane description “find bugs, fix them”. I hope I’ll be able to expand on that.