The Ultimate Student Resource

I discovered this list over at Lifehack.org. I thought it may be of use to some. It's a pretty extensive listing . I've got a few items already but it's a handy reference.

Influence of Stephen Covey

I just started new classes this week and still see the influence of Stephen Covey in at least one of the classes. My instructor for Production Management used phrases such as "proactive", "reactive and "paradigms". Which to me are Covey keywords. I doubt if I hadn't read his "7 Habits" book that I would have even picked up on those. I do have one of his other books "First things First" on order from Amazon coming soon and I can't wait to read it.

Toyota Production

Our teacher for Lean Manufacturing talked about Toyota Production System or TPS. I found this video that kind of explains it. It's kind of interesting.

Lean Manufacturing

Last night was my first class in Lean Manufacturing. It's about waste in the working environment. Not the waste you throw in the trash can per say (though that can be a part of it). It can be wasted time, material, money and etc. Boy do we have a lot of that where I work. It should be an interesting class with a lot of relevance where I work. To give an idea of what it's about the teacher gave an example of the way Toyota manufactures automobiles and such. Well at least I got some reading to do now.

Back to school

Well yesterday was my first day back to school. First up is Production (or Operations) Management BUS 3091. As the course description goes it introduces student to basic concepts and techniques in the manufacturing/service areas of a business. Last night was more or less an introductory session. The teacher was a bit I would say interesting to say the least. It's hard to describe him. The course itself sounds interesting and now I have some reading to do again. Today will be my other class which is Lean Manufacturing. What that is exactly I'm not sure. Nice to be back in the classroom again.

New Classes

Well it's back to school next week for me. I found out my schedule yesterday. On Wednesday I have Production Management and Thursday I have Lean Manufacturing. Not sure what they have to do with engineering. I'll have to check my course outline again to be sure. My major is suppose to be engineering. I was hoping for Technical Writing or Intro to Computers.In any event I'm actually looking forward to hitting the books again.
I'm still working on my typing skills and finish the Tom Brokaw book I've been reading(The Greatest Generation). I'm about half way finished with it and I'm enjoying it very much.

SpongeBob Squarepants Typing

While I have a little time between semesters I decided to work on my typing skill's (or lack of is more like it). I had bought a SpongeBob Squarepants Typing software several month's back for my son. It's actually for kids older than he so he didn't show much interest it. I had tried a few online tutorials without much luck or improvement. I decided to give SpongeBob a try. I disciplined myself to do at least 30 minutes a day. I believe after about 10 days my typing has improved dramatically. Granted It's geared for children but it does work for adults too. It puts a little fun into learning typing which can be boring. I'm up to lesson 17 with 96% accuracy at 12 WPM. I watch my wife do it and she's at least 4 times as fast and she's says she's out of practice. I have a way to go but I'm determined to catch her. Anyway if you don't mind SpongeBob it's a fun way to learn typing!