I gave an inservice to the Instructional Assistants today and I had a “sucky comic” moment. I expected much of my presentation to be interactive and I was hoping for active participation and critical thinking from my audience. Unfortunately, that wasn’t exactly what I got. For example, I asked a simple question like, “what kind of activities can you do to build hand strength?” Not a single hand went up and instead I got blank stares and heard crickets in my head. *chirp chirp chirp* Actual crickets in my head like I was on some sit-com! I was thinking either these ladies weren’t understanding my question, didn’t have a clue how to answer me, or didn’t care. My 45-minute presentation was pure torture. By the end I had a little more participation but I walked away with a really confused feeling. So, I walked back to my portable with my head slumped and I assumed my inservice was a complete waste of time…as if I needed another blow to my fragile ego. Luckily, some of the teachers stopped me to tell me that they got a lot of positive feedback from their IAs. Apparently, they learned a lot and found it very helpful. Phew! Maybe I don’t actually suck…maybe.