Professional Life Update

I’ve been relatively quiet on this blog, but for some good reasons, or what I think are good reasons.  Here is my attempt at creating some excuses, it is left to the reader to determine if I get a pass :)

In March I taught my first CCDE Practical Bootcamp class.   It was a captive class, for a specific company.  I had a great teaching experience, and most of the feedback was positive, with two helpful suggestions for improving the course.  I was satisfied (but not thrilled) with the student’s results on the subsequent Practical exam.  I had hoped that my class would have had a larger impact on the candidate’s results, and I take responsibility for improving the course for future cohorts.

In May I taught my first CCDE Written Bootcamp.  I was more apprehensive about teaching this course than the Practical course, as I had no way of knowing whether the students would be properly prepared for the course.  The advantage of the Practical course is that all students are expected to have passed the CCDE Written exam prior to attending, so I could be comfortable with the level of knowledge they brought into the course.  There are no official prerequisites for the Written course, so some of the students could be very ‘green’.

Fortunately my fears were unfounded.  This was also a captive course, with all students from a common organization.  The training coordinator did a great job of ensuring that all students were prepared for the course.  At the conclusion of the course all students took the CCDE written exam and I was very happy with their results.  The student feedback was again very positive.  My biggest area for improvement is to get more familiar with the delivery of the supplied course materials for the written class.

So those paragraphs explain what I did for a couple of weeks… Where has my other time gone?  Well, the feedback from the Practical Bootcamp students indicated that they wanted some mock tests added to the syllabus.  I agree 100%; a simulation of the Practical exam is critical for preparing students.  I’ve spent the last couple of weeks developing these new materials.  My first opportunity to deliver them is coming up on July 12th in Washington DC, when I deliver the CCDE Practical Bootcamp course for CCBOOTCAMP.  If you are interested in attending, or just want some more information, please visit the CCBOOTCAMP website or write me an email.  I’ll also be at Cisco Live in Las Vegas next week, so if you would like to chat there, let me know and I’ll make some time.

Aside from these items, I also have a real job, which occupies the majority of my professional time.  Outside of that, I’ve become a bit of a soccer fan, at least as long as the USA is involved in the World Cup tournament.