Reddit mentions of The Ultimate Fidget Rings

Yup! Stuff like spinner rings, stress balls, silly putty, interlocking ring toys, really anything small and quiet that keeps your hands busy. A lot of the google results are geared toward kids, but there are some good office-appropriate ones out there too. :)

Fidget toys!

I went through a few and found fidget rings the most useful:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0019648V6

and this from StimTastic:

http://www.stimtastic.co/stim-jewelry/bike-chain-fidget-bracelet-heavy-weight

Or a yo-yo, and juggling balls. Anything physical helps us focus.

I'm 33yo, and running my own business, so don't worry about your friend being too old for this :)

On the other hand, I'd be careful with the planner, and possibly the portfolio folder and the post-it notes - personally, for me, that would be overwhelming and stressful. As in: more things to figure out how to use.


As for the other ideas - perhaps a book? I liked "Time Warrior", and "Drummer and great mountain". If he's trying to get back in shape too, then definitely "How to think about exercise".


And don't forget a card of course! If it were me, the best words of support would be to take my time, take it easy, and that my friends will be there for me.

You're an amazing friend for doing this!

If I'm listening to music I'll dance (I'm literally dancing as I type this) I do it for fun at times like this. But I'll also dance while I do work because it helps keep me awake and focused.

In work I use this thing as it's a little more subtle.

> Again, as skipping or fast forwarding a video removes the audio component

Fast forwarding doesn't, it's how I get through lengthy recorded lectures on youtube and most of the material on Coursera. In fact one you get used to listening to professors go fast it's almost annoying to listen to them at normal speed.

> The way I feel about it, the whole reason I am paying for an instructor is specifically because it is there role to tell me what I need to know. It is up to me to figure out exactly what is the best way for me to learn the material. But what is the purpose of the instructor if I have to figure out what I should be learning on my own?

I'm not saying they don't tell you what you need to learn, in fact I say just that

> I rather the educator establish what must be learned and have students assess how developed their own knowledge is

So no problem there I guess

> Also, tests, quizzes, and even just asking the class questions can easily gauge the level of knowledge that the students currently have. I have had several professors start a semester with a general quiz on the subject matter specifically so they could gauge where the class stands.

Sure, but the first issue you'll run into is there will be students with various different levels of knowledge and particular knowledge gaps. What is the teacher supposed to do? Prescribing videos that cover the gaps in their knowledge sounds like a great solution. To me this problem seems better addressed on my side of things. But I would even dispute how useful quizzes are, knowledge isn't a simple binary. I understand the mathematics behind derivatives and integrals extremely well, but I always forget things like the quotient rule. Because of the way most math quizzes work the results of mine would tell you I don't know basically nothing about derivatives, when the truth is that I just hate memorizing formulas.

> Never underestimate the ability of an older generation to mess up technology. I have several professors that still haven't figured out how to make Blackboard work properly despite it being a centerpiece of education for over a decade. I've also never left a comment on Soundcloud because I find the process too frustrating. Part of that might be because I am usually not logged in and by the time I actually log in I forget what I wanted to say or the time I wanted to say it. With a comment or question in a class, what you are posting might take a bit to type out and so will have the same delay effect that I have problems with on Soundcloud.

Sure, and older doctors resist adopting new treatments, but we don't just give up on improving people's lives because of their incompetence. I'm sorry but luddites will never get my sympathies.

As to the comments I could try to circumvent it, but I'll just bite the bullet on the harms for sake of argumentation. OK, rather than outsourcing problem solving to the teacher at the first sign of problem students now have an environment which benefits them if they can figure things out on their own. Smaller questions they didn't really need help with they solve themselves, the ones that matter get through. Sounds great.

Even if we assume a portion of the important ones don't get through since they are important once they are in class discussing the material with he professor they'll remember and bring it up then. I really don't see the issue. People aren't goldfish, I have faith they can hold ideas in their heads for more than 3 seconds. (though I actually think that bit about goldfish might be a myth)

> Yes. I had a class once that met at 9:30 in the morning (I am not a morning person and call anything before 2:00 early) that didn't meet some days in favor of an online assignment that we could do at any time. I very much feel like I would have learned more by showing up to class and having a lecture even if I only managed to hold out 5 minutes before falling asleep. Even the worst lectures I have had still tech me more than the best instructional videos I have ever seen.

Well it seems we are both edge cases. On my end I'm so sick of how stagnant the educational system is I'm considering dropping out altogether. But I don't see why a switch to my system isn't a huge win for people like me while only being a small loss for people like you. Like I said before:

> For those who prefer human contact under my model that would still exist, and it would involve even more interaction because all the time would be dedicated to the interacting with the educator. The model I put forth seems to accommodate a greater variety of learning styles and interests than the status quo while taking very little away from those who currently benefit.

> Severe ADD

This is fascinating to me because I actually have friends with ADD and they seem much more engaged by video formats like PBS Idea Channel because there's enough going on there to hold their attention. None of them have a particularly severe case though.

I kind of relate a lot of this myself, for a while we thought I had ADD, but when we got it checked the diagnosis was negative. I currently have 19 pages open, each with almost as many tabs. I'm watching Blacklist as I type this, and I'm talking to friends on Facebook as well. I feel the need to move constantly and so I'm always bouncing my leg, and I do it with such vigor I have friends who detest sitting next to me and will refuse to sit next to me if our seats are in any way connected. I actually borrow a lot of my study advice from /r/ADHD and I bought this fidget back when I was in the US to help me be able to focus better, and it totes helped... Until I lost it.

Now if I have this many problems with attention and I don't have ADHD, I can only imagine how difficult it must be for you. That being said, I don't see why a university wouldn't be able to offer a physical screening of videos for students who wanted it. I'd probably be in favor of it, great way to socialize with classmates and get natural discussions going as well as some peer to peer help.

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All that to say my view remains unchanged, you've helped me think my view through some more, but it's still where it started. Which is a shame, because I wish I could show you my appreciation for the time and effort you put into this response by awarding you a delta. I really do appreciate it though, like, a lot. I love getting to read and write arguments back and forth like this, you pretty much made my day (and it had been a terrible day). However it is the end of my day and I do need to get some work done, so I won't continue responding to this thread. Feel free to throw in one last comment if you wish, but I can't promise I'll answer (which I want you to know just so you don't write an awesome response and then feel ignored).

I find fidgets really helpful too. Something like this ring would be handy to have. He could wear it out and it wouldn't look weird when fiddling with it. Or something more affordable like this. And it'd probably fit in the pocket easy.