Bloom's Taxonomy

I have always enjoyed considering my work in the context of Bloom's Taxonomy.

I was first introduced to the concept in the third grade through the school district's gifted program, called Shared Time. Our teacher, Jill Dembsky (who runs KEWL), had the six words of Bloom's Taxonomy pasted on the wall next to the chalkboard for us to always ponder them. Still today, I frequently consider what type of thinking I am doing on an assignment in reference to the taxonomy.

Back in third grade we were challenged to think beyond Knowledge and Comprehension, the skills needed for elementary school, and reach the four highest levels. Now as a graduate student, we usually operate at Application and Analysis, and need to push ourselves to work more frequently at Synthesis and Evaluation.

I always felt seeing the thinking skills presented in a hierarchy made it easier to recognize where one was working at the time. Thus making it easier to consider what is necessary to reach the next level.

$36.41 in change

To all the cashiers out there.

Back when I used to spend my time behind the checkout counter, I spent a lot of time handling money and thinking about coins and bills. Frequently, I got to dish out 41 cents worth of change, which in its easiest combination of coins is 1 quarter, 1 dime, 1 nickel, and 1 penny. I enjoyed pulling out one coin from each bin in the cash register. I looked forward to when an order was $XX.59, and I was handed cash, because I knew I was getting a chance to dish out one of each coin.

But I had bigger dreams. I always dreamed for the chance to hand out $36.41 in change. That would allow me to hand out one of each bill and one of each coin in my drawer (couldn't count the $50 and $100 bills that I had to slip into a locked box.) 1 $20 bill, 1 $10 bill, 1 $5 bill, 1 $1 bill, 1 quarter, 1 dime, 1 nickel, and 1 penny. Oh how I longed for the day I could give this in change. This would require someone to get an order of $13.59, and then pay with a $50 bill, or perhaps $63.59, and pay with a $100 bill (or two $50 bills).

This chance never came. Usually when these amounts came up and they paid with cash, they paid with multiples of $20 bills. During my years working at the cash register, I recall several occasions where I got to hand $16.41 in change, and it was those times where I felt so miserable. So close but so far. Just one more bill to hand out. I even had the chance once to hand back $35.41 in change, and that was the hardest transaction of my life. While I stood behind the counter on the quiet nights, I often calculated possible add-on items that could be added to certain transactions that could assist in getting to the magical change number (e.g. buy a Snickers bar [$1.05 after tax] to bump an order of $12.54 to $13.59), but I could never ask a customer to buy something like that just for my pleasure to hand back some certain change amount.

Maybe somewhere out there someone has gotten the chance to give back $36.41 in change. And if they have, I hope they relished their opportunity to hand out change in such wonderful fashion.