Today, as the mercury climbed close to 100 degrees, I had the perspiration part of the above equation more than adequately covered. Those of you that know me, know that patience is a commodity I am often running short on - but I brought what I had on hand and bravely, persistently, accepted the conference call that heralded day 2 of the Lightspeed training.
I know that many of you were probably sleepless with worry about my missing dashboard. Be of stout heart, friends, and celebrate - my dashboard is found. Not only found, I can now find it on my own. I know this because after receiving instructions, I tried it - over and over - and over and over again - just to prove that while the project might be going forward, that dashboard wasn't going anywhere.
All of this is a lesson in more than persistence. All of this is a lesson about education and expectations. Over and over, as this project develops, I have found myself in learning situations that are, well, okay - exciting and challenging, but also, to be honest, occasionally overwhelming, confusing and frankly, humbling. On at least a couple of occasions, I have had moments where I felt like I was overwhelmed by this new information and uncertain as to whether I would be able to process it and use it. It is an unsettling feeling and yet, it is a feeling our students encounter all the time as they live out their school days.
Each and every day, in every classroom, new material is presented. New concepts are explained and homework is assigned. As a mother of 4, I have certainly issued my fair share of pep talks to children who were feeling overwhelmed by something new and unfamiliar. It has been my natural role to be the "cheer squad" for the discouraged child -- glibly chanting "you can do it", "say, I'll try, not I can't", "if you have a question, so do 10 others, be brave and ask the teacher", "see the teacher after class". This is all good advice. I know, I have given it a million times. Like so much advice, so easy to give, so difficult to take. So difficult to admit that you really don't know everything after all. But, I have been taking my own advice. I have had no choice - it's do it, try it, ask about it or----well, I am not even able to verbalize the "or" - it's just not even an option. Our initiative is too important to even consider an "or".
When our children have to learn new things that are hard, we encourage and support, we cajole and we assist, we explain and we demonstrate. No matter how hard the new thing is, we know that they are capable and that given "patience, persistence and perspiration", they will master the concept or skill. We really shouldn't accept anything less than that of ourselves. And when we don't, when we hold our own feet to the fire and struggle our way through - we are doing more than learning - we are also teaching. Teaching by example - that the prize, the acquisition of that knowledge or that skill, is more than worth the struggle.
This is one of the "hidden benefits" of this initiative. Our students have been given the golden opportunity to watch adults they love, respect and admire learn something new. They will have the opportunity to watch us grow in proficiency and to occasionally fail when trying something new. It is possible that the greatest lessons the iPads will teach will be life lessons. Lessons about patience and persistence.
P.S. I am fairly confident, that if we manage to take all the confidence of Buzz Lightyear and embrace the philosophy of Calvin Coolidge, we're going to be just fine.
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