As a teacher, I strive for those glorious A-HA moments where you can see the student has grasped the material I have been teaching. Unfortunately, all opportunities to teach do not always end with an A-HA moment. In fact, some end with me pulling my hair out, wondering what in the world just happened.
So I do believe that teaching is just like white water rafting. No two rafting trips will ever be the same. Some will be smoother than others; some will threaten to propel you overboard throughout the ride. Luckily we can all get off at the end and take time to catch our breath and regroup.
I wanted to explain who I do workshops and trainings for. I train early childhood educators who work many long hours and usually only go to trainings to receive the required training hours per year. These trainings can be 2 -5 hours long in the evenings and on weekends. So not only do I have to figure out how to counteract the " I hope this isn't a waste of my time" assumption, I have to deal with women who spend all day with children and need adult conversation.
When I facilitate trainings for childcare providers the participants vary. The very first training I had went close to perfect, so I assumed that my next one would be just as impressive. I was surprised that it flopped and flopped badly. The group of child care providers I had were tired, grumpy and super chatty. It seemed like I lost control of the workshop before I even started.
To this day, I am still afraid of this happening again. No matter what I read or learn, I still start every workshop feeling as if I am in the river on the rapids. In the end, even if I falter, I still believe in getting back in the raft and doing it all again. I do have to say I have gotten better after a few years of reading my crowd , but this feeling of letting it get out of control does keep me on my toes.
