Recently we worked on our lawn irrigation system. We had to replace a couple of sprinkler heads and then we had a busted pipe in two places. We fixed one break only to find out that we had another break. Eventually, everything was working again except for the programming. I thought I was so smart and went on YouTube to see how to program the four zones. I knew it all worked before we started working on the system so it should work okay when we were done. I was so wrong! I even spent almost two hours on the phone with an Orbit customer service representative who finally told me that I had to call an irrigation specialist in my area and have them check valves and solenoids. I was so discouraged when I got off the phone.
After pouting for a few minutes, I refused to give up. Fixing that controller was like working on a puzzle and I had to find the correct combination to make it work right. I knew that it had worked before and that I hadn’t done anything that would cause it not to work other than mess with the programming on the controller. Eventually, I had the right combination and it worked right! I figured out the puzzle! My husband says I like a challenge and I guess I do. I’m glad I didn’t take the advice of the Orbit representative and I'm glad I didn’t spend a lot of money calling an irrigation specialist to mess with parts that were working fine. Sometimes you just have to trust your gut.
I feel that teaching is a lot like this. Helping students learn new skills is like conquering a puzzle. I have to try to find the right combination for each individual student that works the best. Sometimes I get frustrated and so does the student. It would be so easy to give up but I have to keep on trying. My student is counting on me just like I counted on the Orbit representative. I don’t want to tell the student that they need to call in someone else because I want to be the one to help the student succeed. I don’t want the student to have to struggle with his one in order to find the answer if I can help him in any way. I need to trust my gut and not give up. I need to help the student have faith and believe in himself too. By not giving up, I’m being a role model for the student.
How do you help your students to keep trying and not give up? Please share.
No comments:
Post a Comment