What a great analogy, I never thought of it like this, but teaching most certainly IS like white water rafting. During the “ride,” there are parts that will be “smooth sailing,” but other parts that may be compared to being on “the rapids” and consisting of many ups and downs, twists and turns in the road or “river”—and if you don’t hang on, you’re going out (of the raft). When teaching, the material may be the same, but in reality, no two classes are ever really the same. Sometimes, thank goodness we have on our life jackets.
Sometimes classes (or students) just pick right up on the curriculum, and other times you have to work really hard to get through to them. One of the greatest joys of teaching is when you actually “see” when the students actually “get it!” As we’ve previously learned, it’s because there are differently learning and teaching styles which can affect any given learning situation.
The first time I had to teach electronics was probably the single scariest time in my teaching career. I was used to teaching about aircraft, but supervision needed a female to teach what they considered “the basics,” so I was told I was going to teach electronics, soldering, etc. I was pretty proficient in each area EXCEPT for the electronic portion-- I just didn’t get it. Thank goodness we had the basic lesson plans and I had some students in the first couple of classes that really understood about electronics. I would go home at night and my husband would work with me to tell me how to explain the next day’s lesson. It was far from the ideal learning situation for me and I’m sure, my students. I felt it was terrible, but they actually learned, though Heavens knows how they learned (smile). I believe it was the second time I had to teach it that I was drawing an electronic component on the board and I finally got it. It was like, “Wow…that really is easy.”
I will always remember that teaching experience and never, ever, want to repeat it. I don’t care how much time and effort I have to put into it before hand, but I will LEARN the information before standing up in front of someone and try to teach them. It just isn’t fun. Besides, as the teacher/instructor, YOU’RE supposed to be the subject matter expert!
