patience is a virtue

One of my classes in graduate school required us to do something we had never done before, such as taking a cooking class at the Viking School, which is what I did. The purpose of the assignment was to force us to follow directions in order to learn something new, which in an essence, made us see and feel how our students feel in our own classes. Kind of role reveral which also made us try something new. This simple activity had a profound imapact on me and I still remember it today and try to take a class whenever I get a chance. This past May, when my patience with my own students was wearing thin, I was in yoga class, trying to do something new and challenging and not succeeding. The patience my teacher had with me became such an inspiration and kindly reminded me to be patient with my own students. I also had an opportunity to take a stained glass class where I shattered an entire plate of glass and the teacher just calmly walked over, got the broom and a new plate of glass for me without saying a word. I wondered how I would have reacted if one of my students had done the same. This calm gesture by the teacher once again kindly reminded me to be patient, whether I'm the teacher or the student.
Being in Japan was in a sense, a 3 week crash course...and teachers can be the worst students sometimes! While there, I experienced the feeling of illiteracy that people of limited English skills feel in our country. I was totally dependent on someone else as I could not even read the Japanese characters to sound out words. I was essentially in a "language fog" for the entire time I was in Japan. Thankfully, restaurants had displays of wax food and my pointer finger definitely got a workout while in Japan. There are so many things I learned while in Japan, that it sometimes seems overwhelming. But one thing I did learn, was to be patient with my own students who are struggling, just like I do sometimes in various situations.
So as a new school year is approaching, I encourage you to try something new and break out of your comfort zone--you'll be surprised what you learn about yourself and others!