Wednesday, January 12, 2011

That day that it was super cold...


So, Amber was successful in the end!  I bet she was so relieved to be done!  I remember being super drained after intense lessons, so I bet she was just about done for the day; I think she’d reached her limit, so the lesson ended.  I imagine students probably feel this way after an exhaustive lesson.  Though I think Amber wasn’t pushed too far, I wonder if there is a time limit on a lesson?  Like, in the beginning when I’m new and don’t see the signs well, could I make the wrong choice and really do some damage by not knowing when to stop.  Can you push a student too far or too long?  Is there a limit on the learning?

My lesson was interesting too, albeit shorter.  J  I started off walking into an idling car.  It must have been a hilarious sight!  I could tell there was some regression in my skills.  The cane and auditory input was a bit more muddled than before the break.  I definitely made some mistakes that I probably wouldn’t have made otherwise: walking up into the driveway, crossing the road into the median, trouble walking in step, and I’m pretty sure there was a car on the sidewalk.  Okay, well, maybe I would have made the mistakes, but probably not so many of them so quickly… 

I had an odd realization during this lesson.  The thing is… I’m not really scared to move like I have been before.  I just feel safe; I’m really not going to die in this class.  Sweet.  I mean, I’m going to mess up, but I can take chances with my developing skills because I’m really not going to get hit by a car.  I mean, normally I feel nervous doing perfectly safe things.  But to feel comfortable doing something that’s actually a tiny bit risky … that’s way new for me.  It may sound silly, but I just don’t feel safe often, so it’s kind of a big deal.  So, how did this happen?  How do I make my students feel this safe and free to take risks? 

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