Challenges, Children, Changes

Working through Phase I of WA Bootcamp was a bit of an eye-opener for me. Breezing through two-thirds of the tasks lured me into a false sense of security! As I began the last few tasks, I quickly realized these were more challenging and I would have to readjust my work schedule and slow my pace to ensure my learning my was solid before moving onto the next task.

Time management, staying on task and finishing projects on time are all trademarks of the pride I have always taken in my work. Since I am on this journey to learn affiliate marketing, which is outside of my comfort zone, I had to reevaluate the expectations I place on myself when I was challenged with tasks that didn't come so easy for me.

The learning curve is a tad steeper for me as I grew up in a world without computers until I reached adulthood. Today, I remembered purchasing our first computer, an Apple DOS for our son, who at that time was in the first grade. After taking, it out of the box and setting it up my son sat down, booted it up and proceeded to run programs from the educational disks we had also purchased. His Dad and I were absolutely amazed at the genius of our child! He was way ahead of his us since he had Apple computers at his school. Suffice to say, my six-year-old son taught me how to use that Apple DOS.

Fast forward to present day and I find myself still lagging behind as related to technology. Now, I have a six-year-old grandson, Jackson who can use my iPhone, iPad, Smart TV and every other electronic in my house better than me! Truthfully, the Smart TV outsmarts me daily! That darn remote doesn't work half of the time. I'll call my son to pick his brain about what's wrong with it and he laughs while stating "it's operator error, I'll send Jackson right over to straighten it out for you." It's very convenient having tech support down the street who will work for cookies.

Okay,now I will attempt to tie all these threads together and convey what I learnedin the hope it may help someone else or maybe I will need to read my own wordsagain during WA Bootcamp Phase II. Ineed to be patient with myself because I am learning a new language. We allknow children are like sponges and absorb information very quickly. This is dueto the prefrontal cortex which stores working memory is not as developed inchildren as in adults. As adults, we have more memory and therefore experiencefunctional fixedness which inhibits us because we see everything exactly as itis. Children are much more pliable andtherefore more teachable. That isn’t tosuggest adults can learn, the learning must be approached differently. MalcolmKnowles, a renowned adult educator pioneered the concept of five teachingstrategies for adults.

1.Adults understand why something is important to know;

2. Adults have the freedom to learn in theirown way;

3.Learning is experiential;

4.The time is right for them to learn;

5.The process is positive and encouraging.

Honestly,today as I wondered if I had possibly bitten off more than I could chew Iremembered other bits and pieces of challengesI have encountered while learning something new. For example, my six-year-oldson teaching me to use a computer for the first time was really weird! Another time occurred when I began teachingadults in a university setting and realized they were struggling with myclasses, hence the research on adult learning and Malcolm Knowles. I had tofigure out a way to reach my students because they were all on the verge offailing. If one or two are failing, youcan say they are not applying themselves, but when everyone is failing, itis the instructor who is failing! And that was me! Bottom line, I need to pacemyself, be patient and not get frustrated. The instruction at WA is outstanding and meetsall of Malcolm Knowles concepts of adult teaching strategies. I will learn the information and be able toapply it. I just need to remember togive myself a break when it doesn’t come as easy or fast as I think it should.

Achange of attitude will help me with any challenge!

And, I am celebrating because I finished WA Bootcamp PhaseI. I’ll start Phase II tomorrow!