Posts Tagged ‘journey’

The light bulb moment

Image: Pixabay

As educators, we often talk about light bulb moments. They are the moments when we can see a fundamental shift in our student’s understanding and at that moment, we can see that they understand whatever it is they are trying to master. That bright smile that moves across the face of a student when they realise that they finally understand…that smile always makes me smile, even now as I type I can’t help but smile. I love those moments. Those moments are why I entered the teaching profession and they are why I stay. As a mother, I also get to see these moments in my children and I know that I am blessed to be able to see an abundance of these moments…and often the frustration that comes before it too.

It’s easy to forget how powerful these moments can be to a child who has struggled with a concept for a while and then finally gets it, or who even makes a new discovery on their own. I was reminded this week of that feeling when I too had my own light bulb moment. My TL journey has been an interesting one and one of a mixed bag of emotions. From that feeling of elation upon being accepted into the course, to frustration and stress during the assignment writing stage. But as I’ve begun to ‘re-calibrate’ (in my lecturer’s words) and have figured out how to fit study into my already busy life, I have begun to embrace my learning with a sense of calm and purpose. It’s here in this calm that I have begun to make connections between readings, modules and subjects. These connections are allowing me to see the bigger picture instead of small, fragmented pieces that don’t fit together, like in the early stages of my study. For me, it was as simple as recognizing the name of an important document in an e-mail and instinctively knowing what that document was without having to ‘Google’ it. It’s hearing a term or a process and finally understanding what it means and how it fits into the context of the TL role. It’s reading an article and being able to resonate with it, and then wanting to read more because now I finally understand.

Despite being at the very beginning of this journey, its comforting to know that those links are finally beginning to form. The future is looking bright!