This past week, I was in the classroom for 6 days straight. I was either teaching or being taught. The exhaustion is unbelievable. It's not physical exhaustion...It's mental. I don't remember being this tired after a training.
I mentioned to a colleague that it is a lot easier teaching military soldiers and youth, then it is to teach adult civilians. I've been a trainer for years. Yet, you would think this would get easier. It's not.
I enjoy it though. I like seeing the faces of my students light up when they do something they've never done before and do it correctly. Learning new presenters technique is fun as I observe other instructors conduct their presentations. Having that feeling of accomplishment when a student passes their test means I did my job in relaying the information to them.
That feeling was not good when anyone of my students failed a written test. Doubts, insecurity, and failure creep into my very being. Blame soon comes after. It's getting up from that initial onslaught and reflecting on the process of my presentation. Reflection and self-evaluation helps pinpointing the root cause. Similar to conducting an Accident Investigation, We're not to assign blame but find the root cause of "Why" it happened.
The root cause was communication. The students heard my presentation. They understood it. But when it came time to do the test. They didn't comprehend the test questions as written. Finding a way to bridge that issue, especially with different ethnic groups was a challenge. Rewording the test questions to their understanding was a major challenge. In the end it worked and they passed.
ESTA...
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