Lessons from the locker room

I've learned two things since I've joined the gym.
One-I thought you just had to join a gym. Nope, you have to keep going to the gym. Over and over.
Two-you can't rest when you reach a milestone, you always have to try something harder.
When I first walked in, I was pretty overwhelmed. There's lots of complicated machines and scary equipment. Everyone there looks like they know what they're doing and they certainly could beat me up. Needless to say, I felt very out of place.
The one smart thing I did was take the free personal trainer hours offered when I joined. Laura was incredibly optimistic and full of encouragement. I kept going and trying harder not for myself but because I didn't want to disappoint her. She had been so supportive. I wanted to be her star pupil.
It reminded me so much of the classroom environment and how we teach and learn. Some of my students need that encouragement from me, and some don't. Some don't worry about approval and some do. My job is to figure out what each student needs and be that.
I also have to remind students of what they learned. It's good to show them where they started and how far they've come. You can't rest when you've reached a goal, it's just time to make a new one.
It's been about four months and I'm still going to the gym regularly. I see Laura across the room working with her latest student and I smile. She is doing a good thing, and I'm the better for it.
I only hope I can bring some of what I learned in the gym to my classroom.

I thought I'd eventually be out of a job.

I ask a student to attach a file to an email and I get a blank stare.
I tell the class to open a new tab so they have two websites open at the same time and I have to show them how to do that a few times.
I assume that since they are growing up with technology they naturally know how to use it, but I am shown on a daily basis that this is not the case. They know how to get to their game website and play till their eyeballs fall out, but when I ask them to find a file they created yesterday, they have no idea where it is. Its both disheartening and comforting; I'll never be out of a job.
Their parents use computers, but they started using them when one keystroke could make all their work disappear. They have a fear of computers that is no longer appropriate. These students never had that fear; the computer has been their friend since the beginning. So why are their skills so limited? I guess because they are being taught by fraidy cats.
Technology can be overwhelming and even scary, but I try not to impart that on my students. Technology is transforming our world and their lives. We should embrace it, not keep it at arms length. Even if sometimes it eats our reports and just smiles at us.