Day 84: Deb Lairson, Intervention Teacher

Front Porch Reflections

Hi everyone!  I am a teacher at Ridgewood Elementary.  I am friends with Mr. Higginbotham and he told me all about this blog last summer.   I was really excited about the opportunity to share new learning, so I told him that I would post on the blog.  Here it is!!!  :) 

            When I think about learning, I think about so many different things.  I learn something new almost every day.  Most of the time, learning feels great!  Sometimes though, learning is tough.  That’s when the learning happens the hard way…  When you learn something the hard way, it does not always feel so good. 

            I love to learn by watching things on YouTube!  I learned how to install a new light in my daughter’s bedroom.  When I was done, I was so excited!  I did it all by myself!  I was able to learn how to do something without a professional nearby.  My teacher was a man on a video.  I felt so accomplished, that I decided to give it another try. 

            The paint on my front porch is beginning to peel away from being there for a long time in all kinds of weather.  I got on youtube and looked up “How to repaint peeling trim on a house”.  Sure enough, there were many videos to watch.   I watched three and felt like I was ready.  I went to Home Depot to get the things I would need.  Then I prepared my things and got started.  I was using a tool to peel away the old paint and it was working just like the man on the video said it would…  until I went a little too far and left a gash in the woodwork.  :(  I was very sad.  I learned a very important lesson though.  

            I am still working on my project, but I am approaching it in a very different way.  I didn’t just learn how to take old, chipping paint off of the trim.  I learned that you have to do it slowly and carefully.  You can’t rush.  I may have learned it the hard way, but I still learned.  :) 

            Remember that when you are frustrated with something that you are trying to learn.  It might not always feel good, but when you learn it, it is worth all of the hard work. 

Deb Lairson is an Intervention Teacher at Ridgewood Elementary in Hilliard, Ohio.