 “I love being a TUUUUUUURTLE!” And I’m not quoting the teenage mutant ninja turtles, well maybe a little. But I’m referring to your dead-crawl, stop in the middle of the road put your head in a shell, take 2 hours to cross a narrow street turtle. I’m that turtle, at least figuratively anyway. I’m talking that slow and steady, wins the race turtle. I was reflecting on something I read earlier where sometimes people give up or stop their learning journey because they are not learning fast enough either by society standards or by their own. I see this all the time when I’m working with teachers to integrate technology in their classroom. Often times teachers expect to be able to get a handle on using technology and social media for student learning, classroom instruction, parent communication and professional development all at once. PHEW!! Just saying it makes me feel overwhelmed and tired. Try saying that five times fast, The truth is, it’s not our fault. If you think about it, that is how school systems are structured. We still follow the early industrial age of education, the factory approach to learning. Factories are designed to take raw materials and put them together in a finished product by a deadline so that sales can be made. Unfortunately, most schools unknowingly do the same thing. Students are ushered in and teachers and students try to keep up with the demands of standards and benchmarks. Don’t get me wrong, I work for a school system and recognize the importance of why those things must be in place. However, most of us were instructed in such environments. So even though, as adults, we no longer need to learn everything in one year to get to the next grade or in 4 to 5 years to earn a degree, we approach all levels of learning the same way. I need to learn it and I need to learn it now within the confines of this pre-determined time frame.
TRUTH: You don’t. In fact, even for our youngsters, and I would go on record to say I believe that if schools had the resources learning in our schools would be less factory like and focus would be more on the learning process as opposed to hitting learning targets, which have their place and are necessary in the systems we have. But as adults, what’s the rush? Is there a fire somewhere? It’s added stress and pressure that we put on ourselves. Here’s the sad part, when we don’t make our “deadline” or within our “timeframe”, many of us give up. We tell ourselves we’re not cut out for it. Or that it is not for us. Stop the clock. Turn off the timer. Learn for mastery, learn until you are confident that you can apply your newly acquired skills in meaningful ways in your life. I”m still learning, learning how to ride my bike, learning what it means to be a wife and a stepmom, learning new ways to use technology in my life as an educator and as an entrepreneur. I’m in no rush, I have to have faith and belief in myself that things will work out the way they should. And you should too.  Hi! My name is Tamara Pradel. I’m the Technology Innovation Educationist and your Personal Learning Lifestyle Coach.
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 “Hey, Yeah. I’ll come and get you in a little while”, ZZzzzzzzzzzz, 3 hours later, Whoa where did that come from? Has that ever happened to you? You tell yourself, you going to just close your eyes for a few minutes and then you wake up several hours later. Then you get this sense of guilt, like oh my goodness, what did I do today? I was supposed to wash the clothes, type my blog, read that book, and the list goes on… Here’s the thing folks you have to stop feeling guilty! I was reminded of this on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. I had plans, BIG plans. I was just coming off of a brief hiatus from blogging due to a wrist sprain (why did I think I could catch a laundry basket filled with towels, I’m not Supergirl nor am I She-Hulk but I do feel like Wonder Woman!) So I was excited to get back into writing again. I woke up early, straightened up a bit, did a bit of business planning,then made that call to my mom. It was her last day here in Anguilla before returning to the US and I wanted to spend some time with her. Well. when the body and mind are tired, they will retaliate. My body claimed the sleep and most needed rest that I was obviously not giving it. I’ve been going at it for weeks, up early hours late nights, blogging, tweeting, planning,learning...I’m convinced that I must have been so tired that I began to think that was normal or that’s how I’m supposed to feel. The real question is why did I feel guilt for taking the 3 hour nap. Often times, when we are learning something new or working on our goals, we become so driven, so focused ( which is good and necessary for success) we can forget to also take care of ourselves. We also think that if we stop we will miss those learning opportunities, the business will fail, or worse we think we are failing. Is that truly the case though? Here in Anguilla we have quite a few Chinese owned supermarkets and restaurants and every so often one will be closed with a sign on the door saying they will be closed for like a month. At first glance it may seem as though the business will suffer, but a month later, you’ll drive by and in the parking lot is filled with cars and customers have filled the shops once again, as if they never closed. It’s ok to take a break, when the mind and body are rested you perform better, you think clearer. So go ahead, take a nap, we’ll be here when you wake up. Hi! My name is Tamara Pradel. I’m the Technology Innovation Educationist and your Personal Learning Lifestyle Coach.   Tamara N. Pradel is the Technology Innovation Educationist and your Personal Learning Lifestyle Coach. She loves to inspire and motivate others to develop a lifestyle of life long learning, to use technology in productive and meaningful ways and to bring back the fun in professional development. Who says learning has to be boring? Learn it. Play it. Own it.
 INNOVATION, now there’s an overused, misused and abused word. I often wondered if people truly know what it means until I stumbled upon the Principal of Change, Mr. George Couros and his book the Innovator’s Mindset: Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity. This book is an eye-opener, a make you squirm in your seat if you are someone who hasn’t embraced the true meaning of innovation or if you are ok with the complacency of sameness that does not produce results. Why I recommend this book?
 Even though the book was written primarily for educators, the message of the book is really for anyone, especially persons stuck in the same rut and just need that push to think outside, around, under, through and above the box. So if you need some motivation to get the innovative juices flowing, get the Innovator’s Mindset, the perfect gift for any educator or innovator on the rise. My name is Tamara Pradel. I’m the Technology Innovation Educationist.  |
AuthorEducation + Technology +Innovation + Tamara Pradel= Learning Your Way Your Time 
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