"Doing What We Know"

Yesterday as I was preparing the Esperanza training for this coming Saturday I decided to title it, "Doing What We Know." Although it is definitely advantageous to continually be learning the learning is useless if it isn't applied. Too often we equate attendance at a conference or reading a book with professional (and/or personal!) growth. We really haven't grown until we apply what we have learned.

It is much easier to read a book or attend a conference than it is to apply what we already know. This could be due to the fact that we are usually quite clumsy and uncomfortable when we first step out of our comfort zone and implement a best practice that's new to us. We avoid that feeling of clumsiness like the plague. We forget that feeling clumsy is part of the process. Yet, if we are going to grow professionally and make a greater difference for our Esperanza scholars we must work through the clumsy stage and not give up because we feel and look like a novice at the beginning.

Anyone who is an expert at anything wasn't always an expert. The difference between a novice and expert is someone who stuck with it.