Trying to Adjust

          One of the biggest challenges in my 39 year teaching career was learning how to teach a classroom of students that had a variety of  learning styles.  There were some that were very logical and that was my style.  There were those who were visual and needed drawings and pictures.  Some were verbal and needed to discuss ideas.  Some needed to handle objects and some learned better when I put things to music.  And of course there were those who were very social and worked well in groups as well as those who much preferred to work alone.  We are all different and this is a real challenge for good teachers.
          I'm not sure how many years of teaching it took me to begin to realize that I needed to use a variety of approaches.  Not all students learned best the way I learned.  And, unfortunately, some teachers never learn this or never learn how to cope and adjust.  For example, when we introduced manipulatives and open ended problem solving in the elementary grades, many teachers just couldn't handle it.  They continued to depend upon how they were taught and how they learned even if this wasn't best for many of their students.  It is often hard to see and accept alternate approaches.
          Now while I recognized this as a teacher and tried to adjust to it in the classroom, I must admit that I haven't done as well in my day by day living and working with others.  There are some things that just get under my skin.  And I am working hard to get over these issues because I will never change others.  The only one who can be changed is me.
          For example, I have trouble with folks who are late for everything.  You can count on the same people to arrive in church 15 minutes late and march down to the front seats, week after week, after week.  If you have a meeting or a class, the same people will always be late.   And if you have a deadline for submitting something or doing something, you can count on these people to miss the deadline.  In school I was able to deal with my students who had these problems, but in everyday life it seems more difficult.  Maybe all of these people should be made to make up their time - after the church service or meeting.  Now I must admit, I have the opposite problem - I am usually very early for everything.  That's why I usually carry a book or my diary with me so I don't waste time.  
          I also have problems with folks who can't or won't follow directions.  When I was judge of elections we posted many signs with directions.  We even used ropes to guide them in the correct directions.  And yet we had people climb over the ropes or go around them.  They went out the wrong doors.  They didn't fill out their ballots properly.  I often found their actions unbelievable although I shouldn't have after having taught school for all of those years.   In Awana some  leaders won't pick up their name tags as instructed.  Some won't complete their registration cards or won't complete them fully.  And at times it drives me crazy.  But, as I said before, in school I could handle it.  Daily living is different.
          Then there are those who make promises but don't follow through.  Yes, they say, I will take care of that for you.  But they forget and you end up having to do it yourself.  We have recently had three different friends who started different jobs for us at our house.  In all three cases these good folks have never come back to complete the jobs.  Do you keep after them or pester them especially when they wanted to help you out or do you just move on and find somebody else?  I just don't understand.
         Then there are the bosses or the fellow workers who are idea folks but can't handle details.  They have the ideas but let you stuck with figuring out the needed details and then doing the work to implement them. Or they change their mind and don't tell you. Or they don't pass on needed information to you.  Or, if they eventually do, it comes at the last moment and you then need to change what you have already done.  I guess that is the price that you pay for being a conscientious detail person.
          Of course there are those who can't plan ahead.  I guess they don't use calendars.  You schedule something weeks ahead and then the day before they tell you that they have other  plans.  Drives me crazy.  As financial secretary of our church, I spend many days at the beginning of each year preparing about 400 giving receipts.  I pride myself in getting them distributed by the first or second week of the year.  But, just like clockwork, come April, I get calls and e-mails - "I've lost my receipt and I need another one for my taxes and I need it today."  On this one I've finally learned to roll with it because I just know it will happen - every year.
          Then there are those who love to share their horror stories when they know you are facing surgery.  It seems that almost everyone has stories of friends or relatives who had a similar surgery and ended up with more problems after the surgery.  OK, but why must you share those stories with me before mine?  Are you trying to talk me out of it?  Do you think you'll make me feel more comfortable?  I actually resisted telling folks about my surgery or talking to folks who had had it because of the reactions I received.  I only had one person tell me of a person who was helped by the surgery.  If I based the possibility of a successful surgery on the stories I was told it would only be about 8% and those aren't great odds.  Thanks folks for all the "encouragement".
          Oh yes, one more gripe which I have mentioned before.  It grinds me when people walk by and say "How are you doing?" and you know they don't want an answer and don't really care.  I'm to the point where many times I just ignore them and they don't even realize I have done so.
           Well my premise has been that we have different styles and we must just learn to try to adjust to them or we'll go nuts in this crazy world.  And, maybe given 39 more years as I had in the classroom, I will someday learn to adapt and handle it.
         As somebody has said, "To live with saints above, oh that will be glory.  But to live with saints below, well that's a different story."