Learning to Follow so I can Someday Lead

Today I went on another memorable Thailand adventure. I traversed to a fish market with my three small children on the following modes of transportation: car, taxi, railway train, ferry and rickshaw. I thought I was prepared for whatever the day may bring when my 4 year old daughter decided she needed to go to the bathroom, and it was close to being an emergency. I was south of Bangkok in the middle of a beautiful wat I had not traveled to in the past. As I looked around, I saw a dek chia (young boy) and I decided to put my fate in his hands. When I asked him how to get to the closest horng nam (bathroom), he didn't tell me, he led me. I proceeded to follow him down three alleyways, in and out of someone's residence, and down a remote street that had five bathrooms in a row. Along the way I met an incredibly friendly monk and we had a nice conversation combining my limited knowledge of Thai and his more extensive knowledge of English. I reached the facilities, and although I am not new to the different design of a bathroom in Thailand, my daughter most certainly is not a fan. I took hold of her, and configured a way to aid my young child in her minor emergency.

OK great, another travel story that you may have heard a zillion times, but as I was following the dek chai, I thought about how much trust I have placed in my colleagues (Chad Bates, Jeff Utecht, Dennis Harter, and Kim Cofino) to lead me to where I want to go with using technology in my classroom. I have a need and ask for help. They do not tell me what to do, they lead me down a path and I blindly follow hoping for the best. I have always been led in the right direction and reach a point I need to get a job done, and then adapt whatever it is to meet the needs of my beginning level students. My colleagues know a different language and I want to speak it. My students have a basic need (knowledge) and I want to meet it. I am the bridge to making that happen. The problem is that I don't like to follow. I have always wanted to be able to survive on my own if needed. I don't want to only speak a little Thai. I want to be fluent. I don't want to know only a little about technology in the classroom, I want to know it all. I want to be able to lead, and to enable myself to get to that point, I have a huge learning curve I must shorten and I need to catch up. I have not been this excited about my career and the future of education since my first year of graduate school. I no longer just like my job, I love to bring the work home and to explore late into the night. It isn't about wanting to be the best, but about wanting to fill an empty vase with all the beautiful flowers that surround me. I want more, please fill me in.