One small, three letter word. It is my favorite word to say to doubting students as well as skeptical teachers!
YET!!
(Click on the word YET and watch a video)
What's to stop us from beginning our day like Jessica in the video? It may not involve standing on your sink to develop this "YET" sensibility, but it can take a little work! But if we want to achieve more as a student, reach more students as a teacher, or improve in the sports arena, this one little word can go sooooo far! It takes practice, patience, perseverance and TRUST!
So imagine what each of us--teachers, students, and school leaders--could do as individuals, for the people we love, and the world we live in if we give our very best, if we practice smarter, embrace challenge, trust in our teachers, colleagues, mentors, and parents and replace “can’t” with a deafening “yet”!
Flap Harder Penguin and You Can Fly?
“Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish on it’s ability to climb a tree, it’s live its whole life believing it is stupid.” ~Albert Einstein
Now, lest you say that this is another one of those “flap harder penguin and you can fly” type of statements, let me set you straight, because that simply is not the case. Yes, statistics show that low socioeconomic factors vs high socioeconomic factors can determine test scores, but why is that so? A belief pattern perhaps? A fixed mindset perhaps? Maybe, maybe not, but how can believing in someone be all bad? How can having hope be all bad? Many would say that one is setting up one for failure. Yet, how many of us have seen someone believe in inner-city kids and have watched them fly up the ladder of success as a result? So, least you think that building false hope or empty praise is the goal, Carol Dweck, a believer in Growth Mindset addresses this topic. She states that giving praise for praise’s sake is exactly what we are NOT to do. We need to guide students specifically, not superficially; we praise their effort. We are not asking penguins to fly, but we are showing them that they certainly could be excellent swimmers, and celebrating their efforts towards success in doing so. We’ve all seen the students; the one’s that other teachers say will “never amount to anything.” How many times were they completely written off by society and educators, only to find success?
