Friday, August 26, 2011

On the Edge (the "I Can't" syndrome)

"On the Edge"
Mark Nesmith
Charcoal and Conte on Paper
10" x 8"
2011
Inside each and every one of us is the potential to be something better than we are.  Our job as teachers is to help people find the key to the lock.  It’s easy as an adult to think that we are what we’re going to be, that we’ve already done all the changing and learning we’re capable of.  Some of our students already have that fixed mindset as well, when in reality, all of us, especially children, are like blank canvases.  Part of the problem is the “I Can’t” syndrome.  This is a portrait of one of our students.  He’s a very bright young man.  His mind is quick and he has a good memory, but he often has trouble carrying through on his work.  Like Kung Fu Panda, “his focus needs more focus.”  People tend to follow the path of least resistance.  We’re simply more comfortable with what we already know.  What he knows is acting up.  He has a quick temper and generally skips past the problem solving stages of an issue and goes straight to “let’s fight.”  When faced with something that’s a bit of a challenge he’s equally quick with “I can’t” and “it’s hard.”  He’s on the edge.  He’s sharp enough to be anything when he grows up, but his behavior usually leads him the wrong way.  His teacher last year saw the potential of his mind and worked with him constantly.  She tried countless ways to help direct his energy into positive channels with little success.  It’s a new year, and so far he’s seems to be off to a better start.  He’s seems to have calmed a little, matured a little.  He’s been on the edge for awhile now, but I hope this will be the year he’s able to jump with both feet into a new life and start to realize his own potential. Achieving success in school in this neighborhood often has negative implications.  I’ve had many students who didn’t want to be on honor rolls or receive awards because other kids (and sometimes grown-ups) would give them so much grief.   I’m often reminded when thinking of our students of the great poem “Our Deepest Fear” by Marianne Williamson, introduced to many through the movie Akeela and the Bee.  Williamson writes that “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?” 

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