Raising the Bar

I have this sophomore who is repeating World History because he failed last year. He failed the first quarter this year. And nearly half way through the 2nd quarter he was, you guessed it, failing. He asked, "How far am I away from a D?" I replied, "just a few percentage points." He started to turn in his current work and then he began turning in late work also, (which he can get partial credit for up to a certain point). Each day he would come and ask me, "Do I have a D yet," to which I would reply, "You're getting closer. When interims came out I gave him his, and his eyes lit up when he saw that he had a B. Then he said, "You're slick, you kept telling me I didn't have a D yet." I said, "If I told you that you had a D, you would have been content and slacked off. But by allowing you to earn a B, I chose to show you that you don't have to settle, you can do above a D. He was flabbergasted that he had a B. And then he said, "well what do I need to do to get an A?" At this point, I don't know who was more excited, me or him.

In trying to prove a point, to this kid I re-learned an important lesson, the proverb which states "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he." So often as teachers, I think we make the mistake of believing that kids are just lazy, unmotivated, and don't care. Many times the real problem is one of image and not of performance. Kids will perform according to the expectations that others including themsleves, have always had for them. If they think they are a poor student, they will perform poorly. But, when we first help them change the image they have of themselves then we can get down to the business of teaching whatever the content is. And at this stage of the game for this particular kid, the former lesson was of greater value than the latter. Now, I make a point to continually encourage him. I call him things like model student, professor, and class historian. He needs to hear what he currently is and what he can become. What a breakthrough! I guess moments such as these are the reason that I got into this gig.