Set Expectations, Not Excuses and Success Will Come

This was a post that I put as a message in my weekly newsletter to students, staff, and parents.  As I reread it, I realized not only is it only a small part of a bigger topic/conversation, but a message for everyone no matter their path or position in life.

It is as follows:

Now that we have reached the end of the Third Term, I thought it may be helpful to point out something as the year is officially in the “last lap”.  Whether we have good grades, have met some goals, or failed at both; many of us can do better.  Unfortunately, often when we are faced with a failure or adversity it is easy to make an excuse as to why it cannot be done rather than shouldering some hardship and a lot of responsibility in an effort to get it done.  Additionally damaging is when we use the excuse that we either cannot do it or are not good at it because that’s “just the way it is.”  This is where expectations come into play.  I often think of a quote attributed to an unknown 6^th grader that said, “My teacher thought I was smarter than I was – so I was.”

Just recently an article was forwarded to me that illustrated the power of expectations.  It rehashed an old experiment known as the Rosenthal Experiment and how it relates to the Pygmalion effect.  I have included this short article for you to read here. You may have never heard of either of these two things, but a quick summary is that this study illustrates “the phenomenon that explains better performances by people when greater expectations are put on them.”  So how does this apply to the beginning of the end of the school year?

That is one thing I expect you already know.

If you need a higher grade to pass a class…set a goal and expect you can accomplish it.

If you are not doing well in a sport…expect to do better and get it done.

If there is anything you want to get or do better at…think you can and then do it.

This sounds great, but you need to remember nothing comes without work and sacrifice.  It is supposed to be uncomfortable.  That is the only way we know we are pushing ourselves hard enough to grow.  In the end, we are the only ones who really decide how successful we are and that is by expecting the best of ourselves and believing that we have the ability to achieve it.

True North

This post was something I had thought about at the beginning of this year, but left at the title because of other pursuits.  It caught my eye again and combined with some current circumstances seemed to be an appropriate time to revisit.  A few things had come to mind as the summer was winding down. I started thinking about the school year and all the new things the students and I would be experiencing, but the one that thing that had inspired this post had to do with discovery and its importance.

Most of you who read my blog know that I mostly post about character, perseverance, and learning.  This is in that vein, but from the perspective of not only our impact as educators, but also its importance. We have all heard it and even repeated Plutarch’s familiar phrase; “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be ignited.”  I personally explain it with the following phrase. Teaching isn’t about acting on someone, but rather having them act for themselves.  I find this to be common sense if the true definition of understanding (according to Howard Gardner) is being able to take new knowledge and successfully apply it to an entirely different context. However, I want to take it a little farther. 

Everyone one of us has a key to our life.  Our “True North” if you will.  It consists of our core values, experiences, and lessons learned.  While it is not always clear to us, it exists and dictates your passion and happiness with life.  It has many names; purpose, meaning of life, destiny.  No matter what label, it is important to align your whole life with it to achieve your maximum ability to learn, potential, and satisfaction.  Personally, I spent most of my younger years trying to figure out what I wanted to do before realizing I want to help other people by passing on the understanding I had come to concerning the opportunities available through education and character.  My “True North” lay in the dissemination of mental toughness and the idea of learning through failure by taking what you have and making it something better. I have truly believed in the concept of over, under, around, or through my whole life, but like most, never recognized my current existence, experiences, or strengths as something to share.  I wasn't always ready for education. I was the first person in my family to go to college (because of what I accomplished on the football field). I was almost even better at twisting arms on the wrestling mat during those years.  In fact, I’ve made a habit out of doing things people told me could not be done because I believe that there are no impossibilities with passion, hard work, determination, and the ability and willingness to grow from my mistakes; get up from failures or in short…keep moving north.

To be great, effective educators we must help students with this aspect of their life.  There must be a blurring of the lines between the content we are teaching and their lives if we expect students to be engaged to a level at which they retain and understand the lessons throughout the day.  Fact is, everyone has a key to their life. Every student has a key to their learning and understanding.  As educators we must find their key by looking at what they have done in the past and meshing it with where they are at currently. If we truly want to unlock the potential growth in students we must discover what they aspire to and integrate it with how we approach them. This is essential because life is education.  Trying to separate students’ outside life from the material (and location in which) they are learning creates a disjointed experience that benefits no one.

I believe that very rarely does anyone really know where their true north lies from the outset.  This is because we all get temporarily blinded from time to time as we exist in those spaces of happiness and satisfaction that populate our days.  Unfortunately, these fleeting moments are not what help us fill our potential.  Our true potential will not be measured in these small increments, but rather from the lasting impact of our influence we have upon those others whose lives we pass through on our journey in the world.  Those of us in education must remember the words of Robert Frost when he said; “I am not a teacher but an awakener.” We must work with the students to help them begin the journey of discovery.

Education isn't about what happens to people, but what happens within people. How are you sparking that flame exciting that fire?  We need to stop doing to students in the classroom and begin letting them act.  Do not act upon them.  As E.M. Forester said; “Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon”

And really…in the long run, who truly cares about the shape of the spoon as long as it serves the purpose we need it for; to feed us.

March is the Month for Perseverance

Thinking about the past few weeks of students highlighted in the newsletter for receiving awards the theme for this month’s character initiative, and the long stretch that March is during the school year; I can’t help but focus on the importance of perseverance.

We should be proud of all those students who have taken a risk and stepped into an unknown experience because they wanted to and found success in the face of sacrifice and struggle, but we should also be incredibly proud of those students who do the same, fall short of accolades, and still continue to push forward.  Those students are harder to spot because they are often silent in their determination or feeling down because of their most recent failure.  I know we all say that you cannot learn without failing and that you need to fail before you can succeed…yeah…while that is true...it’s a little easier to say when you aren’t the one failing.

Speaking of failures and persevering through to success; check out this list of famous individuals who did just that!

What I’m saying to everyone is that if you:

·         are trying or even thinking of trying something to be a better version of you, do it

·         see someone working hard and struggling to continue, don’t distract, but support them.

Because in the end, we only find out how good we can be by pushing until we fail…and then doing it all over again to get a little farther.

We all need to support our students who are giving it their all and motivate those to achieve what they can…

Or as Kid President says in this video pep talk; "We were made to be awesome!" 

Now go out there and do what you were made for today.  Not tomorrow, but today...get started.