You Fulfill What You Believe

I love to teach kids how to read. Not the ability to read words, but the ability to comprehend and analyze. It’s a skill that changes how they see and understand the world.

 

A few years ago, I decided to stack more on my plate and teach reading for FUN.

I had a group of eighth-graders with ranging abilities, but most were far below grade level. In fact, I had several students who were 15 and had been held back several times.

 

As November approached I was focusing on getting ‘my’ kids ready for the STAAR state testing in the spring.

 

I had many kids who had failed every state test since 3rd grade. Each year they tried and each year they failed. I had a student, we will call Jane, that reminded me of this fact, EVERY SINGLE DAY.

 

Everyone had given up on her and she had given up on herself. The yearly test was her confirmation and evidence that it just wasn’t possible. I spent four months breaking away this belief and changing the mindset. It wasn’t easy and it was often she would tell me I was ‘wasting’ my time.

Was it possible to change five years of deep-seated belief that she just wasn’t good enough?

 

Then one day my classroom door burst open and this young lady came in balling….tears everywhere, face red, the whole nine yards….

 

Five years, five fails, but his year was different.

She passed.

The rest of the year she truly was a different kid.

 

Years of LIMITING beliefs had been broken.

 

I don’t get to teach reading much anymore these days, but I watch my baseball players break limiting beliefs every single day.

 

There is no better feeling.