Tag: students

I Can’t…

Jennifred Jones

Saturday morning at the ice-rink a boy about 7 years old kept falling down.

The instructor would help him up and he’d fall again. When she got him up he only wanted to hold on to her. He didn’t want to try to stand or skate alone.

I could see the look on his face. Total frustration, almost red-faced anger at his young age. The instructor would help him time and time again – even getting down on the ice and showing him how to position his feet and legs so he could get up by himself like all the other young skaters were. Everyone was falling down and eventually getting back up all by themselves. This little boy was not really trying. He’d look like he tried to get up and then fall again and squirm until someone came to ‘help’ him. The instructors were looking back and forth at each other wondering how many times to ‘help’ him – when he would not help himself. He was not incapable – just not-capable because of his thinking. Somewhere along the way, he had given in to the ‘I can’t’ mentality. I imagine it was more than just on the ice.

The reason I could see it so clearly is that had been me at different times in my life…Algebra and math. I just ‘couldn’t‘ (I thought). Or meeting new people. I was too shy (unwilling to step out of my security box). I put off learning computers for years – thinking it was a passing fad. ‘I can’t‘ trying to rule me again.

Many times, teachers have learned…allow the student to struggle until they are hungry enough to learn. Then they will.

Back to the boy on the ice. He wasn’t ready to learn. Not yet. Give him a little more time, or maybe find something else he is interested in. Don’t nurture the ‘I can’t’.

In our mind, if we will remove the ‘t‘, it will spell, ‘I can‘. The first step is begin to recognize all our ‘I can’ts’

Where can I begin today?

Draw Out the Talent in Our Youth

Jennifred Jones

This spring an old bridge was graffitized by some local students. Some people were up in arms over the situation, but I chose to see it from a different angle. Below is my letter to the editor posted in the Carroll County Comet July 2014:

Xenia Bridge: Vandalism versus Artwork

Let’s take a different perspective on the Xenia Bridge ‘vandalism’ episode. Why do we sometimes allow ourselves to get all up in arms over things like this?
No lives were hurt or lost, no trees were cut down, no fields were burned, no homes were broken into, no animals were stolen, and no one was stabbed, killed or robbed. All it was, was paint-artwork-on an old bridge that was probably rusty not that long ago. Who or what are we trying to protect; our kids and their future, an old bridge which has no life in it, or are we worried about what others might think if we don’t correct those kids? Was it truly malicious intent by the students, or are they like some the rest of us…looking for a way to make their mark on the world, to be noticed, to use their creative minds. Our kids are our best investment. They are tremendously talented. Some of these students are Class A art students and their work would make any parent proud!
Let’s choose some of our older buildings and walls around town and give our students a project—design and paint something unique and colorful on it that represents where they live and let them put their spin on it. Let them paint the town bright and colorful. Put their creative minds toward a good purpose and who knows, maybe our little towns will become a tourist attraction! “This town, this bridge, this wall was designed and painted by our kids, and that one was done by mine!”
by Jennifred Jones