Wk 2 Reading - Optimism

Benjamin Zander's optimism is absolutely astounding.  He believes, unwaveringly, that everyone is an A; that everyone can be a contribution; that everyone can be a leader.  How inspiring!  The cynic in me is questioning Zander's line of thinking, though.  I do believe that everyone can contribute something to a class or project, but can everyone be a leader?  Does everyone truly deserve an A? 

During my undergraduate studies, I observed two seventh grade Reading and Language Arts classes.  The Language Arts class was filled with the average to below-average students.  The Reading class was filled with those students who would eventually take honors and college preparatory classes in high school.  I observed the two classes over the course of a semester, and once I had established myself there, the teacher told me one day that there was a stark difference between the two classes.  The students in the reading class would most definitely go on to college and lead successful lives.  The students in the language arts class, however, wouldn't be so lucky.  They were the problem children who always stayed in trouble for varied reasons.  Some students had family issues that would probably keep them from going past the tenth grade.  Some of them would loose motivation.  Some of them would have at least one kid before graduation.  She spouted off the stereotypical "bad" class. 

One student in particular that she pointed out was a young man who you could tell wasn't the brightest child, but he was very respectable and never got into any trouble.  The teacher told me that this particular student would probably never succeed in college but would be good to sweep the floors at a nursing home because he would be good with the patients.

After my forty hours of observations were over, I thought to myself that this teacher was absolutely right.  Not everyone can be successful; not everyone can go to college; not everyone needs to go to college.  We need people to sweep the floors at hospitals and nursing homes. 

That's been over five years ago, and I realize now that the teacher was a bit pessimistic.  I feel that if the teacher treated all her students like they were As, like they were making contributions, like they were leaders, then maybe she wouldn't have had as many discipline problems.  If that teacher had treated her students like they were true contributors to a successful society, maybe those students would have been successful in high school.  Maybe they would have gone on to college.  Maybe they would have waited until after graduation to have children. 

I think that our perception of our students and how we treat them definitely makes a difference in how they turn out.  if we treat our students like they are stupid, then they will act like it.  They won't do their homework.  They won't perform well in class.  They won't do their projects.  If we treat them like they are already successful, then they will rise to that standard and be successful.