Underestimating
Last month, I was honored enough to be asked to speak to a group of potential new teachers about my experiences as a 504 Plan kid and how that propelled me to go into teaching. One of the stories that I told was how there was a disconnect between myself and my teachers. Many of my teachers told me that I was a horrible writer, demonstrated low comprehension, and many of them treated me with an air of frustration. Little did they know their feedback did not align with the truth. I went home everyday from school to write in my blog about philosophers, historical events, and even got into heated debates with grown ups about foreign policy decisions. Truth was, I just did not care about the things they wanted me to do and I felt much safer exploring the skills they were teaching me in my own ways on my own terms.
This is why I never ever want to think I know where a kid is at or where they can go based on what I see in my class. There is more to people than what you see. People show what they want to show, but people also show what they feel safe to show, and what they are allowed to show. A student might not be able to write an argument, but they can verbalize one and they can make those connections through discussions. Some students can write it, but cannot speak it. Some students seemingly struggle in class, but might go home and do their own inquiry without letting you know. I learned from all my teachers, but not all my teachers knew that I did. I learned to write, to summarize, to annotate, to question, and to develop my own voice through my teachers. I just never demonstrated it to them. I wanted to demonstrate it to myself. This is great for personal growth, but horrible for grades. That was why when my mom went into parent-teacher-conferences she was always so confused. "BUT YOU WERE WRITING!" "Uh, my blog post." "....."
Never think you know someone and never think you know a person's skills. Truth is, none of us have limitations. We only have room to grow. The goofy kid who has no impulse control might have what it takes to become a great entrepreneur. The quiet kid might become a great public speaker. In my case, the daydreaming and seemingly unfocused kid became someone who has nothing but focus. I know where I am going. Always did. I just do it on my own terms. My lack of observation was really my full observation on something else.
People cannot be put in boxes. Many of us are contradictions. All of us have strengths and have weaknesses sometimes in the same plane. People are interesting.
Because of my feelings of always having to prove people wrong, I always get surprised when someone notices something about me that I value in myself. I always get this innate feeling of 'you see me!' It comes from not being seen for awhile. So when people tell me I am astute, logical, persuasive, competent, hardworking, knowledgeable, and someone to respect it blows me away. I mean the air literally leaves my body for a moment and I have no idea how to compute the words that were just uttered to me. The fear is that I will always be seen as that ADHD kid. The one who is disorganized, lazy, unfocused, unobservant, and that I will never ever be able to fight through that label.
Labels. A dangerous thing. We label kids to provide services, but we also give them a self-concept that we might not have thought through. GATE kid comes with a self view and a view from others. SPED kid comes with a self view and a view from others. YEARBOOK kid comes with a self view and view from others. LEADERSHIP kid comes with a self view and a view from others. TR or ELL kid comes with a self view and a view from others. I prefer the label DIVERSE HUMANS. We need everyone and everyone needs everyone else. Our world would not function without any of them Where we falter is when we value one over the other and someone does not see the value in themselves.
Regardless of your label I just want you to know that you have worth and you can be anything you want to. Just might need to work like hell for it.
This is why I never ever want to think I know where a kid is at or where they can go based on what I see in my class. There is more to people than what you see. People show what they want to show, but people also show what they feel safe to show, and what they are allowed to show. A student might not be able to write an argument, but they can verbalize one and they can make those connections through discussions. Some students can write it, but cannot speak it. Some students seemingly struggle in class, but might go home and do their own inquiry without letting you know. I learned from all my teachers, but not all my teachers knew that I did. I learned to write, to summarize, to annotate, to question, and to develop my own voice through my teachers. I just never demonstrated it to them. I wanted to demonstrate it to myself. This is great for personal growth, but horrible for grades. That was why when my mom went into parent-teacher-conferences she was always so confused. "BUT YOU WERE WRITING!" "Uh, my blog post." "....."
Never think you know someone and never think you know a person's skills. Truth is, none of us have limitations. We only have room to grow. The goofy kid who has no impulse control might have what it takes to become a great entrepreneur. The quiet kid might become a great public speaker. In my case, the daydreaming and seemingly unfocused kid became someone who has nothing but focus. I know where I am going. Always did. I just do it on my own terms. My lack of observation was really my full observation on something else.
People cannot be put in boxes. Many of us are contradictions. All of us have strengths and have weaknesses sometimes in the same plane. People are interesting.
Because of my feelings of always having to prove people wrong, I always get surprised when someone notices something about me that I value in myself. I always get this innate feeling of 'you see me!' It comes from not being seen for awhile. So when people tell me I am astute, logical, persuasive, competent, hardworking, knowledgeable, and someone to respect it blows me away. I mean the air literally leaves my body for a moment and I have no idea how to compute the words that were just uttered to me. The fear is that I will always be seen as that ADHD kid. The one who is disorganized, lazy, unfocused, unobservant, and that I will never ever be able to fight through that label.
Labels. A dangerous thing. We label kids to provide services, but we also give them a self-concept that we might not have thought through. GATE kid comes with a self view and a view from others. SPED kid comes with a self view and a view from others. YEARBOOK kid comes with a self view and view from others. LEADERSHIP kid comes with a self view and a view from others. TR or ELL kid comes with a self view and a view from others. I prefer the label DIVERSE HUMANS. We need everyone and everyone needs everyone else. Our world would not function without any of them Where we falter is when we value one over the other and someone does not see the value in themselves.
Regardless of your label I just want you to know that you have worth and you can be anything you want to. Just might need to work like hell for it.
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