A short but sweet message to teachers. Banish the word “can’t” in your classroom. Namely the phrase “I can’t do it”. In my classroom, we don’t use the word can’t. I encourage you to do the same. Kids need to be encouraged to try. To keep trying. To never stop trying. It’s the one of the most important influencing factors in success.
Case in point. One of the kids in my Kindergarten class on Thursday asked me to push him on the swings. I replied, “Sure, I’ll give you one big push and then I want to see you use your big strong legs to push yourself.” He jumped on the swings and I obliged his request and then told him I wanted to see him give it a go. He replied, “But, I can’t!”. I reminded him that we don’t use the word can’t at Kindy and proceeded to talk him through how to swing his legs out and in to push himself. Later on he came up and showed me how he could swing on his own. His words were, “I could do it, I just had to try!”This came from a five year old. With that attitude I am certain he can now tackle anything life throws at him.
We’re always so quick to give up if something difficult gets thrown in our direction. What if from your very first experience at school you learned how to tackle these challenges and this was reinforced for the next 14 years of schooling?
It takes 30 days to create a habit, imagine what 14 years could do?
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