Chapter 14:
One of the most important questions you can ask yourself as an educator is this: What do you truly believe about students? What do you believe about their potential?
This is exactly the question that landed in front of me during a college class well before I ever became a teacher. “What do you believe about students?” I was given a few days to ponder the question and express my thoughts in a short essay. Although I had very little experience working with students at that point, I managed to complete the essay and arrive at the statement: “I believe that all students can learn.” If you think about it, that’s a very weak statement for an educator to make. Of course, all students can learn! That is an obvious truth, and furthermore it takes no risks. It does not dare to approach the potential students possess, and it does not delve into any deeper questions.
To be fair, my very limited experience of working directly with students had not given me a chance to really understand their potential. I had not been amazed by their creativity. I had not walked out of a lesson absolutely inspired by what my students had just achieved. I had not had the opportunity to be stunned by their enormous adaptability, shocked by their insights, or overwhelmed by their potential.
When I stepped into my teaching career, my students astounded me. They gifted me with many changes in perspective and caused me to rethink my answer to that essay question.
What do I believe about students now?
Students are absolutely amazing! They possess a stunning, remarkable, absolutely awe-inspiring potential that has no boundaries. I am deeply in awe of every single one of them. Every day that I am in the presence of students, I am deeply inspired.
Today, I appreciate the truth that a statement as small as “I believe all students can learn,” limits students. Students are stunningly bright, capable, creative, and purely amazing. Of course they can learn. A better question is “How well are we matching our students’ potential with the learning opportunities that we are providing in class?” How are we reconciling that potential in light of the fact that we have a group of amazing learners gathered together in a classroom community? Are those students interacting, producing ideas, and learning from one another? Or instead, are we limiting them with our idea of a lesson’s intended outcome?
The beliefs we hold about our students will deeply impact us personally and professionally. They will also profoundly impact our students. It is impossible to hide our beliefs about our students, especially from our students themselves. What we truly believe about them shines through all of our interactions, our body language, our tone of voice, our assignments, how we respond to students, and what we value.
Imagine two students in two different classrooms. In one classroom, although the teacher believes all students can learn, he hasn’t yet dared to explore what he believes about students any further than that. In the other classroom, the teacher fully understands that every single student has a stunning capacity that should be pursued by both the teacher and the student. That teacher also clearly and constantly communicates to her students that she believes they possess remarkable potential for taking risks, expressing ideas, making connections and actively pursuing new learning. Will these students have different experiences? Absolutely!
No matter how prepared or organized the first teacher is, no matter how much effort he expends, no matter how much time he spends on preparation, he will constantly be held back by his limited belief about students. In fact, that teacher may even offer only a narrowing slice of learning to his students based on those self-imposed limitations. It quickly translates to, “I believe that students can learn about factoring … or Westward expansion … or genres … or mitosis.” And when not all students are successful on assignments, that belief becomes even more limited.
By contrast, the teacher who has wrestled with the question, “What do you truly believe about students?” and has arrived at the realization that students are absolutely amazing will provide an entirely different learning experience.
Here is the reality: with every question, with every follow-up question, with every comment, with every response, with every lesson, and in every interaction, our beliefs about our students are evident to them. And those beliefs deeply impact our students’ beliefs in themselves.
When I finally understood how absolutely amazing students are, I could not keep that profound truth to myself. It wasn’t about me. It was about the students. I wanted the message to be very clear, so after I explained my beliefs and growing understandings to them, I posted the next Big Idea on the wall.
I point to these words often and remind my students of what I truly believe about them and their potential. This Big Idea is the most profound epiphany of my career, and it is the concept that I want every student and educator to most deeply understand.
“Today we have a new Big Idea. It says, “You Are Amazing! Expect Much of Yourself!”
“You are absolutely amazing! You are extraordinary learners. I am fortunate to be your teacher. I don’t want you to walk through a single day without understanding how amazing you are. If I tried to measure how much you are able to learn, I could never do it. If I tried to describe what you could possibly do, I would never find the words. In fact, no words can come close to describing how amazing you truly are.
“Thank you for letting me learn with you. You are absolutely amazing!
What an honor it is to be your teacher!
“I also want you to know something else. I want you to know how crucial it is that you realize how important you are, and that you expect a lot of yourself. I’m not describing being perfect. I’m describing how much you can grow, how you can pursue your potential, how you can learn in powerful, amazing ways. You are amazing! Expect much of yourself!”
From the day I first shared this epiphany with my students, I began referencing this Big Idea in key moments. I started thanking them for the privilege of being in their presence, and I let them know that I intended to honor their amazing potential by being the best teacher that I knew how to be.
You can likely see the profound difference this understanding of my students has made on me personally and professionally. My paradigm has shifted from something so limited to something that has deeply motivated me each time I have the privilege of walking into a classroom of amazing learners. My students know I believe that learning with them is a privilege!
Now, I don’t want to communicate that everything suddenly became easier, and I certainly do not want to project that the challenges of school or classroom life suddenly disappeared, because they did not. Those challenges still exist, and I face them the best I can each day.
However, my perspective changed, and I believe my attitude and this Big Idea changed my students’ perspective as well. The clarity of this understanding illuminated a sense of possibility that created a momentum that helped carry them through the challenges that are part of daily classroom life. I am convinced that there is a profound difference in the behavior and demeanor of students who are being guided by a teacher who deeply believes in them. Students reach for learning in a much different way when they see it within the context of their potential.
Like all of the Big Ideas I am discovering on my journey as an educator, this Big Idea is layered with multiple meanings. One important message found in this Big Idea is not only directed to the students. It speaks to the teacher as well.
Read this again, from your personal vantage point: “You are amazing! Expect much of yourself!”
The role of any educator is both significant and profound. Simply by virtue of the role and our connection with students, what we all do is immensely important. Yet there is so much more.
We are all on a personal learning journey. It is a journey without boundaries, a journey that cannot be contained unless we choose to limit it ourselves. The journey is meant to be active, interactive, and lived out in our classrooms.
Although I have taught many lessons where I have felt like I have completely failed, I have also learned to not let those experiences define me. Instead, I have learned to allow those temporary failures to prompt reflection experiences and propel my personal learning journey forward.
I choose to look at the powerful message on the wall: “You Are Amazing! Expect Much of Yourself!” Truly, it is a privilege to be in a profession surrounded by fellow educators who are powerfully creative, deeply passionate, stunningly insightful, and immensely generous.
The demands of the job are high, and fatigue is often not far away. So even though this message was born out of deep recognition of each student’s potential, seeing the reminder on the wall has been powerful for me as well. While I am inspired by the students, I am also inspired to remember that I am creative. It is invigorating to remember that I am allowed to pursue my own growth and to expect much of myself. It is perfectly fine to take risks. In fact, it is essential. I have learned that, as an educator, the quickest route to exhaustion is not taking risks — not pushing the boundaries of personal growth. Doing the same thing the same way again and again is one of the quickest routes to fatigue. The reason is simple: We are energized by new learning. When there are no new experiences, no risks, no adrenaline, no new stories to share, we grow bored and weary — not better.
However, when I see the Big Idea, “You Are Amazing! Expect Much of Yourself!” I am reminded that I can and should take growth risks. I should expect much of myself. I should try something new. I am capable of it, and I am willing to learn from it. My expectations should be high for my students. My expectations for myself should be just as high.
I challenge you to take a powerful risk. Delve deeply into your beliefs about students. Wrestle with those beliefs. Allow your daily interactions with students to inform those beliefs. Risk forward. Risk your very paradigms.
When you explore your capacity as an educator and as a learner, you will find the opposite of fatigue. You will find invigoration, and your students will reflect that invigoration!
Like your students, you are amazing! Expect much of yourself!