Big for their britches

I was listening to a sermon the other day and the speaker was talking about education in America. As most of us know, we aren't doing as well as we would like to think. We can blame it on a lot of things but the proof is in the pudding. I see it day in and day out....students who have stable support at home, ALWAYS perform at a much higher level than students who do not.

John and I always laugh when we see bumper stickers that say, "my student is a terrific kid." These bumper stickers were designed to make the kids who didn't get the, "my student is an honor roll student" feel better about their lack of success. In America's schools, trust me when I say, the standard has been lowered so that everyone can feel good about themselves. We change grades, hand hold to avoid students failing (even after not completing their work), and I have even heard of parents convincing teachers that their child can't handle the emotional devestation of doing poorly and beg and plead for their grade to be increased. Our schools have taken the responsibilities off of the parents and students, and it's now the teachers responsibility to figure out a way to get all 90 students to pass, even when they refuse to do work.

So....during the sermon....the pastor was talking about research that he had studied showing that students who had a higher self-esteem, tested more poorly. My mind was blown because I have always been told to build the kids up, tell them they're wonderful. The study had found that students who were extremely self-confident, felt no desire to achieve more, learn more, or try harder because they already felt they were perfect.

I pondered the information I had heard and I'm beginning to think this makes sense. Students who are getting encouragement at home, don't necessarily need me to also convince them they are wonderful. If they want the honor roll bumper sticker, I'm not going to be the one to coddle them to it.

This year, several of my students are going to experience a little bit of a deflating process. Let's hope a little humility will also create in them a desire to push themselves.