Whether positive or negative...our words have power. This was clearly revealed to me this week.
One of my students this year started out really quiet in class, but after about two weeks of school, he started becoming a behavior issue. He wasn't completing his assignments, and he was failing quizzes and tests. After pulling him out of class one day, he told me he doesn't understand what he's learning. He said everything went in one ear and out the other.
I managed to change his schedule, and got him put into one of my smaller classes. I called home to get some support, and I spoke with my assistant principal to get even more support. Eventually we scheduled a parent conference, and then he started coming in for tutoring sessions.
With just a few days of tutoring, he managed to pull his grade from a 23 to a 83! Wow! You should have seen the look on his face when he saw the huge increase. He was pleased.
I asked him, "Why did you tell me you didn't understand what you're learning? You are clearly capable of doing this work."
It's because when I was in fifth grade, a boy told me I was dumb. And I believed what he said.
When he said those words, my heart sank. He believed those words he had been told and carried them with him for almost two years. Kids can be so cruel to each other.
"You are not dumb. You are so smart! Never let anyone tell you any different."
I hope he heard me, and I hope he believed me.
"Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble."
Yehuda Berg
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