I realized today, on my after-school run, that high expectations are really less of a reflection on what we think our kids are capable of learning and doing, and really more of a reflection on what we think of ourselves as teachers – what we truly believe we are capable of accomplishing with our students.  Any kid can learn anything.  That’s just true about humans.  We do not all have the same aptitude, but it’s just possible.  I would hypothesize that really, where we tend to stumble most as teachers is in self-doubt that we can actually pull off teaching material that is “too rigorous”.   We tell ourselves this or that kid “can’t” learn this material because it’s “too hard”, when really we are just scared to try it out, or don’t feel like we can truly teach it that well.

This doesn’t mean that by simply correcting this mindset, we will all automatically become megastar teachers who tap into our hidden teaching talents to drive every student beyond the bar of expectation.  But it does mean we should probably challenge ourselves more to think about who we’re really limiting when we limit ourselves – and that is, of course, our students.

Believing in yourself is hard.  Maybe it’s not for most people, but a lot of times, it is hard for me.  I feel like at the end of the day, though, you really have no choice but to believe in yourself.  I think I am usually just scared of being wrong; it is safer to doubt, and be right about my mediocrity.  Going out for the big things is too much risk, too much emotional liability.  What if I fail?  But that’s why all our kids are failing.  They’re all asking themselves the same question, and nobody is pushing them to take chances on themselves, to put themselves out there, to really go for something in the hopes that they will win.  How are you going to motivate somebody else if you can’t even believe in yourself?

We learned about Nelson Mandela today.   I never brought in all the “our deepest fear” stuff, but it’s highly coincidental.  And one of my kids asked another teacher after class if we “had apartheid in America”.  It’s like one big wall we push on and chip away at all together.  One day, it’s going to fall down.