Village at Ithaca - Helping Our Students Overcome “I Can’t”

Helping Our Students Overcome “I Can’t”

Written by Cal Walker
Monday, September 07, 2009
What a wonderful time of hope, promise and expectation as our children return to school! With the necessary support and encouragement from all of us, this can and should be one of the best years of their academic lives! Our children are all uniquely gifted with individual sets of talents and abilities that make them the very special people they are! Our success in anything often depends on our state of mind, and our students’ success in school is no exception. It’s been said that our “attitude” determines our “altitude” (or how high we go in something). Whether we think we can or cannot, we’re right! Many of our “limitations” are self-imposed. Often, it is because we convince ourselves that we “can’t” before we even begin. As our children return to school, let’s encourage them to adopt a positive, CAN do attitude. Let’s encourage them to avoid saying or thinking “I can’t” whenever they feel challenged by an assignment or a new concept in learning. Helping students reframe “I can’t” may be one of the most important gifts we can give them for their educational journey through life. Perhaps this poem that has inspired me since college will help: There was someone who said “I can’t” at the early age of four, And as the years passed slowly by, it was “I can’t” some more; It was “I can’t” in elementary school, in high school and in college, Those simple little words “I can’t” put limits on their knowledge; And, just to show the power of habit, when this person died, The angels up in heaven called, inviting them inside; Of course, you know what happened with the automatic chant, Paradise was forever lost, because they said “I can’t”! Let’s take every opportunity to remind our children that, yes, they can – and with our help, they absolutely will!

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