Week 2: Comment #2 - Jamie Steele

Jamie Steel recently shared how "Giving an A" has related to an incident with one of his high school teachers.  Jamie wrote:

After reading the chapters in “Art of Possibility” this past weekend, I was moved by the third chapter, “Giving an A” and the message it sent to it’s readers. This philosophy falls in line with the effort-based mindset theory that Carol Dweck has been researching over the past ten years. This particular chapter struck a chord deep within me due to my own profession and why I chose to enter into it.

As a school counselor I am charged with ensuring that the social/emotional needs of students are being met so that they can live out their full potential in the classroom arena. The letter that Katrine wrote to Ben brought forth a well of emotion and his explanation on “how seldom we pay attention to, or even look for, the passionate and the extraordinary in children—how seldom we give children an A” (pg. 46).

When I entered the ninth grade I had a teacher named Mr. Leitz. He would drink three Diet Cokes a day, put his feet up on his desk when he lectured, and wrote on the chalkboard in a way that was impossible to decipher. He also taught me the most important lesson in life in terms of my own identity. We were to write an analysis paper on “The Lord of the Flies” for our first assignment. As usual, I procrastinated until the night before and turned in a mediocre effort. Without even looking up from his desk, Mr. Leitz handed the paper back to me and said, “Do it again.” I asked why and he replied with, “I’ve given you an A on this paper and now you need to earn it.” I was irate about having to do the entire paper again but look back on that moment with gratitude and thankfulness. He saw the extraordinary in me even when I could not see it in myself. Reading this chapter made my mind jump back to ninth grade AP Literature and Mr. Leitz.

I often share this story as one of the reasons for becoming a school counselor and having the philosophy that I have. I was so inspired by this chapter that I shared the entire text with my wife who stared at me with a look of confusion and humor. This idea that we remove the barriers of failure and anxiety from kids and allow them to create free from restrictions is spectacular and hopefully adopted by our educational system, in certain cases, in the future. I will wrap up this post with one of my favorite quotes by e.e. cummings.

Once We Believe

In Ourselves

We Can Risk

Curiosity

Wonder

Spontaneous Delight

Or Any Experience

That Reveals The

Human Spirit.

I responded to Jamie's experience:

I think that most of us have at least one teacher in our life who has helped us become the person we are and were an influence for entering the education realm.

Your story with Mr. Leitz was encouraging and hopefully allows you to share this experience in your counseling role.  I think many times we get caught up on performing mediocre work because many teachers accept mediocre work as being good.

Your high school experience sounds similar to mine in that I would often procrastinate and still get good grades.  When I look back, much of the work probably was mediocre.  Why did I get good grades?  Was it because I was a respectful student or did I just perform better than someone else?  While these question will likely never be answered, I do know that I can perform much better and my procrastination still exists but my skills have been sharpened where I can judge how much time I need to do certain tasks now.

Without doubt, today, I give myself an A now with better assurance and confidence.  While I am not graded as I was in high school, I am "graded" by getting a contract renewal every year and pay raises.  Additionally, over time, inner peace and self gratitude has guided me to perform better at whatever I do.