You too Can!

When I got employed to teach Mathematics at a school, I noticed some students bubbling with interest while some others were somewhat reluctant. I later got to understand the plight of the reluctant ones – they had a preconceived notion that Mathematics was difficult. Subsequently, I gathered that this attitude spanned all other subjects and not just Mathematics.

I also noticed that they approached each subject with an impossible mindset. They had classified certain students as the excellent ones while they labeled themselves as dull. As we spent time together, they picked up the challenge to strive for excellence and the result was amazing. Some even performed better than the titled “excellent students.”

Now the focal point is that nothing is more limiting than an inferior mindset. Sadly, this can be found among many students. It is very crippling as several of them believe that they cannot perform well academically. There is a bizarre notion that only a few students are meant to be excellent.

Academic excellence is not for a selected few. It is open to as many students as they are willing and ready to pay the price attached to success. A lot of students are intimidated by their peers and will rather shy away from speaking in class or even making a noteworthy contribution.

Every student is unique and their IQ abilities differ. They must recognize their peculiarities and begin expressing them. Some vary in learning as they are slow while others are fast. In the same wise, there are daytime readers while others are night readers. Likewise, some perform best in groups while others enjoy being unaccompanied. No student is dull. All that is needed is for them to discover their way of learning. No student is superior to another and the basis for competition should be between their “Present potential” and their “Actual potential” because every student has the potential to succeed.

A school motto reads, “Learn and Smile.” Isn’t it amazing that students with low academic performance do better in fun things? Don’t you think that if students began enjoying studying and viewing it as a surmountable mount, they will perform better?

Every student has the inherent potential to excel. However, all that is required to achieve this feat is to correct their mindsets.