Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!
Posted by SuccessFriend on 8/02/07

Brilliant is the correct terminology. Children are brilliant
because they have the potential to learn as much and as
quickly as any adult. Children are sponges. With the right
adult influence in their lives and the will to do it, they can
explore many possibilities. Intelligence is not a measurable
thing, although many try to measure it. Because the mind is
always expanding, your so-called intelliegence level changes
daily, as with every cell in your body. No one stays the same
unless they are not allowed to explore their brilliance.
Intelligence is more that memorizing facts and doing basic
mathematical operations. It involves intuition and creativity,
which every human being possesses. We do not allow our
children in America to feel capable because we are too busy
pointing out their weaknesses. When in fact we should be
focusing on their stregths. One may "appear" to be more
intelligent than the next, when in reality we all are unique
individuals. We all learn in different ways. We cannot
categorize ourselves as disabled because we are not presented
information in our appropriate mode of learning. Who are we to
judge? We are all uniquely brilliant, even if we don't believe
it. The reason I KNOW that I am brilliant is because I believe
it. The reason I KNOW every child is brilliant is because I
believe it. The children I encounter are brilliant because I
help them to see why they are uniquely brilliant. They were
created from the same material as Einstein, Bill Gates, Oprah
or any other successful person. We all come to the Earth on a
clean slate. Our beliefs about ourselves determine how
intelligent we actually become. Intelligence is not only in
the mind, it begins in the heart. If you believe you are
smart, then you are. You will begin to behave in such a way to
harmonize with being a smart person. If you believe you are
dumb, then you will begin to behave in a "dumb" manner. Its
all about perception. I want to open all of our eyes as
educators to understand that ALL KIDS ARE BRILLIANT. The
future is full of possibilities. Look at Dr. Ben Carson who
was labeled special ed. Look what he has become just through
the sheer determination of his mother, who always told him how
smart he was. If you tell kids they are smart, they will have
no choice but to eventually believe it. But if you continue to
tell children that the person sitting next to them
is "smarter" because he passed the test with a 90% average,
then you are sending a strong negative message. You are saying
that some are born smart, and others dumb. That couldn't be
farther from the truth. Again, until you believe that you are
brilliant, how can you see the brilliance in any other human
being. We cannot sit around and judge others based on our own
DISability to see life as what it really is. People are all
the same in the core, and every person is full of
possibilities. It is when you believe that something isn't
possible that you give up on life. Let's not give up on our
children by labeling them and hinting around about Bell curves
and other antiquated psychology. We are in the information
age, not the industrial age. The education system is 40 years
behind, and it shows by the opions expressed by educators who
have little vision. Lets clear our goggles and see children
for what they really are---BRILLIANT!


On 8/02/07, hmmmm wrote:
> saying that all children are "brilliant" sounds to me like
saying that all children
> are "special." if everyone's special, then special loses
its actual meaning and
> negates itself, making no one actually special.
>
> imho, defining brilliant as "all children have talents" is
more accurate. but in
> terms of pure intelligence, i disagree. i see evidence of
the 'ol bell curve every
> year. not every student is intellectually brilliant, but
they all have a talent.
>
> On 3/28/07, Success Friend wrote:
>> Our children in America are being cheated in many ways. I
>> want you to first remember who is teaching our children---
>> children who have increased in age and who probably
>> received the same public education growing up. These
>> former public education students are now given the
>> label "teacher," because of a 4-year degree and a state
>> teaching licensure. No matter how "educated" a teacher
>> appears to be, it does not guarantee that he or she is an
>> effective teacher. An effective teacher is able to teach
>> well because he or she is constantly learning right along
>> with the students. Teachers have seemed to lose their
>> ability to learn. Why do I say this? Well, because
>> students are rapidly changing, so should our methodology
>> for teaching students must change as well. The students
>> you have this year are very different from the students
>> you taught 5 years ago. The truth is that EVERY student is
>> very different from the next. Therefore, an individualized
>> instructional plan is neccessary to help students learn.
>>
>> I believe that we are too quick to label our
>> students "special education" because of low performance on
>> standardized tests. I know for a fact that EVERY child,
>> regardless of his or her perceived disability is
>> BRILLIANT! Until we collectively as a community start to
>> believe in the brilliance of our children, then they will
>> continue to perform at a low capacity. We are too busy
>> looking for our children's disabilities rather than their
>> abilities. With that said, teachers should especially
>> believe in the brilliance of their students and treat them
>> as such. Just because little Johnny doesn't analyze
>> mathematical equations with the same accuracy as Jackie
>> doesn't mean that Jackie is more intelligent than Johnny.
>> It only means that Johnny has some other talent--like the
>> drawings he makes in his notebook that his teacher
>> repeatedly asks him to "put away." When you ask kids to
>> surpress their God-given talents and focus on some other
>> skill they have no enjoyment or interest in, then you are
>> creating an unhappy and unproductive child.
>>
>> Only until we start to learn how to adapt state standards
>> to a child's given talent, we will continue to subject our
>> children to hell in the classroom. It must feel like hell
>> to sit in a school for 6 hours a day and learn absolutely
>> nothing! The left-brain focused curricula of most public
>> schools neglects the right -brain potential of every
>> student. Every student can learn how to think. They first
>> have to believe in their brilliance, then learn to use
>> their talents to increase their knowledge and potential
>> for success.

Posts on this thread, including this one

• Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 3/28/07, by Success Friend.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 4/16/07, by teacher in training.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 6/30/07, by I can't resist.
• Re: Words of wisdom from Dr. Prochillo, 7/07/07, by LEE/MA.
• Re: Words of wisdom from Dr. Prochillo, 7/09/07, by AND the reality is....
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 7/27/07, by AM.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 7/28/07, by me.....no name on this one.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 7/30/07, by to op.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 7/31/07, by Success Friend.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 7/31/07, by Success Friend.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 7/31/07, by success friend.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 7/31/07, by Success Friend.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 8/02/07, by SADSdSDSD.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 8/02/07, by Zanthum.
• Re: Indians, 8/02/07, by Zanthum.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 8/02/07, by Success Friend.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 8/02/07, by hmmmm.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 8/02/07, by SuccessFriend.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 8/02/07, by hmmm.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 8/03/07, by SuccessFriend.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 8/03/07, by SuccessFriend.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 8/03/07, by hmmmm.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 8/03/07, by Success Friend.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 8/03/07, by me.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 8/03/07, by success friend.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 8/09/07, by Wow.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 8/09/07, by Success Friend.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 8/10/07, by Wow.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 11/09/07, by Hi Success!Praise GOD for teachers like you!.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 11/09/07, by You freaking dummy! Stretch your brain for once..
• Re: Words of wisdom from Dr. Prochillo, 11/09/07, by Yeah sure..
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 11/09/07, by MY GOODNESS! She didn't say that..
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 11/09/07, by Thank goodness for Success.
• Re: Teachers Have Learning Disabilities--Not Students!, 11/09/07, by Success, you are one brilliant sister! Kids need you.