I have been trained by Teach for America and by the great Marva
Collins of Chicago who has proven the fact that all kids are
brilliant. Based on your remedial response, I understand why you
believe what you believe. You don't even believe in yourself, let
alone in a beautiful child full of potential. Your belief system
is damaged with negative thinking. I read a variety of materials,
including John C. Maxwell, Napoleon Hill, the Bible, Wayne Dyer,
Malcolm X, Harry Wong, and the list goes on and on. I have heard
of the "Secret" but haven't had the opportunity to read it. Can
you tell me more about it, since you know so much about it?
On 8/02/07, hmmm wrote:
> what i'm hearing you type is that all people have the same
> capability to learn, and that's simply not true.
>
> sounds like you've been reading "the secret".
>
> On 8/02/07, SuccessFriend wrote:
>> 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&37; 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.