He was a new teacher at an inner city high school to start the new school year. His teaching style at first, had the students and teachers laughing behind his back. There was a line on the floor, at the door of his classroom. Every time a student walked in his classroom over that line they would have to snap their fingers and say, "I'm Smart and I'm Good". It was called the "Learning Opportunity Line." Every single student had to do this in this inner city school. He wanted to change there thoughts so they could change the way they felt about themselves.
This teacher would call the houses of the students and demand to speak to their parents. What a difficult situation that must be, handing the phone over to your Mom or Dad with the teacher on the other end. However the teacher only called home when he caught the students doing something right instead of something wrong. -If there were more teachers like Ed Agresta, there would be bigger differences being made in the world.
Ever notice that people in life will focus more on the things you do wrong instead of what you do right. What do you concentrate on, when someone in your life does something wrong? Do you wallow in their faults or do you allow them to make mistakes.
"Hope is expected, when mistakes are accepted." ~
Quote of the month: "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want." ~Randy Pausch
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6 comments:
Interesting concept to focus on the "right stuff" and not the wrong. Does this work in relationships as well? How can a relationship work when the other half is so busy telling you of what you do, why you do it and how annoying you are to them. Is there hope for this realtionship?
That sounds like an awesome teacher. I might ask my teachers to do the line thing =]
I actually have noticed that people notice all your mistakes, and sometimes I feel that they are just waiting for you to mess up so you they can critisize you.
Hey Thank you for commenting. It is one thing to criticize someone but it is like some people might look forward to it.
Now about the relationship. Most people seem to concentrate on the wrong thing instead of the right thing. Studies have showed that succesful relationships and marriages have went by this ratio. They gave 5 compliments to 1 neagative comment.
Hey we are all annoying to someone. But it is not you. The person who gets annoyed is focusing on what they don't like about you. In all relationships both parties have something that each person doesn't like about them. Probably more qualities than not. But it is all in what you choose to focus on. Most people focus on things that bother them instead of what makes them happy. That has nothing to do with the person that they are with. This person might need to change their focus and better their character. Ever notice that no matter who you go out with, it seems to be the same issues but just a different person. People need to change what they focus on and how they handle adversity to better themselves, then you can have a healthy funfilled relationship. This girl I am dating was mad at me and we were getting off the phone to go to bed. I told her no matter what she had said to me and how mad she was at me, that I am only goint to go to sleep thinking about all the great things that I like about her. She called back 5 minutes later and had a totally changed attitude. Our thoughts will determine how we feel. We must change our thoughts by focusing on the great things in life. Not what the newspaper or channel 5 news constantly reminds us of.
How do you destroy a realationship? By telling someone all the things you dislike about them. Think about it. Would you ever be friends with someone as a child who constantly focused on your faults instead of your strengths. We all have strengths. Some you have to look a little deeper in than others. Good luck to you. Please always feel free to comment back.
By the way, one week I wrote down all the things my father said to me whether it was positive or negative and at the end of the week handed it to him. He was surprised to see the negative results.
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Keep checking the blog for future Teacher stories. That Teacher, the Great Ed Agresta has some amazing strategies and I will continue to share them with you.
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