Dear Colleagues and Friends,

I am finishing up the last two weeks of an eight week Summer Success Camp. It is a camp for 5th through 8th grade students labeled “at risk” by the school system. I have loved getting to know these 20 amazing young adults who have so much to deal with in their young lives.

It has been gratifying to see their self-confidence bloom with intense one-on-one instruction and a steady dose of The Student Success Mindset system.

One of the most dramatic changes has come with a young man heading into high school in the fall. Michael (not his real name) is acutely aware of his learning disabilities and his inability to read or write at grade level. Over the years his defensiveness has hardened into quiet defiance and uncooperativeness. By focusing on his strengths, helping him form a positive vision of his future, and by showing an unfailing belief in his abilities to learn, I have seen him drop his defiant stance and adopt the attitude of a willing and eager learner (at least 85% of the time! After all it is very hard to break some habits).

I am reminded of how difficult it is to incorporate the success mindset on a daily basis even in a setting where it is one of the primary focuses. Changing attitudes, perspectives, and habits doesn’t happen overnight for either teachers or students!

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

“The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover will be yourself.”

Alan Alda, U.S. actor

SUCCESS TOPIC – Following Your Intuition

One subject rarely discussed in teacher’s training is intuition, yet as any experienced teacher will tell you, intuition is something a teacher uses on a daily basis. Teachers use their intuition to tell them if something is amiss with a student, if a colleague is having a bad day, or as simple as knowing where to find the answer to a question.

Intuition comes from the subconscious mind in feedback that is communicated through channels other than language. It may be a “hunch” or “gut feeling.” It may be a subtle whisper or urging, it may come as a thunderbolt of desire you cannot ignore. One thing for sure, the more you begin to notice it, the more it can help you and the better you become at deciphering its messages.

A teacher colleague relates the story of how her intuition helped a student fuel his passion. Joshua was the student every teacher in the middle school hoped did not show up on the class roster. He was incredibly bright - too bright. Rather than use his brilliance constructively to move himself forward, he used it to manipulate people and to avoid work. He was a constant disruption in class and no amount of negative consequences seemed to make any difference in his behavior.

The teacher’s intuition told her that if she could find the trigger to his interests, she might be able to engage Joshua in a vision and dream where he could channel his energy and quick curiosity. Joshua had no interest in language arts; he rebelled against writing and was a lazy reader. But my colleague knew that if she was diligent, she would see a spark in Joshua that she might be able to ignite. One day, she noticed when the class was reading a story about a race car driver, Joshua came alive.

Over the course of the school year, Joshua’s teacher fueled his passion for race cars. She encouraged him to check out books from the library on NASCAR driving and arranged for a mechanic from a NASCAR pit crew to come and speak on Career Day. Although Joshua never became a model student, he did settle down to learning in her class. And it all started when she listened to her intuition!

Good teachers rely on their intuition without thinking. Great teachers actively develop their intuition. Challenge yourself to notice how you use your intuition this week.

YOUR CHALLENGE

Pay closer attention to how you use your intuition. How does your intuition guide you? When you are unsure of the best strategy to use, what words to say to comfort a student, or how to communicate best with a colleague - tune in to your intuition. The more you use it, the more adept you will become.

How do you connect to intuition? Pay attention to your feelings, in particular your “gut” feelings. And then test them. As in any new learning, at first you may be a little wobbly in your attempts to “hear” what your intuition is telling you. Stay with the practice and you will become quite good at it. It is a wonderful tool to help you in your teaching and coaching students! Have fun!

I love hearing your stories! Please email me with your experiences of using intuition in a school setting.

Success Mindset For The Year 2006 is written and produced by Linda Tarr. If you have any questions or comments, please send them to me.

© 2006, Linda Tarr, P.O.Box 7475, Springfield, IL 62791.  All rights reserved.

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