Week 39 - Reach for the Stars

"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being" - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Barb was used to having children with special needs in her fourth-grade classroom. She knew how to modify the curriculum to fit her students individually.

Parents were appreciative of her open-mindedness, and their children succeeded in her class.

One year, Barb was faced with a child whose needs she had never encountered before.

Chris had one of the highest IQ's she had ever seen. He score four years above his grade level on standardized tests. But Chris had become lazy and would only do the bare minimum of work. Even so, his bare minimum was still higher than the rest of his class. He got straight A's but Barb knew he could do more.

Barb decided to raise the bar for Chris. She defined for him a separate list of expectations. At first Chris balked at the change. His comfort level was threatened. For the first time in his short academic career, Chris wasn't sure he'd get an A. He had to work for it.

After a few weeks of careful monitoring, Chris had regained his passion for learning. He began to crave challenge, and Barb gave it to him. She kept him on his toes, and he kept her on hers.

Never let your students accept the status quo. Push them, let them taste the satisfaction and exhilaration that come from a hunger for knowledge.

Teach your students to reach, and they'll never stay on the ground.

Prompt: One way to raise the bar for my students is . . .