Dare to Dream

Showed my kids this poem today...


"What If..."
by Jackie French Koller

Did you ever stop and think
how the world would be
if folks had turned out
differently?

For instance,
what if Ben Franklin
never tried to fly a kite,
or Shakespear never tried to write?

What if Einstein never
used his brain
or the Wright borthers
never tried to fly a plane?

What if Lincoln never tried
to free the slaves,
or Susan B. Anthony was
afraid to make waves?

What if Alexander Graham Bell
was content to just yell?

What if Ford never tried
to make a car,
or Walt Disney never
wished upon a star?

What if Beethoven
never tried to play?
What if Mother Teresa
turned away?

What if Babe Ruth
was afraid to swing a bat?
What if Columbus accepted
that the world was flat?

What if Lucianno Pavarotti
never tried to sing?
What if dreams were enough
for Martin Luther King?

What if Jim Thorpe
never entered the race,
or Baryshnikov let another
dance in his place?

What if Michelangelo thought
he wasn't good enough,
or John Glenn feared
he didn't have the right stuff?

What if all the folks
who've changed the world
had lived and died
and never tried?

What if you had a dream
and you held it inside
and never tried?


I found it interesting that most of my co-workers jumped right into new units on the first day back from winter break. I thought about doing the same to save time. Then I decided "why overwhelm them with a lot of new information right off the bat? It's likely some have forgotten some of the basic principles of the English Workshop, and if that's the case, anything new I try to teach would be futile."

So we did a transition lesson. More in tune with the free-form lessons we did back in August (and which I still try to sprinkle in here and there). Started out with the poem, which led into today's EQ: "What is our vision for the English Workshop for the 2nd semester?" Not the typical question geared toward any specific unit, but I think it works. And it's relevant to them.

(By the way, that's not intended to be a slight to my diligent and hard-working co-teachers. They're doing what works for their kids. Likewise, I'm doing what works for mine.)

I probably talked more than I should have, but for some reason, I felt compelled to speak to my kids on the importance of dreaming and hard work, which in keeping with the message of Jackie's poem means more than success. Too often, I feel that we make a success-at-all-costs vision the one and only option for our kids, and then when it doesn't happen, their spirits are crushed. So much that they fear stepping out and trying again. That's where a phobia of mistakes creeps in. They should never quit dreaming, and dreaming big. But they must understand that real life will knock them down. Repeatedly. And that's when their ability to think for themselves, and their self-confidence can either pick them up or crumble to dust with them.

I let them know repeatedly they must not be afraid to fail. Failure is a key step to learning. Mistakes help us grow. It's how I came to be a teacher in the first place. Not only because I made mistakes, but because I used them to learn and to try again. It resonated with quite a few of them. Some looked stunned at my words. Like how in the world could I, an established teacher, have failed at some point? Who was I to say that it was okay to be wrong, to make a mistake? Aren't I an adult? Should I not have all of the answers by now?

No way. In fact, I haven't even asked all of the questions.