Grant Mitchell Studio

I have seen a light go on for a child and their whole outlook on school and themselves change. That is what excites me about teaching. I have spent the last 20 years working with kids who have fallen between the cracks in our educational system. Hearing some of them described in a way that was totally foreign to my experience of them was puzzling, to say the least. I love learning, and it baffled me that kids who squealed with delight when they took their first steps had somehow lost that joy.

Then I met Angel, a tough cookie, in an alternative high school where I was subbing. She walked in the door and announced she was "not working for no sub!" When I asked her why, she brought out her ace in the hole, "I am just dumb, so I can't learn." When I started to laugh she asked me if I was laughing at her, and I answered no but that she had just made a giant mistake, she had revealed to me how smart she really was. I told her dumb kids try to hide it, and they don't want anyone to know, but smart kids say that to get out of work. So I told her I would personally drive her home at lunch if she could perform one task. She jumped at the chance. I drew a 9 dot puzzle and said her job was to connect all the dots with 4 straight lines without retracing or picking up the pencil. She got right to work. After 10 minutes she gave up. When I showed her the solution and explained she went wrong by unconsciously adding extra restrictions. It was those restrictions that were defeating her. She lit up like a candle and said, "give me another challenge." When the class ended she left with the other students but was back before the bell rang with a note excusing her from all other classes so she could spend the day in mine. I asked her why she was so interested in English class, and she answered "you are the only teacher who ever said I was smart." Angel proved to me that the joy in learning still exists in every student and that the system of one size fits all learning leaves a lot of kids behind.