How a little encouragement, can take children, very far, a lesson on the learning process, for all of you, parents, AND teachers too, translated…
Out of the blue one day, my son invited me to go see the movies, although I’d not entered into a theatre in ages, gotten used to clicking the website, to watch the series, not wanted to get meshed in with the crowds, but, my son who’d been very busy, even on the weekends, was inviting me to see a film, of course, I’m, more than, willing.
illustration from UDN.com
“Listen Before You Sing” is a film on the children of the Bu’non Tribe, overcoming all the hardships, entering into the choir competitions, it was, very, inspirational, seeing how the passionate school teachers who go to the distant regions, to give everything they have, hearing the rehearsals of the children, their heavenly voices, pure, crystal clear, because of how moved I was, I kept, wiping away the tears. And even as the credits, were long and running, but the background songs of “Fulfillment” and “Tiny Dreams”, are very pleasing to the ears, and, it’d, kept everyone in the audience, seated, nobody walked out early.
As the lights started coming back on, I saw the mother-daughter, with noses and eyes all red, I’d, smiled, so, that’s, the effects of good movies on people, so wonderful.
There were the words of the principal from the film that moved me, “The children’s confidence can be polished with the applauses”. The native children, from as the first alight the stage, that scent of shyness, to how they’d done their performance, and everybody in the audience started, applauding them, their faces started, blooming out with their radiant, smiles, it’s so beautiful. And even though they’d not placed, but that sense of encouragement rooted down in the children, not only, did it, comfort the coach’s disappointment, and it’d become, their motivation for the next time, truly moving indeed.
This reminded of how as I was administering an exam, and the kids turned the exams in too quickly, I’d felt shocked, and declared, “You are all, too smart, finishing the tests so quick!”, then, the deadened classroom suddenly, came to life, the children with their faces aglow, fought to answer me, “Yeah, it’s, too easy!” “I’d had to write so many pages, and today, there’s only one page, easy to tackle…” I’d found, that even those children who’d normally, lagged behind the rest, were all, chiming in gleefully too.
The powers of the praises, so amazing, children’s returning our praises, with that ingenuity, it’d, helped me from, getting away from the belief of how my own children won’t become something wonderful.
the poster for the movie…
Still remembered back when my own son was only beginning to crawl, as he’d made a tiny stride forward, I’d, started applauding him, not holding back on my praises of him, and, it’d, made him, wanting, to take, a few more, extra, steps. And when was it, that I stopped, being, patient anymore, “can’t you handle something so easy? Finish your assignments now! Are you listening to me, or in class………” words like these, with the negative overtones kept showing up, it’d not made my son better, instead, it’d, taken away, his self-confidence more, and he’d, hated to learn, more than, ever before.
Applause, can polish the children’s confidence to a new shine, it can, help light up the fighting spirit in them. Listen Before You Sing, a movie, helped me find the heart I had when I started teaching, and it’d, polished my support for listening more to the children when we teach them, to a, brand new, shine.
And so, this still showed, that there are, NO children who can’t learn, only the stupid (because that’s, what you all, adults are???) adults who can’t teach, and, the reasons your children aren’t learning as well as they may be learning, it has nothing to do with, their, intelligence for ALL of us, children are WAY, WAY, W-A-Y, more intelligent, than all of you, stupid adults combined, it’s just you hadn’t found the right way, to teach in a manner, that they are receptive is all, but, do the adults care? Not really, we only care about that red mark, that number grade in red, right up top, on those, test papers, don’t we, parents???