If you are not familiar with the #BeYouEdu movement led by +Dr. Will Deyamport, III , you need to get on it! It's one of my favorite posts to write each month. They are a great way to challenge you to think about what you bring to the table. I'm thinking of doing a similar series now with students.
This month's topic: Finding Your Super Power
I love this. It implies you have a super power.
I have more teachers than I should mention to me that "[they] could never do that." I see teachers who are confident in their subject area, but who are not confident in their risk-taking abilities. The problem is that the most critical part of learning is risk-taking. To learn is to take risks. And, it's not unique to teachers. I see the same problem in students. The fear of taking risks - the belief that we do not have a super power to offer.
And, that's why this topic is perfect. It already assumes we do have a super power. What many lack is the belief that they do have a super power. They lack confidence.
What happens to our confidence? I watch as my niece jumps from one chair to the next with a hulahoop in hand. She's not afraid. Perhaps, she should be. But, what makes a child stop taking risks? We will take risks, knowing the consequences, but won't when we don't know. We stop leaping because we don't know what may happen. We don't know what's on the other side. And, at some point along our journey, that becomes scary. We stop doodling. We stop creating. We think we could never do that. We compare ourselves to one another.
It's all of these things that prevent us from seeing and understanding our super powers.
The irony to this is that I have struggled with self confidence for as long as I can remember. However, I am not afraid take risks. I'm a skydiver, hang glider, parasailer, paraglider, mountain climber. And, I'm scared of heights to an extreme level. I want to learn everything. I'm not afraid to invest myself in learning something new. Though I lack confidence in how others perceive me at times, I have a super ability to take risks. I love change. In fact, I strive for it. I move a lot. I admire traditions and I hold them sacred. But, I love risks.
My super power is that I know I have a super power. That seems a bit ridiculous, but I've found many adults, teens, and children, who do not recognize they have a super power.
A fellow educator once told me we all know something that no one else in the world knows. I believe that. And, it's an amazing concept. She said that we should be out to find those things from each other. This concept makes us all unique and all super in at least one way.
I believe in risks. I believe in the impossible. And, that is my super power. It's what makes me determined and it's what leads to success for me.
What do you know that know one else knows? You have super powers - what are they?
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