We Can!
The fourth grade classroom
looked like many others that could be found in any school.
The walls were brightly coloured and the bulletin board featured student
work. In most respects it appeared
to be a typically traditional elementary classroom, yet something seemed very
different that day.
All the students were
working on a task, filling a sheet of notebook paper with thoughts and ideas.
A ten-year old was filling her page with "I Can'ts". "I
can't kick the soccer ball past second base." "I can't do long
division with more than three numerals." "I can't get Debbie to like
me." Her page was half full and she showed no signs of letting up. She
worked on with determination and persistence.
The teacher was also busy writing. "I can't get John's mother to
come for a teacher conference." "I can't get my daughter to put gas in
the car." "I can't get Alan to use words instead of fists." In
fact, everyone in the class was writing sentences, describing things they
couldn't do.
Why were students and teacher dwelling on the negative instead of writing the more positive "I Can" statements?
The students wrote for another ten minutes, were instructed to fold the papers in half and bring them to the front. They placed their "I Can't" statements into an empty shoebox. The students followed their teacher halfway down the hallway, where she entered the custodian's room, rummaged around and came out with a shovel. Shovel in one hand, shoebox in the other, she marched the students out to the school to the farthest corner of the playground. There they began to dig. They were going to bury their "I Can'ts"!
The box of "I Can'ts" was placed in a position at the bottom of the hole and then quickly covered with dirt. Thirty-one 10 and 11 year-olds stood around the freshly dug gravesite. At this point the teacher said, "Boys and girls, please join hands and bow your heads." They quickly formed a circle around the hole, creating a bond with their hands.
"Friends,
we gathered here today to honor the memory of 'I Can't.' While he was with us
here on earth, he touched the lives or everyone, some more than others. His is
survived by his brothers and sisters, 'I Can', 'I Will', and 'I'm Going to Right
Away'. They are not as well known as their famous relative and are certainly not
as strong and powerful yet. Perhaps some day, with your help, they will make an
even bigger mark on the world. May 'I Can't' rest in peace and may everyone
present pick up their lives and move forward in his absence. Amen."
These students would never forget this day, writing "I
Can'ts", burying them and hearing the eulogy. That was a major effort on
the part of the teacher.
We can all learn something valuable from that teacher and her grade four class, the next time something seems difficult, bury that “I Can’t” and persevere!
Based on the story “The I Can’t Funeral” ©Phillip B. Childs (Executive Director, Internet Outreach Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia)