INSPIRE!

Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #84 – February 27, 2011

Please take your seats ladies and gentlemen. We are about to embark on a four-part journey, beginning with the “I” for “Inspire,” in the acronym “I C A N.”

The theatre was totally quiet. All eyes were focused on Brandon. I noticed he was wearing a child-like striped T-shirt. I waited, not knowing what, if anything was about to take place. Brandon was getting into “the zone” of becoming his character. Suddenly, he looked directly out at the audience and said,

"I think lunchtime is about the worst time of day for me, always having to sit here alone."

I think some of the students squirmed because they thought those were Brandon’s words. Actually, this is the first line of Charlie Brown’s famous monologue about the love of his life, The Little Red-Haired Girl. The quality of the voice, the tone, the emotion, the poise were simply amazing. I looked around and saw most of my students’ jaws hit their knees. When Brandon delivered the last line,

"Whew! She's not looking at me! I wonder why she never looks at me? Oh well, another lunch hour over with...only 2,863 to go,"

there was a pause, and then the entire class stood up to give Brandon a well-deserved standing ovation. He was all smiles and glowing from head to toe. After dabbing my eyes and discretely shoving the Kleenex back in my pocket, I walked over to the stage as the boys lifted Brandon and wheelchair down.

“Brandon,” I said, “You are quite the actor. That was amazing!” He smiled and said, “Thank you.” The boys all lined up to give Brandon high fives.

Brandon had joined my drama class about a month earlier. He wasn’t a regular student at the high school. He was confined to a wheelchair and had partial control of his upper body movements. He was also a patient at the “Behavioral Clinic” across the freeway from our school. (I never quite figured this one out, as he never demonstrated any behavioral problems in my class). He had expressed the desire to be in a drama class and the counselor that wheeled him into my classroom asked if this would be possible. He had already checked with the principal who said the decision would be mine. I got down and met Brandon’s gaze at eye level. I introduced myself as did he. Then I asked,
“Brandon, do you want to be in this drama class?” His face broke into one big smile and replied,
“Yes, I love acting and would really like it a lot!”
So, of course, I couldn’t say no.

Within the next few days, students began working on their first major assignment, which was to present a monolog. I didn’t notice Brandon working on anything in particular, but he assured me he would be ready with the assignment on time. On the first day the presentations began, Brandon was absent. When he showed up the second day, I really didn’t know what, if anything to expect. After the first couple of students completed their monologue performances, Brandon raised his hand and volunteered to take the stage. As you can imagine, his performance had quite an impact on the entire class.

One side effect of Brandon’s performance was, from that moment on, I didn’t get any excuses as to why some students couldn’t do the assignment. All of us learned different lessons from Brandon. For me it was admiration for the great capacity and willpower each human being is endowed with. I was humbled by this student’s determination and bravery, and most of all, his talent.

Sometimes we complain about our lot in life or our job; complaining doesn’t really accomplish anything. If we look at each day as an opportunity to create something new, or something good; or to help others produce something they can be proud of, sometimes we are lucky enough to receive a gift like Brandon.

Something inspired Brandon to get up and perform. I’d like to think I had something to do with that. Each one of us has the ability to care for and to help others. For some of us, such as teachers, coaches and leaders, we also hope to be the one that can inspire others.

The dictionary defines Inspire as: To stimulate to action; to motivate.
I always like to delve even more deeply and find out the original derivation of a word. Inspire is from Latin meaning: To breathe life into. When I read this, I smiled. It was the perfect description. How often has a teacher, a coach or any leader looked at his personnel and wondered, “What can I do to really breathe some life into this group?”

The “I” in I C A N is for “inspire.” There are so many ways students can be inspired, and they can be grouped into two categories: by modeling and by love. A teacher’s enthusiasm for the subject is contagious. Setting high expectations is enthusiasm’s complement. I have found the most common and perhaps the most profound way to inspire is when teachers just instinctively model their own sense of purpose and enthusiasm for their work, caring for their students and the delightful habit of always going beyond what is expected of them.

Teaching probably has more randomity than any other profession. This is what keeps the job exciting and interesting. In fact, one never knows what the source of the “inspiration” might be. In the case of Brandon, I merely set the stage. It was he that inspired his fellow classmates. His gift to our class was more powerful than any book or lecture I could have offered.

A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron. Horace Mann

This story is taken from the book, Unleashing The Student’s “I Can,” now available at Amazon.com