Shane

This is a story about Shane.

Shane is 6. He has huge green eyes, dark red hair and freckles on his nose. Shane is a good natured child and generally isn't overly disruptive. Shane is also the most pessimistic child that I have ever met. He lacks confidence in his ability to do just about anything; be it handwriting, addition turn arounds, or remembering the name of one of his classmates.

"Miss Laird, I can't do it."
"I don't know what to do Miss Laird."
"Miss Laird I JUST CAN'T DO IT."

Shane will often give up before he even knows what is required of him. Shane is frequently reluctant to 'have a go' because the fear of failure and inadequacy is so great.

Shane also craves the affirmation of others. If another child is given a compliment, he longs to be complimented in the same way.

"Am I working hard Miss Laird?"
"Do you like MY colouring Miss Laird?"
"Is MY hair neat for the school photo Miss Laird?"

It's really hard to work with a 6 year old who has such a defeated attitude. He is a bright child, however his lack of confidence is causing him to fall behind.

This week I was thinking about Shane and how I can encourage him. It's very easy to feel sorry for children like this. I'm often tempted to go straight to my default response of giving them a hug, but this isn't always helpful. Sometimes Shane just needs to be told to stop frowning and get on with his work.

This week will be my first week of teaching a full time load, which means that I am supposed to do all of the teaching for the whole week. Rather than resuming the foetal position, I am keen to have a go. Don't get me wrong, I am terrified... but I think that I have realised this week how easy it would be for me to think a little like Shane. I never want to approach work with the attitude of "I can't do this", because I know that God is strong when I am weak. I know that I am going to make loads of mistakes this week. There will probably be times when I feel like I have completely lost control of my class. This may be because I have in fact lost control of my class and they have tied me to a chair or something. But that's ok. It's what learning is about. Sometimes we fly, sometimes we fall. All the while we trust God and know that our fears can never consume us.

Anywho... that's what I have been thinking about today. I was hoping to keep this a little more updated but I really have been swamped. I hope that you have all survived without my rambling blogs. Peace out :)