I Like Myself Now

Once you see a child’s self-image begin to improve, you will see significant gains in achievement areas, but even more important, you will see a child who is beginning to enjoy life more.

~Wayne Dyer

I had a great feeling of relief when I began to understand that a youngster needs more than just subject matter. I know mathematics well, and I teach it well. I used to think that was all I needed to do.

Now I teach children, not math. I accept the fact that I can only succeed partially with some of them.

When I don’t have to know all the answers, I seem to have more answers than when I tried to be the expert. The youngster who really made me understand this was Eddie. I asked him one day why he thought he was doing so much better than last year. He gave meaning to my whole new orientation: “It’s because I like myself now when I’m with you,” he said.

~A teacher quoted by Everett Shostrum in Man, The Manipulator