The Power of Positive Thinking..."I Just Told Myself I Could do it"

“I just told myself I could do it,” stated my 3rd grade student, Tom, in a proud and confident voice. For many years, I’d played a game called, “Around the World” with my students to reinforce multiplication and division facts. It was generally the game my students chose whenever we were preparing for a quiz.

During a math practice session, the students interested in participating in the competition, gathered their chairs in a circle and mentally prepared themselves for the challenge. The objective was for two students to compete against each other in stating the correct answer to the flashcard fact more quickly than the other student. The first child to say the correct answer moved to the child on their left and continued around the circle until someone stated the answer more quickly. The objective was to “win” against every person in the circle and return to the first person you won against.

This was not a required activity because not all students wanted to compete in this way. Some students watched and cheered each other on in a friendly and positive way.

One day in particular, Tom, a student who usually chose to observe, declared he was going to try the game for the first time in months. As I recall, this game, in particular, had been frustrating for Tom in the past, so he’d always made the decision to observe from the sidelines.

While the students were mentally preparing to challenge and be challenged by each other, Tom was silently sitting in his chair, patiently waiting for the game to begin. When the time came for Tom to compete, he sat tall in his chair and waited, calmly, for me to turn the card over and the competition to begin. He knew the student he was competing against was known as someone who knew all of his facts and had gone “Around the World” numerous times in the past.

As the time approached for me to show the fact, I asked both students if they were ready. Both children answered, “Yes”, in unison, so I pulled the card off the top of the card stack and much to everyone’s surprise, Tom gave the correct answer, immediately! All the children, stunned, cheered him on! He then proceeded to the next chair to compete against the next person in the game. Once again, with confidence, Tom answered more quickly than the student he was competing against. Once again, the crowd cheered him on!

Tom eventually made it “Around the World” and proudly stated, after winning the final chair, that he had traveled around the world!! Shocked, stunned, and gleefully excited, the students in the classroom congratulated him and declared him the WINNER!

After the excitement subsided, I asked Tom how he was able to travel “Around the World” and win each attempt at answering correctly? With an awesomely self-assured voice, he boldly stated that he “believed” he could do it! His internal talk was… “I can do this. I can do this!” And with that bold declaration, HE DID IT!!

All the months of working on positive self-talk had paid off for this young man. His confidence level had increased to the point of mastery. He knew he could do it! What a fabulous expression of confidence and determination this was for all of us!

Blessings Embraced:

• The power of positive thinking is transformative

• Determination and perseverance produces amazing results

Affirmation:

• I am open to learning lessons from others

• I believe in myself and my abilities