Recently our school district watched the video
Seeing Red Cars and some administrators have implemented the theory a little better than most. I have not had the formal training but through some research have come to understand the message behind the video: You get more of what you focus on. To relate that to the education environment, if a particular student begins to display behaviors that are not conducive to the learning environment each new day the teacher expects the same no matter the effort displayed by the child. Once the mindset of the teacher has been established, the student lives and acts accordingly.
My son is a red car. He always has been in the eyes of his teachers because he isn't a conformist and doesn't "play" school well. He spends too much time outside of the box searching for unique solutions to problems. Because of this I propose Andrew is a yellow car. Yellow cars are unique, appealing and stand out. You don't come across yellow cars as often and they are easy to spot.
I try to objectively analyze Andrew's behavior and academic performance from the perspective of a parent and educator. I see something in Andrew I don't ever want to lose: creativity, spirit, love of learning, inquisitiveness, courage, bravery, problem solving skills, caring, strong character and much more. He wants to learn, he wants to excel; he wants to be that butterfly escaping from the cacoon free to fly and discover the world. How can we accomplish this task as parents and educators? I think Andrew said it best during our morning run when we were about 3/4 of the way finished our route he said, "Mom, would it be okay if I go at my own pace now?" Sure I said as I watched him take off...
