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Positive outlook essential for learning

I was a public school educator in the Altoona Area School District for 35 years. I started my career instructing learners in an older public school building that was closed at the end of my first year. The parents, learners and faculty were concerned about our identity, future placement and the likelihood of success in a different school with unknown faculty, staff and learners.

I was placed in the new school with a new blend of adults and learners. We soon realized that one’s learning process and educational success was not about the school building but the individual learner’s desire to achieve, despite the building, situation or surrounding peers.

Although we all experienced “change,” we realized that with a positive outlook and desire to succeed, great learning was possible. The most successful learners were those who saw positive outcomes because of positive and encouraging parents. Successful learners realized that life came with changes that were either personally selected or mandated. In either case, success was possible, and expected, with a positive approach to life and a dedicated work ethic.

My educator experience was at Wright Elementary School. I am proud to say that it was a great place to learn, not because of the building design or building location, but because of learners who were not afraid of challenges and change. Successful learners (and parents) understood and embraced the concept that success in education and life comes from one’s self!

Parents of learners scheduled for a new placement in the upcoming school year will want to “promote” the educational classroom change with positive and encouraging words, so their learners will have the mindset that change in life is inevitable, but it can turn out well if approached with an expectation of positive outcomes. With a positive outlook, there is a greater likelihood of educational and life success.

Parents should encourage a “positive anticipation” for the new educational placement of their learners. The rewards of parental coaching and modeling of this positive approach to life can ease the present transition and provide a lifetime of positive living.

Jeffrey D. Robison

Altoona

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