Today is a very motivated day :-)
I woke up with a very positive mindset at 535am, was it the pear i ate yesterday dinner?
Anyeway, i walked to my desk & found the stack of certificates that nobody was using it.
I intend to give it to my class of P6 students. And i have a plan on how to use it.
Usually, the form teacher & me would start off the day by doing revision on decimals at 740am.
But not today. She was not around, and i decided to do something different.
I told my students abt Ajahn Brahm's story on the 2 bad bricks.
The following was abstract from Ajahn Brahm's book "Opening the door of your heart".
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"We were poor monks who needed buildings. We couldn't afford to employ a builder — the materials were expensive enough. So I had to learn how to build: how to prepare the foundations, lay concrete and bricks, erect the roof, put in the plumbing — the whole lot. I had been a theoretical physicist and high-school teacher in lay life, not used to working with my hands. After a few years, I became quite skilled at building, even calling my crew the BBC ("Buddhist Building Company"). But when I started it was very difficult.
"It may look easy to lay a brick: a dollop of mortar underneath, a little tap here, a little tap there. But when I began laying bricks, I'd tap one corner down to make it level and another corner would go up. So I'd tap that corner down then the brick would move out of line. After I'd nudged it back into line, the first corner would be too high again. Hey, you try it!
"Being a monk, I had patience and as much time as I needed. I made sure every single brick was perfect, no matter how long it took. Eventually, I completed my first brick wall and stood back to admire it. It was only then that I noticed— oh no! — I'd missed two bricks. All the other bricks were nicely in line, but these two were inclined at an angle. They looked terrible. They spoiled the whole wall. They ruined it.
"By then, the cement mortar was too hard for the bricks to be taken out, so I asked the abbot if I could knock the wall down and start over again — or, even better, perhaps blow it up. I'd made a mess of it and I was very embarrassed. The abbot said no, the wall had to stay.
"When I showed our first visitors around our fledgling monastery, I always tried to avoid taking them past my brick wall. I hated anyone seeing it. Then one day, some three or four months after I finished it, I was walking with a visitor and he saw the wall.
" 'That's a nice wall,' he casually remarked.
" 'Sir,' I replied in surprise, 'have you left your glasses in your car? Are you visually impaired? Can't you see those two bad bricks which spoil the whole wall?'
"What he said next changed my whole view of that wall, of myself, and of many other aspects of life. He said, "Yes. I can see those two bad bricks. But I can see the 998 good bricks as well.'
"I was stunned. For the first time in over three months, I could see other bricks in that wall apart from the two mistakes. Above, below, to the left and to the right of the bad bricks were good bricks, perfect bricks. Moreover, the perfect bricks were many, many more than the two bad bricks. Before, my eyes would focus exclusively on my two mistakes; I was blind to everything else. That was why I couldn't bear looking at that wall, or having others see it. That was why I wanted to destroy it. Now that I could see the good bricks, the wall didn't look so bad after all. It was, as the visitor had said, 'a nice brick wall.' It's still there now, twenty years later, but I've forgotten exactly where those bad bricks are. I literally cannot see those mistakes any more.
"How many people end a relationship or get divorced because all they can see in their partner are 'two bad bricks'? How many of us become depressed or even contemplate suicide, because all we can see in ourselves are 'two bad bricks.' In truth, there are many, many more good bricks, perfect bricks — above, below, to the left and to the right of the faults — but at times we just can't see them. Instead, every time we look our eyes focus exclusively on the mistakes. The mistakes are all we see, they're all we think are there and so we want to destroy them. And sometimes, sadly, we do destroy a 'very nice wall.'
"We've all got our two bad bricks, but the perfect bricks in each one of us are much, much more than the mistakes. Once we see this, things aren't so bad. Not only can we live at peace with ourselves, inclusive of our faults, but we can also enjoy living with a partner. This is bad news for divorce lawyers, but good news for you.
"I have told this anecdote many times. After one occasion, a builder came up to me and told me a professional secret. 'We builders always make mistakes,' he said, 'But we tell our clients that it is "an original feature" with no other house in the neighborhood 1ike it. And then we charge them a couple of thousand dollars extra!'
"So the 'unique features' in your house probably started out as mistakes. In the same way, what you might take to be mistakes in yourself, in your partner, or in general, can become 'unique features,' enriching your time here — once you stop focusing on them exclusively."
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I modified the story a bit but the morale of the story remains.
I told my students that they may not be good in all the things they do, but there are definitely some good brickds in their life. The same goes for learning Mathematics.
I told them frankly that i wasnt good in all the topics for mathematics. But for those topics i am confident in, i make sure i score well by paying attention in class, do more practices paper.
In the end of the exam, i scored A for my PSLE, O & A levels.
After saying all these, i took out the certificates & i said,' i want u to imagine yourself taking the PSLE result slips in december. Imagine that u have passed yr exam.'
' I am going to give this certificates to u 5 months earlier to certify that u have passed your PSLE. u will write down your names on it. On top of it, please add the words " doing well in PSLE 2011" '
'All your teachers believe in u. we know that u can do it. all u need is to study hard for the next 2 mths.'
i saw the sparkles in some of their eyes :-)
i collected the certificates back from them to put down my signature to make things real.
Then i continue with my lesson.
i was caught with surprise when 2 of the naughty boys(bigger size than me) walked in front to the empty seats and sat down. In front of the whole class! Yes, they still talked but they knew the answers to all my questions. i thought that was motivating for me.
more surprises to come.
i gave out 9 pages of homework for them to do during the weekend. i thought that was plentiful but some of them asked me,"Miss, can i do all?"
Yes! i cant stop smiling :-)
when i was sitting down to sign the certificates, i saw that some of them were really motivated by the story.
Guess what? They added words like ' did well in PSLE 2011 and go to a good school', 'did well in PSLE 2011 and go to express', 'pass my PSLE with flying coulours.'
Flying coulours! he wrote the wrong spelling but hey! he wanted to get good grades for his exam! did he get my message? Yes, he did!
Ajahn Brahm's story touches many of us. He said the story with so much compasion that it changes some of our lives.
i dont have his wisdom nor do i hv his compassion.
For me, all i am asking for, is to make a different in someone's life, even if it is only for a fraction of a second.
I wrote this story down is not to show off, but for sharing. most importantly, is to motivate u and me.
Focus on the good bricks in your life, and u will see that u amy have 34 angels sitting next to u :-)
May all be well and happy.
Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!
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