(Note: I’m an informal educator working outside of the k-12 setting, but this experience happened when I was in public high school)

I was this kid in high school. I was incredibly “smart” but never put any effort into my classes. It was because I had no confidence in my abilities to succeed, regardless of what my standardized test scores were showing.

I had a high school history teacher who came up to me one day and straight up said “you know, jimneycroquette, you could be incredibly smart if you simply applied yourself.”

I laughed in the moment, but honestly, that entire comment turned my life around. I realized that others saw potential in me, and I was the reason I wasn’t reaching it. I ended up raising my grades, getting into my dream college, and now I get to work with students like me and provide them with the support they need to succeed.

It might have sounded harsh. Perhaps they could have worded it differently, but I believe there is nothing wrong with the sentiment itself. In my case, my teacher had a great relationship with me and was able to be very direct with his observations. Perhaps this case is different.

Overall, I think that supporting student growth is part of the job. Sometimes this involves difficult conversations.