Nothing Wrong With Quiet
I came across a quote on pinterest today. "About nineteen writers out of twenty are introverts. We've been taught to be ashamed of not being 'outgoing.' But a writer's job is ingoing." Ursula K. LeGuin
The quote made me laugh, but I'm not completely sure if it was a ha, ha sort of laugh or a take that kind of laugh.
I am a very shy person. I don't think that I am an introvert in the truest sense of the word, but most people do consider shy people to be introverts. My own family has never taught me to be ashamed of not being outgoing, but there are people out there who want to teach that shame. Education is full of people like that.
I can't tell you how many trainings I have sat through where they have tried to coach us on how to change the shy kids. You want your shy kids to be comfortable enough with you that they can open up to you, but that doesn't mean that they must become outgoing. It is your job as an educator to build a relationship with each of your students not to force them to become someone they are not.
One particular training that I will never forget, the presenter claimed that she had been a very shy child, but she kept talking about "fixing the shy kid." I kid you not; she said fix. The longer we sat in that meeting, the more agitated I got, and I came very close to walking out even from the very back of the room. I have been completely unable to take that presenter seriously in any other training she did with our school, and there have been many. If you want to fix someone so badly, start with the person staring back at you every time you look into a mirror. Being shy doesn't equate to broken. Shy people don't need you to fix them. In fact, there are many jobs to which a shy person is better suited just as there are many jobs to which an outgoing person is better suited.
It takes all kind of people to make this world go round. Without one or the other, our world as we know it will cease to exist.
I may be quiet, but my mind never rests! Some of your favorite books may very well have been written by those shy kids in school, so don't count us out yet. We still have a lot to contribute.
