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Patience: A Pathway to Success
Purpose: By the end of this lesson, I want my students to be motivated to be more patient.
Resource: Overhead (or Handout) of Quotes on Patience. (Choose a page of quotes which you think would be most appealing to your class.)
Teacher Hint: Think of how either patience or impatience has helped or hurt you in life. Reflect on how patience or impatience has helped/hurt your friends, family and associates. Would any of these personal examples make the lesson more personal?
Story Time! The Importance of Patience in Real Life
I want to tell you two real-life stories. The first shows how impatience can hurt us. The second shows how patience can help us. Listen carefully so that you'll be able to discuss each story.
Story
#1
Drummer Gets Impatient
(How Impatience Can Hurt)
Colin loved to play drums; but the band he was with, Johnny and the Moondogs, weren’t that great. At a show one night they performed well for the first half. An attendee was considering booking them at his cinema, to play between movies. The audience was cheering, enjoying the show. But they performed terribly the second half, losing the cinema booking. On the way home, the band argued.
Finally,
Colin had had enough of this second-rate band. With his patience worn way past
his limit, he firmly made his decision: “That’s it. I’ll not bother
playing with them again.”
Today
he probably regrets his lack of patience. The other band
members were named Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison. Later, with
their new drummer Ringo Starr, they would call themselves The Beatles,
transforming themselves into the best-selling musical act of all time, writing
and performing the most top singles ever, changing the course of music history
with their innovations. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine
ranked them #1 in their list of the
Often
it’s difficult to see past people’s flaws to see their potential. This week,
let’s be more patient toward those who bug us, whether they be teachers or
students. Who knows what they'll become in the future.
(Written
by Steve Miller, Copyright February, 2005. Sources:
Shout! The Beatles in Their Generation, by Philip Norman, MJF Books, New
York, 1981, p. 60. Also Wikipedia on The Beatles.)
Discussion
1) How did Colin's lack of
patience hurt him?
2) How can we know when to hang in there, and when to give up?
3) Where do we often lack patience?
4) How can we show more patience this week?
Story
#2
Patriots'
Coach Shows Patience
In
the 2005 Super Bowl, head coach Bill Belichick led his New England Patriots to
win their third Super Bowl in four years, a record that’s never been equaled
by another coach. His record of postseason wins beats Vince Lombardi, the
legendary coach after whom the Super Bowl trophy is named.
From 2001 on he’s been recognized for his coaching genius with award after award, including two honorary doctorates, Sports Illustrated's Coach of the Year, Time Magazine's 100 Most Powerful & Influential People.
But most people don't realize the problems and heartaches he had to endure in order to find success. If we had been Belichick in his earlier years, we may well have lost all patience and given up. You see, before 2001, Belichick wasn’t looking so good. In his previous job as head coach, the only other team he’d served as head coach, he led the Cleveland Browns to four, pitiful, losing seasons (more games lost than won) out of his five seasons with them.
In Cleveland, he was one unpopular guy. The press crucified him. At games, fans would chant, "Bill must go! Bill must go!" Bumper stickers called him an idiot. It got so bad that his children couldn't ride the bus to school because of other students' cruel comments. He received so many death threats that the police had to stake out near his home. He endured for four long years. In the end, he probably did well to escape Cleveland with his life.
No
wonder he had to leave Cleveland. And no wonder many Patriot fans couldn’t
believe their ears when they heard that this failure of a coach had been hired
as their head coach. His first year with the Patriots seemed to confirm their
fears. They won only 5 games and lost 11.
Imagine that you were Belichick in the year 2000. Imagine that your recent history was marked by such defeat as a head coach. Imagine you’d been thoroughly humbled in Cleveland, with your leaving accompanied by a sigh of relief from many players and fans. Wouldn’t you have been tempted to quit?
But he was patient - incredibly patient.
Rather than believe the crowds and the press in Cleveland, rather than listen to the detractors who doubted him in New England, he kept on working. He learned from his failures. And behind the scenes, he was patiently building a coaching staff and a team for the future. Not a team built around a couple of flashy superstars, but a team of dedicated players who worked as a team, thought as a team and got credit as a team.
And it worked.
Today, Bill Belichick is universally acknowledged as one of the top coaches to ever coach pro football. In the 2007 season they won every game in their regular season, an accomplishment equaled by only one other team in the history of pro football.
But it could have never happen had he thrown in the towel after five humiliating years in Cleveland and a horrid first year in New England.
The
Patriot fans are now glad he had the patience and fortitude to learn from his
past mistakes and failures and keep coaching, despite the criticism. This week,
let’s work on our patience. It just might be a key to our success.
For
Discussion
1)
How did patience pay off for coach Belichick?
2) Why do you think he hung in there rather than quit?
3) In what areas do we
need the most patience this week? (Struggling team, difficult school subject,
etc.)
4) How can patience help us? (Enduring friendships, hang in there during
difficult classes, not get discouraged when we fail at a sport or vocation.)
6) What can we do to be more patient this week?
The
Kansas City Star, Coach Went to School: Belichick Versed in Ways of
Brown, by Bob Ryan,
Globe Columnist, January 29, 2005; Belichick Makes New Case for Old
Staple: Teamwork,
Chicago Sun-Times, Feb. 7, 2005, by Mike Mulligan, Staff Reporter; Formula
for Success, by Glen
Farley, Enterprise Staff Writer; The Education of a Coach,
by David Halberstam (New York: Hyperion, 2005) and Wikipedia on Bill
Bellichick. GAME: It Takes Patience to Unravel Life
Divide into groups of 6 (must be an even number). Stand facing one another in a circle. Instruct each student to grab the right hand of a student across from (not next to) him or her. Next, join left hands with a different person. Then, try to untangle (form an unbroken circle) without anyone letting go. After a group finishes, let that group assist another group that’s still struggling. If they do well with groups of 6, let them try groups of 8. Reward everyone for their patience with some wrapped candy.
Debriefing:
1
- In what way did it take patience to complete this task?
2 - What kept some of you going when you were frustrated and tempted to give up?
(Examples: You didn’t want to let others down. Others were encouraging you.
Outsiders came to your aid.)
3 - In what other areas of life is patience required? (Examples: Completing
assignments for a difficult class. Practicing a sport when you’re tired.
Preparing for a vocation.)
4 - What are some ways we can be more patient rather than give up too early?
(Examples: Work as a team instead of individually. Get outside assistance. Look
at the eventual reward more than the pain of getting there.)
Pick a Quote, Any Quote!
Show the list of quotes on the overhead or hand them out. Let the students read over them, looking for the quote that inspires them the most. Ask, "out of all those quotes, which speaks to you the most?" Encourage them to internalize it by putting it to memory and sharing it with someone else. Perhaps have some try to quote it the next school day.
Conclusion
Today and this week, notice when you're getting discouraged and ready to give up. Whether it's in a class or a sport or at home, remember how patience can pay off, even after years of defeat. Hang in there! Success may be just around the corner.
Copyright
January, 2008 by Steve Miller and Legacy Educational Resources
( www.character-education.info
). All rights reserved. Can be copied and used within schools who have a
membership.