It needs to be effort that results in learning, and teachers have a role to play in that. That rarely comes up, however, when we talk about helping students develop growth mindsets-not even in some of Carol Dweck’s recent articles where she’s cautioned teachers that growth mindsets aren’t just about effort. And that, in turn, has made me think that in addition to the passion I wrote about earlier that’s helped me keep on writing, I-and I believe all learners-need someone (or something like a poem) to remind us of both our strengths and the richness of our lives. scarcity is yet another way of thinking about mindsets that empower, not hobble, leaners. And among the many things I’ve learned is that focusing on abundance vs. Of course, I’m not sure that constitutes triumph, but it does speak to what I realized was the abundance in my life. And those teachers have pushed me, in the best possible way, to keep on learning and growing.
![story of icarus know your place story of icarus know your place](https://nails.newsela.com/s3/newsela-media/article_media/2016/10/myths-icarus-0d50c4f1.jpg)
Over the months I’ve been working on the book, I’ve had the privilege to work with amazing teachers in amazing places-from New Jersey to Oman and from Buffalo to Bangkok. Yes, I’ve not managed to get certain things done (which in addition to blog posts includes folding the laundry), but boy, have I learned and experienced a lot. These poems helped me rethink how I was looking at things. And so he “believe Icarus was not failing as he fell/but just coming to the end of his triumph.”Īs you’ll see below, Anne Sexton strikes the same note in her own Icarus poem, inviting us to admire his wings and not care that he fell back to sea: “Everyone forgets that Icarus also flew,” not just ignobly drowned. Brueghel paints him, for instance, as flailing in the sea, so insignificant you have to work hard even to find him in the corner of the painting. The myth is usually seen as a cautionary tale about the dangers of hubris or pride, with Icarus punished for having the audacity to think he could fly like a god.
![story of icarus know your place story of icarus know your place](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/G37TMF/myth-icarus-by-richmond-G37TMF.jpg)
As you probably know, Icarus attempted to fly with wings attached to his back with string and wax, only to have the wax start to melt as he soared close to the sun.