Every word you say...

... makes a difference in someone's life. Well, maybe not every word. But you really can make a difference with your words. And everyone wants to be heard, right?
I was in my methods class today and we were talking about chapter 6 of In the Middle by Atwell. It's about minilessons, but there's a really important paragraph that sang to me. It was about publishing students' work. In her school, they published all of the assignments that met the criteria for the assignment and the theme of the class magazine. They didn't pick and choose who had the best work or the most interesting. It was just about getting heard. I've noticed how important that is to a writer. We don't always write because we want to get something out. There's no point in screaming at a brick wall because it won't react. Even if it doesn't talk back, we want to see the bricks shake or maybe have a few come loose. What's the point in talking if there isn't anyone out there to listen?
I've noticed that's part of why I stopped writing. I didn't have anyone to read my stories and I got tired of reading them myself. I could only edit them so many times and it started to feel pointless because no one was ever going to read them anyway. So I've decided to start writing again. I have no idea who I'm going to show my stories to, but I know that my boyfriend is always willing and I'm sure there are plenty of other people out there who want to know what I have to say. Besides, I can keep my stories until I find people who want to read them. There's no harm in that. :]
 This whole listening to what people have to say and paying attention to what you say to people made me thing. My friend sent me an article to read while we were procrastinating on homework (here). I skimmed over it because I was thinking more about what crafts I wanted to do next, but something caught my eye. It was talking about the effect of what you say to children. They did a study about the effects of what you tell children. They had some kids take a test. Then they offered another test, either the same type or a more difficult puzzle. To the kids that they complimented on effort, the kids took the puzzle. To the kids they complimented on intelligence, the kids took the test. They say the reasoning was the smart kids wanted to continue appearing smart, instead of risking that for something harder.
This really makes sense for my life. I mean, if someone told me I did something well when I didn't even try, I stopped trying. I've done that in a lot of my college classes. For the assignments that I worked really hard on and it was complimented for that, or when my effort is complimented, I work harder or I make sure I try my best. Imagine if we did this for children. If we always compliment them on their hard work and show them how much it means to us when they contribute, they might actually contribute.
Hmm. Well, I guess that's all for tonight. I'm supposed to be working on my mom's birthday gift and studying for an American Literature exam. Now the stress sets in and I'm just another college kid again. :/