Perfection Is Perplexing
I sat down with a student’s education team recently and left with exciting news about progress, and some brand new goals for my student. Sitting in a meeting focused so much on individualized needs was amazing, but there was one statement that really stayed with me: “Her reading doesn’t have to be perfect, but I still want her to strive for perfection.”
Now, at face value, this is not an alarming thought. Not even completely unreasonable. So I couldn’t figure out why it was not sitting well with me. “Strive for perfection, settle for excellence” is, after all, a way of life. Admittedly, it’s my personal mantra. But, for some reason, applying it to this particular student felt really unfair, and it got me thinking about other students in the same position. Students trying so hard to learn new concepts, continue strengthening old ones, and, especially for those with an IEP, tackling these goals while bracing themselves for the new ones to come. There’s no room left for perfection here.
As you’re reading, you decode unknown words (if any), quickly skim known words, and build mental imagery for what each word, sentence, paragraph, page, then chapter means. You do so using appropriate inflection, pausing in the right places based on punctuation, and at a rate that is consistent, and moderately paced. You, as a strong reader, do this without a second thought, often with minimal effort. Now, insert a learning disability. Imagine this process with a brain that cannot process one of more of those parts, or the process occurs, but slowly. Instruction helps make these steps easier, and you learn to read, even doing so at a decent rate; but now you have to not only continue overcoming these challenges, but fight to do it perfectly…
I feel you, little one! We can be frustrating!
Can we let this go? This need for perfection. This singular vision on Lexiles, quantitative goals, and grade equivalents. Realistically, we can’t ignore them, but perfection implies there is no blemish, a completely clean slate. It also requires ignorance of prior struggles. We don’t need perfection in reading, we just need process. Engaged reading, application of learned processes, and focus on comprehension is the goal. Perfection is not. Hitting these other goals will help make the fluency and comprehension easier, which will eventually resemble perfection, but I want each student then striving for enjoyment. In our effort to encourage students, I’d like to urge us to be more specific with our words.
Sometimes I will tell a student, we have three goals: Smooth, fast, and picturing! Other times, my only prompt is, “Read it like we see it.” (A prompt more focused on their inflection, cognizance of story humor and emotion, etc...) In both cases, I want them thinking process and enjoyment. It’s never perfection. But I will celebrate every step they take that gets them closer to their very best.
Happy reading!
Tia