On our way back home from Agbenu and Ofu’s swimming lesson, I asked about their progress.

Agbenu: “It’s going ok but today I noticed that I need to beat with the whole of my legs not just my feet.”

Me: “Ok. Ofu, how about you?”

Ofu: “Good. My speed is getting better with my front strokes. But I did something bad with my backstroke.”

Me: “What happened?”

Ofu: “My belly was under the water and it has to be above the water.”

Me: “Ok. What else?”

Agbenu: “That’s it, pretty much “

Ofu: “That’s it.”

Me: “Papi (Ofu), you didn’t do anything bad. The fancy way to say it is opportunities for improvement. If that is too fancy, then you can say areas for improvement. If that way is too fancy, you can say ‘the thing that I need to do better next time is to keep my belly above the water.’ Ok?”

Ofu: “Ok.” (A man of few words)

Me: “Yeah. I say so because next time you’re going to work on it. Right?”

Ofu: “Yes.”

Me: “Good. So, it shows you what you need to do to improve your swimming. That’s why I said you didn’t do anything bad. Do you now understand why?”

Ofu: “Yes.”

Me: “Awesome! And this is not for just swimming but for anything that you’re learning. Ok?”

Ofu: “Ok.”

Me: “So do you guys know what to do next time or do we need to discuss it with your instructor?”

Agbenu: “Yes. But it’s just that we had a substitute instructor today. She did give me a tip though. Our main instructor is on vacation. She’ll be back next week, so everything should back to normal.”

Me: “Cool. How about you, Ofu?”

Ofu: “I got it.”

Me: “Cool. And you can continue to practice at our community pool.”

Agbenu: “Yeah. That’s my plan.”

Ofu: “Me too.”

Me: “Awesome. You got this!”

Every moment counts. Every moment presents opportunities to teach our kids, sharpen their perspectives, help them to avoid self-blame, and increase their vocabulary. Having a positive outlook on life is desirable for productivity and this was an opportunity to teach that. Hopefully, I made a good conversion. Time will tell. Meanwhile, I will continue to harness the opportunities for feedback, non-threatening questions, and keeping things positive. These opportunities always produce good learning outcomes.

“What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”.

Matthew 15:11

• 6/5/21