Seeing Beyond the Glass Half-Full

In Amy Lyon's 5th grade classroom, students watch a video of their classmates showing off their snowboarding skills at a local park. Although beginners, the 10- and 11-year-olds display impressive acumen, scaling the ramps and rails with ease. Then, to show what can happen with progression, Lyon juxtaposes the scene with a clip of professional snowboarder Tim-Kevin Ravnjak, who earned a spot in the 2014 Winter Olympics before his 18th birthday.

As students watch Ravnjak perform aerial acrobatics on a halfpipe, suspended over sky and mountains, one boy shakes his head. "I'll never be able to do that," he mumbles. Lyon observes another student lean over, elbow the first student, and say, "That's pessimistic thinking. If you can snowboard and you want to do that, you can; you just need to work."