My job was to make classroom observations and encourage a training program that would enable students to feel good about themselves and take charge of their lives. Donna was one of the volunteer teachers who participated in this 1 .
One day, I entered Donna’s classroom, took a seat in the back of the room and 2 . All. the students were working 3 a task. The student next to me was filling her page with "I Can’t." "I can’t kick the soccer ball" "I can’t get Debbie to like me." Her page was half full and she showed no 4 of stopping. I walked down the row and found 5 was writing sentences, describing things they couldn’t do.
By this time the activity aroused my 6 , so I decided to check with the teacher to see what was going on 7 I noticed she too was busy writing. "I can’t get John’s mother to come for a parents’ meeting"... I felt it best not to 8 .
After another ten minutes, the students were 9 to fold the papers in half and bring them to the front. They placed their "I Can’t" statements into an empty shoe box. Then Donna 10 hers. She put the lid on the box, tucked it under her arm and headed out the door. Students followed the teacher. I followed the students. Halfway down the hallway Donna got a shovel from the tool house, and then marched the students to the farthest corner of the playground. There they began to 11 . The box of "I Can’t" was placed at the 12 of the hole and then quickly covered with dirt. At this point Donna announced, "Boys and girls, please join hands and 13 your heads." They quickly formed a circle around the grave. Donna delivered the eulogy (悼词). "Friends, we gathered here today to 14 the memory of ’I Can’t.’ He is 15 by his brothers and sisters ’I Can’ and ’I Will’. May ’I Can’t’ rest in 16 . Amen!"
She turned the students 17 and marched them back into the classroom. They celebrated the 18 of "I Can". Donna cut a large tombstone from paper. She wrote the words "I Can’t" at the top and the date at the bottom, then hung it in the classroom. On those rare occasions when a student 19 and said, "I Can’t," Donna 20 pointed to the paper tombstone. The student then remembered that "I Can’t" was dead and chose other statement.