It's been noted that all great teachers have used metaphors, parables. and allegories to reach into the hearts and minds of students. Ordinarly teachers also draw from the wisdom acquired through life experience to help students overcome inner obstacles to learning. I definitely use story devices. Some unforgettable ones come from the teachers of my past and other's have arisen like molten lava in a moment of need to become a part of the landscape of my teaching style. As silly as some may seem, they often work to provide the helping hand that a student needs to keep an "I Can" and "I Will" attitude. Here I share with you some allegories and stories that help my students. You can adapt them at will to your own needs, on the condition that they remain copyright free.

General Metaphors

• About tardiness and what is late: many students will say "but I was only a few seconds late" when they are marked tardy. They think that there should be a grace period. I explain to students that favoritism is something to be avoided. A student or parent could rightly complain of favoritism if one student is marked late but not another. Then, the following story of the The Hunter helps the student to understand. In days past, an indian family was nearing starvation. It was the middle of Winter when the family must stay close to the home fire. The stockpile of meat was nearly gone. So the family had no choice but to send out their eldest son to hunt for food. With bow and arrow, he hunted for days and shot many arrows but unsuccessfuly. By now, he was three or four days journey from his home and campfire. He was very cold and down to his last arrow. Finally, he finds himself close to a deer. It has not caught his scent nor heard him near. He quietly sets his arrow in place, takes aim and lets it fly. The arrow misses by one inch and the deer runs away. Should the hunter return home and tell his family how close they came to eating? Will the family smile and will their tummies be less hungry for a miss of 1 inch compared to a miss of 20 inches? With that story, students understand that "late is late".

Metaphors About Life & Learning How to Touch Type

The Toddler Parable: As a student begins to learn with the keyboard, he/she will often find it difficult to engage in the mind-over-body control required to focus on hand positioning and the other techniques needed to acquire accuracy while not looking at their fingers. I ask the student to imagine a toddler just learning to walk. I ask them to reflect on how the toddler has to fully focus his/her mind on body balance and muscle control inorder to make a step away from the coffeetable and make his/her first steps. We can all see this toddler's WILL POWER at work. From this basic premise, arise several truths.

1. Every student has the ability to learn how to touch type because he/she once went through a similar struggle inorder to learn how to walk and gain mastery over their feet -without needing to look down.That WILL POWER has not disappeared. It just needs to be invoked again. Once someone has learned how to type, they forget the struggle it was to learn, just as they have forgotten what it was like to crawl and learn to walk. In the meantime, yes, it's a challenge. But why would one not wish to learn. How many of us would give up the ability to walk or run to return to crawling as our only means of mobility? Knowing how to touch-type give your ideas the ability to run or fly, rather than crawl, across a piece of paper! I urge everyone to learn how to touch type.
2. Often that imagery will be followed with this funny vision: I ask students to imagine a track meet where some runners have to look down at their feet and say "right, left, right, left", commanding their feet and legs to move. Would such runners have a chance running in a race with ordinarly people. Of course not. So, I say the difference between touch typing and hunt-n-pecking is the same. For a new-student orientation, that imagery will lead into the "Good Parent" Metaphor described below.
3. When students are competitive and lose heart because they see some other student typing faster than themselves, I ask if it matters to them if Sally learned how to walk 6 months they did. Have they ever critized themselves because someone was a walking toddler 3 or 4 months before them? Does it knowing that have any relevance to value of one person over another. Of course, the obvious answer is "no". And so, in the same way, once a student has mastered the keyboard, in their own good time, does anyone ever ask or even care who learned first? Even in a job application situation, one only needs to prove touch typing accuracy and speed. No one ever is internested in how long one has been typing. In this way, I get students to see that they are not in competition with eachother to learn this skill; the only challenge is within - to remain focused on techniques that will build accuracy.

The Good Parent Metaphor: many students have great difficulty overcoming the urge to look at their fingers. These students are often intolerant of their own mistake. The perfectionist finds it very difficult to master touch-typing if he/she can't understand that the real training is in the mind-over-body control required to master the techniques of keyboarding. I often ask students to imagine their fingers as little toddlers just learning to stand and walk. Then I ask them to imagine themselves, their minds, as the parent of these children. This basic premise is the Mother Lode of many metaphors to follow.

1. I ask students what they would think of a parent who belittled a one year old who fell down while trying to stand and walk? Isn't it universal that all parents and adults praise and encourge a toddler as he/she's learning how to walk. In that case, I say that "each time you look at your fingers because you are unwilling to stumble or fall or make a wrong keystroke, it's as if someone told a toddler it's too stupid to walk. How many times have parents discouraged learning by not allowing a child to make mistakes so that they can be learned from? Would a parent prefer to carry their children rather than see them bruise their lips from fallen down?

Some Universal Favorites:

• Aesop's "Tortoise & the Hare" is a useful classroom metaphor for those students who work diligently but feel insecure when others seem to finish tests or assignments more quickly.