The question going into this action research was, "How can a language teacher encourage more positive attitudes toward language learning while building a learning community?" After incorporating "I Can" statements into the curriculum, more than 100 third grade students were surveyed. The survey asked what they thought they could do in Spanish. Following the survey, 30 students were randomly chosen to be interviewed assessing what they could do. A comparison was made between what they could do and what they thought they could do. This article discusses the results of this survey along with a review of literature related to studies of self-efficacy, motivation and other factors that can either build or tear down a learning community. (Contains 10 figures.)