Ah, it feels so good to have February upon us. The days are getting longer and we are much more closer to seeing some more sunny days. Last week, I introduced grit and its role in the classroom. I want to expand and go more in depth on grit, not only because it fits well into my inquiry question, but also because it’s such an important thing to teach to our students.

Thus, I bring to you some wise words, spoken by Angela Lee Duckworth, a Grade 7 educator, who explains her theory on grit and its relationship to the success of her students. She poses the challenge that schools measure only the IQ of their students, but intelligence can only go so far in one’s life. What builds long-term success within students after they leave school and enter the working world, is grit. Grit drives students to achieve their goals, to persevere in the face of adversity. Duckworth says that teachers can help promote grit through encouraging a growth mindset. She says that teachers should show their students that the brain changes and grows in response to challenge and that failure is not permanent. As a result, students are more likely to persevere when they fail. Building a growth mindset along with encouraging grit, is a step in the right direction but as Duckworth argues, we need more. We need different ways of measuring student success that is not solely based on IQ scores or on intelligence.

If you would like to do some further reading, there is an article that is written by Corey Donahue that goes into some more discussion about Duckworth’s beliefs in grit. Article can be accessed here: http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/blog/helping-students-succeed-by-building-grit/

Reference:

Ducksworth, A. (April 2013). Angela Lee Duckworth: The key to success? Grit. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_the_key_to_success_grit?language=en#t-355670

Another week has gone by, which means that I am here for another instalment of Wise Wednesdays! This week, I explore another strategy that teachers can employ to help particularly frustrated students and that is the role of grit. When I think of grit, I think of perseverance, meaning that when I come to a difficult task, I buckle down and I try my hardest to accomplish the difficult task. Moreover, it is about overcoming obstacles in order to succeed short-term and long-term goals. Now, I realize that having grit is not always easy, especially if a student is hard on themselves and may not believe in their abilities to succeed. This is where the teacher comes in! Teaching grit to our students is possible.

How you ask? Teachers can help build resilience by promoting positive emotions within the classroom. This can be done by encouraging students to share positive stories so that when they are in a difficult situation, they can recall a positive event and the emotions that were attached to it. For example, if a student who struggles in writing, recalls a time when they succeeded in writing a beautifully crafted sentence, they will feel better about their writing abilities. Another strategy that teachers can use to teach grit is to help students to work with their difficult emotions. This is particularly helpful for students who get anxious or depressed or come from a traumatic home environment. When students face a difficult obstacle, feelings of fear or anger can arise quickly in these situations. Teachers can teach their students to recognize and label emotional responses, so that the student knows when their emotions are spinning out of control. After this, teachers can teach the student methods of how to calm down when they are feeling particularly angry or fearful, such as deep breathing.

A Grade 5 teacher in New Hampshire created an entire curriculum on grit. The video is a great demonstration of how teaching grit to students has long-term benefits.

References:

[Edutopia]. (April 29, 2014). Teaching Grit Cultivates Resilience and Perseverance. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0qrtsYg6kI.

Zarkzewski, V. (2014). Teaching grit: How to help students overcome inner obstacles. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/grit-help-students-overcome-inner-obstacles-vicki-zakrzewski

Welcome back to our second week of Wise Wednesdays. In my last post I discussed the importance of having your students understand what their strengths are, in order to help them feel confident in accomplishing difficult tasks. However, in order for students to feel comfortable in motivating themselves to push further, there needs to be a positive classroom environment. Creating this positive environment is essential in helping students to feel comfortable in taking on challenges and risks. Who is in charge of initially creating this positive environment, you ask? Well, it starts with us, the teachers. As an educator, it is so imperative that we build that foundation for trust and support that goes into creating that positive classroom environment for our students. This is something that I strive to do everyday in my own classroom at my practicum school. Improving the self-confidence of my students is one of my major goals for my practicum. Is it an easy task? No, but nobody ever said that being a teacher was easy.

Rita Pierson emphasizes the importance of establishing a connection with each student in the classroom in her Ted Talk. Her Ted Talk is powerful and speaks volumes about believing in every single student in your class, even if they don’t initially believe in themselves. A relatable comment that Pierson made, was when she asked herself how she was going to take her “low” class from where they are now to where they need to be within nine months. Instead of making the students feel bad about themselves for being a challenging class, Pierson told her class that they were the best students and that they were somebody. The students began to believe in themselves and in their own abilities over time, as their self-confidence improved. As Pierson says, “every child deserves a champion, an adult who understands the power of connection and insists that they can be the best that they can be.” I encourage you to watch the video below:

Reference:

Pierson, Rita. (2013, May). Every kid needs a champion. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/rita_pierson_every_kid_needs_a_champion#t-196559.

Hello and welcome to the first instalment of Wise Wednesdays where I share some wise words from professionals within the field of Education! Every Wednesday I will discuss an informative resource that addresses some part of my inquiry question. My inquiry question is: how can teachers build self-confidence within children who easily get frustrated?

This week’s article comes from Edutopia, which I have found to be a fantastic resource for practical information. The article, titled, Building Social and Emotional Skills in Elementary Students: Passions and Strengths discusses how teachers can help students become engaged in their learning and manage their emotions better. The writer, Randy Taran, says that it is important for students to be aware of and develop their unique strengths. When students are aware of their strengths, they are able to build on them more easily, which in turn makes them feel better about themselves and increases their self-confidence. One important point that Taran addresses in the article is instilling passion and engagement within students.

I believe that it is part of our jobs as teachers that we know each and every one of our students and what they enjoy doing, what their strengths are, and where they may be having some difficulties. The important aspect is to focus on the positives and use a student’s strengths (with teacher scaffolding) to help combat their areas of difficulties. If students understand what their strengths are, then they can use their strengths in order to help combat difficult situations.

An idea that the article provides is to ask each of your students to think of two strengths that they naturally have. Then, ask your students to think of one thing that they have practiced so much that they are getting better at every time, such as reading or writing. Afterwards, have the students walk around the classroom and ask different people what strengths they see in them. By the end, each student will have a list of strengths that their classmates see in them. Just imagine the confidence boost that each student will have after this activity!

Reference:

Taran, R. (December 7, 2012). Building social and emotional skills in elementary students: Passion and strength. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/elementary-social-emotional-curriculum-3-passion-randy-taran