Teaching Perseverance

I have a poster up in my room that says, "It's okay not to know.  It's NOT okay not to try."  This week, I felt like maybe I need to put that quote on the desk of half my students--maybe even all of them.  Or maybe wear it around my neck on a giant sandwich board.  Do you ever find yourself working with a group of students in math or reading or whatever, asking them to do a task, and finding yourself ready to shake them because all you're getting is blank, helpless stares?  Yup, that was me this week.  I promise to always, always be honest and never sugar coat on this blog, so here it goes:

I pretty much LOST IT some of my kids this week.

*sad face*

We started a math intervention block where we break off across the grade level into ability groups for a half hour of intervention/enrichment, and I work with one of the most struggling groups.  Some days it can be a real challenge.  Tuesday was one of those days.  We have been working on finding factors of a number for about two weeks (maybe even more), and as a warm up, I asked my group to create a "factor rainbow" for the number 30 on their white boards.  My group got the factor pair of 1 and 30 down on their boards...then stopped.  Many of them knew 2 would be a factor because 30 was even...but then just gave up.  If it wasn't on their multiplication charts, they couldn't figure it out.  I prompted them to think about some of the strategies we've used (arrays, skip counting, drawing groups...), but still...crickets.  

Finally, my patience ran out.  I let them know in a Viola Swamp-ish way that I was NOT impressed with their efforts.  I found myself saying over and over, "It's okay if you don't know the answer.  It's NOT okay if you sit there, waiting for the answer to appear in your head, and not doing anything about it."  I was so frustrated that they were just sitting there HELPLESS!

Yikes.  Luckily I had my PLC right after the math group and had a chance to regroup and reflect a bit before our regular math class.  I know in my heart that teaching grit and perseverance to my kids is as important as any of my content, so I decided to start my shared math lesson by revisiting our math class norms:

Specifically, that second one and the word "PERSEVERE."  I use this word all the time with my kids, but I hit it super hard that day.  We gave examples of what it means to give up when a math problem is tricky and what it means to persevere.  I stressed that persevering doesn't mean always arriving at the right answer--it means working hard and using every tool in your box without giving up.  It means asking questions and taking risks to TRY SOMETHING.  It means refusing to shut down and quit.  We modeled the body language that goes with giving up and the body language that goes with persevering.  

My regular math lesson called for a partner problem-solving activity--the perfect opportunity to practice perseverance (and of course our ongoing goal of teamwork!).  I challenged them to work with their partners and persevere through the activity.  I was so pumped to see an immediate difference in the kids and their approach to the concepts.  This just reiterated to me the importance of taking time to teach those things we expect.  If I expect my kids to be able to persevere, I need to teach them how to do that.  They may never have had a chance to develop that "grit" at home; maybe they have become so used to shutting down that it's their default when things get hard.  I am doing them a disservice if I allow that to continue...

...but I'm also doing them a disservice if I just get upset and frustrated when they do shut down.  Like I did this week.  I decided to make a new affirmation for my classroom:

Edit: I realized after the fact that this poster is spelled wrong!  Whoops, teacher brain!  Oh well, if my kids notice I will give them a prize for spotting the teacher's mistake... ;)

This is our new classroom motto as of this week.  It goes for me, too--when teaching gets tough, I WILL PERSEVERE!  I've been referring to it every day and continuing to talk about perseverance.  One morning during our classroom community time (aka the 5 minutes before we immediately switch to groups) I had the kids visualize running down the street towards a destination and being faced with a giant brick wall--I asked the kids, what would you do?  They answered, climb it, jump over it, break it down, bulldoze it over!  We talked about what that wall might be in math or reading and what tools they have to help them bust them down.  It was some powerful talk!

After talking about perseverance the last few days, I really can say I've noticed a difference in my class!  I've noticed a couple of the kids giving themselves some awesome positive self-talk, like on girl saying, "Okay, I'm not going to quit!" when we were working in a math group.  Other teachers on the team have also commented that the kids have been talking about perseverance and saying similar things.  YES!  Amazing what taking the time to step back, explain, model, and teach my expectations can accomplish.  If they can carry this one thing with them into next year and outside my classroom, the ability to persevere in the face of obstacles, I will be able to rest more easily at night.

How do you teach your kids to persevere?

Pumping Kids Up for THE TEST!

We are knee deep in state testing here in Illinois!  4 tests down, 4 to go.  (We only give one test a day so the kids don't get overwhelmed and exhausted, but it makes for a looong two weeks of testing...)  I wanted to dedicate a post to sharing some of the ways I pump my kiddos up for testing--both state testing and every test we take.  I try to keep testing really light and positive.  All year long I talk about tests as a "big game" or "championship"--the result of all of our practice, hard work, and "training."  When I introduce a test on a regular day, I usually do it something like this.  "You guys, we have something exciting happening this week!  We get to show our learning on a test!"  Then I have the kids cheer. :)  I know, it sounds silly, but after making tests a positive thing all year, the kids actually buy into it and cheer all by themselves. ;)  

Shared these testing treats last year, inspired by this pin

Next, when I pass out tests, I have the kids write "Bring it On!" on the top.  I use this ALLLL the time--any time we are about to do something tough, I say, "This is challenging!  What do we say to a challenge??" and the kids shout, "Bring it on!"

I've shared my affirmation wall before, and while I refer to it every day, I make sure to refer to it a little extra during testing time.  

I truly believe that these affirmations--both posting them on my walls and weaving them into the culture of my classroom--make a difference in my students' attitudes.  I hope that if there is one gift I can give them, it's that they carry these affirmations with them after they leave my classroom.  I cover the kiddos' name tags before testing because we aren't allowed to have any tools (multiplication charts, etc.) on their desks, and I let the kids doodle on them.  I also encourage them to write some positive "words of encouragement" to remember during testing.  Love this girl's:

I talk to the kids all the the time about my running, training, and racing.  Why?  Because I like them to say, "WOW, you ran that far?" and ask, "Did you WIN your half marathon??"?  Haha not exactly.  I like them to see me set big goals, work hard to train for them, and risk it all on race days.  I talk to them about how nervous I get before a race and how I have to tell myself to trust my training, tell myself, 'You can do it!', and visualize myself succeeding.  They love hearing about it, and I feel like it sets a good example for them of how hard work pays off.  I call our test prep "training" for our big event--THE TEST. :)  I like to have them visualize opening their test booklets, visualize knowing EVERY ANSWER, and visualize succeeding and proud after finishing.

My absolute favorite test motivation strategy came to me randomly my first year teaching when I had 5 extra minutes the week before testing.  I had the kids write a letter to the class, wishing them good luck and offering "words of encouragement" to make their classmates feel confident before testing.  What started as a "filler" became a yearly tradition.  I LOVE it.  The kids write the sweetest, most thoughtful notes to the class. I read a few before testing every day, and the kids love them.  Some of this year's favorites:

Please ignore the atrocious spelling...we're working on it...

How do you keep spirits high during test time?

Affirmations in the Classroom

Last summer I wrote apost about affirmation posters in my classroom, and shared these pictures:

Teacher Mom is also an artist and calligrapher--you can tell which posters she made!

I got the idea for these posters from Quantum Learning--here's an excerpt from the post in which I originally shared these pictures:

One small piece of Quantum is the affirmation posters that were all over the room.  Quantum research says that even when kids are just looking around the room, their brains are constantly taking in and processing information on the subconscious level.  They suggest putting posters with positive, first-person affirmations on your walls. From the Quantum website: "These supportive and inspiring posters can set the tone for a classroom and help create an environment of trust and safety – the kind of place where students learn best. In a students’ study areas they’re a good reminder of the things they need to remember about themselves."    

Last year I had these affirmations up all over my classroom, and while I pointed them out from time to time, I mostly counted on the students' absorbing their messages by "osmosis." :)  This year I decided to try a different approach.  After seeing this picture on the Clutter-Free Classroom blog...

...I decided that an "accent space" like this would be a PERFECT spot to display my affirmation posters.  Besides creating a designated space in the room for these signs, another thing I did differently was display just one poster to start out with.

Since school has started, I have referred to the message on this poster literally every day.  We have talked about what it means, about what "best effort" looks like, and about how it feels to take pride in your work.  I point it out and have the kids read it with me before we start a task or assignment, and display it on the board along with a morning message every day.  They have it memorized, have internalized it, and I hope that they will carry it with them always.  Friday I was laminating construction paper folders the kids had decorated to keep their Word Work activities in throughout the week, and came across this folder:

Yup, this girl has gotten the message.  Mission accomplished.  I plan to add another poster in a couple of weeks, and continue to do so throughout the year.  Hopefully by June these kiddos will have a bunch of positive phrases to carry around with them in their pockets and to remember every day. :)

How do you inspire positive thinking in your students?  Besides the affirmation posters, another thing I do is have the kids write "Bring it on!" at the top of every test.  :)