Teaching Grit Week 2 - Students who say Nothing!

During this week, I've reflected upon so things about teaching GRIT!

1) How to address student a student who says, "I don't have any goals"?  So on Monday, I had students write a weekly goal in their agenda.   For those students who said, the couldn't think of a goal on Monday, I asked them to think of a goal for Tuesday.

Then, on Wednesday, I had students review their goals and share with another student how they are doing?  Have they achieved the goal?  Still working on it? Or did not achieve it.

2) Teaching Grit must infuse your teaching.  I found myself sniffing out and looking for those teaching moments that may pop up at any moment... And, these moments are so small and fleeting...A casual comment made by a student, "I can't do my homework".  Then I smile and say, "Not yet".

I will let you know how the Girt survey goes.

Teaching GRIT - WEEK 2

Monday: Teachable moment - Sunday was the Super Bowl and the New England Patriots won the game after a heroic come-from-behind effort.  Not many students are Patriots fans, so some students could not get past the win for a not-so-favorite team.  But, I used it as an example of what people can do when they are focused on the "power of yet" and overcoming obstacles.


Friday students took a Grit Reflection Sheet:  They answered four questions about their successes and failures, mistakes from the past week.  Then students shared their thoughts in their teams and the class.

I created a Grit Reflection Sheet to allow students to think about their successes, and qualities of grit.  I had a few students share how they passed their math tests earlier this week, and they were pleasantly surprised. When I asked them what they did to pass the test, they stated they spent hours studying.  Then, I reminded them how hard work was important to their success.

I then explained to the students how when I was a young student, I believed the "smart kids" were born smart.  God blessed them with all the brains.  Meanwhile, I was not a smart kid, did very poorly in school, and born without brains.

But grit taught me to be successful.  Grit taught me to push through my failure.

I also will review the student's' reflection sheet and look for patterns, how many students focused on math, English, and I will share this information with those teachers.

Finally, I added small signs to all desks in my classroom to serve as reminders to the students.  I'm hoping these reminders will keep their eyes on the prize.

If you have any ideas about grit, and how to teach it, please let me know in the comments sections.

The Power of Grit - The beginning of a journey!

Last week marked the beginning of second semester.  This means I receive an entire new groups of students for all my classes.  One positive thing about a semester class is I can easily implement changes in my classes during the same year.  One of my changes includes implementing Grit education in my teaching and classroom.

First week:  I download Angela Duckworth’s grit assessment and I tweaked a few questions and made them more student friendly for my 8th graders.  I also added a couple to make situations more real and personal for the students.  The students scores ranged from 4.6 to 1.9, from a 5 point scale.  I placed these scores on a Google Document and shared them with my team.  Near the end of the semester, I will have students retake the assessment to see if their scores improved or declined.

I also explained to the students about the importances of grit and how learning has a lot to do with mindset, and your willingness to make mistakes.  To demonstrate to my students my commit to making mistakes, reminded students of my test policy.  Students may retake tests as many times as they like. Likewise, on assignments - students may make corrections on assignments.  Hoping they understand that learning is a process.  

Then, I showed the students the TED Talk with Angela Duckworth about grit and mindset. Click here to see it.   After the video we reviewed the main ideas and the importances of grit in their learning.

NO POWER: Then, on Friday, I a teachable moment using grit.  We lost power at school.  Not only once, but twice in different classes.  My class is technology dependent, so I thought we were dead in the water.  But, instead students continued to work.  The webpage they needed was already loaded onto their Chromebooks when the power went out. So, even without the wifi, they still had access to their information. So, with a dark classroom,  some students asked to use their phones to see their work in the dark.  Later, when the power returned, I complimented the students on their grit.  They overcame a real-life obstacle, and instead of simply giving up to the dark, thei continued to learn.

I want to share my grit journey with you, and I would like your ideas too.  Please feel free to email me or leave a comment on my blog.