Habits of Mind
Persistence
The research of Carol Dweck uncovered the revolutionary idea of “mindset”, an approach that can unlock the potential of all students. According to her, there are two types of mindsets: fixed and growth. Those who have a fixed mindset believe that their abilities are determined by fixed traits. Those with a growth mindset believe that intelligence and ability are determined by dedication and effort. They are resilient when they face defeat because they believe that it is through their effort that they can accomplish tasks, and not through any innate abilities (Richard, 2007). This idea is the primary focus when teaching the Habit of Mind Perseverance to my students. Training students to see themselves through the lens of a growth mindset instead of a fixed one can help students become more successful in school and life.
Kids need to know how to handle new situations. These coping skills are not innate. Actionable steps to take when stressed, overwhelmed, or feeling out of control sometimes need to be taught. Basic skills we think children know, like planning, self-monitoring, or deciding a course of action are not always known. I teach my students that they can accomplish hard things through perseverance. When they learn how to persist, they can begin to celebrate mistakes and understand that success or failure is not determined by how “smart” someone is. They also learn that applying effort is essential, that we are all on different levels of ability, and that that is okay!
Explicit Teaching of Persistence Through Classroom Read Alouds
Perseverance is one of the most critical non-academic skills when it comes to success in the classroom and in life. Teaching skills like perseverance, grit, and tenacity are important for preparing children for life experiences. We see these concepts come up with challenges they encounter in everyday situations and academic roles. One easy way to encourage grit in the class is through engaging purposeful read-alouds with students. Read-alouds help expose students to different fictional characters who overcome obstacles to develop new talents and capabilities. I use many books to introduce children to characters who demonstrate perseverance, who rebound after the first try doesn't work, and who try again instead of accepting failure. These books about perseverance and determination span a wide range of interests and styles, from science to theater, history, families and even disputes.
Reinforcing Persistence Teaching
Home Connection
The home-to-school connection is important. Many parents have experienced their child putting forth a lack of effort on homework or reading. They have requested ideas on how they can teach perseverance at home. I put together this parent handout to try and encourage parents to talk about grit at home. The first page is an introduction for parents about perseverance and its importance. The second page gives parents ideas for how they can help their child develop "grit."
To help students understand that everyone has to learn how to persist, they chose a family member to be their persistence pal. They interviewed their family member and shared their findings with the class.
The parent letter I created and examples of my students' Persistent Pal worksheets are on the left.
Break Things Into Smaller Tasks
When teaching students about perseverance, it is essential to encourage them to break exercises into small achievable goals. This helps children see their progress and avoid becoming discouraged when problems seem too big to accomplish. Whenever possible, I encourage my students to set their own goals and make choices about how they want to reach those goals. One way to do this is to give students choice time and watch how they try to navigate through tasks during play. I use my students’ personal interests to help them learn how to persevere at a task and then apply that perseverance to other tasks in the classroom. When assignments seem too complicated, students are encouraged to complete a task worksheet which encourages them to make a plan and take it step by step.
Positive Self-Talk
Some of my students need a lot of help knowing what to say to themselves to stay motivated. Giving learners specific wording, like, “I know I can do this if I keep at it,” or, “If I’m really stuck I can ask a friend for help,” can change the way they think and act when faced with a difficult task. In order to help model positive self-talk for my students, I talk aloud to myself in a positive way when I make mistakes in the classroom.
Students who have not mastered positive self-talk and perseverance may say, "I can't do this," "It's too hard," or, they write anything to fill in the answers to finish the task as quickly as possible (Costa & Kallick, 2009). It is important to steer students away from this type of thinking. My classroom has many areas dedicated to helping students take the next step and improve their growth mindset and perseverance.
Feedback
As an educator, it is my job to make sure students understand how their daily actions align with their short and long-term goals. I also must encourage students to improve themselves every day. Just like I have high expectations for student achievement, I must also have high expectations for my students' intellectual behavior. It is imperative that I provide students with meaningful feedback along their journey to success. Students may require continual affirmation and educators must ensure them while the Habits of Mind journey “will be incremental and sequential overtime” (Costa & Kallick, 2009, p.17), it will be worth it. One way to affirm our students is with consistent feedback.
Effortful Control
Effortful control is often considered the hardest aspect of perseverance. It can be tough to say, “No,” to talking to a friend, playing in a center, or taking another ten minutes on the tablets, especially when saying, “Yes,” to our goals often means hard, unappealing work with no instant payoff. This can be very challenging for my young students; however, I remind students what they are working towards. I also reward students who keep trying with stamina tickets. Students earn these tickets throughout class time whenever they choose to focus on their work instead of doing another activity. All tickets go into a raffle bucket, and five prizes are drawn from the bucket on Friday. These rewards are often small like giving them first choice of seating or letting them be line leader. These stamina tickets encourage my students to continue focusing on their goal.
Teacher Reflection
Persistence is a necessary trait for students to possess in order to achieve academic success and overcome challenges in their personal lives. I place an emphasis on persistence that pushes students to come up with a plan to solve problems or reach goals. Working on persistence as a class during daily activities made it easier for my students to understand what persisting looks like, sounds like, and feels like. At the beginning of each activity, I notice that some students are usually frustrated, lost, and confused. However, students have begun to use the strategies we have learned in class to help encourage themselves to persist through challenges.