In Praise of Praise

#CatMemes

The end of the marking period is a natural time for reflection. Teachers wonder what they and their students could have done differently to increase success. Were students working to their full potential?

 This week Edutopia posted an article on "How to Counter Students' Learned Helplessness." Often the term learned helplessness is associated with students not trying unless a teacher helps, but the article expands upon how this may show up in the classroom:

Refusal to accept help, even if the teacher repeatedly offers it

Frustration leading to easily giving up

Disengagement from effort

Lack of motivation

Diminished self-worth and self-efficacy (such as providing a myriad of reasons why solutions will not work)

There were several practices shared to help address learned helplessness, but one that resonated was praising and encouraging effort (as opposed to achievement). Both our recent work with Erin Dunn and another recent Edutopia post have illuminated research about how powerful praise is for both student wellness and academic engagement. The takeaway:

While reprimands are sometimes unavoidable—and praise isn’t a panacea—working to raise the ratio of praise to reprimands is likely to improve student engagement and classroom productivity.

The power of praise, both in and out of the classroom, is backed by research, with a general goal of 5 praise statements to every 1 correction. So aside from being mindful to increase our praise of students' specific efforts, what else can teachers do to move their praise to correction ratio in the right direction?

• Describe the observed behaviors and make a positive remark. (Ex: “You held the door open for your classmates on your own initiative, Savannah. Major props!")

• Place sticky notes or posters where you can see them with reminders: “Emphasize effort,” “Praise diligence,” “Fail forward!" etc.

• Work with students to set bite-size goals, and praise in a big way when they achieve each goal.

• Consider keeping a chart to help you make an intentional effort to connect with and praise all students.

Avoid Quarter 2 Blues: Save Time with a new Google Classroom

For those of you ending the quarter, now is the time to create a new Google Classroom for each of your classes. Organizing new classes will save you time in the long run and help you empower students.

If you use the sync function to pull grades from Classroom into Infinite Campus (a HUGE time-saver), creating a new course for each marking period is key to aligning those gradebooks. Here are the steps:

• Step 1 - Create and configure a fresh NEW class
• Step 2 - “Reuse” needed content from OLD class (Only pull ongoing assignments or essential materials)
• Step 3* - Unlink old class; link new class to SIS   (Go to “settings” to link; this syncs to Infinite Campus!)
• Step 4- Add your students
• Step 5 - Archive--don’t delete-- your OLD class.

Additionally, this prevents students from trying to submit old work and removes clutter! Google Certified Trainer John R. Sowash shares the four main reasons to do this, along with a demonstration of Steps 1-2 and 4-5 in the video below:

It is also a good time to make sure you are posting EVERYTHING to Google Classroom. Sam Kary of The New EdTech Classroom makes that point that this saves you time in the long run, as when you go to reuse classrooms and posts in the future, these resources will be available: 

By spending a little time now, you will save BIG in the future!

#NoGradeNovember

 

A student who aces the math tests earns a D in the class.

A student--a READER who always has her nose in a book--fails Language Arts for the second time.

These situations happen all over the country, but why? How does this happen, and how do we address it?

The Mindshift podcast "Grades Have Huge Impact, But Are They Effective?" addresses some of these questions and the myths that surround grading. 

One of the featured teachers, English teacher Monte Syrie, shared a story about a student writer who earned a "C" because she repeatedly forgot to complete her journal entries, despite writing beautiful papers, conferencing thoughtfully with the teacher, and producing work at an advanced level. In response, he spent years thinking about how grading systems impact relationships and student motivation. 

Monte Syrie addresses how teachers can start to prioritize student learning and feedback over scores via his post "No Grade November." This gives great ideas for how people of all comfort-levels regarding changing grading can make reflection, relationships, and fairness more of a focus in the classroom.

As you close out the first marking period and think about grading as a measure of student progress, take some time to check out one of these resources and reflect: 

Are your systems working for you and your students?