A Lesson For Teachers and for Parents Too

Can we save our children from struggle?  Should we?  Of course not, though many of today's parents try to remove all such obstacles so their children will always succeed.  (You've heard of those helicopter parents coming to job interviews with their college graduate sons or daughters. Yikes!)  Some teachers show their students what was wrong before they even knew they had made a mistake.
This article tells the author's own story which is rather humorous.  Hope you enjoy it and learn to let the kids struggle a bit.

Struggle is a natural part of learning.  Austin Kassinger.  6.6.14. The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/struggle-is-a-natural-part-of-learning/2014/06/06/70ddf0f8-e133-11e3-9743-bb9b59cde7b9_story.html

Modeling Attention for Your Students

Kevin Washburn, author of this article, states that attention is part of resilency.  Resilience requires the ability to imagine what the future can be.  Teachers can equip students to focus on the present, the way forward to a future.  This article has great modeling dialog - teacher and student - interacting one step at a time so that task becomes manageable.

Teaching resilience:  Attention.  Kevin D. Washburn. 3.27.14. SmartBlog on Education. 
http://smartblogs.com/education/2014/03/27/teaching-resilience-attention/?utm_source=brief

Helping Students With "Can Do"

WIDA, the consortium of 33 US states and territories for English learners has long adopted the "Can Do Philosophy" (http://www.wida.us/).  The same philosophy extends to all kinds of learners, in particular Title I students who have often experienced failure and have "given up" many times. The author, Terry Heick, helps teachers develop a culture of "can" in their classroom.  He explains 3 Ways to create "Can."

1. Use the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model
2. Intentionally Use the Individual Student as a Culture-Maker
3. Diverse -- and Authentic --Terms for Success

What have you done to encourage your reluctant students to keep on going and not give up?  Share your thoughts in Comments.

Creating a Culture of "Can".  Terry Heick.  11.19.12.  Edutopia
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/creating-a-culture-of-can-terrell-heick

Tips to Build Resiliency in Children

Although suggestions in this article are aimed at parents, those same tips are equally helpful for teachers in school.  The embedded PBS video interview with Peter DeWitt points out that children today are exposed to to so many negative things that were not part of our experience at that age.  And because this is the case today, many parents shelter their children from all adversity.  Both extremes require adults to teach kids how to deal with adversity, failure, fears, and sadmess. 

Building Resilient Children.  Peter DeWitt. 2.20.13.  Education Week - Common Ground.
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2013/02/building_resilient_children.html?cmp=ENL-EU-VIEWS2