- Students analyze their strengths and weaknesses
- Students reflect on their similarities and differences with family members
- Self reflection Students participate and create their own learning targets and learning goals
- Students reflect on what they are good at
- Student Reflection Guide Sheet
How do we measure a child’s success in school or socially? Plenty of attention is given to test scores and IQ. But there’s something else many educators and psychologists say is just as important, and it’s called grit. It’s a character trait we either have or develop that boils down to self-discipline — one’s ability to plug away with dogged determination and focus.
- Link to radio podcast
- TEDxBlue Video — Angela Lee Duckworth, Ph.D: "True Grit: Can Perseverance be Taught?"
- Resources from Angela Duckworth's web site
- Video on Duchworth's non-profit Character Lab
- Amanda Jefferson Summer Search, a Philadelphia program for low-income children that provides mentoring and opportunities to go on adventurous, team-building trips.
- “Grit” Is Trendy, but Can It Be Taught? Provides an excellent analysis of the research, along with reviewing common critiques.
- Have You Ever Quit Something? Sometimes there is a value to quitting. Lesson from The New York Times Learning Network AND the 130 student comments it received.
- Click here to download the Growth Mindset Activity Bundle through Google Drive or download zip bundle here
- Growth Mindset Videos Playlist on Youtube
- Growth Mindset for 9th Graders free and available to any school to use.
- Philadelphia Schools: the race to 'fix' schools has ignored emotional learning
- Measuring Students’ Self-Control: A ‘Marshmallow Test’ for the Digital Age. You can see a demo of the online test here, The post says she’s going to put the test online for people to take for free, and that might be useful. The key point to remember, though, is to tell students what I tell mine before they take her online “grit” test — it’s just one more piece of information they might or might not find useful and they should feel free to ignore the results if they don’t agree with them.
- Grit Scale Questionnaire for Children
New Study Shows Where ‘Growth Mindset’ Training Works (And Where It Doesn’t)
- Article on Duckworth's Programs
- Howard Gardner Beyond Grit
- STRUGGLE OR BEHAVIOR… WHERE DO YOU DRAW THE LINE?Smarts vs. Personality in SchoolBeat Resources for Learning About GritReading, Writing and Grit Inquirer article references Duckworth and the books: How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character, Paul Tough and Building Resilience in Children and Teens, Kenneth Ginsburg
- We’re Teaching Grit the Wrong Way is from The Chronicle of Higher Education.
- 30 Feedback responses that promote perseverance
- Videos focusing on persistence
- Puppy Video on persistence
- True Grit: The Best Measure of Success and How to Teach It
- Building Bots and Confidence
- Growth Mindset Play Book
Building Growth Mindset in the Classroom: Assignments From Carol Dweck - The Mindset Kit is a free set of online lessons and practices designed to help you teach and foster adaptive beliefs about learning. click here
- The ‘Brain’ in Growth Mindset: Does Teaching Students Neuroscience Help?
- Growth Mindset Unit - primary grades
- Growth Mindset Lesson
- Stories students wrote about when they had demonstrated a growth mindset in the past. They’re reprinted here with permission. You can see examples click here
- Infographic walks you through the different strategies you can use with your students to cultivate a growth mindset in your class and ultimately enhance students le
Ten Metacognitive Teaching Strategies
Resources For Learning About “Nudges” In Schools Interventions based on analysis of human behavior, including the habits, routines, and biases in normal decisionmaking http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2017/11/09/the-best-resources-for-learning-about-nudges-in-schools/
Mistakes are proof that you are trying.
Making mistakes is really awsome. (spelling mistake purpose ful)
A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.
- The Value of Persistence How to nurture it
- 5 Ways to Build Resilience in Students
- Getting Past "I Can't": "I knew I had an opportunity here to help one child get one step closer to a narrative of herself as a learner. My task was to teach perseverance."
- Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions because it simplifies emotions for students and helps us focus on eight basic ones (anger, anticipation, joy, trust, fear, surprise, sadness, and disgust). I find that this helps them categorize their emotions and their responses to those emotions. Additionally, students can recognize that other emotions are an amalgamation of the eight basic emotions or are derived from one or more of them.
- Metacognitive goal-setting: Every few weeks, I have students reflect on their participation habits and set goals for a particular discussion. Students get an index card at the beginning of class and write a quantitative and a qualitative goal for their participation for the day. As they set their quantitative goals, I encourage them to think of “stepping up and stepping back”—what would be a healthy number of times for them to speak that day? Should they talk more frequently, or refrain from talking in order to make space for others to talk?
- Best Self Restraint Lessons
Talking About Failure Is Crucial for Growth. Here’s How to Do It Right.
is from The NY Times.
There are three types of failure, but only one you should actually feel bad about is from Quartz.
Tips for Teaching Realistic Optimism
How to motivate older kids without using rewards, punishment or fear. (No, really.) is from The Washington Post.
- Now Some Schools Are Testing Kids for Their ‘Grit’ and ‘Joy’ Levels. Really.
- Don't Grade Schools on Grit - Duckworth
- Tips to Foster a Community of Growth Mindset Learners
- Carol Dweck's "Mindset" and Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth, speaks to learning and learning success for all ages and should be helpful for your needs.
- How to Integrate Growth Mindset Messages Into Every Part of Math Class
- Growth Mindset “With Math I Can” Initiative & Resources Often kids feel frustrated when they come across a tough math problem. Replace the notion of “I’m not good at math” with “I am working to get better at math” by embracing a growth mindset.
- ***Growth mindset doesn’t promise pupils the world***
- Helpful Techniques to Foster A Growth Mindset
- Carol Dweck, the founder of the movement, needed to clarify some common misconceptions.
- Nudges That Help Strugsmartsgling Students Succeed - The New York Times
- The ‘Brain’ in Growth Mindset: Does Teaching Students Neuroscience Help?
- Struggle For Smarts? How Eastern And Western Cultures Tackle Learning
- The Best Resources On Helping Our Students Develop A “Growth Mindset.”
A Tool to Help Students Make Good Decisions |
Some students need help when it comes to weighing pros and cons, and this simple decision-making matrix will help them sort things out. Implementation article |
The Most Magnificent ThingbyAshley SpiresIt focuses on the importance of never giving up and learning from mistakes with students.
After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again) Its message is universal and ageless. Its message about what happens if we can fight our fear of failure to go on to success is so important for kids of all ages, and the ending is so magical and surprising
Beautiful Oops!Mistakes can be learning experiences ( K - 4)
The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinst
Making a Splash by Carol E. Reiley
The Dot, Ish, Sky Color, and Playing from the Heart by Peter H. Reynolds
Iggy Peck, Architect,Ada Twist, Scientist, and Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty
Almost by Richard Torrey
Salt in His Shoes by Deloris Jordan and Roslyn Jordan
Bubble Gum Brain by Julia Cook
The Okay Book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld
Someday by Eileen Spinelli
It’s Okay to Make Mistakes by Todd Parr
What Do You Do With A Problem? By Kobi Yamada
Success Academy Program Disruptive classroom behavior, truancy, a fight with a fellow student
or a teacher; these offenses typically earn a student suspension or
even expulsion from school. One Philadelphia charter school has a different model, where trouble students receive extensive behavior support. Listen to radio podcast
from article: Challenging the Myth of Content vs. Character Education in the Age of Common Core
Reflection: A key to learning since metacognition is a part of learning.
Connect, Extend, Challenge downloadable activity slide to help your students reflect on a piece of their work and record their thoughts about it through the lens of Connect, Extend, Challenge!
Along Strong, supportive human relationships are the foundation of effective learning. The Along platform is a free digital reflection tool that can help foster better student-teacher connections and establish a system for regular contact.
3-2-1 self reflection -- We often use 3-2-1 as an exit ticket for class and it works well to reflect on a lesson, day or even an entire unit. We can use that same protocol to encourage student self reflection too. Using this idea students will identify (three things they did well, two concepts they need to practice more, and ask 1 question of their teacher. You can modify this 3-2-1 reflection template to fit your class or use it as it.
Self-management strategies As students understand themselves on a deeper level, they’re more likely to be successful in developing their self-management skills.Making Thinking Visible: (http://www.pz.harvard.edu/thinking-routines#CoreThinkingRoutines) - This is a site from Harvard’s Project Zero that provides routines to promote thinking and understanding. It is so powerful when students can see their thoughts and the thinking of others. Your imagination can run wild as you consider ways Visble Thinking can be expanded into the Blended environment.
20 ways to build classroom community and relationships
Who am I? comes from Facing History. You’ll need this excerpt from The House on Mango Street to do it.
Institute for Habits of the Mind: (https://www.habitsofmindinstitute.org/) - A resource filled with multiple ideas that promote student cognition to promote deeper understanding. The resources and ideas are endless both in and out of the classroom.
Thinking Routines
What Does Learning From Mistakes Do To Your Brain?
On the importance of failure by Cedar Riener
“Admitting Failure.” A useful website
Self-Assessment Opportunities
Meaningful reflection takes practice. This is as true for students as it is for teachers. You can best support your students in their efforts at self-assessment by providing regular, uninterrupted time for students to think about their progress. At first, you may need to guide their reflection with questions such as these:- What did I learn today?
- What did I do well?
- What am I confused about?
- What do I need help with?
- What do I want to know more about?
- What am I going to work on next?
As students participate in the self-assessment process, they will have many
opportunities to collect pieces of their writing and react to things they have
read. Individual student conferences can help guide these periods of
self-reflection and reinforce the idea that collecting and evaluating work are
important steps in self-assessment.
Research cheat sheet on reflection - 5 reflection best practices, including structured reflection activities - 21 reflection prompts to give students ("This challenged me because ..." "I wonder how it would go if I tried ...") - 6 reflection activity ideas, including the "What? So what? Now what?" protocol | and more research-based insights.
Habits of Mind – I think this is an awesome place to help teachers facilitate and assess Communication and more. Check out the free resources page which even has some wonderful posters. One of my favorites is the rubrics found on this research page. Decide on spending some time because there are a lot of great resources.
- Stop Start Continue: A way for students to evaluate their work
- Struggle / Work at / Good at: A three-part self evaluation
- Reflection questions: Including "Where can I improve my learning?" and "What are my learning strengths?"
Fraidy Cats' Book of Courage.
The first half of the book contains comics featuring the title
character talking about situations that make him scared and ideas for
dealing with those feelings. The second half of Fraidy Cats' Book of Courage contains pages for students to write on in response to prompts
Thrively Kids take an assessment that identifies 23 potential strengths. The site suggests activities tailored to these strengths, such as a robotics class or an art camp, which can spark an unknown interest and propel students to step up and try something new.
Greater Good site specifically for educators.
Highlights include:
- Research-based and informed practices for cultivating positive relationships within schools; supporting the social and emotional needs of students and the adults who work with them; and for integrating SEL, mindfulness, and ethical development within academic content
- Research-based evidence for each practice that explains how a practice works and why it should be used in classrooms and schools
- Personal dashboards for users to save, rate, and comment on practices
- Guidelines for making a practice trauma-informed; for evaluating a practice through a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens; and for adapting a practice
Strategies for self assessment
--Articles
- Student Self Assessment and Self-Regulation – A Cornerstone of Successful Formative Assessment is from Teach Learn Grown.
- 7 Ways to Help Students Self Assess Effectively is by Barbara Blackburn at Middleweb.
- Encouraging self correction is by Mike Astbury.
- Promoting Student Self-Assessment is from Read Write Think.
- Students ‘Self-Assess’ Their Way to Learning is from Ed Week.
- Student Self-Assessment is from ASCD.
- Student Self-Assessment:The Key to Stronger Student Motivation and Higher Achievement comes via ERIC.
How a School Ditched Awards and Assemblies to Refocus on Kids and Learning
A Taxonomy of Reflection and Prezi tour of the Taxonomy
Making Caring Common a project of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, envisions a world in which children learn to care about others and the common good, treat people well day to day, come to understand and seek fairness and justice, and do what is right even at times at a cost to themselves. See resources page
Meeting the Needs of introverted Students
Game Stimulating Productive Dialogue About Race and Ethnicity
Developed by a cultural anthropologist, the two-player Who Am I? Race Awareness Game is designed to stimulate a productive dialogue between adults/educators and children regarding the complex and sensitive issues of race and ethnicity in a multicultural world. In the game, one player selects a target picture of a real person; the other player then asks “yes or no” questions to figure out who was picked.
Permission slips help us set our intention and focus. Share examples such as, “I give myself permission to make a mistake and try again.” Then ask students to create their own permission slip (self-management
Student Self-Assessments - adapt to your needs
44 Prompts Merging Reflective Thinking With Bloom’s Taxonomy
A Reflective Principal Taxonomy
Multiple intelligences quiz and Video how to use it
How to seamlessly integrate mindfulness into any classroom with tech tools
- GoNoodle is a website, smartphone and smart TV app with a compilation of interactive videos encouraging movement and mindfulness for kids and adults.The "Melting" video provides an engaging visual of body relaxation. While it’s geared toward younger children, the strategies are helpful for any age. Many people struggle with staying focused during relaxation sessions, and the video is beneficial to follow along and to keep a strong visual aide in mind while relaxing one’s body.Sign up at no cost on GoNoodle and find more videos on mindfulness, body relaxation, deep breathing, and more in the "Flow" section.
- Breathing Bubbles app help students identify how they feel and ask them to decide whether that emotion is helping or hurting them Also available for android
Spent: (gr 7 - 12) Provocative, first-person look at poverty builds empathy
3rd World Farmer Serious sim about global issues shows struggles of poverty
Activities
Self-Assessment Opportunities
Meaningful reflection takes practice. This is as true for students as it is for teachers. You can best support your students in their efforts at self-assessment by providing regular, uninterrupted time for students to think about their progress. At first, you may need to guide their reflection with questions such as these:- What did I learn today?
- What did I do well?
- What am I confused about?
- What do I need help with?
- What do I want to know more about?
- What am I going to work on next?
As students participate in the self-assessment process, they will have many
opportunities to collect pieces of their writing and react to things they have
read. Individual student conferences can help guide these periods of
self-reflection and reinforce the idea that collecting and evaluating work are
important steps in self-assessment.
Social and Emotional Curriculum: The Seven Doors to Happiness
- Social and Emotional Curriculum: Understanding Happiness
- Social and Emotional Curriculum: Obstacles to Happiness
- Social and Emotional Curriculum: Self-Reflection
- Social and Emotional Curriculum: Self-Mastery
- Social and Emotional Curriculum: Compassion in Action
- Social and Emotional Curriculum: Interdependence
- Social and Emotional Curriculum: Sharing Your Gif
If your students were to create a users guide on how they learn, what would it look like? With the instructions on this web page, students can write a users guide that explains to users—classmates and teachers—how to work with them: what motivates them, calms them, coaches them. The task requires students to make decisions about style, structure and content (as required by the Common Core State Standards) in order to effect an audience toward a specific purpose: work well with me. The users guide gives students a voice in determining how teachers and peers understand and relate to them. Click Here to Access Guide Instructions
3. Feelings Game4. Do to Learn - Free Feelings and Emotions Games, excellent for social skills instruction, also check out the Street Safety songs for students with cognitive disabilities. They have added an Emotions Color Wheel tool
which is an incredible resource to help students visually understand their feelings.
5 Story_Squares.doc
5b. Student Self-assessment Forms
- Student Reading Strategy Self-Assessment
- Student Overall Skills Self-Assessment
- Student Overall Skills Self-Assessment in Spanish
- Simplified Student Grade Self-Evaluation Sheet
- Student Reflection Sheet 2
- Prove It Student Reflection Sheet
- Weekly Reflection- How's It Going?
- Weekly progress sheet
- Three Minute Buzz
- Reflection Pyramid
5c. Student-Led Conferences
- Student Preparation Sheet
- Fall Conference Simplified Teacher Talking Points
- Spring Conference Teacher Talk Sheet
- Spring Conference Student Preparation Sheet
- Simplified Conference Teacher Sheet
- Example of Student-Led Conference Outline
- 2nd Example of Student-led Conference Outline
- Examples of Parent Questions for Student-Led Conferences
- Post-Conference Student Self Reflection
- Post-Conference Parent Reflection
- Measurement student self-assessment
- First American target chart
- Student Self-Assessment Checklist
- K-2 Smiley Checklist
7. 99_sampleactivities.pdf
- Connecting Sharing Circles to academic content and students' lives. For example, identify a key feeling or concern in a story and use it as a handle. Example: You read Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Goldilocks is discovered asleep in Little Bear's bed and runs away. After reading you could use handles like: A time I got caught doing what I wasn't suppose to do.. or a time I felt frightened or You're studying the Civil War and slavery. You use the following handle: i feel like a slave when or once I made someone feel like a slave by, I feel enslaved by..
- Guidelines for Running a Sharing Circle
- Teacher sets the ground rules
- Teacher provides a handle
- Teacher shares first to establish risk level and provide a model.
- Alert group a couple of minutes before ending circle.
- The teacher responses should be encouraging, such as,
- Would you like to tell us more about that
- How did that make you feel
- You felt that very deeply, didn't you?
- You feel afraid when you meet new people, you said. That's like what Jimmy was saying.
- You and Sarah share the same feeling?
- I've experienced that too.
- You mean...
10. Blogging as a reflective tool Slide show
Kidblog
Designed for elementary and middle school teachers who want to provide each student with their own, unique blog. No need for student email addresses. Kidblog Video Tutorials scroll down to middle of page Text Directions to set up | (New Kidblog Features tutorial video including using the Secret Code feature for creating a class)
11. Student self assessment with Google Forms
12. Groups We Belong To - Help students identify the kinds of groups they are born into and join. (K-2)
13. It's My Life: Multimodal Autobiography Project - Students exchange ideas with one another and share important events in their lives through PowerPoint presentations. (9-12)
14. Making Good Decisions - Encourage students to practice the skill of reasoned decision making. (K-2)
15. Exploring Parts and Wholes - Students explore how parts of something are related to the whole thing. (K-2)
16. Exploring the Power of Language with Six-Word Memoirs - Students examine the power of word choice as they write six-word memoirs about their lives. (9-12)
17. I used to think, but now I think ...
18. Empathy and Caring Lessons:
18b. Books the teach empathy K - 1219. When People Steal From Me
20. SuperMe Improve on your strengths and weaknesses. Online game
21. Helping Students Develop Their Capacity For Self-Control
22. It's Who I Am
23. High Five
24. Monitoring Negativity
25. Responsible Youth in the News
26. Stakeholders Lesson
27. Student-Led Parent Conference
28. The Big Book of Judgment
29. Group Assessment