Fall Down 7 Times, Get up 8: Week 11

After reading Chapter 10, FAQs About Teaching Students to Be Successful, choose two of the five questions below - and provide us with examples that are applicable to your environment.

1) Explain how differentiated instruction supports the concepts of self-efficacy and self-determination.

2) America has taken pride in telling its citizens, "People can be anything they want to be through hard work and determination." After reading this book, would you modify that statement? Justify your response.

3) What do you do if your philosophy about using rewards is in conflict with the way your school or system mandates?

4) Has anything in this book changed your mind or affirmed your beliefs about dealing with reluctant learners? Describe an aha moment you had during any of your readings or group discussions.

5) Do you think that the idea of positive thinking is disrespectful to the countless students whose circumstances are abominable and beyond their control? Do you agree that an emphasis on self-efficacy is just another way to blame disadvantaged people for their circumstances? Explain why you feel the way you do.

Thank you so very much for participating in our spring book study, I have really enjoyed all the discussion - and reading through your thoughts on building student resiliency!!!

I will do my best to have PGP certificates emailed to you by next Friday, April 7, 2017.

***Have a great week :)

Fall Down 7 Times, Get up 8: Week 10

After reading Chapter 9, Inspiring Young Children, choose one of the three questions below - and provide us with examples that are applicable to your environment.

1) How can teachers/admin/support personnel foster a sense of competence (being effective in one's environment) in student (elementary, middle school, or high school).  Name some specific strategies.

2) Discuss an instance in which you helped a student  overcome an obstacle. How did you decide when to push and when to pull back as you tried to get the student to try something new? Are there key things to look for when encouraging a child to take a risk? What are they?

3) Name some ways that adults sometimes inadvertently contribute to learned helplessness in students. What is the difference between being supportive of a student and enabling a student to be helpless? Give examples.

***Next week we will read and discuss Chapter 10, FAQ's About Teaching Students to Be Successful. 

***Have a great week :)

Fall Down 7 Times, Get up 8: Week 9

After reading Chapter 8, Helping Students Stay Motivated as They Get Older,  choose one of the three questions below - and provide us with examples that are applicable to your environment.

1) There are current education experts who believe that late student work should be accepted without a penalty. Does this practice enable students to procrastinate? Should there be a consequence for assignments that are not turned in on time? Discuss and defend your answer.

2) Talk about various ways to help  older students learn to fail better. Should adults actually be teaching kids about failure when our ultimate goals is to teach time to succeed? Explain why or why not?

3) Do you think it is harder for students to maintain their sense of motivation as they grow older? Discuss your opinion and give examples to support your beliefs.

Additional Resources: 
Procrastination  
12 Reasons Why Students Procrastinate  
Procrastination - Proofing Students  
Procrastination in Students  
Procrastinating in the Classroom 

***Next week we will read and discuss Chapter 9, Inspiring Young Children. 

***Have a great week :)

Fall Down 7 Times, Get up 8: Week 8

After reading Chapter 7, Autonomy,Time, and Flow, choose one of the three questions below - and provide us with examples that are applicable to your classroom/school.

1) List specific ways you encourage student autonomy in your classroom. Which ones work the best for your students? What are some additional strategies you might try?

2) If a student is struggling with a response to a question, what are some appropriate ways a teacher can help him/her try to uncover the answer? Why is it important to stay with the student and not just move on quickly to the next class member?

3) If you could design the most advantageous schedule for student learning at your school, what would a typical day be like in your classroom?

Additional Resources: 
Student Autonomy

Achieving a State of Flow 

Can Schools Help Students Find Flow?

8 Tips for Fostering Flow in the Classroom

Help Your Students Get Into the Learning Flow

***Next week we will read and discuss Chapter 8, Helping Students Stay Motivated as They Get Older.

***Have a great week :)

Fall Down 7 Times, Get up 8: Week 7

After reading Chapter 6, Examining Rewards, choose one of the three questions below - and provide us with examples that are applicable to your classroom/school.

1) Which areas of the subject(s) you teach do students seem to find the least engaging? What are some ways, other than using rewards, you can encourage them to tackle the more mundane tasks?

2) Do you believe there are any constructive long-term benefits of rewards? Explain if and when you think they are appropriate or why you think they are never appropriate.


3) Some districts and schools are moving to mandated system-wide rewards to boost student test scores and help close the achievement gap. Do you support that idea? Why or why not?

Additional Resources: 

Strategies to Build Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic Motivation

How and Why Intrinsic Motivation Works


***Next week we will read and discuss Chapter 7, Autonomy, Time, and Flow. 

***Have a great week :)

Fall Down 7 Times, Get up 8: Week 6

After reading Chapter 5 , Mindset - The Key to Self-Motivation, choose one of the three questions below - and provide us with examples that are applicable to your classroom environment.

1) In "Elizabeth's Dilemma," Dweck (2006) gives five possible choices. Did your initial response change after you read the narrative describing Dweck's explanation about each choice? Why or why not?

2) Carol Dweck's (1999, 2000, 2006) mindset theory derives from her initial interest in attribution theory. How do you think her research on attribution theory led their to her conclusions about mindsets?

3) What is the difference between working harder and working smarter? How can you guide a learner to work smarter?


Additional Resources:

Meet the Robinsons - Keep Moving Forward
Brain Growing Videos
Growth Mindset Videos
Power of Believing You Can Improve - Carol Dweck  
Power of Belief 
Growth Mindsets and Motivation 
Growth Mindsets in the Classroom via Pinterest 

***Next week we will read and discuss Chapter 6, What Do I Get for Doing It? (Examining Rewards). 

***Have a great week :)

Fall Down 7 Times, Get up 8: Week 5

 After reading Chapter 4, Attribution Theory, choose one of the three questions below - and provide us with examples that are pertinent to your classroom/situation.

1) How can helping students understand the concept of attribution theory help them gain self-efficacy? Give examples of how adults can do this.

2) Discuss students you presently teach or you have previously taught who show indications of learned helplessness. How have you previously dealt with the problem? 
Is there anything you would do differently now?  

3) List several ways teachers communicate both positive and negative expectations i the classroom. Record both verbal and nonverbal cues. Can you describe some that are subtle but still powerful? 


Additional Resources: 

Attribution Theory in the Classroom

Attribution Theory

Attribution Theory in the Classroom via Prezi

Learned Helplessness

Avoiding Learned Helplessness

Strategies to Combat Learned Helplessness

7 Keys to Effective Feedback

Tips for Providing Students with Meaningful Feedback

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy


***Next week we will read and discuss Chapter 5, Mindset - The Key to Self-Motivation. 

***Have a great week :)

Fall Down 7 Times, Get up 8: Week 4

 After reading Chapter 3, Self-Regulation, Deliberate Practice, and Failure, choose one of the three questions below - and provide us with examples that are pertinent to your classroom/situation.

1) Do the findings from Mischel's (1998) classic marshmallow study confirm or challenge your beliefs about students and instant gratification? Explain your answer.

2) Discuss various methods you have used (or have observed someone else use) to help students learn to control implusivity. What are additional strategies you are willing to try?

3) The author offers an explanation for why she thinks the words for now are important when helping students learn self-regulation. What are some other words or strategies adults can use to assist students learn to delay gratification? 

Additional Resources:  

Affects of Instant Gratification in Learning  

 16 Ways To Promote "Grit" and Delayed Gratification in the Classroom

Mindful Classroom Management  

Fall Down 7 Times, Get up 8: Week 3

After reading Chapter 2, Zone of Proximal Development, choose one of the three questions below - and provide us with examples that are pertinent to your classroom/situation.

1) What are the risks of allowing students to work solely in their levels of competence without challenging them to attempt difficult tasks or concepts.

2) The author states, "It is not reasonable to hold a student accountable for information presented solely in narrative he cannot read." Do you agree with that statement? Why or why not? List strategies that could be used with a struggling learner other than just admonishing him to reread the text.


3) There are educators who argue that the ability to read is the cornerstone for every other subject taught in school, so students who cannot read the required text or the assessment instruments should not be able to move forward until they can. Others believe that teachers should offer content knowledge in a myriad of methods so that students progress in their various subject areas while they are honing their reading skills. Where do you stand on this issue? Defend your answer. 

PS...Please make sure your Blogger ID has you name in it...that way I can make sure I award PGP points to the correct person..thank you so very much!

Additional Resources:  

 Zone of Proximal Development

 6 Scaffolding Strategies to Use With Your Students 

Fall Down 7 Times, Get up 8: Week 2

In the Preface of Fall Down 7 Times, Get Up 8, Debbie Silver states, "I am not concerned as much with 'why we are this way or that way' as I am about how we can make things better for every learner" (Silver, 2012). I love this statement, because as an educator I only had 90 minutes every other day to teach my standards, differentiate my instruction, while at the same trying not to get sucked into the dark vortex of negativity regarding how students have changed over the years - how they lack self-motivation, self-direction, self-efficacy, etc. I would rather not dwell on a problem, but instead come up with a solution! I have a feeling that you are all of the same mindset, which is why you joined this particular book study - yahoo!!! 

After reading Chapter 1, please give us your thoughts on: 

1. Ways adults intentionally and/or unintentionally undermine children's self-efficacy. 

2. Changes that need to be made in our schools to do a better job of fostering self-efficacy in young people? 

3. Ways that you can/or do foster self-efficacy in your classroom. 

Additional Resources:  

The Entitlement Epidemic 

Empowering At-Risk Students  

5 Ways to Empower Students  

Empowering the Whole Child  

Self Efficacy

Amy Chua


***Thank you for your willingness to participate in our fall book study, and for taking the time to introduce yourselves to each other – I know you have been mega busy with getting your school year off to a great start. 

***If you are joining in the conversation for the first time this week, be sure to go back to last week’s post and introduce yourself. Also, please register for the book club by completing this registration form  The registration form makes it easier to award PGP points at the end of the study. 

***Additionally, a few names are showing up as “unknown” when you make your comments. Please make sure your Google profile is complete, so that I can see who is making comments – otherwise, I don’t know who to award points to.

***Next week we will read chapter 2, Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).   
Have a fantastic week!!!