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!!!

Fall Down 7 Times, Get up 8: Week 1

Fall Down 7 Times, GET UP 8 - Teaching Kids to Succeed

Welcome to our 2017 Alternative Education Spring Book Study! We are looking forward to reading and discussing Debbie Silver's book, Fall Down 7 Times, Get Up 8 - Teaching Kids to Succeed. The audio, digital, hardback, or paperback version of this book can be purchased online from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Here are some particulars to help you as you participate in the book study:

• To register for the book study please complete this registration form. 
• A prompt or question will be posted here on the blog every Monday morning.
• The reading assignment will always accompany the prompt/question.
• To receive notifications when posts are made, click Join this site or Follow by email in the bar to the right.
• This book study will last for eleven weeks. Respond to one of the three prompts each week - then feel free to make comments regarding comments left by other members in our book study. The more interaction there is between participants, the richer and more beneficial the conversation will be.
• In addition to the amazing connections and powerful learning of being in the book study, participants who make a meaningful contribution to every week's discussion will be awarded 20 PGPs.
• Your first week's assignment is to introduce yourself in a comment to this blog post. Just click the comments link below this post and enter your comment in the text box. You will need to be logged in using a Google account. In your introduction be sure to include your name, school and/or corporation, and what your role there is.
• If you have any problems commenting, please email Julia Johns at jjohns@doe.in.gov
• Your reading assignment for next week is the Preface and Chapter 1, Self-Motivation -What Is It and How Do We Use It to Empower Children?