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.
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***Next week we will read chapter 2, Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).
Have a fantastic week!!!
Have a fantastic week!!!
So many teachers have such high demands on them...therefore, teachers are constantly rushing through lessons, activities, etc. This in a sense--causes teachers to not always allow the students to have ample time to answer questions, do their work, and figure out the answers on their own without guidance. We don't always follow through with our circumstances because there isn't always time to do so, unfortunately! Also, kiddos are coming into class with a sense of entitlement--they might not ever have to deal with circumstances, being told "NO", or ever have to make a choice at home! And we as teachers are trying teach all that we are expected to as well as trying to stretch their little minds and to help them learn to make choices---dealing with the consequences of not making good or the right choices! It's an uphill battle at all times! I know that sometimes we get so frustrated with kiddos who don't always pay attention and yet sometimes unintentionally we don't always help them recover from their mistakes/failure! We need to help the students remember that failure is a part of life and that it's okay to fail as long as you are learning from the mistake and working hard not to let it happen over and over and over!
ReplyDeleteSchools so much these days are focused on the rewards system and sometimes too much! I do feel that we should have rewards but they should be harder to reach--causing students to stretch themselves to learn and to make the right choices! I feel that we should be talking with the kiddos about responsibility, respect, and so many more life lessons! I know it all comes down to time but as a school---we need to focus on those things in the hall, at lunch, etc! Have school wide verbage and words listed in the halls, bathrooms, everywhere as constant reminders!
My goal in the classroom, yes in the end is to have all students at grade level, but honestly on a daily basis it is for each student to do better at an assessment/activity than they did last time! I feel that goal setting and tracking progress is very important! I want the students to grow personally---not always be compared to the fastest, smartest, most social student! Personal growth weighs more than growth amongst your peers!
Oh I love this Holly, "We need to help the students remember that failure is a part of life and that it's okay to fail as long as you are learning from the mistake and working hard not to let it happen over and over and over"...very well said! Students, of all ages, need help with "properly" experiencing and learning from failure - to help build stamina, perseverance, and grit! Thank you so very much for sharing this week :)
DeleteI think you hit the nail on the head. As teachers we are so hurried. We do need to pay attention to that.
DeleteThanks for your insight.
Yes we need to be able to teach children that failure is part of life. I'm not sure how you do that. Some kids take it so seriously when they fail. They don't know HOW to look past it or learn from it. They just want to stay in the failure and give up. It's sad and heartbreaking. I have a third grade boy in my class that goes around telling everyone how poor his family is. I think he's looking for hand outs and sympathy. I'm just tired of it! So he has learned at age 9 to sound pitiful and people will feel sorry for you and give you stuff. That's sad indeed. I'm not sure how to fix it or if I even can.
DeleteThe minute I started reading this book, I knew I was going to like it. To foster self-efficacy in our school we have adopted the 5 critical values, and the 9 core values. Each morning on the announcements, the principal always has some type of words of wisdom she shares that refer back to our critical values (Have the courage to: be honest, be respectful, be responsible, be fair, and be compassionate). In addition to this, each month a core value (zest, grit, self control, optimism, gratitude, social intelligence, curiosity, the 4 C's and employability skills) is recognized and to kick it off, all students, 1,200 of them, file into the gymnasium for a whole school convocation related to that core value. Teachers then continue to promote them on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteAs I reflect on my own class, I think about all the collaboration we do to promote STEM learning. We are currently working on an engineering challenge to create a "Fling Machine" to launch a cotton ball. Many students have asked if they are going to receive a failing grade if their launch is not good. I have to remind them that if the launch fails, it's not a result of them being a failure, but that the structure itself is not the most optimal and that with their team, they can modify their design and retest it. The learning outcome here is not who can get it the farthest, but working through a problem and finding the best solution that they can. It is so common for students to think of every task as a pass or fail, but hopefully as they continue through PLTW, they will recognize that engineers, scientists, ALL people are problem solvers, and "failure" is not directed at them internally but as an external problem that they can solve with their intrinsic skills.
I want to come to your school and classroom. I love that you are making a fling machine. Very encouraging.
DeleteWe do Core Values at our school as well. I love the idea of having a monthly kick-off! I'm going to try to make that happen at our school. Thanks!
DeleteOur school has a "positive word" read over the intercom each morning. The problem is that sometimes it's a kindergarten or first grader reading it and by the time they're finished I have no idea what the word is or the definition. Most teachers just tune it out.I feel like we need something new or a new way of presenting it perhaps. Marcella Haupt, what are the 5 critical values and the 9 core values. How did your school "adopt" these?
Delete1. When I think about adults undermining children’s self-efficacy, my thoughts go to my role as a father rather than a teacher. As I was reading this book, I was convicted about all the times that I created entitlement and not self-efficacy in my son simply because I didn’t have the time or the energy to focus on the situation. I think creating self-efficacy takes energy and creativity. I have to find ways to help my son figure it out himself. I have to try to communicate to a 3 year old what ownership really means. I feel like many times creating entitlement is just “easier” in the short run. Instead of helping him or teaching him to do the task, I just do it myself. Instead of communicating to him why having a 3rd cookie isn’t good for him, I just give into his complaining. I need to have the mentality that, winning the short-term battles now, will help my son win the tougher battles in the future. I think this principle also applies to being a teacher.
ReplyDelete2. I think a great start would be to have this conversation in the school/corporate level, and also with the parents. I think both parents and teachers should understanding the difference between entitlement and self-efficacy and how each contributes to the long term success or failures of the student. Self-efficacy is a concept that appeals to real life. Most adults who had a job or two will understand true self-confidence and success comes not from superficial accolades, but actual accomplishments and demonstration of resiliency. Humility comes from a truest sense of confidence, and I think teachers and parents can agree that humility makes great students. After the teachers and the parents are on board, I think these ideas should be discussed with students. I think many students don’t even know they are living in entitlement. The first step to foster self-efficacy is to clearly define it, and then contrast it with entitlement.
3. Finally, I can foster self-efficacy by catering the curriculum to each student so that the student is right in the margin of being significantly challenged without facing an impossible task. Since each of my students is at different levels, this needs to be done on a student by student basis. Specific goal setting and checking up on these goals should be emphasized on a daily level. I think for me, the challenge is to find that sweet spot, and also to convince the student that self-efficacy is to their benefits in the long run. Many students, by the time they get to me, have already “checked out” of the education system. The first step is to sell them on the idea that learning resiliency and problem solving skills will help them in the future.
Hi Andrew :)
DeleteI agree completely with your comment, "I think both parents and teachers should understanding the difference between entitlement and self-efficacy and how each contributes to the long term success or failures of the student"...I think this conversation would definitely have to begin at the district level - and include all stakeholders - especially parents - just so that everyone is on the same page regarding a clear understanding of how teaching students about self-efficacy would truly benefit them both in school and as they move into adulthood. Thank you for sharing this week!
1. When I started to read this chapter, it made me feel like a horrible parent! I always tried to build up my daughters self-esteem...I now realize I was part of the self-esteem movement!
ReplyDelete2. I believe a change we could instill at our school would be the comment in the book about not entertaining and instead focus on engagement...We have also been working with STEM and doing STEM nights at our school and it is so lovely to see the parents be so involved with their children during the projects!
3. We have been working with a differentiated instruction consultant and really trying to work on our engagement. Also, the language we use can be helpful with students...not always praising, but bringing it back to the student and asking them how it made them feel.
I was thinking the same thing -- what a horrible parent I've been at times. I didn't really see it until I read this chapter. Although as I think about it more, I did say no at times, but I still made excuses instead of empowering them.
DeleteI agree that we shouldn't entertain but focus on engagement but I'm not sure how to accomplish that. I feel the world we live in is surrounded by instant gratification and entertainment. There's always something new happening on TV or a game every few seconds that I feel as a teacher, we have to entertain in order to teach or we "lose" these kids. Their mind wanders to something else and it's a constant struggle to keep their attention.
Delete1) Ways I feel adults intentionally/unintentionally undermine children's self-efficacy is by doing the work for them because it's easier and quicker than waiting for them to do it, or we don't have to listen to them complain. Another way, is by not giving children tasks that challenge them.
ReplyDelete2) We need to challenge our students more (at their current level) so they see they are attaining goals they didn't think were possible to attain.
3) In my classroom I have been working on applying differentiated instruction type projects so that children can choose based on their interests them to learn more about the given topic. I also have and am currently doing Genius Hour. Last year my students really got into their research and projects to learn about something they were passionate about.
" by doing the work for them because it's easier and quicker than waiting for them to do it, or we don't have to listen to them complain"....oohhhhh Amen..I am guilty of doing this myself for my nieces and nephews! But you are absolutely correct - we need to give them tasks that challenge them - so they can learn to be independent and stand on their own two feet - thank you for sharing Annastasia :)
DeleteThis December, at our holiday party, we made some simple ornaments. Each kid had an ornament kit. Parent volunteers walked around as I did, supervising. The kits were in plastic bags. "Will you open this for me?" came student cries. I replied, "No, stick your thumb through the plastic and rip it open. You can do it!" EVERY PARENT IN THE ROOM when asked the same question, opened the bag for the kid! You can imagine how the rest of the ornament making went if the parents enabled them on opening the bag!!!
ReplyDeleteIn the book it says, "we have robbed them of the very essence of what builds resilience, persistence, courage, patience, and joy."
No wonder these kids think I'm the meanie when I have such high expectations of them in the classroom.
We must stop doing things for kids and equip them to do things for themselves!
Our kids do all of their work on Edgenuity and, for that reason, can access music while working. They tend to listen to music instead of listening to the lectures and they don't take notes...then they get upset when they can't pass tests and/or quizzes and I won't help them. They act like I'm such an awful person because I won't walk them through and help them with the quizzes/tests, but I always explain that in order to be successful, they have to put in some effort. They eventually learn, although, with some it takes a while.
Delete""we have robbed them of the very essence of what builds resilience, persistence, courage, patience, and joy." Amen!!! LOL you are not the meanie...you are the one they will remember who believed "they COULD DO IT"..and you held your ground until they did...you rock!
DeleteUnfortunately, adults intentionally or unintentionally undermine children’s self-efficacy. I prefer to think we undermine children’s self-efficacy out of the goodness of our hearts. As adults, parents, teachers, friends,...we only want what is best for the child. We try to soften life’s hard lessons by either doing things for children or solving their problems so they don’t feel (experience) hardships. We also undermine children’s self-efficacy for selfish reasons. We don’t like to see children fail! “Early in my teaching career, the trend was to build children’s self-esteem by making sure everyone was a winner.” (Silver, 2012) Naturally and society driven we assume fault in a student’s failures. Thinking to ourselves, “I must not be doing a good enough job if the student failed.” Additionally, we work diligently to create peaceful classrooms that foster learning. With high stakes tests, we need to keep students moving through the curriculum, seemingly not having time for students to learn lessons and problem solve on their own. This is destructive and is helping to create a generation of entitled students. (See? Assuming fault). We need to remember that we should not do for students what they can/and should do for themselves.
ReplyDelete“We need to shift our focus from doling out unmetered praise in hopes of raising their self-esteem to helping them understand the power they have in making positive choices and sustained efforts.” (Silver, 2012) As a school, we need to make students aware that their choices have positive or negative consequences and that what they learn in school are the “building blocks” for their future successes. We also need to build upon their natural inquisitive nature. I am inferring this means we take the curriculum and present it in a way that students will want to research, investigate, and solve problems. Additionally, we have to empower students to see they are capable of learning.
There are ways I can foster self-efficacy in my classroom. According to Silver, 2012, I need to show students that their efforts are connected with outcomes. I have to help my students feel confident and empowered. To empower them means, I help them see there is a huge world of opportunities and that they are in charge of their own paths. I have to be consistent in allowing students to explore the effects of effort or lack of effort. It will be important for me to develop a language that consistently expresses the possible outcomes of striving to do well in school as opposed to choosing not to be educated.
Ahhhh Liz, I agree completely! I think educators (ESPECIALLY)want to soften the blow of life and help build the self-esteem of our students - many of whom we know haven't had the "best hand" dealt to them...but I love your comment, "As a school, we need to make students aware that their choices have positive or negative consequences and that what they learn in school are the “building blocks” for their future successes. We also need to build upon their natural inquisitive nature" I agree completely...this is how we can help them fight for their own self-esteem in the future! Thank you so much for sharing this week!
DeleteI believe that adults are struggling with letting students/children fail at a task. We have become so concerned with how failing will make a child feel or even the reaction a parent might have to a child failing, that we are giving to much guidance. This guidance is not intended to be negative, however, the results of always rushing to the aid of a struggling student is allowing students to form a crutch on which the student is becoming reliant, and even expecting to have. We as educators and parents need to start allowing more failing, more trial and error, and pushing for perseverance. We need to help foster a curiosity about how to solve a problem, versus giving all of the means to solve a problem without requiring students to give effort first.
ReplyDeleteAs an educator, I try to allow for students to collaborate and persevere through difficult tasks without a lot of assistance from me. I try to show the students, with their successes, that they are able to be independent thinkers and can accomplish hard tasks if they set their mind to it.
I agree that we have become so concerned with how failing will make our students feel, and how the parents might react, that we tend to give too much guidance. It would be beneficial for the schools to help parents understand the idea of self-efficacy so they have a better understanding of what to expect in their child’s classroom.
Delete1. I feel adults undermine children’s self-efficacy when we don’t give them enough opportunities to use problem solving skills when learning. We show them one way to do things, and sometimes expect them to use the same strategy that we teach them. We are also in a hurry to get through our lessons for the day that we don’t give them ample time to work through problems. Another way is that we don’t give children specific feedback. We may say things about how smart they are or that they did a good job, but don’t focus on how they came to an answer or how they solved a problem.
ReplyDelete2. I think schools need to foster self-efficacy by giving students more opportunities to practice their skills, and to share their experiences with each other. When they have conversations about their mistakes and overcoming failures, it can influence their self-efficacy in a positive way.
3. When I was in the classroom, one thing I had my students do was to set goals for themselves. I wanted them to see their ability to improve on something, not comparing it to a number/percent based on the person they sat by or the entire class. This allowed them to see their success. I would then meet with them and go over their goals and discuss their concerns/celebrations of their work. I also tried to recognize students, even those that had low self-efficacy, when they solved a problem, didn’t give up on the first try, or tried a different approach. Sometimes I would talk to the student(s), and ask them to share (or ask if I could). I wanted them to talk about how they might have felt frustrated, but didn’t give up. It wasn’t always about who got the right answer.
"When they have conversations about their mistakes and overcoming failures, it can influence their self-efficacy in a positive way." WELL SAID..this is a perfect way to define what self-efficacy is to students - and how they can acquire it and improve on it as a life skill! Thank you so much for sharing this week Stacie :)
DeleteI think the greatest impediment in letting kids develop a sense of efficacy, as both a parent and a teacher, is time. An answer or a task is often seen as absolute in being right or wrong, and very little time and energy is given to celebrating the process and progress. There is always more to do, and a sense of urgency fills most of our classrooms and homes.
ReplyDeleteI remember being a paraprofessional in several special education classrooms while working on my Masters and watching how some teachers provided everything - all tools and supplies doled out and at students' desks, and how efficiently they used time to teach and practice skills. Other teachers expected kids to bring everything with them to the Resource room every day. (The reward for the student when they failed to do so was wasting time. No pencil...no math.) Students were definitely more productive and made great gains on test scores in the first room over the later, but in neither setting did they get self-efficacy as part of their daily lives and lessons.
As a parent it took a long time to get comfortable with letting my children experience natural consequences, like being cold if they forgot a jacket or being hungry if they failed to pack a snack. Fear of letting your child be physically, emotionally, or socially uncomfortable is a huge issue for most adults. Seeing them fail or underachieve academically, feeling like your child or student is falling behind, is often more uncomfortable for adults than the child. I still struggle with it. Anyone who has raised a child knows that the emotional and social cost of failing gets higher and higher as your child ages - not getting invited to the all-class birthday party, not getting invited to the prom, etc. Finding the right blend of teaching, parenting and guiding vs doing it for them is tough. And again the sense of getting to everything and not wasting time can be paramount.
In my special education direct services classes I think one of the best things I do for my students involves the Fix It/Finish It folder. Rarely does a student work on a task a single time. We spend time every week re-visiting our assignments to finish what was undone, fix what was missed, and, perhaps more importantly, improve on our first attempt. I stress that even a correct short-answer response can be improved, a paragraph can have more information, a map or diagram can have more detail. One of the consequences of this policy is that my students learn that the more effort they initially put into a task will pay off for them later.
I have tried to create a policy in my room for my students that they will always have access to what they need to do a task, but they need to do it for themselves, "How will you get started?" and "What do you need to do to solve your problem?" gets repeated a lot in my classroom. It takes a lot of time and energy to work through these kinds of conversations with middle-school students, and I am grateful that the smaller direct services class sizes exist that allow me to do it. Students struggling in a team-taught or full Gen Ed class often fly below the radar or the teacher is so overwhelmed by the needs that the enabling practices start to happen for the sake of time, productivity, and getting to the skill standard.
I like the idea of "Fix it/Finish it" Folder. What grade level do you teach?
DeleteHi Kristin...I agree with Susie..the Fix it/Finish it folder sounds like a great way to help students build not only self-efficacy, but also perseverance/grit...something our students will need throughout their lifetimes...but I think you are correct about time being such a big issue...but I am hoping that through this study we can generate some awesome ideas (such as your fix it/finish it folder) that can be incorporated throughout a teacher's/students' busy day. Thank you so very much for your input this week!
Delete1) I believe there a few ways that we, as adults, undermine children's self-efficiency. First, we want them to feel successful right out of the starting gate so we tend to help them immediately instead of giving them time to learn/discover the solution on their own. We don't want to see children fail so we feel we need to help them as much as possible. However, this becomes a crutch for many to the point where children feel like they cannot do anything on their own without a lot of help. They, too, are afraid to fail because we do not let them.
ReplyDeleteAlso, as adults, we may want to rush their thinking processes because they're not getting the answer as fast as we think they should. By stepping back and letting the kids learn with some guidance, they will feel more accomplished and proud of their discoveries.
2) Changes that need to be made in our schools to help students foster self-efficacy include allowing them to fail knowing that they truly worked hard on their own towards coming up with a solution to the problem. I truly believe that effort is key. If the child puts forth the effort, they will succeed and feel that they can accomplish more throughout their education and life. A sense of ownership for their hard work.
3) Ways that I could foster self-efficiency in my classroom would be to show them that their effort is key to their future. As shown in the book, a child will accomplish more knowing that their effort was rewarded in a positive way. Intelligence can is nothing if someone doesn't put forth the effort. Praising a student for his/her hard work will provide more motivation for the student to continue working hard even if the topic may seem difficult. Their intelligence is not predetermined. They are in charge of how much they can learn and achieve.
I agree that most parents do not want to see their child struggle. When it is that very struggle that teaches their child some satisfaction of knowing they can succeed. All of those small steps add up to a sustained effort which gives empowering moments for the student and parent . Success often comes in small steps. As educators we need to allow our students to work through a task on their own. Let them experience trial and error and at some point failure. It is only after some failure that the student can look back and see what went wrong. This will help create a problem solver Not someone waiting for the answer to be handed to them.
ReplyDeleteI know for me personally the only way I could learn somethings is by making mistakes. Human nature doesn't enjoy being wrong and failing, but within a safe environment that seems to be a very effective way of learning.
DeleteI already hate seeing my children struggle and they are only 6,4, and 2. I know I need to step back and let them learn but it won't be easy.
Delete1. I think that one way adults in education undermine children's self-efficacy is by providing credit for work that lacks substance. This seems to be a never ending battle with students. I often have students that initially are angry with me because I will not give them credit for work they have done incorrectly or is only partially complete. I get the "entitled" attitude of something written on a paper should equal points regardless of what that "something is." I generally provide an opportunity to correctly redo the assignment after checking for understanding and have found that students, while they may be argumentative at first, are proud of themselves when they accomplish the task - a high-five moment! I always try to explain to students the reason for my methods, and for this, I explain to them that one does not receive pay for painting a house if one has mowed the lawn instead, so why should they receive points for doing the assignment wrong? I tend to think that this is how it works in the professional world, so why should it be otherwise in education?
ReplyDelete2. One change that should be made in our schools to foster self-efficacy in young people is to move away from this idea of changing the assignment to fit the needs of the child. I understand the differing learning styles of my students, and I develop my instruction to support those learning styles, but I worry when the output, assignments, or projects given to our students do not reflect the real life products that they will be expected to produce in their professional life. I think that self-efficacy is negated when we allow students or instruct students that is is okay, for example, to paint a picture instead of writing an essay if writing the essay was the assignment. How does one explain or justify to a student that they are successful, if they have not completed the task but were just allowed to do something that was easy for them. This not only makes a student feel inferior, it also undermines the task.
3. I try to foster self-efficacy in my classroom by talking with students about goals in relation to failure and success. I do not give credit for work with no substance. I provide models. The film The Pursuit of Happyness is a good model. I also talk to them about how I handle failure and how my former students have turned failure into success. I talk about cognition and how their brain is in constant development.
As I was reading this chapter, I was able to relate it to both my classroom and my role as a mom.
ReplyDeleteIn the classroom, I think it is so important to set goals for your students and to discuss these goals with them. They need to know what it expected of them and what they need to do in order to reach their goals. The students need to take accountability for their education and their learning. I always tell parents that there is only so much I can do in the classroom every day and that the rest of the learning and reinforcement needs to happen with the students self-determination and also with the support system at home. I think this empowers the student to take an active role in their education. I also think self-efficacy plays a major role in behavior. Students need to take responsibility for their actions and accept the consequences for their behavior and not place the blame on others. Our school motto is stated every day on the morning announcements: Be Responsible, Be Respectful and Be Safe. I feel that this is a good daily reminder to hold yourself accountable for the day and the choices you make each day.
As a parent, I encourage my children to do their best in all areas. I do think I am guilty of sometimes entitling my children rather than empowering them, usually because entitling them is easier and less of a battle. I do feel that I am realistic with my children about their expectations at home and school. I want my children to be successful, morally well rounded adults. I think that overall self-efficacy is something that is improved with time and experiences as well. I do think that children need those TUH-Tuh-Tuh-DAH moments to feel the success of what they are doing is working. It's important to recognize those moments and be proud with them when they make those accomplishments.
I would agree that goal setting can greatly increase a student's self-efficacy. If he/she can achieve a goal he/she has already set then how empowering can that be!? The sky truly does become the limit when that occurs.
DeleteKeeping a safe learning environment is paramount to their taking risks in order to reach full learning capacity.
1. Ways adults intentionally and/or unintentionally undermine children's self-efficacy.
ReplyDeleteWe live in a world that currently strives to be sure that everyone gets something for participating. Whether it be for finishing first or dead last, everyone deserves something for their efforts. What we do not see is that the "everybody is a winner" idea doesn't apply to the real world. Sometimes effort just isn't enough. Losing is part of life. The thing that separates people is the willingness to give their best at something even if they lose. When they lose, they don't get rewarded for their efforts. Instead they go out and work harder and push themselves to improve. Those that are unwilling to do this will settle into mediocrity.
2. Changes that need to be made in our schools to do a better job of fostering self-efficacy in young people?
We spoon feed students to much. In a world of "no child left behind," responsibility is being pushed toward the teachers to find ways to reach every student. Now this is a great goal, and should be practiced, but should not relieve students of their responsibility to desire to improve their own work. In the real world, the jobs market, an employer is not going to go the extra mile to get an employee to do his or her work. They will simply find someone who will. Employers want employees that are willing to work hard at what they do.
3. Ways that you can/or do foster self-efficacy in your classroom.
In my classroom,
I try to challenge students to solve real world problems by challenging the status quo. This makes them think critically about things they may never have considered or questioned. By asking scaffolding questions, students are forced to use reason in their arguments which stresses critical thinking skills that help to generate a purpose for learning and while empowering students to think outside the box to solve problems.
The saying “Your greatest weakness often become your greatest strengths is paramount to grasping the principle of growing one’s self-efficacy. It is the “I can do it” attitude that 2-year-olds have seemed to master. How is it that when they are 2, 3, 4-years-old, they thing they can do everything even if they completely fail at it. They aren’t afraid to button a coat, or change their clothes, or even climb down the stairs on their own. Somewhere in the following 10, 11, 12 years something changes.
ReplyDeleteMy theory is that their supportive, encouraging environment changes. They lack the scaffolding needed to help them from one giant step to another. The older they get the more the focus changes on what they should be able to do rather than what they have done. Yes, there does need to be standards set, but there also needs to be that gradual building toward reaching those greater standards. The steps become bigger, the gaps, greater, and they need to be taught to focus on what they do know.
In the teenage world so much is changing, physically, emotionally, academically, that they lose grasp of what has been comfortable. Teaching them to focus on what they do know, what problems they can face and successfully do, helps them gain the ground they need to then reach higher. In order to accomplish that, teachers/schools/parents, can make a connection between outcome and effort. When within their character they have put forth the effort, they have the tools needed for success.
The Self-Efficacy Affects listed on page 5 will become my new philosophy within my classroom. Instead of pushing my students to reach a certain score or put so much weight toward content mastery (which is extremely important), I want to make more of a focus on the following five items. It will be interesting to see how this focus will impact student’s perspective and their general self-motivation.
• The choices we make
• The effort we put forth
• Our perseverance
• Our resilience
I think this sounds like a great plan Kaylee...I believe you are correct...especially with the At-Risk teens you are working with...that helping them build self-efficacy, perseverance, and resilience will pay off in the end...and will no doubt help motivate them to cross the finish line. Thank you so much for sharing this week :) And for surviving the FTE process - yahooo!
DeleteAs an adult/parent/educator I feel that I've done this unfortunately with my past students and my own children. As I read the chapter I reflected on past situations such as encouraging my own children to do a certain sport or activity because I was most familiar with that activity. Once I realized they needed to find their own notch our lives were more enjoyable:)This also applied to my students- I would try to encourage them to read certain books that I was interested in without really thinking about their interest. I quickly learned to keep quiet as they had their own ideas and if they wanted to read something of their interest, well then they were reading!
ReplyDelete2. I believe the changes that schools have made is to look at the whole child and offer many things that fit the wide range of interest. Many schools now offer many foreign language classes not just the old school of French, Spanish or Latin. Many students learn best through technology so schools offer that up to students as well. Student interest has changed over time as well in the non-academic areas that schools offer students: chess club to lego building clubs are just two examples that schools are trying to reach out to the student who isn't a typical athlete and interest them in social aspects of school.
I think as adults we've often had the mindset of "we know best" for all students and that unfortunately isn't the case. Most educators are from middle to upper class families and it is often difficult for the educator to relate or understand the interest of students who do not come from that social-economic background. I also believe that schools are driven to have every child attend college and that again is not the need of every child. A lot of students will not go onto college but does that mean they won't be successful as adults? A resounding NO! The society requires us to have all levels of employment from the blue collar worker to the white collar worker.
3. What I do as an educator is I support decisions made by the student. If a student tells me that he/she wants to go onto a 2-4 year college then I'm right there with them supporting and guiding them along the way. If a student tells me that they want to go into the work force, again I'm right there helping them fill out job resumes.
I too will follow the Self-EFFICACY Affects guidelines!
I believe that we have all given in to trying to make everyone feel good about themselves no matter what. Sometimes it is ok to not get a trophy, ribbon, etc. When we give praise and/or rewards to EVERYONE, we undermine their self-efficacy because they don't really have to work for it and they will most likely know they don't deserve it anyway. I know I sure do have a lot of 4-H ribbons that seem to not have much significance in the overall satisfaction my daughters got from the actual projects themselves. In regard to doing a better job at fostering self-efficacy in young people, we might as educators do better by learning more about their heart before trying to get to their brain. By developing a relationship with students we can find what "makes them tick" and use that to develop a sense that they can do things even if they make mistakes. I foster self-efficacy in my classroom by taking things they have been successful at and transferring it to new learning (even though it is all independent study). Just today I was talking with one of my students about how we both don't like to miss work. I gave him positive feedback in the sense that this was something he has control over and can continue to use in his life. I told him what a great characteristic that is to have! Even though he struggles academically he has many wonderful traits!
ReplyDeleteI believe that each of us went into education because we wanted to make a difference in the lives of children.
ReplyDeleteSome staff members may slip on occasion and so goes the Self Efficacy. We could all do a better job of developing relationship with parents, student s and each other. In my position in special education it is so obvious that parents want to be heard and want reassured that you have their child's best interest at heart. It truly is all about the relationship and the willingness to listen.
I am attempting to work with our special education staff to be positive and patient. Forming those relationships with students, classroom teacher and parents make communication more important.
In my opinion, the majority of educators do have a desire to foster children’s self-efficacy. After reading the first chapter of the text, however, I evaluated habits that persist in my teaching that could undermine this trait in students. Specific situations I could identify related to situations when time was sensitive or we were in a state of increased pressure due approaching assessments. There seemed to be an ease in providing an answer rather than allowing for a more student-centered approach to resolving the challenge or question. My desire to maintain my pace with my schedule dictated my decision. While this was not intentionally done, I am actively trying to be more aware of possible discussions or questions that could promote students’ self-efficacy. This first chapter helped to remind me that I need to continually place emphasize on the effort put forth and resilience presented—not only when it is convenient. (1)
ReplyDeleteWith a genuine interest in promoting student responsibility and problem solving, I do strongly emphasize student responsibility in regards to my classroom culture. We begin this with the beginning of the year and goal writing. We emphasize what are reasonable goals, how we will achieve them individually and collectively, and then create a final product that is displayed in the classroom year-round. These easily bridges into procedures developed to emphasize student accountability. For example, students are responsible for individual schedules (i.e. they are responsible for being sure that they are on time to related arts and services), homework (i.e. established procedures for where late homework can be found, up until what time, and where homework will be placed), and classroom jobs (i.e. students are responsible for daily activities such as maintaining our technology, providing our lunch count, etc.) In relation to our curriculum, we do complete STEM projects within my classroom. These projects relate to my social studies curriculum in terms of concept and integrate writing and speaking standards in their presentations. While these projects have allowed for students to continue practicing cooperation, critical thinking, and problem solving, they are still strongly teacher directed due to the parameters of each project. Ideally, this could become more student-centered if I were to provide less structure on what the project should result in. (3)
I find myself very fortune to be within a school that shares a similar philosophy. As a school, we are continuing to prompt these characteristics. Each day, we recite a school pledge that emphasizing individual responsibility and respect. We have recently been able to purchase signs to hang in the hallway of these core traits as well. Another way that we are attempting to provide such instruction is through a positive reward system that awards tickets to students who are “caught” completing such acts. These tickets are then used in a daily drawing. Continuing to have such procedures in place at the school level and classroom level will support children in developing these skills and continue to grow personally. (2)
Hi Emma,
DeleteI love the idea of goal writing and establishing specific procedures to meet those goals throughout the school year - I think this is a perfect example of teaching students about self-efficacy and taking ownership of their own learning - and success or failure. Thank you so very much for your input this week!!!
As a middle school foreign language teacher I am quite aware that many students do not see value in my class. Unless they are very bright this usually correlates with poor performance. I have seen students’ attitudes improve after satisfactorily accomplishing a task they initially did not feel good about. I also see students put forth low effort when they did not fully understand how to do something or what is being asked of them. In my classes I try to make sure my students can meet smaller goals before I ask them to do something complicated or difficult.
ReplyDeleteSomething I try to, and could do better still is can explain to me how to accomplish what is being asked. This does not only apply to higher order thinking. Often it is as simple as the fact that I can't depend on everyone to read instructions for an assignment for something I can reasonably anticipate their success. Students will do whatever they assume the should do with thinking about it. Sometimes it will be good when judged against what they thought was being asked. Sometimes it will be not only the wrong type of answer, but not even a particularly good wrong type of answer because they did not feel sure about what to do in the first place.
Another thing - very specific to my subject - I constantly have to do is help my students get around their hang-ups about Japanese being very different from English. It does not mean it is more difficult. Once they see that is simply ordered differently grammatically, but it is specifically ordered, they see the order to it and can follow the grammatical rules. Then they volunteer more when I ask for a novel sentence or the like.
Hi Luke...these are perfect examples of how you are taking the "fear of the unknown" out of your students..and helping them to be willing to tackle a new language! Thank you for sharing this week!
DeleteFirst off, I love this book so far! We do live in a world where many people have a sense of entitlement. They all want the same benefits as others even without any effort. This attitude is passed from parents to their children. I see this in the classroom, sports, and sometimes in the work force. It is easier for some to just do things for the children because it is faster, and they don’t have to put up a fight to get things accomplished. Adults don’t realize that this concept is really not preparing children for the real world. Life is not always fair, there are consequences, and you do have to work hard to earn what you want.
ReplyDeleteI think our school is headed in the right direction. We recently adopted a positive behavior plan. Students have to stop and think about their behavior. They fill out a form as to what they did, did it affect others or their learning, and what they would do differently. They have to take ownership for their behavior. We will stress the the importance of responsibility at our school as well.
In the classroom, I first feel that building positive rapport is number one. I also emphasize that it is okay to make a mistake or not do well at something as long as you learn from it, and give 100%. This atmosphere builds their confidence and students are more willing to take risks. Sometimes it is hard to let up so much control, but it is amazing what students can come up with you give them more independence. I am going to use math as an example. Many times we lay out the materials that the students need to solve the problem. There have been times I just given students a problem and told them that they could use anything they needed to solve it. I would just walk around and observe. There were times the problem would was solved many different ways using different manipulatives. Once students began sharing, it led to an amazing classroom discussion. Students debated each other and their problem solving, and ended up learning more than if I had just handed them everything they needed.
I love how you do math! What series do you use? What grade do you teach?
Delete"building positive rapport is number one. I also emphasize that it is okay to make a mistake or not do well at something as long as you learn from it, and give 100%"...WELL SAID...years ago..I am dating myself...when I started teaching..Dr. Reed was our state sup..and she always said "There are 3 R's in Education - Rigor, Relevance and Relationship - and if you start with Relationship- the other 2 will be far easier to establish" It sounds like you have mastered this in your classroom! Thank you so very for sharing this week!
Delete1. I think that sometimes adults undermine children's self-efficacy when they say they are going to something when they finish with school and adults tell them that they should pick something else. Sometimes I don't think that adults mean to do this but they just want a student to pick something that they will be good at and will be able to find a job. It is very hard to hear that a child wants to be an actor or singer when they don't like to be in front of people or they can't sing very good.
ReplyDelete2. It would be great if we could give our students more opportunities to take elective classes so they can see what they are good at. My school right now does not offer any home economics classes and I think that in the long run that could hurt some kids because they might not even know they have a passion for sewing and creating clothing.
3. One thing that I do I think that helps build self-efficacy in my room is by showing then that I care. I want my students to make mistakes and then I try to show them where they made their mistake if they ask for help. I think that a student can learn better if they can find their mistake.
Amanda, I agree with your statement of adults don't mean to tell students to pick another job. I have found adults will also say it because they see where the job is headed (ie I will hear teachers tell a student not to become a teacher when the teacher really means education has changed so much that it might not be the best but the student might take it as he/she is not good enough to be a teacher or cannot make it as a teacher.)
DeleteCompassion is huge for kids! Kudos to you!!
1. Ways adults intentionally and/ or unintentionally undermine children's self-efficacy. At my school we experience parents doing this intentionally on a daily basis. For example, parents doing their homework for them, making excuses about behavior issues at school (always someone else's fault), and bringing things to school for their children when they forget it at home instead of making their child learn from their mistakes and facing natural consequences.
ReplyDelete2. Changes that need to be made to our school to do a better job of fostering self-efficacy.
My school used to have a no excuses/ no rescue policy. Parents were not allowed to bring homework to school when the student forgot it at home. This worked for awhile until we started allowing certain parents to ignore the rule. We can also make it the responsibility of the child (intermediate and up) to stay organized and complete their homework through the use of agendas.
3.Ways that you can/ or do foster self-efficacy in your classroom.
I teach students ways to be self-motivated. Students in my classroom learn from the beginning that they are not entitled. I teach the students to manage their lives independently. My students come from low-socioeconomic homes and often have parents who are not concerned about their education. I teach the students that they are the ones that have the power to make real change in their lives through education, sacrifice, and hard work. We need to get rid of the "Everyone is a winner" mentality (participation trophies in sports). I create competition in my classroom. I have discovered that the more competitive my students become, the more successful they are. I also teach the students to feel good about themselves when they have accomplished things through their own hard work. Motivating students with rewards in fine, but we must also teach them to be self-motivated. When students are truly self-motivated they will work until they achieve academic success.
" I teach the students that they are the ones that have the power to make real change in their lives through education, sacrifice, and hard work. We need to get rid of the "Everyone is a winner" mentality (participation trophies in sports)" Amen! WELL SAID...this is the only way we can truly teach them self-efficacy and perseverance! Thank you so much for sharing this week!
Delete- I believe that adults do not want to see students fail at any task before the. We have been “brainwashed” to not allow students to fail and take risks. We are concerned about how a child might feel or how their parent(s) will react to them failing. I know that we are time crunched for time and we don’t feel like we have enough time to get through everything we need to for our lesson, leaving our students unable to get through the problems we need them to for the “test.”
ReplyDelete- I think schools need to foster self-efficacy by allowing our students to practice the skills given to them and share their experiences with their peers. When we give them feedback and talk with them about their mistakes then we can give them positive self-efficacy.
- In my classroom and in our school, setting goals is a HUGE part. We set goals for reading, NWEA, ISTEP, etc. I want them to set them goals for themselves and be able to see where they might need to improve and not comparing themselves to a number or a result. I have always said “A student is not a test score.” I meet with my students constantly to check in with them, review their goals and discuss any concerns with them. I am a huge positive reinforcer. I am constantly praising my students for their hard work and dedication.
This is our first year with NWEA and we have had each student in the building set goals. I've conferenced with each student in my advisory class and we've come up with a plan for what they can do to help reach their goals.
Delete1. Do adults intentionally and/or unintentionally undermine children's self-efficacy? I feel this is done in the way we handle the day to day small and large task of working with students or our own children. When a student is difficult to work with and being resistant it is sometimes easier to do more for the students, not pushing them to work harder and conquer higher levels. Also the quiet student that sits back and will ask question after question just looking for more and more assistance. We don't want to push either of these types of children because we don't want to see the one explode, or they are so nice and we get sucked in to just being kind hearted. Instead we should encourage and gently push them to look for answers and problem solve for themselves to help them reach higher levels of independence Encouraging students to make choices and put forth effort will teach them how to be resilient and reach higher, not giving up so quickly.
ReplyDeleteWhat changes need to be made in our schools to do a better job of fostering self-efficacy in young people? From an early age and continuing through, teachers need to encourage and be positive with students efforts and foster those actions. I like the quote, "self efficacy judgements are not necessarily related to an individual's actual ability to perform a task; rather they are based on the person's belief about that ability"(page 4). We as adults have to foster in kids a belief that they can do anything they put their mind to. Once a student believes they can tie their shoe, they keep trying, but when they don't believe, eventually they don't even try. They give up and someone else is always doing it for them.
What are some ways that you can/or do foster self-efficacy in your classroom? I try to encourage and teach self-efficacy in my classroom, by working on a students self-esteem and motivation and by praising their efforts of trying and not giving up. Just because they may not have an answer completely correct at first, I praise their efforts, the steps they have done correctly, or just for putting forth effort and trying something. Once I can get students to try, put forth effort, and to be positive with one another, they seem to be more willing to try new things. I have a policy that I will not allow students to cut down or say not nice things to others or just in general aloud. We work on saying positive words to each other and encouraging one another to not give up. The the middle school, this can be a challenge with some students that come from negative home lives, but they learn quickly that it is not allowed in our classroom here. It's fun to watch them correct their selves.
I am really enjoying this book!
I love your way of fostering self-efficacy in your classroom. I have a pretty good relationship with most of my students. They will often bring their tests to show me, some with the mindset that I will be disappointed and I always ask the same question...Did you do your absolute best on this test? If the answer is yes I say then be proud of yourself for doing your best. If they answer is no, and they are sometimes brutally honest, then we discuss ways they think they can do better next time.
DeleteSometimes a student just needs to know someone cares and it has always amazed me how just by believing in them the effort they put forth and realize what they can do when the effort is there. I have really connected with a particular student. One day he shared with me his disappointment in the fact he had few family members that would watch his upcoming ball game. I got his schedule and showed up at his game. This has led to so many great conversations as he will tell me how hard he will try for me in both sports and the classroom. Our best talks are about me explaining to him that I don't want him to do anything but be himself for me and that what I want most is for him to do all the things he chooses to the best of his ability for himself. Again, I strongly feel the best thing we can do for our students is to be real and share our failures and our success with them so they learn it's ok to not be the best at everything.
In an effort to make every child feel successful we hand out participation trophies/medals. This creates an unrealistic expectation for children. They never have the opportunity to understand that you are not necessarily good at everything and you have to find your "thing" and work hard to get where you want to get. Instead they expect to just do very little, knowing that weather or not they work hard, they will receive a reward. We are also quick to jump to their rescue and solve their problems. We don't want to see them hurt or scared, so we try to make everything better instead of allowing them to falter and get back up.
ReplyDeleteHelping students to realize their strengths and steer them toward those strengths is one way we could help them. Some students are athletes, others scientists, and other entertainers. We need to "keep it real" with them. Be honesty and straightforward. To often we try to lessen the blow by giving some feel good pep talk. We should be able to say" you can do better than this" instead of " I appreciate how hard you worked."
I believe as educators we already do many things in our classroom to build self-efficacy. A few that I use and would like to continue to foster are modeling, giving honest feedback, and helping students create obtainable goals. I often struggle with having more motivation for a student than they do for themselves. I'm going to work on helping them to motivate themselves more.
When I read this chapter, I saw my own parenting. I didn’t realize how I was entitling my own children at times. As a single parent trying to co-parent with someone who didn’t want to do so, I was tired physically and mentally at times. It was easier to give in to what my children wanted rather than cause an argument. I did say no at times, but clearly it wasn’t enough.
ReplyDeleteI see entitlement every day with the students I work with. I work at an alternative school so many of these students have already failed at the regular high school. This is their last chance to pass their classes and graduate high school. Using Gradpoint and knowing they have to have an 80 percent to pass posttests teaches them that failure is going to happen. They have to work at something in order to be successful, and they may need to keep trying if they don’t pass.
When they do pass a posttest or the review at the end of the course, we celebrate their accomplishments. I think doing this gives them a great feeling. They need these celebrations so they can see how their hard work pays off.
I also look back and realize that I too was just too tired to work at letting my own children put in the hard work. We can't be too hard on ourselves though.
DeleteGood example of celebrating accomplishments at the post test celebrations.
My children are only 6, 4, and 2 and after reading this chapter I realized I am already guilty of entitling them at times. This was definitely eye opening for me to ready. I'm glad I did. Now I can step back and try to change this for the future.
DeleteI feel that a lot of adults undermine the self-efficacy of today’s children. All too often, we hear local businesses complaining that the youth don’t want to work hard for the money they earn, they just expect it to be given to them for minimal labor. Many of the students we have in our school have struggled to succeed because they haven’t been guided through the process of working hard for their accomplishments. As many others have done, I think to my role as a parent. When my stepson came to live with us during his 4th grade year, he had a sense of entitlement. He hadn’t had to work hard for anything and didn’t understand that effort was part of achievement. Throughout his remaining elementary and middle school years, we had to stay right on top of his grades and encourage him to work hard. When he entered high school and wanted to participate in sports, he quickly realized that his grades were connected to his ability to compete. He kept expecting me to do his work for him, but I continuously guided him in the right direction without spoon-feeding him the information. He slowly improved and went on to graduate and enlist in the Army. He started out strong in his Army career, but through the years, his mom’s advice and everyone-owes-me attitude won out over the lessons we had tried to teach him when he was growing up. He decided to get out of the Army and thought he was entitled to just walk right into a 6-figure a year job because of his experience. Although we tried hard to counteract his mom’s advice, he didn’t listen to our encouragement while he was in to better his knowledge by taking college courses and earning a degree. When he left the Army, he could not figure out why he wasn’t getting the offers he thought he would get. He now realizes that, throughout the years, we were trying to teach him self-efficacy by encouraging him to try harder and work for his achievements.
ReplyDeleteMany of my students at the alternative school have this same attitude. They expect to be able to listen to music instead of lectures and then think that I am going to walk them through their quizzes so that they can pass. Our students, like many others, use an online program to complete their work. They have a certain pass rate they have to meet on quizzes and tests in order to move on in the class. As they are going through the class, I will often reset assignments if I see that their grades are low. The students sometimes get upset with me, but I explain that trying harder on the assignments will help them complete quizzes and tests with higher grades. When they are struggling with quizzes or tests, we will often go back and reset instructions/assignments in order to encourage them to pay more attention and take notes over the information. I tell my students that I am going to be more apt to help/guide them in the right direction if I see them trying to succeed than I am if I see them doing the bare minimum.
When my students are struggling on a concept, I work through the problem with them. I don’t hand them the answers, although they would like me to, but I talk through the information with them and prompt them to come up with solutions. One thing I am going to implement involves writing skills. Many of my students do not like to write and will do the very least work possible. I recently came across information from a teacher that requires the students to use a checklist to go over their work before turning in the final draft. This teacher provides students with a letter grade on their rough drafts, but no comments as to why they received that grade. The students are prompted to take the checklist and go over their papers to decipher their grade. The teacher has had great success because the students are working hard to improve their grades based on the knowledge they have learned. I’m going to implement this procedure with my students in order to make them more responsible for their writing and teach them that working hard will result in success!!!
Good example with your story of your step son. It is hard to step back and watch the disappointment but to stay away from altering the natural consequences.
DeleteI have the same issue with student's attitudes and trying to multi task during online learning time. I have really pushed implementing learning strategies that use their particular learning style. As you well know they view this as extra work but it is slowly paying off as they see they don't have to retake the tests so many times.
DeleteThe author did a nice job of explaining the differences in self efficacy and self-motivation. It was explained that adults can get in the way of a child’s natural curiosity in learning and take away that child’s opportunity to develop self-efficacy by becoming successful or failing in what they attempt. Adults (parents, teachers and other important caregivers) want a child to succeed so they arrange and help the child. This thinking is that they are helping the child to learn the way to do a task successfully or bolstering their self-esteem in allowing them to do the task successfully. When in reality they take away the “desire” to do it again. (Self-motivation)
ReplyDeleteOur schools need to go back to allowing children to fail and then try again. There were several examples of how self-motivation drive a child to do the steps and when they fail they will try again until they attained their goal. They became empowered and excited about learning additional skills. We need to duplicate that in learning curriculum. Allowing students to learn by failing but becoming empowered when they succeed in the areas that are not easy. I still think about the need for explicit instruction, but as teachers we need to leave the rest of the learning process to the student.
I don’t have a classroom, but I do work with children and adults. The information from this chapter has made me re-evaluate my instructional approach. I tend to do a lot of show and tell of how to do a skill in step by step increments. When the students begin to practice the skill, I am there to make sure that they do the steps in the right order and in the right way. I am not allowing the students to fail and then figure out what they did wrong.
I thought the author did a very nice job of giving examples at the end of the chapter that show how adults can undermine or bolster self-motivation by what the students hear. I plan to keep this in mind as well. My students are visually impaired or deaf blind and my instruction is often hand over/ under hand. I plan to be more auditory in instruction and then allow them to follow the instructions with tactile information. I plan to re-read the examples and use those strategies to set the stage for the instruction. I will let all of you know how that works!
I agree that we have gotten away from the exploration and tend towards the show and tell, but the question is: How can we fit all that we want to explore into such a packed curriculum? That's the problem I see. We do need to nourish that curiosity and love for learning!
DeleteI would say that sometimes adults intentionally and sometimes unintentionally undermine children’s self-efficacy because I have seen both. There are times where an adult believes that a child cannot do something and makes it known unfortunately. After many times of hearing that he/she cannot do it, the child begins to believe it. There are also times when an adult unintentionally undermines through the way it was phrased. A limit wasn’t meant to be put on the child but it was.
ReplyDeleteIn our schools students can be powerful for other students. The book stated that “we have to help students understand that their efforts and their choices make a tremendous difference in outcome,” which is true. Unfortunately there are adults in schools that want to control and not give power to students. When the students have ownership in what they are doing they will work until the end to accomplish the task at hand.
In the classroom, we can do a better job of giving students more choices in their curriculum. Once the instructor has set the framework for skills to be learned and taught, the student should be able to be given a handful of activities that meet that standard/skill to perform to show mastery instead of everyone having the same activity. For a teacher it is more work as far as preparation and organization but more effective for the students. Our word choice to students can also foster self-efficacy. Many times teachers are negative about the student behavior and not the student yet word choice is negative towards the student. Lastly, there are times teachers set the goals for the classroom or student without the student making any goals. If the goal is not the student’s, he/she doesn’t have an invested interest.
"Unfortunately there are adults in schools that want to control and not give power to students. When the students have ownership in what they are doing they will work until the end to accomplish the task at hand" OHHHH can we get an AMEN! WELL SAID! But sometimes I wonder if maybe if schools/teachers weren't graded as they are, via a standardized test, that maybe more adults would feel comfortable with letting go of the control, and letting students experience failure so they could develop self-efficacy, perseverance, grit, etc. Just a thought. Thank you so much for sharing this week :)
DeleteI really like this book as both a parent and as an educator! Speaking to #3, my philosophy in education has always been to really push kids to their highest potential. As Silver stated, "...when children have to stretch themselves to master new learning they are more motivated and more appreciative of what they achieve." I always try (and generally succeed) to motivate and inspire my students through my own love of reading. I then adapt their reading instruction to fit their needs. Then, I push them to read to the best of their abilities through several environments. We use goal-setting, which they are involved in. The problem we sometimes run in to is either when I can't get them to "buy in" or when a parent is more of an opponent than an advocate for reading. Most of my students are motivated when they see their progress. They appreciate the gains they are making, which we are sure to discuss. And, most importantly, they usually leave my classroom with a self-motivation for reading. Now, if I could only find that same motivation and inspiration for math! I would love some help with that!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I do not think any teacher intentionally under minds a student's self-efficacy. I believe teachers so badly want their students to succeed that they will do almost anything to help to make that happen. Unfortunately, I think it has a lot to do with high stakes testing--- let's just get through this year whatever it takes. I have heard classroom teachers speak of themselves in the 3rd person as if it is not about them--- "Now, make Mrs. Smith be proud of you." Obviously, this is about giving students a reason to succeed for someone else rather than themselves.
ReplyDeleteI believe we need to explicitly teach growth mindset thinking to students, as well as meta-cognition--- they need to understand why they are doing what they are doing. Students need to be active participants of goal setting. They need to be taught that doing well is to their best advantage.
As an elementary special education teacher, I have my students actively participate in their goal setting. Even before they are 14, I will have them pop into their Annual Case Review Meeting to share how they feel their year is going. Just this year our corporation adopted NWEA's MAP assessment. After the very first round of testing in the fall, I began to confer with students to set winter goals. I let them take the lead on what they needed to work on. 100% on my students made better than typical growth! At that moment when they heard the news of their success, I put the success on them! I shared with them the look of pride I saw on their faces, and how they should be proud of themselves because they worked hard to get that score. It is definitely a snowball effect!
The first thing that came to mind when asked what we do to undermine a child’s efficacy was “participation award.” Sigh. My son’s third year of Pop Warner football ended with a 0-7 record. They didn’t score one touchdown all season, yet, we have a trophy on the shelf! What? There is no sense of accomplishment in that trophy. There was upset and disappointment after every game, and we felt the heaviness of defeat all season long. So why give a trophy? I have learned that rewards, praise, and compliments need only be given when they are sincere. Otherwise, they have the opposite effect, and the praise almost becomes patronizing.
ReplyDeleteI truly believe that people/kids only get out what they put in. Unfortunately, as educators, we have to work within parameters that do not allow for the time needed to make the learning process happen organically. Teachers and administrators alike are under pressure to make their programs “shine.” In the meantime, or students are losing interest. I am hoping that the PLTW class that are becoming more popular now will be the fresh approach to learning that our students need. (I am actually hoping to go to a training myself.) In addition, this may sound crazy, but I feel that students should have a more vested interest in the maintenance of the school. Am I crazy? I used to help out in the lunchroom in elementary school. I loved it! Contributing to the school and your community fosters a sense of pride. After teaching horticulture in Chesterton for seven years, I realized that the students who planted bulbs and groomed the landscape in the court yard would fiercely protect the fruits of their labor if other students tried to pick the flowers or liter or the grounds.
Currently, as an alternative school teacher, I noticed that many of my students come in feeling defeated before we even start. My current approach is to get to know each students interests, and then tie those interests into lessons. This is more to keep them interested. However, if someone has a question that is especially interesting, we take a little extra time to find a thorough answer. For example, we are learning about weather, and one student wanted to know why it doesn’t thunder when it snows, but it does when it rains. The kids had fun doing the research themselves to find out why. I am really looking forward to developing new ways to engage and inspire students to reach a little higher and put in little more than they do.
We live in such a fast paced society where everyone wants instant results and it is all too easy to just jump it and "help" your child or student solve their problem of the moment so we can all move on to something new. Of course, the real problem is that no one learns anything from this. I realized this recently when trying to rush out the door with my children and my 5 year old was struggling to tie his shoes. It seemed like such a simple, quick fix to jump in and tie them for him and then we would all be on our way. I resisted the urge to jump in, gave him time to try (it took 3 attempts) and finally he got it. I gave him a high five and we ran out the door! What did he learn? He has the ability to do it, perseverance to stick with it, and self-satisfaction in a new skill mastered! It reminded me that teaching kids is not about short term fixes, but about equipping them with the skills they need to thrive in life and contribute to society. The odds are stacked against us when parents constantly make excuses for their child or pressure is put on educators to focus on the wrong aspects of teaching.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I believe is crucial to a school is an administration/principal that takes the lead in this and supports teachers in empowering their students. I also think it is important for a staff to share a common vision when teaching and talking to students. Maybe this means a common set of character traits taught or specific discipline approach. I don’t think it means losing your own style or everyone teaching the same way, but there must be sense of unity and mutual respect amongst a staff and most importantly, leadership from the administrator to stand firm and support their teachers.
In my classroom, my mantra is to “Keep trying, never give up and do your personal best.” I frequently tell students that it is okay to make mistakes, that is how we learn, but it is how you react to those mistakes that make the difference. I teach music and when a student is learning an instrument like recorder or guitar, they are bound to make mistakes and get frustrated. It circles back to our desire for instant results! So, we spend a lot of time learning what it means to practice and stick with something. Students also frequently forget to bring their instruments to class, often just leaving them in their backpacks. It would be really easy for me to let them run back and get it, but that wouldn’t teach them much responsibility. So, I rarely let them do that. Instead we talk about writing reminders in agendas and thinking about where they are going ahead of time and what is needed for that class. They face the natural consequence of not being able to play that day. Sometimes these seem pretty trivial in the grand scheme of life and some of the large problems our students face, but I am hopeful that I am helping to equip our students to face those challenges as they continue to grow.
Post above is from S. Pilcher. I'm not sure why my name didn't show up.
Delete2. Changes that need to be made in our schools to do a better job of fostering self-efficacy in young people.
ReplyDeleteThe title of our book study says it all. Students must fall and get back up. It will help them develop a capable mind in which they learn that defeat is not permanent and that success is attainable.
One way we can change is by not undermining their answers so that their work, ideas, etc. are appreciated and they feel self-confident. For example, I don't want students to fear getting an answer wrong. If they get an answer wrong then I want to guide them to the right answer. I don't want to give up on them. Then, when they get it right I can praise them for working through it and overcoming the obstacle; thus empowering them instead of entitling them.
Another change, and one that I would love to see, is to change the way we teach. Third grade is the land of the testing. We gear up and teach in a way that students are prepared for the IREAD and ISTEP. We give acuity tests, pacing guide assessments, check their level of reading 3 times per year. There's no room for creativity in teaching! It's hard for a student to become self motivated when you all you are expected to do is pass the test. But, I must add, that we have begun doing a Close Reading with an Article of the Week. This week in our reading text the "story" is an informational text about trees. Our Article of the Week is about the giant sequoia tree that recently fell in California. Now that article has sparked some discussion and some interesting questions from my third graders! :)
Finally, something has peaked their interest that they are asking good questions and are wanting more information. I would really love to have the freedom to teach creatively again.
" But, I must add, that we have begun doing a Close Reading with an Article of the Week. This week in our reading text the "story" is an informational text about trees. Our Article of the Week is about the giant sequoia tree that recently fell in California. Now that article has sparked some discussion and some interesting questions from my third graders! :)
DeleteFinally, something has peaked their interest that they are asking good questions and are wanting more information. I would really love to have the freedom to teach creatively again."....SUSIE...this is a perfect example of how great teachers, such as yourself, still generate opportunities for creativity/outside the box thinking/problem solving, etc...throughout a student's education...in spite of all the state/federal mandated standardized testing...you rock the house!!! Thank you so very much for sharing this week!
Most of my students have been brought low by an adult. So therefore, they are constantly looking for approval. They bury creativity and risk taking. I am constantly asking them to tell me what they think needs to be done and have them "teach" me in order to feel worthy.
ReplyDeleteIt angers me how testing has become our focus. Education needs to go back to Creativity and thinking outside the box. We need to allow children to fail in a safe environment, and give them coping skills that will give them the security to take chances.
When I reached the examples of entitlement and empowerment in this chapter, I realized I am 100% guilty of this at times, both with my students and my own children. I hate to admit it, but I promise it was unintentional. As I reflect back I feel like I find myself saying these things to the students in my honors classes. I’m sure I’ve said things like “You should be able to breeze right through this since you are in an honors class”, etc.
ReplyDeleteI feel like my students think they are entitled. For example, I teach 8th grade. When I go to give my first test every year (and just about every other test throughout the school year), my students always ask if it’s going to be open notebook. They always respond with how every test they took in 6th and 7th grade was open notebook. Therefore, they come to me expecting the same thing, which does not happen.
To promote/foster self-efficacy, the school district I work for has adopted what we call the 9 core values. On top of those our school also has 5 critical values. Each day our principal refers back to the critical values and core values during our announcements. By the time my students reach me in 8th grade, they definitely know the 5 critical values. I would bet money that just about every student could tell you them. We have posters and banners throughout the school referencing these values as well. From the lunch room to each hallway in the building. We also have monthly convocations related to the core value of the month where the entire school participates. Each “team” of teachers in the building is responsible for planning and putting on one core value throughout the year. We are encouraged to reference these values as often as we can. I find myself doing it often!
Hi Lindsey...this sounds awesome...what are the 9 core values and the 5 critical values?
Delete1. Ways adults intentionally and/or unintentionally undermine children's self-efficacy. In the preface, it states that: "We have led them (students/children) to believe they have a right to be comfortable, to be untroubled, and to be constantly entertained." My students come in with the "I'm bored" attitude. They are only in fifth grade but this attitude is so ingrained already. They have a habit of looking at me as though I have an extra head when I tell them that it is their job and that it will be hard work to be successful. We've reached the midpoint of the year and most of them have adjusted to my attitude, but there are others that continue to tell me that they are bored.
ReplyDelete2. Changes that need to be made in our schools to do a this better job of fostering self-efficacy in young people?Honoring hard work above seat time is one step we can take in the right direction. I often feel frustration with my students that have IEPs. They are very capable of learning and often just need support. The problem arises with they attitude that they often bring with them that they just need to sit and the answers will be provided. They seem to believe that if they wait long enough the teacher or another student will provide what they need to complete any task. We have been using the weekly broadcasts done by Eric Thomas. These are motivational, but target grit, hard work, and the way to be successful is to work hard.
Hi Martha...I hear you about the "I'm bored" attitude...I hear it from my 2nd grade niece all the time..it's like she/they feel the need to be entertained all the time..by us! I haven't ever listened to Eric Thomas..I will have to check him out. Thank you so much for sharing this week!
DeleteAs a school leader I would rather have students take charge of their education and learning instead of teachers and other adult handicapped children. We see kids in the office everyday complaining about how they have been badly treated by teacher or their peers.
ReplyDeleteThe second point is that I would like students to be empowered by the school to lead in their instructional achievement. I would like to see positive interactions between staff in alternative settings with parents and students. I don't want to encounter staff speaking negatively about student parents not being supportive or helping the kids with homework. I would like to see us saying things like "what can we do to help our parents understand our school homework policy?" I'm glad that our teaching professional bought into student led conferences that we put in place and conducted weekly. This ideal help students, teachers and parents collaborated weekly. I'm very happy when one of our teacher told a parent to please send him an email if she has questions concerning student's academic progress.
1. I find myself as both a teacher and a parent trying to fix different situations for my children/students. I, at times, have to literally talk myself down and take a step back and then encourage them as they talk about how they want to fix the situation themselves. The hard part is when I or any teacher/parent would handle the situation differently. We have to remember that we have tons of experiences behind us that has allowed us to reach our decision and we have to allow them to grow and make their own choices through their own efforts and perseverance so they develop their own resiliency.
ReplyDelete2. I believe a couple changes that schools could make to help students develop self-efficacy is that they need to be allowed to fail. I have seen schools give detentions or in school suspensions when students reach a certain number of missing or incomplete assignments. At least at the high school level, these students need to be allowed to receive the failing grade they have earned. They made the choice not to do the homework. I think far too often work is accepted for a grade no matter how late it is so the message we are sending is for them to complete the work when they feel the need and not worry about due dates. That doesn't mean we shouldn't remind them that the work is missing and accept their work, but late work needs to be accepted with a penalty. We also need to quit allowing everyone to make the team. Cuts need to be made. Why put forth the effort to truly be good if you know you make the team just because you show up.
3. As educators, I think the best thing we can do to promote self-efficacy in our students is to be real people to them. We need to share our stories with them and not just the stories where we were successful. They need to know that there are things we tried and did not succeed at and how we moved forward. We also need to encourage them and don't allow them to always take the easy way out. I often hear from students that their homework is incomplete because they just didn't have time to complete it. Well, they are quickly learning through my story that that is one excuse I will not accept from them. I share with them that while I started college at age 39 and while in college I worked 2 jobs, coached, was prom sponsor, was a town board member, a mom to 3 kids, a wife, a sister, and a daughter and time was not something I had a lot of to do with as I pleased. You make time and that's not always easy, but you find a way. I believe the best way for us to foster self-efficacy is to be real with our students/children.
I absolutely agree with your comment referencing student doing their best in what they wanted to do. Most of the time, students just need a little lift to upgrade confident on their way.
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that we have to be real with our students. They look up to us and it's our responsibility to mirror to them what kind of behavior we would like to see them display daily.
ReplyDeleteAs usual, I'm late to the table. Last year in one of our school districts, we suffered three separate teen suicides. By any standards, this is a horrific situation, and the entire community got stirred into asking questions. One of the questions we started asking amongst ourselves was whether or not we have stopped teaching our children how to deal with disappointment. As parents, we are all too often willing to do a child's battle for him/her. We give participation certificates instead of MVP trophies. Everyone gets to play; we don't keep score; we don't even teach kids how to deal with bullies. Not that any of these things is in of itself, a bad thing. However, by not teaching children how to deal with disappointment and how to resolve a conflict, are they then completely unprepared to deal with big problems, heartbreaking disappointment, real tragedy, and adult-like conflicts? This is the line of questioning that we were asking when we were talking here locally across professions: social workers, teachers, doctors, parents, clergy, etc. I hope that, as teachers, we can teach these things, but I fear that when we say no, we are become the mean teacher who doesn't like a particular student.
ReplyDeleteIn a traditional classroom, I had the opportunity to role model some of these behaviors to my students by telling stories and asking questions. In the alternative setting, things are a lot different, and I am having trouble with this teaching.
As a society I think we got stuck in the mindset of doing "better than our parents did" and in turn that idea alone led to undermining self efficacy. The idea of doing better than our parents meant that we were buying too much stuff for our children. We were not only meeting our children's needs but also satisfying their wants. Their wants turned into more wants which turned into getting more stuff for our children. This led to the children having a sense of entitlement. I also feel like for some protecting our children from hurt meant keeping them from learning through failure. We wanted our kids to learn but we also wanted to make sure that their self esteem was not damaged. This sense of entitlement and protecting children "spilled over" into our schools and also our youth programs. For example, I can remember a time when my children were in youth sport programs that everyone got a participation award and scores for games were not kept. At that time is was all about the "self esteem movement".
ReplyDeleteSchools have a lot of work to do to change this mindset. Teachers needs to get away from "warm and fuzzy" and get back to knowing each student individually and have their students reach just beyond their comfort zone to develop efficacy. Students need to build on the little accomplishments that force them to reach just beyond their comfort zone. I feel that building on these accomplishments would eventually lead to having students that are more self motivated. This is not an easy task considering most classrooms have 25 kids in them with different abilities and backgrounds. Teachers in the general education classroom are going to first have to hear ideas on how to motivate their students and then get support to implement the ideas. That is where I feel that I can help. I need to give more support to the teachers for the students that they have in their classroom. I also see my students on a daily basis for additional help. During that time I can build on the ideas in the general education classroom and develop self efficacy by having my students reach just beyond their comfort zone.
The response to each of these questions overlaps. I truly believe that adults do not intentionally undermine a child’s self-efficacy, but, in some cases simply have undermined their own. Some parents simply do not know how to motivate themselves, let alone their own children. Teaching self motivation is impossible. Parents generally want their children to have a better life than they did. Because parents want their children to succeed, they do not let them fail. Parents do not want their children to suffer failures as they have, so they simply focus on giving children an “easier way”, thus instead of helping to achieve self efficacy, it tends to lead to dependence and in some cases, more failure. In his ideas of self determination theory, Edward Deci believes es that children “seek the novel and are eager to learn until adults get into the way.” Adults tend to preoccupy children with “satisfying their own hunger or dealing with their parents’ demands” (12) These adults are not just parents, but also teachers as well as others that children believe they must answer to. Changes need to be made in the classroom that embody the idea of self determination. When Silver mentions self determination theory, I directly connected it with another article, recognized (and published in conjunction with) Deci. In his article, “Self Determination Theory Applied to Educational Settings,” Johnmarshall Reeve contends that there are two conclusions when these two intersect. “(1) autonomously-motivated students thrive in educational settings, and (2) students benefit when teachers support their autonomy” (183). According to Reeve’s research as he sharess it from a study done by Eccles & Midgley in 1989, stating that the first conclusion “means that the quality of a student’s motivation explains part of why he or she achieves highly, enjoys school, prefers optimal challenges, and generates creative products” (Reeves 183). In order to achieve this, researchers had students self report their academic motivation, Secondly, they concluded that “the quality of the student-teacher relationship,” was hugely influential in how or if a student would achieve self efficacy. We, as teachers, must teach our students to become autonomous, whether they fail at first or not. By establishing deep connections with students, as well as helping them to realize that we can be viewed as “facilitators” of knowledge, rather than the “Leader” in the classroom, students can then realize that motivation that will succeed has to come from within the individual, rather than demanded from others. We, as recognized as “facilitators,” help our students to see that we are also still learning.
ReplyDeleteCited:
Reeves, Johnmarshall. "Self-Determination Theory Applied to Educational Settings." Handbook of Self Determination. Eds. Deci, Richard and Richard M. Ryan. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2002. 183-2003.
Students’ level of self-efficacy starts at home. You can just sense in a student’s personality when they have support at home and they are encouraged to believe that if they put in the work necessary, there is nothing they cannot do. I am not in the homes of any of my students, but some come to school not believing in themselves and that has to be something that begins at home. I take care in doing my best to encourage students to go further.
ReplyDeleteOne way I believe we as teachers may be undermining the self-efficacy of students is when we group students by ability and have student complete assignments in those ability groups. I am differentiating. That is something that is very important in the classroom today. You want to make sure you are challenging those high-achieving students, but what message is being conveyed to those lower-achieving students?
I coach football. Every year the situation comes up in a game where I need a player in quick, because of an injury or a player needs a rest. Quickly I yell out “I need a wide receiver”, three or four voices answer “I will go in coach!” Only for me to pass over all of them to locate the player who is second best to the player who just came out. When I think back to those instances, it hurts because for a second those young men thought they were finally in the game only to be passed over for someone else.
As educators we should be constantly supporting students’ self-efficacy. Encouraging our students to reach for the moon. I have had the conversation with colleagues revolving around the question, “ When do we tell a student that you cannot be a doctor, lawyer, astronaut, or President? ” I love to see students have hopes and dreams of one day having a career that they can be proud of. A career that would make their parents proud. At what age do we start telling some students to be honest with themselves? I have actually asked my own middle school classes this very question and usually the class is split.
Unfortunately from what I see from students today is that self-efficacy is “un-cool”. If you care about your grades, your future, your family, then you are someone who cares. From what I see in the hallways, the students who other students gravitate to are usually students who do not care. I wish I had an answer on how to foster self-efficacy in schools. I ask my students after we take a test “who studied?” the answer is very few. I feel that even if a student did study, they won’t admit it.
In my classroom I try to constantly use positive-reinforcement. I love using the phrase “I believe in you”. The class period the day before a test we always focus that time on a study guide / study session. I try to make sure to tell the students before they leave class “If you study the study guide and take it seriously, there is no reason you cannot score an A on this test, I believe in you guys, now believe in yourselves”. I love pulling aside a student who usually struggles with my assessments and showing them that they scored high on a test. Telling them that they scored this grade because they worked for it and they achieved it. Then closing the conversation by alluding to the fact that the student is capable of this kind of success and that is what I expect from now on.
So sorry I am running behind in the conversations. The last few weeks have been a perfect storm of problems. I'm getting caught up tonight.
ReplyDelete1. I hope no adult would intentionally undermine a child’s self-efficacy. Unintentionally there are several things that come to mind. Certainly a lack of patience, or giving kids an easy out. We definitely need to give kids a chance to recover from failures and find success. The entitling vs empowering comparison made me realize how frequently some students here entitling comments from somewhere, and how that may affect their efficacy.
2. I think curriculum pacing can pose a problem here. There is always pressure to move on to the next topic, and students who get left behind can develop major problems with their self-efficacy in the classroom. Remediation needs to be designed into the curriculum (as well as enrichment on the other end of the spectrum).
3. In the classroom I would like to focus on empowering students to do their best, and keeping them encouraged when they do well without passing on a sense of entitlement. I’ve always tried to be patient with students who are struggling and give them a chance to improve, while making sure that they earn their accolades. Motivation is less of a problem when they are glad to be in your class room, so keeping a good rapport is helpful so you can make the kind’s of connections you need in order to impact student’s self-efficacy.
1. One way adults intentionally and/or unintentionally undermine children's self-efficacy is by letting them off the hook when it comes to their learning or responsibility by not developing a relationship with that student, getting to know the student and therefore able to assist a student when they are having a difficult day.
ReplyDelete2. Changes that need to be made in our schools. I am a follower of Ross Greene and the concept that Kids who can do well and if they are not doing well then it is because they can't or don't yet have the skills so we need to help them attain the skills. Understanding the effects of poverty and trauma on students would also aide how teachers understand students.
3. Ways that you can/or do foster self-efficacy in your classroom. I build relationships with students and let them know I believe in them. Many feel they are failures and few expect much from them. I have their back when they make mistakes, and use the incident as a tool for learning. I challenge their "get by attitude", "at least I did some of it" and push for real effort. We work on self perceptions "growing research indicates people act more in accord with their self-perception than with reality."p.13
1. I think parents/teachers often undermine self-efficacy based on economic status and or family history patterns. I have been teaching long enough to see former students now sending their own children to our school. As much as I hate to admit it, I tend to view children with similar learning patterns as family members.
ReplyDelete2. I sometimes think we keep our students scores a secret on standardized tests. I think students need to see goal charts every day and know what they are working towards. At our school teachers are required to write daily objectives on the board for each subject, but I wonder if replacing the word objective with the word goal would produce a different mindset for some of our students.
3. In my intervention classroom, students set goals for expected reading levels, fluency rates, comprehension percentages, vocabulary recognition, and sound recognition. We talk about realistic goals to set within a designated time frame. I can tell these displayed goals provide a necessary focus for my students.
For Suzanne Zybert - because Blogger is not working for her at this time...
ReplyDelete1.Ways adults intentionally and/or unintentionally undermine children's self-efficacy.
Time is of critical essence. When I think of the teacher in the classroom so often times as others have shared it is easier to just give in. Rather than building a lifelong learner or leader it is easier to simply give in. Whereas if we would all give the time up front we would be developing rather than undermining self-efficacy.