Student success is not just a one person or one teacher job. It requires a lot of people working together. It is said it takes a community to raise a child. Here are some keys to success that I believe in.
I read an amazing study found here http://www.rpgroup.org/sites/default/files/StudentPerspectivesResearchBriefJan2013.pdf
In the study they asked college students what helped them or supported their educational progress. Several things were listed but a few of them caught my attention. I have many similar thoughts and thought I would make a post out of it.
I believe that for students to achieve success in school they must first define what success is to them. We traditionally define success as a straight A student but that is not success to me. I struggled with math in particular and knew I never would pull an A without doing tons of extra work that I hated.
Success to me is not getting straight A’s unless that is important to you. I have defined what success for me as a student was and I will not give more info on that since each child needs to define their own success.
Now that you have defined success in education you must set goals and WRITE them down. There are tons of courses on goal setting and it can get complicated. I say keep it simple and make just a few big goals and make smaller ones that lead to the big ones. The small goals are extremely important as you will see.
Students need to get pumped up and see small achievements on a regular basis. I equate this to a Dave Ramsey financial course where he teaches how to knock out debt. If you had numerous credit cards or school loans that all had balances you think you would start paying off the one with the highest interest. His course teaches to pay off the smallest balances first to get little wins. This helps people realize they really can get out of debt. This is the same for education and goals, you have to have small wins and celebrate those. Those small wins help kids see the light at the end of the tunnel even if it is just a faint shimmer at this point. Kids also need to get pumped up and excited! If you have ever been to a high school football game the crowd goes wild. I personally am not outgoing unless talking about education or business but even as a high school student you start cheering anyway. Motivation and excitement are contagious so pass it on!
Kids also need to participate to have success with life and education. All of us need to feel a part of a group that is working toward something higher. Being part of something brings security and the needed peace that allows students to learn. The huge aspect to this one actually comes down to the student. They have to participate themselves! I have seen teachers try to include kids in classroom discussions with many different tactics but in the end the student has their agency and has to choose if they want to be part of the group. I believe it is the teachers job to facilitate a safe classroom where they CAN all feel a part of the group and it is the students responsibility to be part of that group.
I could go on for days talking about this topic because I love it but lastly just like the article I read students need to be showcased. They need to have their achievements recognized. I believe that kids react better to positive reinforcement than negative. I am not saying time outs are gone because my kids still get time outs and I got my fair share of visits to the principal’s office. What I am saying is when a kid does something well you should let them know. An awesome way I saw a teacher do this is Teacher Tipster. Here is just one of his youtube videos on positive reinforcement. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj8f2R-dTAs&feature=share&list=UUnY809iVJMlasZ-XAwksrNg&index=83
Helping kids know that they are loved and their achievements are great in our eyes will help kids feel that they can do it and there ain’t no mountain high enough they cannot climb. (like the song reference:)
I know this post went way too long like all mine do but I hope you enjoy the infographic I made. (yes I know I am no good at infographics but it was fun to create so too bad!!)
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