Video/Overview of Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition
As I began this chapter I flashed back to Alison Zmuda's presentation to our district on opening day a few years back. Many things she said resonated with me, but one thing really stuck. Alison emphasized the importance of reading memoirs/biographies of people that have worked hard to overcome some type of adversity. She mentioned this in connection to at-risk students. Her thought was that these stories could model the concept that, with effort and perseverence, you could achieve. Reading chapter 4 "reinforced" this concept for me.
This chapter is different than preceding ones, this chapter focuses on attitudes and beliefs rather than instructional strategies. The strategy has been subdivided into two parts:
- Reinforcing Effort
- Providing Recognition
First, regarding effort, what did you think of the suggested activities outlined on page 51 to be used to improve/change students beliefs about effort? Do you do any of these activities? What did you think of the generalizations made about effort on page 50?
Many people feel strongly about the concept of "rewards" and extrinsic motivation as well "providing recognition." I appreciated the clarification related to recognition- it is not “praise”; it
is not “reward.” What are your thoughts about the three generalization of recognition that begin on page 55? What do you think of the chart on page 56: Guidelines for Effective Praise.
We will stop here, we're anxious to hear your input! Please check the comments often and respond to comments posted...that's the best way to get an online dialog going.
Lastly, there is a PowerPoint in our file on the X drive with some sample rubrics and spreadsheets.
I often use examples from my own life of both successes and failures on an individual level with my students when they need support. There are also many examples in world history where people had to work very hard in order to achieve success. There is a poster in the front of my classroom with examples from Abe Lincoln, Eisenhower, and Truman explaining that they all experienced failure at one time or another but persevered to success.
ReplyDeleteThe generalizations on page 50 are pretty accurate to what I have seen in the classroom. Number 1 really resonated with me because of our entitlement climate in this country. Many of our students think they are entitled to certain grades and even treatment and when they see that they are failing they often times get really upset trying to figure out why. A great example of this is the "push" from 8th to 9th grade for the students who very clearly needed to repeat their last year in middle school. At that point for these students, number 2 on page 50 becomes even more important. Students need to be shown that through hard work and effort they can succeed on their own. They also need to understand that to be successful isn't determined by a grade level but instead by their own effort. If they put in the best effort possible than no matter the outcome on their grade they were successful.
Charlie, I had to laugh...I went back to the book and realized that I had highlighted and underlined number 1 on page 50 also! My note in the margin was, "Yes!" So, I absolutely agree with your comments. I was intrigued by the results of the study, under #2, on page 52 that stated, "...students who were taught about the relationship between effort and achievement increased their achievement more than students who were taught techniques for time management and comprehension of new material." This really made me pause and think!
DeleteDoes anyone already use an effort rubric? Would you consider it?
Lisa Salatel and I used to give participation points which was based on an effort rubric. I found it very difficult to grade and one more grade to evaluate so I removed it. Maybe my rubric was too difficult.
DeleteHaving worked with secondary level students with learning disabilities throughout my whole career (24 years), praise and reward systems have always been at the forefront of discussion and classroom expectation. Often my students do not receive a lot of praise because A's are hard to come by for them, and that is what is praised in this society and how success is measured. My students are used to performing poorly and have developed poor attitudes in those areas of failure. I agree with the discussion that when praise is given, it needs to be sincere, specific, and following improvement regardless if the improvement yields an A. I have a student who is constantly earning zeroes on spelling pre-tests but earns 20, 30, or 40% on the actual test. There is improvement and the practice in class is helping. The down side is, she will still fail the class. What I am seeing is that effort may lead to improvement, but it may not lead to passing. However, I do think that this theory is true for students whose biggest obstacle is effort not disability.
DeleteHowever, having said all that, I found it interesting to actually teach lessons in effort and its impact on achievement. This is something I would like to try in resource where effort and intrinsic motivation is minimal in many cases. We talk about effort and we talk about examples of people who may have faced obstacles and defeat before going on to success, but we never "taught" it.
I agree with the focus on effort BUT what I see is that we have worried so much about the students’ self-esteem that we have been forced to make a direct connection between effort and the grade. Effort should be the path that takes the student to a better grade but knowledge and skill should be what we are after. Much of what these researchers have found I would say is true in my classroom with the understanding that we as teachers have to take into account that different personalities respond differently to different “recognitions.” Research may help us weed out what works least and insert what works best but in the end we have to try to find what works best with EACH student. Therein lies the problem. I think, for the most part, I see BHS teachers trying to find the right mix of teaching the content and the skills and teaching the kids the importance of effort. I agree with Charlie that ANY social promotion unless it is in the very early grades teaches kids that without effort they can move forward…and then we spend years trying to undo that lesson, sometimes with little support.
ReplyDeleteI agree with #3 that abstract recognition is more effective than tangible rewards. I do think that tangible rewards may motivate but only if they are used sparingly. For instance, sometimes on a particularly taxing day (like the last day before December break) using some tangible reward gets the students to put in that little bit of effort to make for a productive lesson. I find though that the abstract praise seems to be more lasting. I’ve also found that giving very specific pointed praise and having at least a short conversation about, for instance, a piece of writing with a student seems to increase future effort in a more lasting way than giving a quick “Looks good!” and a smile. The problem is that there isn’t always time for the conversation and some kids need it more regularly than others. On page 58 I liked the idea of the “Personal Best” Honor Role. We give out certificates for grade point averages to kids who may have a decent overall average but have done poorly in grade or effort in one or more classes. What does that certificate mean then? And what about the student who works so incredibly hard to get his C’s and low B’s but gets no certificate? I just worked on creating classroom goals with my freshmen, kind of a New Year’s Resolution thing, and I am thinking of using this “Personal Best” Honor Role idea.
I love the idea of goal setting. I tried to work on tht last year. Like you, Pam, I find that there seems too much to get done. I will sometimes start things and then forget to go back to them. I have decided to focus on doing small things well. I also like the Personal Best idea. I have decided to have kids keep a chart of their CFA scores. It take some front loading and I have to keep the charts or 11th graders are not organized enough to keep track of it. I will let you know how it goes.
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ReplyDeleteThe personal best piece is an interesting concept - it is saying,"student, I recognize that you have been working hard and I want to publicly acknowledge it." As a coach, in handing out awards at the end of the season, the school gives out a Most Valuable award and a Most Improved award. I went a step further and gave out an "Unsung Hero" award - for that kid who always came to practice, did not start, but did everything possible to make himself and his teammates better. Kids do need to be recognized - but it has to be real, like many of you have already stated.
ReplyDeleteIn the press of all we do in a day, I sometimes really forget to recognize the good stuff. It seems like my kids have an endless "To Do" list as we do. This discussion reminds me to stop and think about the results and not just the next thing to do!
ReplyDeleteI agree that we need to praise our students for the efforts they make in improving their skills. Some students may never meet the benchmark no matter how hard they try so we need to recognize that they are challenging themselves to increase their own skill level regardless of how they measure up to the rest of the class. We still have to be careful that we do not overdo it. Kids today expect rewards for everything so they don't "feel bad" about themselves. Specific and earned is the key for me.
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