Effort

This chapter was very interesting and reinforced the fact that kids need to be taught about effort. My first graders are just getting used to the rigor that school requires and they sometimes find it easier to give up or act out. As I mentioned under a previous post, I have them set goals related to things they need to improve upon. They need a lot of guidance on this task as well so that they pick goals that are not only attainable through effort but those goals that the students will be able to track or see growth.

I really like the idea of "E for effort" certificates that were mentioned in the book. I agree that students should receive "systematic praise" and that it should not always be a toy or candy. I see how well students respond to our praise notes for the PeaceBuilders program and I can only imagine how much students would love to get effort certificates. My next goal is to create some sort of graph showing students' effort toward their goals. I think students need a visual reminder to keep them motivated and excited. Another thing I use in my room is a marble jar. I use it for whole class behavior and I find it motivates the students to help others make good choices instead of me having to always monitor them. This could be adapted for use with effort as well.

Another interesting section for me was the Pause, Praise and Prompt strategy. I think this is so key and I have a student that is definitely in need of this approach. On Friday we were working through a writing assignment that was particularly tough for her. She was getting so frustrated and I had to stop her and explain that although it was tough she was becoming a better writer and that it was so important for her to write complete sentences that make sense. She worked through it and I was able to praise her in the end when she finished the writing piece.

I think I will revisit effort again this week with my students and do a more direct teaching of the word and examples.