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Having courag and persistence is important to encourage learning, and using the best language to foster a positive attitude is essential to growing resilient learners.

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How Well Do Your Students Know Each Other?

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How Well Do Your Students Know Each Other?

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Theme: Building and Maintaining Relationships
Implications: Feeling safe allows students to embrace challenges and learn. Relationship building is ongoing.

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Motivating/reinforcing students using specific language and feedback.

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"When did your courage surprise you?" I was profoundly moved by this question when it was posed at a conference I attended years ago, and it came back to me recently when I heard Alix Spiegel reporting about cultural perceptions of the role of intellectual struggle in learning on NPR's Morning Edition.

At the conference, we explored themes of courage, endurance, leadership, and persistence in the face of challenge through the story of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914, one of the most heroic survival stories of all time. Although the experience of schooling may not seem too similar to Sir Shackleton's expedition, for those of us who work with children, the importance of endurance and persistence is a common thread.

Enduring and persisting in the face of struggle are crucial to learning, because learning is a hard and messy business. It's not an easy expedition. Helping children develop the resilience they need to persist when they bump up against intellectual and social challenges is one of most important ways we can help them make the trek successfully.

Our beliefs about the source of academic excellence can shape how we are able (or not) to help children develop resilience. If we believe that children are successful in school because of their innate intelligence, then it's logical for us to associate struggle with intellectual weakness. There's a connection here to the danger of having what Carol Dweck calls a "fixed mindset": the risk in valuing smarts over persistence is that we unintentionally communicate that some children "have it," while others don't.

One way we can provide children with the tools they need is by naming and celebrating the struggles that are inherent in learning. When we reinforce children's successes, we need to name persistence as a quality that matters. So instead of saying, "I knew you could do this, you are so smart!" consider saying, "I saw how you really worked hard and used so many strategies to figure out how to solve that problem. What's one thing that helped you?" instead.

Classrooms need to be safe havens for mistake-making and for struggling in the face of challenge. When we build a strong classroom community, where children know and trust their teacher and their classmates, they are better able to take the risks necessary for learning, and to persist when the going gets rough. Even something as simple as the language that we, as teachers, use with students can set the tone for learning and help children recognize and grow their own inner courage and strength.

The Power of Our Words: Teacher Language That Helps Children Learn shows how you can use words, tone, and pacing to build a classroom where students feel safe, respected, appreciated, and excited about learning.

"A MUST for every teacher. Reader-friendly, totally relevant, and makes a world of difference in day-to-day classroom routines!"
-Sara Hankins, 3 rd grade teacher

Babs Freeman-Loftis is a Responsive Classroom consultant.
Tags: Building Classroom Community, Engaging Academics, Reinforcing Language

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The Value of Struggle | Responsive Classroom

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"When did your courage surprise you?" I was profoundly moved by this question when it was posed at a conference I attended years ago, and it came back to me recently when I heard Alix Spiegel reporting about cultural perceptions of the role of intellectual struggle in learning on NPR's Morning Edition.

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How Well Do Your Students Know Each Other?

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How Well Do Your Students Know Each Other?

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Helping students build relationships with each other is a key to creating an optimal learning environment. Stronger bonds mean students will be less likely to be unkind, to exclude others, to call each other names, or to stand by in the face of mean behavior toward a classmate. The safer students feel, the more learning challenges they will embrace and the more collaborative they will be.

One way to build positive relationships in a classroom is by giving students opportunities to get to know each other's talents, interests, and stories. Teachers often emphasize this aspect of community building at the beginning of the school year, but it's just as important to maintain these relationships throughout the school year. After all, people change as they grow and learn. How different are your students now compared to who they were in September? And how well do your students know each other now that they've been together for almost a full school year?

For middle school educators, planning Responsive Advisory Meetings with the purpose of building student-to-student affiliation can help students reconnect with each other. Earlier in the school year, students are in search of meaningful relationships and have a strong need to be with their friends. Throughout the year, reminding students to greet each other by name each day will not only help to build a positive learning community but also address students' need to get to know others and be known by others. By this point in the school year, be mindful of the beginning of cliques, and remember to regularly mix students up in different pairings and groupings.

In addition, later in the school year it's important to pay attention to shifting dynamics within groups and provide guidance as needed. For example, sixth grade student Henry was having an increasingly difficult time connecting with other students. He struggled with physical self-control, and other students were having trouble interacting with him in meaningful ways and were often annoyed and frustrated with him. Joe Tilley, Henry's Advisory teacher and a Responsive Classroom professional development designer, realized that the relationship between Henry and the other students had gradually created a dynamic in the sixth grade classes that did not support their learning community. He decided to plan some Responsive Advisory Meetings around the purpose of building student-to-student affiliation to help all the students reconnect with each other.

Joe planned structured and purposeful ways for the students in his Advisory to get to know each other on a deeper level. Through activities such as Four Corners and Take a Side, Henry's peers learned things about him they hadn't known: that he was good at math, played the clarinet, and had a multicultural family. This new knowledge helped them develop more empathy and appreciation for Henry. In turn, Henry was able to interact with his peers in controlled, structured ways, helping him get to know them better while feeling a sense of significance, belonging, and fun.

Here are a few activity ideas to try as part of your Responsive Advisory Meeting or Morning Meeting that will support students getting to know each other better:

Take a Side
Pose a question that has two possible answers, and designate one side of the room for each answer (for example, "Would you rather eat pizza or burgers?" "Do you prefer language arts or math?"). Have students go to the side of the room that represents their choice. Once the students gather, have them discuss their choice with the other students. After a few rounds, invite a few volunteers to pose the questions.

Four Corners
Pose a question along with four possible answers. ("Where would you rather travel-back in time, to outer space, to another country, or to a special place in the United States?") Designate one corner of the room for each answer. Have students reflect on their choice and then move to the designated corner. Once there, students pair up to discuss why they made the choice and some specifics related to it. One you've done this activity a few times, invite students to draft possible Four Corners questions and use them the next time.

Venn Diagram
Place students in pairs, trying to pair up students who do not know each other well. Give each pair a simple Venn diagram. Students reflect on their differences and similarities and record their thoughts in the Venn diagram. When pairs have finished, gather the group in a circle and have each pair share something they have in common. (Repeat this one often, so students have a chance to try it with a variety of classmates over the course of the year.)

Human Bingo
Prepare a grid with a statement in each of the boxes, such as "likes to read science fiction" or "enjoys cooking." Hand out copies to students and model how to approach a classmate and ask if a statement on the grid is true for them. Be sure to explain that the purpose of the activity is getting to know each other better-not getting the most names. Also, model how to respond according to these rules: each person may only sign a particular box once and each person may sign only one box on another person's grid. Students then mix and mingle, asking classmates about statements on the grid and gathering signatures.

It's not too late in the school year for students to get to know each other better. These relationships are where students learn and practice social skills so that they can collaborate on academic projects, assert themselves respectfully, and have empathy for each other. Middle school students are exploring new aspects of their identities and their emotions are running high. Learning about each other helps them to strengthen their relationships as they navigate the ups and downs of being a young adolescent.

The Responsive Advisory Meeting Book

Tags: Building Classroom Community, Challenging Behaviors, Empathy

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It's Time to Reconnect | Responsive Classroom

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Helping students build relationships with each other is a key to creating an optimal learning environment. Stronger bonds mean students will be less likely to be unkind, to exclude others, to call each other names, or to stand by in the face of mean behavior toward a classmate.

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Children build on their strengths, and to do that building-to grow academically and socially-they need us to recognize and encourage their positive efforts. But what's the best way to offer that recognition and encouragement?

For some time, I used rewards-tickets that I gave out when students met expectations. But something felt wrong: Although students would often change their behavior, at least temporarily, they seemed more focused on the tickets than on learning and building a classroom community.

After a lot of reading and reflection, I put the tickets away and settled on a new strategy for motivating students: language, specifically Responsive Classroom reinforcing language. Rather than giving students tickets, I'd give them words that told them exactly what behavior was working well, and why. After teaching and modeling classroom expectations, I might say to the whole class, "I see many people walking in line with hands by their sides and voices quiet. That helps students in the other classes keep learning." Or to an individual student I'd say, "Taylor, you waited until Axel finished speaking. That showed him respect and let him share his whole thought so we could all learn from it."

When I taught expectations and then used words in this way, students knew I believed they wanted to and could learn. The difference in their learning-and their behavior, motivation, independence, and stamina-was amazing. Still, it took me a while to complete the transition from rewards to words. Here's my story.

Poor Long-Term Results With Tickets

My ticket system was a way to reward students when they chose positive behaviors. Sometimes, when the entire class walked safely and respectfully in the hallway, I'd put a ticket in a jar. Other times, I would notice individual students completing work efficiently or working cooperatively and give them a ticket to place in the jar. Once the tickets in the jar reached a number I'd pre-designated, the whole class earned a prize, such as extra recess.

The system seemed to be working alright. But then I noticed that as students became more proficient in routines, procedures, and skills, they were still expecting tickets. A typical scenario: One day when the class was walking safely and calmly in the hall, a colleague passed by and commented how quiet the children were. When we reached our destination, Luna asked me if I was going to put a ticket in the jar because not only were they quiet in the hallway, but another teacher had noticed.

This sort of thing happened frequently, with children asking if they would receive a ticket for meeting expectations such as sharing materials, picking up trash, and completing tasks on time. Students had become more focused on receiving tickets-on being rewarded for their actions-than on understanding how and why to choose actions that would help them learn, stay safe, and respect others. They weren't developing their motivation or their learning muscles.

That's when I realized that although the ticket system did seem to work in the short run, in the long run it was working against my ultimate goal-developing intrinsically motivated students. I needed to reconsider how to recognize positive behavior. I'd heard about reinforcing language and decided to look into it.

Moving to Words

At first, ending my reward system seemed like a daunting task, and I had many questions and concerns. Could students really be kind to each other or complete their classwork without receiving tickets? Could I manage the classroom and nurture positive behavior without a quick, convenient system that required me to think and say very little? How could I teach efficiently while also carefully choosing words that would help students develop into strong, independent members of our learning community?

But then I remembered my own learning experiences, the ones that had the greatest impact on me. What made certain teachers of mine so powerfully motivating? One characteristic that stood out was the specific feedback they gave to let me know exactly what I was doing well. Because my teachers' reinforcing language had helped me develop my academic skills-and become a responsible community member-I was confident that using reinforcing language with my own students would have a similar impact. And I decided that if I allowed myself to learn this language slowly and steadily, I could eventually master it.

I began this learning at a Responsive Classroom summer workshop. We studied the characteristics of reinforcing language-clear and direct, genuine and respectful, and specific-and practiced using it. Afterward, I read The Power of Our Words: Teacher Language That Helps Children Learn. I then felt much more prepared to replace my ticket system when school started that fall.

Scaffolding My Learning

Here are some of the things I did that helped me leave rewards behind in favor of reinforcing language:

Posted this quote from Responsive Classroom on my computer screen: "Children, like all of us, need to feel recognized for their positive contributions and accomplishments. And they need ongoing information from the teacher about how they're doing." Each time I saw this quote (many times a day), it reminded me that students needed me to support their learning and positive behavior with reinforcing language.

Created multiple cue cards-sheets of construction paper on which I wrote reinforcing language sentence starters for myself, such as "I see you followed our rule on _____" and "You did _____. That helps us all be better learners." I hung these cards so that I could see one from anywhere in the classroom.

Practiced observing all my students carefully, looking not just for spectacular successes but also for the small yet important steps children take as they learn skills and behaviors. "Alva," I might say to a struggling writer, "I see that you ended three of your five sentences with a period or question mark. These punctuation marks will help your audience read your story more fluently."

Made sure to use reinforcing language with every child. Even when a student's behavior or work isn't where we want it to be, we can see positive efforts and growth if we observe carefully. To keep track of whom I've used reinforcing language with, I checked names off a list, keeping the list private to avoid provoking competition or anxiety among students.

Focused on giving specific information about behaviors that were helping students learn. This helped students become more aware of what they knew, what they could do, and how they'd progressed. With those ideas and images in their minds, they could pull up their positive behaviors to repeat and build on. Some examples of how I changed my language:

Good job on
your math!

You tried several different ways to solve that problem. That kind of persistence really helps you learn!

I love how you worked in the library.

You used your very quiet voices in the library. That helped the other students keep their learning going.

You're doing better with your writing.

I see that you included vivid adjectives. That helps readers really "see" what you're describing.

Gave myself permission to make mistakes-and I made plenty! For example, I'd say, "Good job!" or "That's awesome!" When that happened, I would follow up with specific feedback. For example, as I was conferring with James about his reading, I said, "Great, James!" because I was ecstatic that he was independently book shopping. As he gave me a blank look, I remembered to follow up with, "When you book shopped alone today, you chose books that are just right for you."

Staying Flexible

Gradually, reinforcing language has become my main tool for recognizing and encouraging students' positive behaviors. But that doesn't mean never using rewards. Some students with an entrenched negative behavior, such as habitually calling out during group discussions or speaking sarcastically to classmates, need that extrinsic support for a short time while I help them recognize and grow their capabilities and build their intrinsic motivation.

Before moving right to an external reward, though, I first try a tangible tracking system. A small chart taped unobtrusively on a child's desk enables us to check off how many times she remembers to raise her hand before speaking, use kind words, or walk quietly in the hall. Having a tangible tracking system to prompt self-noticing-and to show that I am also noticing-is often enough to motivate children to engage in positive behavior.

Fewer Misbehaviors, Less Stress, More Learning

That first year I used reinforcing language, students misbehaved less frequently, so I was less stressed and more able to interact positively with the class. And with their attention drawn to specific things they could do to meet expectations, students learned more, both academically and socially. Reinforcing language was a win-win for all of us.
Tracy Mercier taught grades three, four, and five for twelve years in diverse classrooms.
Tags: Challenging Behaviors, Classroom Rules, Misbehavior, Redirecting Language, Reinforcing Language, Reminding Language, Responsibility, Revisiting Rules, Rewards

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Children build on their strengths, and to do that building-to grow academically and socially-they need us to recognize and encourage their positive efforts. But what's the best way to offer that recognition and encouragement? For some time, I used rewards-tickets that I gave out when students met expectations.