Teaching specific chess moves is only part of what Spiegel focuses on in her lessons. What she does more often is teach her students a new way to think; offering them two important executive functions: cognitive flexibility, and cognitive self-control. These skills are what make great chess players, and great students, because they require thinking from different perspectives, and being patient, being willing to wait for a plan to come to fruition. Another part of what Spiegel does for her students is ensure that they see their mistakes, understand them, and learn from them. Spiegel’s philosophy on losing at chess is that if a student loses it is entirely due to their choices. They had the tools, they just didn’t use them. Spiegel says it is imperative for students to separate themselves from their losses: “Losing is something you do, not something you are” (Tough, 2012). 

A rarity in contemporary American schools is holding kids accountable for who they are. Taking them and their actions seriously and allowing them to take responsibility for their own character. Spiegel gives her students the opportunity to gain self-control and mindfulness through her post game sessions. Being “mean” to her students with some light verbal abuse is one way that Spiegel gets her students thinking about what they could have done differently. While Spiegel cultivates warm relationships with her students, she also takes her position as a teacher, and thought process facilitator very seriously (Tough, 2012).

This chapter goes through the mental toughness required to succeed at anything that requires intense study. The chess teacher, Spiegel learned at an early age that she was able to teach herself chess, and in learning that, she understood she could teach herself anything, including math, and science. I think the important take-away from this chapter is that our students crave a passion, just as we do. They crave intense experiences in which their own actions lead to rewarding experiences. Middle school students can thrive on personal accountability and respect. Teaching doesn’t have to be about being “nice” it can also be about teaching students how to accept that their mistakes are their mistakes, but losing, or making mistakes, isn’t what defines them; how they look at those mistakes is what makes the difference between mediocrity and championship. 

Levin and Randolph learned more from Duckworth, who demonstrates how grit is critical to success.  Grit is “a passionate commitment to a single mission and an unswerving dedication to achieve that mission” (Tough, 2012, p 74). It does not correlate with IQ, but grit impacts goal attainment. Self-control and delayed gratification translate into gains for students, but motivation to achieve goals is of utmost importance. Duckworth calls this motivation and volition: it is possible to impact students’ motivation, which closes learning gaps. 

Duckworth also defined seven Character factors: 

Duckworth, Randolph, and Levin used this to create a character development program in their schools, and  KIPP students receive character grades. Their school culture heavily emphasizes building character, since it can take the place of social safety nets, family support, and financial stability. 

Also, KIPP teaches code-switching to help students adapt to different cultural settings. They use SLANT (Sit up, Listen, Ask questions, Nod, Track the speaker) and cognitive-behavior therapy to help students. Through all of this, students gain essential skills for success. Duckworth also recommends MCII (Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions): IF something affects you, THEN do something to push through it. She states, “It’s not like some kids are good and some kids are bad. Some kids have good habits and some kids have bad habits” (Tough, 2012 p.94). Habits are malleable. 

 

In the 2009 book titled Crossing the Finish Line: Completing College at America’s Public Universities, William G. Bowen and Michael S. McPherson, two former college presidents, along with co-author Matthew Chingos, came up with an answer to the college conundrum question. They discovered that the most accurate predictor of whether a student would successfully complete college was not their score on the SAT or the ACT, but their high-school GPA. “High-school grades reveal much more than mastery of content. They reveal qualities of motivation and perseverance – as well as the presence of good study habits and time management skills – that tell us a great deal about the chances that a student will complete a college program” (p. 153).

 

In 2007, Jeff Nelson, CEO of OneGoal, received a phone call about an organization called the Urban Students Empowered Foundation. They supported an afterschool program that was essentially a college-prep boot camp. After accepting the job as the new executive director, Nelson began to reshape and mold the program. He renamed it OneGoal and now works with more than twelve hundred students at twenty Chicago high schools.

 

OneGoal curriculum is comprised of three main elements:

·         An intensive unit of ACT prep in junior year

·         A “road map to college” which is essentially a structured path for students from sophomore year to the first day of college

·         Helping students develop the specific nonacademic skills that would lead most directly to college success

1.      Resourcefulness

2.      Resilience

3.      Ambition

4.      Professionalism

5.      Integrity

 

“OneGoal and the theories that underlie it seem like a most valuable intervention, a program that…regularly turns underperforming, undermotivated, low-income teenagers into successful college students” (p. 175).

 

Most of these programs are geared toward high school students, but what if middle grade teachers applied these same methods? What if more schools focused on the nonacademic skills that lead to college success – really, life success? These are teachable aspects that middle grade teachers can apply to their classrooms.

Overall, Tough argues that helping children overcome their circumstances will involve multiple focuses. “Character strengths that matter so much to young people’s success are not innate…They are rooted in brain chemistry, and they are molded…by the environment in which children grow up” (Tough, 2012, p.196). As we work with individuals who are climbing out of poverty, it is important to recognize that “they did not get onto that ladder alone. They are there only because someone helped them take the first step” (Tough, 2012 p. 197). Our job as teachers, then, is to work on closing the achievement gap for our students by knowing them and advocating for them on a local and national level. We should know about the available resources, health services (both mental and physical), programs, and additional opportunities for our students and continually work to improve them.