Teaching Tips to Try Newsletter

Sep tem ber 13, 2009

Fr om Lin da The Ma th Co ac h

MEET THESE EXPERTS!

Upcoming Webinars and Teleseminar

DR. CAROL DWECK on Mindset and Closing the Achievement Gap Sept. 14

DINAH ZIKES on Math Foldables and VKVs Sept. 28

DR. ROBYN JACKSON on Never Work Harder Than Your Students

And Differentiation Oct. 13

This Week’s Theme:

Mixed Messages Sabotage Achievement

What We Say and What Students Hear
What We Say About Success
Have you heard or said any of these:
“You got it right. You are so smart!”
“That was hard. You are a genius!”
“You’re smart. You can figure this out!”
These are just ways to praise kids and boost their egos, right?
Wrong.
Although the intent seems positive and encouraging, these statements are actually
more likely to make students shut down and stop trying in your math class.
Whether the student has a history of success or failure, statements that praise ability
and intelligence rather than effort harms motivation and performance.
You know what you are saying, but do you know what your students are hearing?
Do you know what conclusions they are forming about learning? Let’s get inside
the brain of two students who receive this type of praise.
W ha t you sa y W ha t the success ful W ha t the fail ing
studen t hea rs and studen t hea rs and
conc lude s. conc lude s.

You got it right. You are so I can’t make a mistake. It
smart. will make me stupid. I’ll
be ok as long as I don’t try
anything harder.
That was hard. You are a You have to be a genius to
genius. do hard stuff like this, but
I had to work hard to
figure it out. I must not
really be a genius. If it
gets any harder I don’t
think I can handle it.
You’re smart. You can You are stupid if you can’t
figure this out. figure this out. I better
not try this because I will
look stupid if I don’t get it
right. I’ll act like I don’t
care.
I got it wrong. I must be
stupid. I’ll be ok if I don’t
try next time. No one will
know I’m stupid if I act
tough like I don’t care.
You have to be a genius to
do the hard stuff. I’ll
never be able to do the
hard stuff.
You have to be smart to
figure this out. I don’t get
it, so I must be stupid.
There’s no way I can
figure it out. Why try?

Wow! Not exactly the reaction we’re hoping for, is it?

What We Say About Failure

Here’s another example that looks at how we address student failure and how
students react to what we say. It’s the beginning of the school year and your
students have just taken their first “practice” test for the big end of year state exam.
Only two percent of them scored in a proficient range. The rest fall into the lowest
category possible. They have not done nearly as well as you had hoped for, and you
have to share the results with them.
Consider these teacher reactions. Which one sounds the most like you?
1. You reassure your students that it is just a practice test and that it’s not that
important.
2. You know they are smart and they will do better at the end of the year.
3. You tell them that it must have been a bad test and you know they are
smarter than what the results reveal.
4. You tell them that you know they just guessed and didn’t try on the test.
 5. You tell them that their scores are too low and they have a lot of work to do
to get the scores where they belong.

What message are you sending to your students with each of these reactions? What
are students really hearing?
1. Pre tests don’t matter. If something makes you look stupid, devalue it and
say it doesn’t count.
2. You have to be smart to do well on a test. I didn’t do well. I’m not really
smart, and I won’t do well on the next test either. The teacher is lying to me
to make me feel better. She knows I’m not really smart.
3. Blame others when you don’t do well.
4. You would have to be just guessing to get scores so low! If you were trying
and your scores are this low, you must really be stupid!
5. My score is too low, but I can work at it and do better. My teacher thinks I
can learn and improve.

What message do you want your students to get? Do you want to protect them from
failure? Failure happens. Failure can be the best part of learning if you teach
students to recognize and use it to improve. I know a teacher who has made a
classroom mantra, FAIL YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS!
When your students listen to you which of these do they hear?
A) I am judging your intelligence and ability and I will reward or punish and
like or dislike you based upon my judgment. (Fix ed Mindse t)

B) You are a work in progress. I like you, and I will help you learn and grow to
be successful. (Gr owth Mindse t)
Suggested Action You Can Take This Week
Monitor your reactions to student success and failure this week. Try these four tips:
• Address success by praising effort, persistence, process, strategies, and
choices.
• Address failure by providing feedback to help students find mistakes and
correct them.
• At the end of the day spend five minutes listing all the things you said to
address success or failure. Note whether what you said had a positive or
negative student response. Decide which comments to repeat!
• At the end of the week reflect to determine if your students are achieving
more successfully. If you are not satisfied, keep trying. Tell a buddy teacher
about your experiment and ask them to try it also so you can collaborate and
get more ideas of what to say to students.

Find out more about how developing a GROWTH MINDSET

supercharges achievement and eliminates the gap for females
and minorities.
Call in to join the Teleseminar
Monday, September 14
8:00pm CST.
641 715 – 3300
Access Co de is 916760#

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 CAROL S. DWECK, PH.D.
Stanford University
Author of MINDSET

September 14th 8:00 pm CST

Closi ng the ma th ac hie vemen t ga p for fema les and mino ri tie s

W ha t YOU can do about it .

DINAH ZIKES
Rock Star Diva of Foldables
September 28th 8:00pmCST

3D Gr aph ic Organ iz ers to inc rease :

Rigor
Engagement
Understanding
Connections
Retention
VKV s to Bui ld V oca bula r y
No te book F olda bl es f or Mid dle and High Sc hool
 BE A MASTER

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