Brother had a tooth knocked at soccer this week and it came out at dinner at friends' house on Friday night. He fished around for it in his chewed up biscuit. Gotta love it.
The last week has been a blur. I've got several pieces I'm writing for various spaces and places and our littles had a crazy schedule this week.
Today we spent a glorious afternoon at Silver Falls State Park unwinding. Weekend plans changed. Life has a way of doing that. It's all good. And yes, we were the loudest people in the park. As always.
I really enjoyed this book. Now, how am I going to apply it to my life? Still thinking on that one.
How Children Succeed by Paul Tough
How do you motivate children and
families to care about character? How do you teach a child to care as
much about what they do, as what they don't do in
regards to their character? Paul Tough explores these
questions in How Children Succeed, Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden
Power of Character.
I will be thinking about this book for
a long time and how to apply it to the students in my sphere. Tough
makes clear that an emotional connection with a parent is the most
important factor in success for a child. Children who do not have
physical resources, but do have the love of a parent are far more
likely to succeed in love, school, work, and recreation than a child
who lacks bonding and love in their life.
He identifies seven characteristics
that help determine future success for a student: self-control, grit, zest,
social intelligence, gratitude, optimism, and curiosity. A student needs opportunities for academic and character development daily. Tough looks at schools and classrooms that incorporate character formation into all teaching sessions.
Tough asserts that self-discipline
scores are a better predictor of success than IQ scores. Character
counts. So how do you motivate students for the long run? They need
both motivation and volition (will power) to achieve their dreams.
He makes clear that students need the
opportunity to build character through stakes in something so
important that failure is quite possible. Students need to have the opportunity to fail dramatically. In doing so, around fifth
grade, they develop character. Learning to manage failure
builds grit, determination and character. The kids who make it in life, rise
above the failure and realize, I'm okay.
Rising above failure is also achieved
through mental contrasting. In mental contrasting, a student
overcomes stereotypes and concentrates on a positive outcome, while
still acknowledging the obstacles they will face and focusing on
solutions to those obstacles.
Tough introduces SLANT, a model for
behavior that asks the student to be an active observer with an
awareness that street behavior and class behavior are quite
different. Excellent observers will see opportunities that others
will miss.
Sit up. Listen. Ask questions. Nod.
Track the Speaker.
How Children Succeed is really
about how children think, about mastery of subjects as well as
character formation. How do we help our students overcome and obtain a vision for their future? How do we prepare them for success, as well as
failure?
Tough makes the case that college
access is no longer an issue in the United States, but we have a real
problem with limited and unequal college completion. He asks and looks at how we get
our students to the finish line. Are the SAT and ACT tests real indicators
of success today and are they the only indicators of success? No. We can better prepare students for success through character training and Tough looks at where we are doing that well in America.
Tough ends How Children Succeed
dialoguing about
education reform and how to best help our disadvantaged students
stuck in the cycle of poverty. He makes a strong case that when
education reform becomes based on child development and parent encouragement, the prosperity of our children and our nation will
rise.
Working on an ancient history poem this weekend.
