Inside the Ski Racing Mind: Don't Praise Your Children! | Ski Racing This is a great article on how we praise children in sports, and particularly, how we often say "good job" or "great work" and praise outcomes rather than processes. There is a reference to Carol Dweck's research! Basically, the article talks about not praising inborn talent (you are a gifted skier), but rather praise the areas the child has control over, such as effort, attitude, responsibility, commitment, discipline, focus, emotional mastery, fitness, technique, equipment preparation. How does this apply to working with gifted students, and all students? We need to provide opportunities for the inborn talent to emerge, AND provide encouragement and support for the areas the student has control over....their effort, responsibility, their focus, their preparation, and discipline. Both work together. (I believe the innate talent is revealed by the emotional maturity and mastery of the student, but this is a entirely different blog post!). Our family has fallen into the ski racing world. Through this world, my sons have learned a great deal about hard work, disappointment, being organized, the importance of a good attitude, and how to work as a team in a very tough sport. I am so grateful for the lessons they are learning! The biggest lesson is disappointment. My older son races really well, but he is not the fastest kid. He doesn't win medals. However, he goes to the award ceremonies after the races, and waits patiently, thinking that perhaps, this time, he will get a medal. Afterwards, he is crestfallen. He works so hard and there isn't an external reward for him!So, we use this as a lesson: we debrief, we talk about disappointment, and hard work, and we try to focus him on the good things, like being in the moment and knowing that you did your best. It is so hard and tough, but we are building resiliency, one step at a time. Let's focus on building resiliency in our students and teaching them that innate abilities are important (and interesting), but that IT IS our intentions, and our effort, and our hard work, and our commitment, and our passion for what we are doing that matter much much more. Disappointment is good. It refocuses our soul and helps us learn.
Inside the Ski Racing Mind: Don't Praise Your Children! | Ski Racing
This is a great article on how we praise children in sports, and particularly, how we often say "good job" or "great work" and praise outcomes rather than processes. There is a reference to Carol Dweck's research! Basically, the article talks about not praising inborn talent (you are a gifted skier), but rather praise the areas the child has control over, such as effort, attitude, responsibility, commitment, discipline, focus, emotional mastery, fitness, technique, equipment preparation.
How does this apply to working with gifted students, and all students? We need to provide opportunities for the inborn talent to emerge, AND provide encouragement and support for the areas the student has control over....their effort, responsibility, their focus, their preparation, and discipline. Both work together. (I believe the innate talent is revealed by the emotional maturity and mastery of the student, but this is a entirely different blog post!).
Our family has fallen into the ski racing world. Through this world, my sons have learned a great deal about hard work, disappointment, being organized, the importance of a good attitude, and how to work as a team in a very tough sport. I am so grateful for the lessons they are learning! The biggest lesson is disappointment. My older son races really well, but he is not the fastest kid. He doesn't win medals. However, he goes to the award ceremonies after the races, and waits patiently, thinking that perhaps, this time, he will get a medal. Afterwards, he is crestfallen. He works so hard and there isn't an external reward for him!
So, we use this as a lesson: we debrief, we talk about disappointment, and hard work, and we try to focus him on the good things, like being in the moment and knowing that you did your best. It is so hard and tough, but we are building resiliency, one step at a time.
Let's focus on building resiliency in our students and teaching them that innate abilities are important (and interesting), but that IT IS our intentions, and our effort, and our hard work, and our commitment, and our passion for what we are doing that matter much much more. Disappointment is good. It refocuses our soul and helps us learn.
I have just been looking at this great poster that I downloaded about "Fixed and Growth Mind Sets". There has been a great deal of research and writing about this concept over the last few years, and here is an interesting article in the NY times magazine about the research of Carol Dweck and her book.Lately, I have been talking about this with my sons and using the language that we have a "growth mindset". This poster is on my fridge.
Yesterday we were talking about challenges, persisting in the face of roadblocks, and using effort as the path towards mastery. My one son is involved in ski racing, and he is just beginning to learn about being in a competitive sport with lots of talented athletes. So we used this chart to talk about how to persevere when things may not be going our way. It was great to have the visuals and the language to discuss how we can think about set backs and challenges in our lives and in our learning. I would like to use this as a topic of discussion with students in the challenge centre. It would be interesting to have students talk about their own mind sets. If we can empower students to understand how their intelligence can be developed, then we are giving them tools for life.As well, I have Carol Dweck's book on my reading list!
I have just been looking at this great poster that I downloaded about "Fixed and Growth Mind Sets". There has been a great deal of research and writing about this concept over the last few years, and here is an interesting article in the NY times magazine about the research of Carol Dweck and her book.
Lately, I have been talking about this with my sons and using the language that we have a "growth mindset". This poster
is on my fridge.
Yesterday we were talking about challenges, persisting in the face of roadblocks, and using effort as the path towards mastery. My one son is involved in ski racing, and he is just beginning to learn about being in a competitive sport with lots of talented athletes. So we used this chart to talk about how to persevere when things may not be going our way. It was great to have the visuals and the language to discuss how we can think about set backs and challenges in our lives and in our learning.
I would like to use this as a topic of discussion with students in the challenge centre. It would be interesting to have students talk about their own mind sets. If we can empower students to understand how their intelligence can be developed, then we are giving them tools for life.
As well, I have Carol Dweck's book on my reading list!
I have been reading Unschooling Rules by Clark Aldrich. I am very impressed. I found out about this book by stumbling upon a wonderful and refreshing blog The Daily Prep created by Aldrich's wife, Muffy Aldrich. I love the clarity and authenticity of her blog and her insights.
Now, back to the book; as an educator, who has been away from university for a while, I do not have the time to read extensive articles about education and the state of affairs of our gracious profession. I have children, I have a busy life, and I have lots of commitments. So, I loved how Aldrich's book is full of insights that are profound and clear statements about how we need to look at education. The premise of the book is "55 ways to unlearn what we know about schools and rediscover education". Each rule is a big idea that warrants thinking and discussion.
Refreshing.
Aldrich begins by stating that there are seven C's of education: curricula, content, coaching, customization, community, credit, and care. He then goes into more detail about each.
Here are some of the ideas that stuck with me:- create and use periods of reflection
- explore, then play, then add rigor
- customization is important
- feed passions and embrace excellence
- minimize the drop off
These ideas resonate with me because these are ideas I try to bring into the Challenge Centre and use in my parenting and teaching. I will be talking about each of these ideas in further blog posts. Today, I like: Create and use periods of reflection:
"A critical part of the learning process is time for quiet reflection about activities - both before and after they are undertaken. So the busier children are the less they may actually be learning." pg. 35Aldrich states that "School Days" should have extensive down times - that is, stretches without scheduled activities and even without the context of impending homework. I found this very powerful. Often, I view The Challenge Centre as a place for students just to be. To spend time thinking, tinkering, and talking. Almost as a break from "regular school". This rule also brought to mind one of the pivotal parenting experiences I had with my older son. When he was finishing grade one, just before summer break, I told him about all the programs he was going to be doing that summer: art camp, violin lessons, swimming lessons, Kumon Math! We had just finished a busy year filled with school and extra tutoring and lots of enriching activities. I was in the "hyper parenting" mode of having my child involved in everything so that he would have academic success.
My son looked at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, "Mommy, I don't want to do anything this summer. I just want to play." It was then that my world came crashing down and I realized how my son needed down time and reflection time. He had spent this intense school year with all these activities I had done (probably more for me than for him) and he was tired and just needed to reflect. What did our summer look like? Lot's of reading, building lego, playing at the park, swimming without lessons, and hanging out together. I learned a profound lesson that summer: periods of reflection are critical to our lives. I have taken this lesson into all of my summers with my kids and we plan for "reflection".
I hope that schools and programs and parents build reflection into their lives. I live by it.
I have been reading Unschooling Rules by Clark Aldrich. I am very impressed. I found out about this book by stumbling upon a wonderful and refreshing blog
The Daily Prep created by Aldrich's wife, Muffy Aldrich. I love the clarity and authenticity of her blog and her insights.
Now, back to the book; as an educator, who has been away from university for a while, I do not have the time to read extensive articles about education and the state of affairs of our gracious profession. I have children, I have a busy life, and I have lots of commitments. So, I loved how Aldrich's book is full of insights that are profound and clear statements about how we need to look at education. The premise of the book is "55 ways to unlearn what we know about schools and rediscover education". Each rule is a big idea that warrants thinking and discussion.
Refreshing.
Aldrich begins by stating that there are seven C's of education: curricula, content, coaching, customization, community, credit, and care. He then goes into more detail about each.
Here are some of the ideas that stuck with me:
- create and use periods of reflection
- explore, then play, then add rigor
- customization is important
- feed passions and embrace excellence
- minimize the drop off
These ideas resonate with me because these are ideas I try to bring into the Challenge Centre and use in my parenting and teaching. I will be talking about each of these ideas in further blog posts. Today, I like:
Create and use periods of reflection:
"A critical part of the learning process is time for quiet reflection about activities - both before and after they are undertaken. So the busier children are the less they may actually be learning." pg. 35
Aldrich states that "School Days" should have extensive down times - that is, stretches without scheduled activities and even without the context of impending homework.
I found this very powerful. Often, I view The Challenge Centre as a place for students just to be. To spend time thinking, tinkering, and talking. Almost as a break from "regular school". This rule also brought to mind one of the pivotal parenting experiences I had with my older son. When he was finishing grade one, just before summer break, I told him about all the programs he was going to be doing that summer: art camp, violin lessons, swimming lessons, Kumon Math! We had just finished a busy year filled with school and extra tutoring and lots of enriching activities. I was in the "hyper parenting" mode of having my child involved in everything so that he would have academic success.
My son looked at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, "Mommy, I don't want to do anything this summer. I just want to play." It was then that my world came crashing down and I realized how my son needed down time and reflection time. He had spent this intense school year with all these activities I had done (probably more for me than for him) and he was tired and just needed to reflect. What did our summer look like? Lot's of reading, building lego, playing at the park, swimming without lessons, and hanging out together. I learned a profound lesson that summer: periods of reflection are critical to our lives. I have taken this lesson into all of my summers with my kids and we plan for "reflection".
I hope that schools and programs and parents build reflection into their lives. I live by it.
