Can you teach GRIT?
You can try
to implement it into your “character education,” however, that is not teaching
grit. In my opinion, grit is more of a performance value than it is a value. So
how do we tackle teaching grit in our classrooms? Below is a list of ways to
begin the process.
1.
Read
books about GRIT- Read books and hold conversations about what it means to
Book List: Some great
suggestions are “The magnificent Thing”, “Beautiful Oops,” “Fantastic Elastic
Brian”
2.
Have a
discussion about GRIT- You can give your students a GRIT SCALE TEST by Angela
Duckworth. She also have a great TED talk HERE! Show your elementary strategies this explanation. They will hopefully get the idea that every student can learn material if they
work long and hard enough.
3.
Share
Examples- I use a fictional character names GUS who overcomes some
struggles. Then I use a sorting game to help students understand who has GRIT and
who doesn’t.
Gus comes in a Lessons and Resource Bundle. You can find HERE
4.
Help
Students Develop a Growth Mindset- Carol Dweck from Standford University
teaches us that students who have growth mindset are more successful than those
who have a fixed one. This is when I introduce my bulletin board We also do a grow your brain activity that we hang up.
5.
Foster
Safe Circumstances that Encourage Grit- One activity you can have students
try is to have students through a grape and catch it in their mouth. OR to take
an Oreo and place it on your face and try to get it to go into your mouth.- SEE BLUEBERRY TRIAL. This is after 5 tries!
- Ask Good Questions- try not to correct mistakes students are making. Ask questions such as, “What brought you to that decision?” One of the best ways to learn is to self-reflect.
- Emphasize your student's ability to grow- "I saw you write an entire page yesterday. A few weeks ago, you were only able to do 2 sentences."
- Choose specific actions to praise- "I see you sat and worked the entire time without stopping."
- Help students create obtainable goals
6.
Discuss
when you need grit and when you need to quit- There will be time in their
lives when they will have to know it is okay to quit because the task is out of
range for their talent or ability. For example: I used to be a runner. I ran a
25K two years in a row until experiencing knee trouble. After surgery, I tried
to get back into running. I kept working at it and my knee continued to swell.
The doctor told me that it was okay to quit and try something else. It was out
of my range of ability now.
Now we as teachers will need grit as we plan lessons, work
with parents, and grade papers. We need to live it out too.
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