The Master Teacher Blog

Homework has been a part of formal education for as long as anyone can recall. As such, it is assumed to play a crucial role in learning. Yet, research on the effectiveness of homework as it is typically employed is mixed. Some educators and researchers argue that the practice of assigning homework should be abandoned. Others note that homework is expected by most parents, and it is seen as a key component of learning outside of the classroom. Still others advocate for better designed homework and confining it to specific tasks and roles.  

Obviously, such variation of opinion presents a dilemma. As teachers, we face expectations that homework be assigned, but we also want the time and effort students give to homework to be worthwhile. Here are some cautions and options to consider regarding the design and role of homework, should we decide to assign it. 

Homework that is not done does not result in learning. When students are unable or choose not to complete homework, no learning reinforcement occurs. We need to design homework that students will do if we hope to have it contribute to learning. Assignments need to be purposeful, realistic, interesting, useful, and accessible to maximize the probability that they will be completed.   

Assigning more homework does not necessarily generate more learning. Lengthy homework can overwhelm students, leading to increased stress, frustration, and resentment. The quality of time and effort students give to homework is more important than how long they spend doing it. In most cases, when homework is designed as reinforcement, practicing a relatively small number of tasks or solving a few problems can solidify understanding and build adequate confidence. Assigning more items and activities will generate negligible, if any, further confidence or learning.   

When students are confused or uncertain about a skill or concept, homework can reinforce errors and solidify misconceptions. Assigning homework before students fully understand and are confident in their learning risks students being unaware of their misunderstanding and making confusion-based mistakes. Unfortunately, the more times students repeat mistakes and practice incorrect processes, the more those errors become embedded in their learning and memories. Consequently, efforts to clear up confusion and help students grasp correct information and processes become even more challenging than if they had done no homework in the first place.  

Homework can reinforce and magnify existing inequities. When homework is dependent on technology, transportation, adult involvement, or other resources for completion, students without these supports can be at a significant disadvantage. Further, when homework assumes prior knowledge and experience that is not shared by all students, it can require significantly more time and effort for completion. Having to search for, learn, and apply information and skills not previously possessed can be a major disincentive for students to complete work.  

Grading homework does not necessarily increase learning. Many believe that if homework does not count for a grade, students will not do it. It makes sense that if students do not see value in the work they are asked to do and there is no accountability, some students will not do the work. Of course, we typically design and decide what homework to assign. If we cannot create homework that is engaging, useful, and accessible, we might consider not assigning it. Further, homework should be practice, not performance. Rather than assigning a grade, we might ensure that homework completion is instrumental to successful participation in class discussions and other activities. We might provide feedback on homework without assigning a grade. Or we might keep a record of homework completion to use as data to investigate should students struggle to make progress.     

The decision to assign homework deserves more than identifying which problems to solve or tasks to complete. Homework that matters is thoughtfully and purposefully designed, calibrated to reinforce learning, interesting and engaging, and can be completed by the students to whom it is assigned. 

As human beings, it is inevitable that we sometimes make decisions that seem logical and right in the moment only to discover later that we sacrificed something important and necessary. In these cases, and with varying degrees of intentionality, we neglect to consider long-term consequences and how we might actually be undermining the very outcomes we seek.

Consider the multi-decade trend to reduce the focus on—and support for—the arts in the school curriculum, “the arts” encompassing the many various branches and presentations of creative activity and expression. It may have seemed that placing greater focus on and giving more time to academics would lead directly to higher test scores and greater student academic success, yet progress has been a struggle and greater pressure has not led to expected levels of achievement. Meanwhile, student behavior seems to have become more challenging and traditional consequences have become less effective.

It's time to reconsider the role of the arts and explore how the presence of arts education in the core curriculum can help us to achieve our goals of increasing academic performance and building learning and life skills. Rather than defaulting to the perception that the arts are extraneous “nice-to-haves” or simply scheduling add-ons, we should consider what multiple research studies tell us about the impact of the arts on learning and life skills. Here are ten areas of impact to consider:

• Better critical thinking. Experiences in the arts can increase students’ abilities to closely observe and remain focused. They nurture analytical skills. The arts ask students to practice introspection and interpretation, and engagement in the arts encourages exploration from multiple perspectives.
• Stronger communication skills. The arts offer multiple ways to express oneself. They are a means for connecting with others, reinforcing the importance of communication while broadening its application. The arts value rich descriptions, interesting images, and varied expression, all of which support the development of crucial communication skills.
• More effective problem-solving skills. The arts often present interesting questions and beg for creative responses, thus inviting novel ideas and innovative approaches to resolve a dilemma or address an issue. Students are free to try multiple approaches and discover unexpected answers. Rather than attempting to calibrate a response to a predetermined outcome, the arts invite risk and exploration in resolving conflicts and solving problems.
• Greater willingness to take initiative. The arts are less driven by templates and restrictions than some other areas. Students are encouraged to develop ideas and create products that are meaningful to them. As a result, students are freer to follow their preferences, express themselves, and take initiative than in many other formal learning contexts.
• Improved self-discipline. The arts reinforce the importance of practice, persistence, and progress before becoming proficient. For example, learning to play an instrument or master a certain visual technique is not necessarily self-reinforcing in the early stages of skill development. Goal pursuit, progress monitoring, strategy selection, and aligned effort are key elements for success in the arts.
• Greater responsiveness to constructive criticism. The arts typically tolerate multiple responses or answers to a challenge or idea. Since there is no single right answer, the arts can lead to multiple final products, all with value deserving of celebration. Consequently, students learn to accept constructive criticism without feeling that they have made an error. They learn to gracefully receive a critique and use it to improve.
• More creativity. The arts can help students see connections and patterns and can build confidence to imagine. They provide a reason, context, and motivation to be creative. Originality is encouraged—and celebrated—in the arts.
• Stronger teamwork. The arts encourage interpersonal skills within a context of purpose and in pursuit of achieving a shared outcome. Through the arts, students can experience authentic, constructive interactions with other students. These experiences help to build interpersonal skills and give students opportunities to learn to manage their emotions and express their viewpoints effectively.
• Increased empathy. The arts offer exposure to different viewpoints and types of people. The arts help students to see the world outside of themselves, with experiences in the arts helping students to become more tolerant of the ideas of others. The arts encourage students to become more compassionate and accepting of diverse thinking and perceptions.
• Better stress tolerance. While the arts build skills and emphasize processes, they are less insistent on a single answer or outcome. The arts can offer permission for students to have fun. When students experience more freedom to express and be themselves, they typically experience less stress while, at the same time, build more tolerance for it.

It should come at no surprise that many studies have shown that students who are engaged in the arts do better academically, are better behaved, and graduate at higher rates. The arts build key skills and nurture foundational characteristics that are easily transferred to and applied in academic subjects and life. We do our students a disservice when we do not include arts education in the core curriculum.

The Master Teacher is the creator of the new Museum of Art + Light (MOA+L) in Manhattan, Kansas. It was built at this time because the research is so clear that children who are in the visual and performing arts in our schools out-perform all other students, and this is particularly important in this new high-tech era. The Master Teacher passionately supports the arts and advocates for arts education to be an integral component within the public-school core curriculum. The first of its kind, the MOA+L boasts its unique vision to explore the limitless convergence of visual art, the creative process, and digital technology. Its mission is to bridge 21^st century technology with the visual and performing arts to incite positive emotion, cultivate meaningful connections, encourage artistic exploration, and spark innovation.

Historically, education has been one of the last places where partisan politics and conflicts were likely to play out. School-board elections were relatively quiet affairs in which community-minded people stepped forward to lend their time to guide and support their local schools. School curriculum was rarely a flash point for conflict and debate. Schools were places where consistency and support were largely assumed.

However, in the aftermath of the pandemic, schools and the world of education itself have become fertile ground for debate, conflict, and conspiracy. Issues that used to be taken for granted are spotlighted for attack. Partisan politics have become commonplace in school-board races, policy debates, and instructional practices.

Amid such conflict and confusion, we can become distracted from the fundamental responsibilities schools exist to fulfill. So many of the debates are around side issues and distractions that we can lose focus on what is most important. Yet, our voices and our advocacy remain important and need to play a role in the debate over what schools should be and need to do. More than ever, we need to focus on what is most important and what our students need us to do on their behalf. Putting aside the distractions and manufactured issues, here are ten things worth our fighting for:

A safe and supportive environment: Physical, emotional, and psychological safety must be priorities. Students deserve learning environments that are free from bullying, bias, and intimidation. They need to know that there are adults around them who know and are ready to advocate for them.

A future filled with opportunities: Students deserve to experience an education that prepares them for the future they choose. They deserve ample opportunities to develop skills, be exposed to multiple career and life options, and build social currency in the community and beyond. A student’s family or history should not be predictive of their future.

Opportunities to speak and be heard: Students’ perspectives and input should be valued in decisions regarding their school experience. A student’s academic record, family, or social standing should not determine whether their voice is heard and heeded. Respect must be assured regardless of who chooses to speak.

Fair and equitable discipline: A student’s race, socioeconomic status, behavior history, or other demographic factors must not drive discipline decisions. Discipline needs to be seen as an equitable opportunity for teaching and learning rather than as an occasion for punishment. When consequences are called for, they should be in response to the specific behavior, not the personality or identity of the student.

Respect for culture, history, and life experiences: The curriculum needs to reflect the makeup of the student population and offer exposure to a wide variety of perspectives, traditions, and experiences. Students need to see relevance in their learning experiences, and the curriculum should foster a sense of identity and belonging in addition to academic content.

Instruction that is responsive to what students are ready to learn: Instruction should be designed with students in mind. Their learning needs, readiness, and uniqueness must be key considerations in how instruction is presented, support is offered, and progress is assessed. Students, regardless of special needs and gifts, deserve to be supported in a manner that fosters success for them.

Exposure to diverse perspectives: Students should be exposed to and have opportunities to engage with others who think differently, have different life experiences, and approach life in unique ways. Learning needs to be embedded in context and be rich with opportunities to explore and develop unique ideas and perspectives. Students should be encouraged to appreciate other ways of thinking and varied viewpoints.

Access to arts, sports, clubs, and other extracurricular activities: Students need multiple places to belong and varied opportunities to develop skills beyond academics. They deserve access to informal opportunities to make friends and learn to work and play productively with others. Students should have places beyond the classroom where they feel connected and belong.

Well-prepared and supported staff: Teachers and other staff need access to rich resources and learning opportunities to develop the skills necessary to prepare today’s students for a world of rapid change, unpredictability, and constant innovation. Compensation, working conditions, and expectations must support educators at a level that is adequate and sustainable. Much of what is worth fighting for will become empty promises if school staff members lack the resources and support to be able to deliver.

Equitable access to resources and support: Adequate funding and facilities are fundamental to supporting opportunities and options for students to succeed. Curricular opportunities need to be rich and not restricted to certain groups of students. Mental and physical health services must be available and aligned with the needs of students. Allocation of resources should be based on needs and the creation of opportunities for success.

Fighting for what is important takes courage. The future of our students and our society depends on sustained advocacy for what matters and what will make our shared future better. We may be tempted to remain quiet and hope that the situation will improve. However, our students have too much to lose to justify our silence. As the saying goes: If not us, who? If not now, when?

Confidence is an important driver of risk, effort, and success. Consider the words of Henry Ford: “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.” Confidence can give us courage to try, try again when we fail and prevail until we succeed. On the other hand, self-doubt can rob us of the desire to even try, lead us to quit when things don’t go right, and prevent us from enjoying the success of which we are capable.

Confidence, obviously, also plays an important role in learning. When students are confident, they are more likely to take on difficult learning challenges, look for better strategies and approaches when they struggle, and prevail in their learning efforts.

Of course, some students come to us with histories of easy, successful learning and have grown to see learning as an easy challenge. Others may feel confident in their learning because they have a history of overcoming the learning challenges they have faced. But many students come to us with learning histories that are not as positive and filled with success. As a result, they are reluctant to take on difficult learning tasks and are quick to quit when they struggle or experience setbacks. These students especially need our guidance, support, and coaching. Still, all students can benefit from practices and strategies that build and reinforce their confidence. Let’s examine eight steps we can take to help our students develop and maintain their confidence.

Be confident and prepared. When we know what we are doing, are confident in our approach, and minimize stumbles, confusion, and uncertainty in our instruction, students feel more confident in the tasks we present. Learning is difficult enough. We do not want to make it harder by having to correct ourselves, unravel unnecessary confusion, or fill in gaps we overlooked.

Give students a head start on their learning. Share multiple strategies, tools, and hints related to the learning students will encounter. Give students opportunities to practice using the strategies for success with familiar and less challenging aspects of upcoming learning tasks before engaging students in more difficult learning challenges.

Calibrate learning challenges to match the leading edge of readiness. Confidence grows when students face and overcome challenges. Tasks that are too easy can lead to lack of focus and boredom, but work that is too hard fosters defeatism and avoidance. The best learning challenges require students to build on past learning and use skills they already have while stretching their thinking and pushing their skills to the next level. Often referred to as the Zone of Proximal Development, or ZPD, learning just beyond where students are generates competence and confidence.

Anticipate and normalize struggle. When possible, avoid having students be surprised by having to struggle. Warn students of areas where they may have to slow down, focus, and grind before they will succeed. Describing the experiences of past students (without identifying those individuals, obviously) and how they succeeded can reduce anxiety and make struggling feel expected and seem normal.

Design tight feedback loops. Monitor initial learning efforts and provide coaching, correction, and reteaching before students become confused, frustrated, and lose the confidence they have. Check in throughout practice and application activities to ensure that students grasp key concepts and are using effective techniques.

Share your confidence and commitment. Students want assurance that we believe they will succeed. When we combine our confidence with our commitment to walk beside students as they learn, and support them until they succeed, students are more likely to feel confident and take learning risks.

Offer ample praise and encouragement. Watch for and reaffirm positive steps, progress, and success as often as possible. Be specific, descriptive, and authentic. Go beyond “good job” and tell students what you notice—and why it’s important. Provide details that add substance and meaning. Be sure to focus on efforts, elements, and aspects over which students have control. Praising innate intelligence, physical characteristics, and external factors does little to build confidence.

Emphasize the “long view” of learning. Remind students that learning will have its ups and downs and that some learning challenges will be easier than others. What is most important is what they are learning about themselves and the experiences they gain that help them to become skilled learners. Not everything they learn will remain important, but what they learn about learning will always be relevant.

Confidence can be fragile. Even the most confident students can become uncertain and anxious whey they hit a rough spot in their learning. We may assume that confident students will be able to weather difficult experiences. However, consistently building and reinforcing confidence is a practice that is good for all.

During the first weeks of school, we spend significant time and energy getting to know our students and having them get to know us. We know that the more we know about our students, the better able we will be to meet their needs and support their learning.

However, getting to know a class or multiple classes of learners is a significant undertaking. We may discover that we gravitate to some students while finding others to be a challenge. We may also look for shortcuts to create an image and profile of our students. Consequently, we can be tempted to make assumptions about students based on factors such as their appearance, what we have heard about them from colleagues, our early interactions with them, or their initial performance in our classroom. Some of our assumptions may be correct, but others may need to be reexamined and adjusted with further experience. However, there are at least five assumptions about students that we need to avoid altogether.

We need to resist assuming that a student:

• Will behave just like their siblings. When students who are siblings of former students enter our class, we can be tempted to make assumptions and prejudge their character and behavior based on our experience with a brother or sister, especially if there is a close physical resemblance. Our prejudgment can be positive or negative. Regardless, our assumptions can be harmful to these students. We may unintentionally place unrealistic pressure on them to perform. Or we may be quick to pounce on any misbehavior, thinking that we need to get ahead of a negative behavior pattern. Whether positive or negative, they are just assumptions, and they risk our misjudging and treating these students unfairly.
• Is not interested in a relationship with us. We sometimes experience students who seem resistant to our attempts to get to know them and form a relationship. It can be tempting to assume that they are not interested and pull back in our efforts to connect. Of course, one possibility is that the student truly does not want to connect with us. However, there are many potential reasons why a student might be reluctant. Negative past experiences might make the student hesitate, or they may be hiding factors and pressures in their lives that they do not want revealed should we get close to them. Our persistent invitations and continued opportunities to connect may be exactly what the student needs to break through the barriers they face and overcome their reluctance to allow us to connect with them.
• Is a lazy person and learner. Some students may seem to care little about the learning we ask of them. They may appear disengaged and not responsive to our instruction. Based on our observations, we might assume that the student is just lazy and uninterested. While we might be correct, this judgment is just one of many possibilities. The student may be reluctant to invest because of a pattern of failure in the past. What they need may be our support and coaching. They may be dealing with challenges outside of our class and school that are overwhelming, leaving them with little bandwidth to invest in learning. Our interest and understanding, and maybe a referral for help, might be what they need to find their way and invest in learning. We gain little by assuming laziness and applying increasing pressure on them to change their behavior. In fact, doing so may make the situation worse.
• Will continue to perform in the future as they have in the past. The truth is that past performance does not have to predict future performance. Many factors can influence the effort, focus, and persistence students will give to their learning. In fact, we may be the force that changes the trajectory of their learning and future. Our confidence, persistence, and encouragement may be exactly what is needed to interrupt a pattern of failure. Interestingly, even small shifts and incremental improvement now can magnify over time. Our influence to build confidence, fill skill and knowledge gaps, and nurture a sense of hope and possibility can make a lifelong difference, regardless of the student’s performance before encountering us.
• Is motivated by the same things that motivated us. History shows that we often teach the same way that we were taught. We may assume that what worked for us should work for our students. Similarly, we might assume that the factors that we found motivating as learners are the same factors our students should find motivating. We may have performed because we felt it was expected of us. We may be drawn to academic activities and find formal learning satisfying and fun. However, even though these factors were powerful for us, they are not universal motivators. Many students will not respond to these factors but may be drawn to others. We know from research that elements such as autonomy, mastery, purpose, and sense of belonging are near universal motivators, but even these factors vary in their power to motivate from student to student. Some learners respond to having more flexibility and choice while others want to know how what they learn will be important and useful. Our challenge is to get to know our students well enough to understand what motivates them. When we know, we can design learning experiences that draw on and maximize the impact of these factors on their learning.

Assumptions can feel like shortcuts to understanding our students. However, assumptions can be traps that lead us to treat students in ways that, while seeming reasonable, can be harmful to our students, their learning, and their relationship with us.

We know that learning thrives when students are engaged, invested, and committed. Yet, the school experience for too many students is largely that of a spectator and passive consumer. They watch adults perform, then take what they are given and do what they are told, often with minimal authentic involvement. As a result, they feel no strong connection or sustained commitment to their learning experience or what they are supposed to learn. These students complete assignments and take exams only to forget what was taught and move on to the next set of activities and expectations, and the cycle repeats until the school year is finished. Unfortunately, without a sense of belonging, engagement, and ownership, little meaningful and lasting learning is likely to result.

The challenge is to shift the experience from one of spectator and consumer to one of contributor and collaborator. Fortunately, the solution may be surprisingly simple. In almost any social context, we move from observer and passive participant to member and investor when we assume meaningful roles, have a sense of responsibility, feel needed, and are contributing to something larger than ourselves.

It is human nature to take our engagement seriously when others depend on us. We experience stronger connections when our presence and participation matters. Service to others can be a strong motivator and generate a satisfying sense of accomplishment.

Of course, fully shifting the role students have traditionally played in their learning and school experience suggests a major redesign in how schools typically function. Yet, there are several impactful steps available within the current design that can make an important difference in the experience of learners and move them from observing and consuming to contributing and collaborating. Here are five places to start.

First, give students meaningful responsibilities and opportunities to participate significantly in the operation of the class. We can give them active roles in establishing rules and routines. For younger students, these opportunities might include distribution of materials, leading the class during physical transitions, collecting supplies, and performing other classroom operational activities. Older students may play the role of timekeeper during discussions, process monitor for activities, question recorder for later follow-up, and other roles for activities that we might otherwise manage. At the next level of the shift, students might be given options in the structure and timelines for assignments and project completion. They might even have choices regarding how they will pursue and demonstrate learning and document mastery. The key is to give students, individually and collectively, as many opportunities to play active and meaningful roles in their learning as we can.

Second, give students opportunities to teach what they are learning. Decades of research have documented the mutual benefits of this activity. Most of us can recall our transition from a teacher preparation program to teaching. Suddenly, we took learning more seriously, listened more carefully, and assumed greater ownership for what we learned. We can begin this process by signaling students that when they have learned a given skill, concept, or process, we will be asking them to teach it to someone else. When students are ready, they might “live teach” their new learning to a classmate or record a video of their teaching someone else. This activity can be modified for students who may struggle with key or lower-level skills and need practice by having them teach a skill or concept to a younger student. Not only does teaching someone else represent a more active role for students, the combination of preparation and teaching further consolidates what has been learned and helps to move it into long-term memory.

Third, have students develop questions and quiz other students. While students may initially need instruction and coaching to develop appropriate, valuable questions, the process of creating questions helps students to sort through what is important about a topic or skill and further consolidates their learning. Meanwhile, students move from answering questions that have been presented to them to contributing questions and supporting each other’s learning. Of course, quizzing is a great way for students to prepare for and perform on assessments.

Fourth, create opportunities for students to share advice with other students. Students are often reluctant to take advice from adults, but they can be more open to what friends and classmates have to offer. When confronting a shared challenge such as how best to study, ways to organize and manage time, how to build self-confidence, or even how to solve a classroom problem, we can ask students to share their best advice. Interestingly, not only are students who hear the advice more likely to listen, the students who offer it are more likely to follow the advice they share.

Fifth, position students to tutor and mentor younger learners. Interestingly, when older students who may have difficulties with behavior, struggle with class participation, or even face learning challenges have opportunities to help younger students, many of these challenges go away. The opportunity to help someone and feel responsible for another’s success can be a great experience and confidence builder. Meanwhile, younger learners are often ready to listen and eager to please older students who are giving their time to support them.

We all want students who are invested in their learning. Yet, many traditional instructional practices can discourage students from assuming responsibility and ownership. Fortunately, we have it within our power to help students begin the transition from spectator and consumer to contributor to and collaborator in their learning.

Students who are self-starters can feel like a gift in and to our classroom. These students are motivated, proactive, and independent. They take initiative and seek ownership, including in their learning, and they typically have high expectations and clear goals for their achievement.

Unfortunately, self-starting behaviors are far from universal in most classrooms. Several factors may be influencing this reality. For many students, the school experience is one in which they are expected to wait until told what to do and when to do it. Starting early, not waiting for directions, or otherwise showing initiative may offer few rewards. Sometimes, our expectations and behaviors can inadvertently discourage self-starting behaviors.

Meanwhile, the absence of self-starting behaviors seems to be even more pronounced following the pandemic. Some people speculate that when students were at home, their parents or guardians may have provided extensive support, detailed direction, and close supervision that fostered over-dependence. Others propose that isolation during the pandemic may have undermined some students’ confidence. Still others wonder if the absence of urgency and expectations for immediate engagement may have left students less focused and organized, less able to prioritize, and more reluctant to immediately perform assigned tasks.

Regardless of what may be contributing circumstances, experts point to at least five common causes for a lack of self-starting behaviors:

• Absence of clear expectations. Students may be reluctant to begin a task because they lack a clear understanding of what to do, how to do it, and what defines success.
• Over-dependency on others. Students may be accustomed to waiting for someone to show them how perform a task, having someone constantly checking to ensure each step is correct, or regularly being reminded of their responsibilities.
• Low levels of confidence. Students may be afraid that starting without detailed directions and expectations will mean that they will misstep, embarrass themselves, or be perceived as not being capable.
• Feeling overwhelmed. The introduction of a new, complex, multi-step task may seem like too much to process. Students may not know where to begin or how to break the task into manageable steps and pieces.
• Lack of motivation. Some students may be reluctant to invest energy in a task because they see no relevance or value in the process or outcome.

So, how can we teach and encourage students to be self-starters? Here are ten tips to consider and try:

• Establish routines. Consistency and predictability can give students a level of comfort to move forward with familiar procedures without feeling the need to always check, confirm, and seek permission.
• Provide clear directions and expectations. Be certain that students have the learning skills and tools to succeed. Teach and have students practice organizing, prioritizing, and sequencing multi-part tasks so they can learn and work independently.
• Break tasks into manageable parts. Students can become overwhelmed with too much complexity. Breaking processes into clear, low-risk steps can give students clarity and comfort to move forward.
• Avoid distractions. When presenting projects and tasks to be completed, avoid unrelated information, disconnected examples, and distracting stories that can introduce confusion and paralyze students from getting started.
• Build learning ownership. Provide students with options and choices. Offer flexibility in how students may approach and complete tasks. Where practical, encourage creativity and experimentation.
• Normalize mistakes. Reinforce that mistakes are natural companions to learning. Focus on what can be learned from missteps rather than punish or shame in response to errors.
• Build confidence. Remind students of their skills and strengths. It can be helpful to note their past successes. Share with students your belief that they can do it and that you will be there to support them.
• Focus on process over product. Coach students to give their attention to how to accomplish a task or perform a skill to build their competence and confidence. Ultimately, if students get the process correct, the product will take care of itself.
• Encourage positive self-talk. Affirmations can be powerful confidence builders. Visualizing success can lower anxiety and counter reluctance.
• Tap intrinsic motivation. Tapping into student interests, goals, curiosity, and values can make getting started easier and the work more rewarding. Even better, emphasize with students the power they possess to motivate themselves. Once developed, the ability to self-motivate can quickly become a superpower.

Learning to be a self-starter not only offers a powerful advantage in school and with learning, but self-starting can also be a lifelong success generator. We may need to shift some of our practices. We may occasionally need to expand our patience. We may even need to tolerate occasional false starts. However, the long-term benefit of helping students to become self-starters will be more than worth the effort.

As educators, a foundational component of who we are and what we do is that we want our students to be successful. The curriculum we will teach is filled with important content, concepts, and skills we want our students to learn. We also want our students to become proficient, engaged, and self-reliant learners. While the content itself is certainly important, learning how to learn, developing independent learning skills and habits, and navigating learning challenges will likely be more determinative of lifelong success than the facts and formulas found in formal assessments.

We also know that when our entire focus is on students absorbing curricular content and preparing for formal assessments, our students are likely to miss the authentic, real-world relevance of what they learn. Additionally, they are likely to quickly forget much of the content once it has been assessed.

Our greater challenge is to develop learners who possess the skills to learn independently, the mindsets necessary to learn in a variety of environments, and the drive to learn for intrinsic reasons. As we contemplate the beginning of another year, whether we have already begun school or not, we might consider what mindsets students need to develop and how we can help students become skilled, proficient, motivated learners. Here are five learning mindsets that deserve to be on our agenda.

Ownership: When students see learning as something they do for themselves, rather than to comply with or please others, their efforts grow and learning outcomes improve. Most learning students do outside of school has ownership built into it in some way, such as when it is connected to a student’s personal interests or job, but school-based learning often does not. We can coach students to take ownership of their learning by giving then meaningful choices in that learning, by connecting their learning to uses and purposes that hold value for them individually, and by giving them a shared role in tracking their progress.

Confidence: Lack of confidence can prevent students from engaging in challenging tasks and lead them to abandon their efforts when they encounter difficulties or feel stuck. Initially, our coaching may be as simple as helping students take the first steps to get started. Then, we can help them build their confidence by coaching them to connect good strategies and smart efforts to overcoming challenges. We might even coach students to recall past experiences in which they took risks and persisted to succeed despite the difficulties they encountered and challenges they faced. Confidence grows with progress, support, and success.

Resilience: Resilience helps students to recover quickly from missteps, setbacks, and disappointments. However, resilience is more than just getting back up after being knocked down; it also includes learning from the experience so that reengagement is more insightful and strategic. Our coaching needs to extend beyond encouragement for recommitment to thoughtful reflection, meaningful analysis, and considered adjustment.

Focus: When students learn how to truly focus, their productivity increases. Multitasking, distractions, and interruptions make learning more challenging and can shorten learning retention. Our coaching might include helping students to set learning goals, having students practice gradually extending the amount of time they are able to concentrate, and helping students to structure and arrange their study environment to minimize distractions. Putting a phone screen-down on the desk (or better yet, in a backpack) or removing a smartwatch can be a tremendous start!

Organization: Organization is the infrastructure that helps students to make the best use of their effort and maximize their progress. Time management helps students to accomplish more with the limited time they have. Knowing where they can locate needed tools and resources reduces the effort necessary to complete tasks. Maintaining a structure for files, correspondence, and other information can reduce memory lapses and missed deadlines. Our coaching to acquire organizational tools, habits, and strategies can help students to maintain learning momentum and reduce distractions and frustrations.

These five mindsets—ownership, confidence, resilience, focus, and organization—not only can make our students better learners, but they can significantly improve their chances for a life of success and satisfaction.

When we recognize and nurture our students’ unique strengths, our instruction becomes more effective. We are likely to experience greater success with students when we know and can draw on their strengths compared to when we focus too heavily on correcting or accommodating their weaknesses. Of course, weaknesses and faults are often easier to spot.  

Identifying strengths can be more challenging, so we might find ourselves needing to create opportunities for students to discover and demonstrate their own unique strengths. The most direct path to finding the strengths our students possess is to operate under the assumption that every student has strengths to be tapped and nurtured. We are more likely to find strengths when we believe they are present and thus actively look for them. Conversely, when we doubt or do not readily assume the potential of students, we are more likely to see their limitations and weaknesses.  

The strengths of some students are obvious and easy to spot. These students may even be quick to directly tell us about and confidently demonstrate their strengths. Other students, though, may be more reluctant to reveal their strengths, and some may even choose to hide them due to lack of confidence, fear of standing out, or desire to avoid being teased or embarrassed.  

If we hope to have students discover, share, and develop their strengths, we need to create a safe environment for them to be themselves. They must feel safe in order to fully reveal and leverage their strengths as they learn and grow, and we can support them by establishing norms of respect, reinforcing the importance of individual uniqueness, and providing space for students to create, experiment, and explore. 

Fortunately, there also are a variety of steps we can take and strategies we can employ to become aware of, validate, and nurture our students’ strengths. Here are eight options to consider:  

• Invite parents and guardians to share what they see as their child’s strengths, as they are often in the best position to observe behavior across a variety of formal and informal settings. They may also be encouraging and nurturing strengths on which we can build.  

• Consult with colleagues who have experience with the student(s). Students may demonstrate strengths with some applications and in certain areas while not necessarily demonstrating them in other situations. Hearing what colleagues have noticed can add important pieces to the strengths puzzle. 

• Give students choices in their learning. When given opportunities and options, students typically go to their strengths or what they see as their strengths. Open-ended projects and activities can reveal strengths that otherwise might remain hidden, or, in some cases, students may choose to learn in an area of initial interest that can then be nurtured and built into a newfound strength.  

• Learn about students’ lives outside of the classroom. Areas of interest, hobbies, extracurriculars, and other activities outside of the classroom can be rich sources for the discovery of talents and abilities. Students may demonstrate a strength in one setting, such as the arts or athletics, but fail to see the potential for its application in more formal learning environments. The more we know about our students outside of class, the more options we have for drawing out their strengths in the classroom.  

• Observe students’ actions and interactions during times such as class discussions, small-group work, or even presentations and demonstrations. Students often provide evidence of strengths during these more organic times that can take us by surprise.  

• Pay attention to students as they interact with their friends, classmates, and others. Informal activities such as these offer excellent opportunities to observe strengths and skills such as listening, negotiation, leadership, conflict resolution, and so on.  

• Vary the types of assessments used to document student learning. Some students will shine when given closed-ended assessment prompts while others will soar with more open-ended demonstrations, presentations, and essays. Varied assessment styles can also give us a more complete picture of what students are learning but may struggle with or be reluctant to demonstrate. 

• Offer students opportunities to discover strengths of which they may be unaware. We can expose student to different activities, ways of thinking, and novel approaches related to the curriculum that may open doors of discovery, stimulate an interest, or ignite a new passion.  

The more we know about our students and their strengths, the more opportunities we have to reach, teach, and inspire them. Further, appealing to and building on students’ strengths can build their confidence, lift their aspirations, and expand their learning skills.