Teaching Perseverance

Do you teach perseverance in your classroom? It’s not something you’ll find listed in the Common Core standards…. the student will persevere through difficult tasks. However, as we all know, children aren’t likely to get far in school (or life) without it.

I was thinking about that the other day as I prepared a presentation about arts integration. Perseverance is one of the important traits developed by arts experiences. Playing in a marching band, acting in a play, dancing with a company, sitting at a piano day after day to master a piece of music. It all develops perseverance.

When you hear the life stories of famous scientists, inventors, artists, and visionaries, they always have one trait in common: amazing perseverance. Most of them failed repeatedly before they experienced success. However, an internal drive for success and a “never give up” attitude defined their life and their work. You’ve heard many of these before.

Oprah Winfrey was fired from her first television job because she was “unfit for TV.”
Jerry Seinfeld was booed off the stage the first time he tried to deliver a comedy routine.
The manager of the Grand Old Oprey fired Elvis Presley after his first performance, suggesting he “go back to driving a truck.”

Dr. Seuss was rejected many times before publishers accepted his first book.
What made these folks get back up and try again? Perseverance! How can we develop this critical trait in our students?

Here are some ideas:
1- Use language carefully to make the connection between hard work and success. My husband and I are working on this with our own children. Instead of telling my daughter, “I loved your dance performance. You are such a good dancer!” we say, “I am so proud of your performance. All that time rehearsing in the studio really paid off.”

Instead of generalized praise, “You are so good/smart/special,” connect high performance and accomplishment to hard work and effort.

“You got an A on your test! I can see that you really prepared and worked hard.”
The connection also works in the reverse. “You didn’t do very well on your test. How much time did you spend studying? What can you do to get a better grade next time?”

It’s important that students understand the power they have over their own success and failure. (And that failure doesn’t have to be a permanent condition!)

2- Set goals with your students. Teaching children the power of setting and achieving goals is a process they can carry through life. But don’t stop at setting the goal- help them identify the steps they will need to take to reach the goal.

It’s like the difference between saying, “I want to lose 50 pounds.” (A general goal without a plan = likely to fail) vs. “I want to lose 50 pounds. To reach that goal I will cut sugar and junk food out of my diet, eat mostly fruits, vegetables, and lean meats,  exercise at least 4 times per week, and weigh myself daily.” (A goal with a specific plan = destined for success.)

In the classroom, you can do this at a variety of levels; class goals, daily behavioral goals, academic goals, etc. I have a lot more to say about this topic, so look for more in a future post!

3- Share this video. Some of our “biggest stars” failed spectacularly before they finally succeeded. (As mentioned above.) This brief video would be a great intro. to a lesson specifically devoted to teaching perseverance.



READ MORE: http://booksforlessph.blogspot.com/2015/10/teaching-perseverance.html

This article first appeared on Wonder Teacher