January 2020 FIVE ESSENTIALS FOR CREATING A POSITIVE CLASSROOM Establishing a positive environment within your classroom is not something that will happen straight away. As you adjust various aspects of your classroom, you will start to notice slow changes beginning to have their effect on your students and the quality of your teaching. This often involves trial and error and the slight adjustment of your reaction to a situation. This article will highlight five tips to help you to start making small changes to your classroom routine that may create a more optimistic classroom setting 1, Self discipline. It is essential that you learn to control your emotions and anger and you will find controlling your class a lot easier. Practice disciplining your emotions, body language, facial expressions and tone of voice, as well as your choice of words. Let students who cause disruptions have a bit of ‘wiggle room’ to avoid any further physical or emotional confrontation. 2, Stop taking things personally. Whenever a student displays a bad attitude or behavior or uses foul language, remember that it is completely unrelated to you and that it is not directed at you, When you master taking yourself out of the equation, you will find it a lot easier to be less judgmental and see things from both points of view. You will also be more able to recognize when a student is distressed. All of these will make the situation a lot less threatening and easier to solve. 3. Adopt humor instead of sarcasm. The ability to laugh at yourself will show to your students that you are human and will help them to feel more comfortable around you. If you sense a situation developing that is Volume 11. No. 1 ° NaanneAnac) ScHOOL FoRuM ‘A Ramanbhai Patel - AMA Centre for Excellence in Education Initiative For Private Circulation potentially “harmful” or “difficult”, then you may find that small dose of humor will help to diffuse the tension. On the other hand, sarcasm encourages any existing tension and can often make situations more difficult. It can also cause hurt to your students. However, something you may have learned already is that your students will be far more adept and quick at sarcasm than you are, so it may be a wise idea to try and banish it from your classroom permanently. 4, Keep things simple. Establish ground rules from the very beginning of the semester and make it very clear to your class. Tell the students that keeping and abiding by the rules will enhance their personal development both personally and in their school life. A few simple posted where they can be reinforced affirmatively and have the most effect will make any uncomfortable situations more impersonal and more readily acceptable. Stick a list of your simple rules up in your classroom where everyone can see it. Any general school rules should also be up there too. Everyone now and then, review these rules, especially if you feel trouble brewing. Make sure that these rules are worked into your daily lesson plans. 5. Convey confidence, expertise and genuine interest in what your students and fellow teachers are saying. Even if you don't feel confident, fake it and you will be surprised at how well people believe it ‘source: teach-nology.com + 25 Things Successful Teachers Do Differently + 6 Steps for Turning Around Middle School Classroom Behavior + Book Revie + What Don’t We Know about Gratitude and Youth? + What You Never Realized You Were Teaching Your Child About Grit & Resilience Editorial Board: Seema Agarwal * Narendra Pandya * Dr. Mukund Patel * Francis Lobo No. 1 + January 2020 *125 Things Successful Teachers Do Differently 1, Successful teachers have clear objectives: How do you know if you are driving the right way when you are traveling somewhere new? You use the road signs and a map (although nowadays it might be SIRI or a GPS). In the world of education, your objectives for your students act as road signs to your destination. Your plan is the map. Making a plan does not suggest a lack of creativity in your curriculum but rather, gives creativity a framework in which to flourish 2. Successful teachers have a sense of purpose: We can't all be blessed with “epic” workdays all the time. Sometimes, life is just mundane and tedious. Teachers with a sense of purpose that are able to see the big picture can ride above the hard and boring days because their eye is on something further down the road 3. Successful teachers are able to live without immediate feedback: There is nothing worse than sweating over a lesson plan only to have your students walk out of class without so much as a smile or a, “Great job teach!” It's hard to give 100% and not see immediate results. Teachers who rely on that instant gratification will get burned out and disillusioned Learning, relationships, and education are a messy endeavor, much like nurturing a garden. It takes time, and some dirt, to grow. 4. Successful teachers know when to listen to students and when to ignore them: Right on the heels of the above tip is the concept of discernment with student feedback. A teacher who never listens to his/her students will ultimately fail. A teacher who always listens to his/her students will ultimately fail. It is no simple endeavor to know when to listen and adapt, and when to say, “No- we're going this way because | am the teacher and | see the long term picture.” 5. Successful teachers have a positive attitude: Negative energy zaps creativity and it makes a nice breeding ground for fear of failure. Good teachers have an upbeat mood, a sense of vitality and energy, and see past momentary setbacks to the end goal. Positivity breeds creativity. 6. Successful teachers expect their students to succeed: This concept is similar for parents as well Students need someone to believe in them. They need a wiser and older person to put stock in their abilities. Set the bar high and then create an environment where it's okay to fail. This will motivate your students to keep trying until they reach the expectation you've set for them, 7. Successful teachers have a sense of humor: Humor and wit make a lasting impression. It reduces stress and frustration, and gives people a chance to look at their circumstances from another point of view. 8. Successful teachers use praise authentically: Students need encouragement yes, but real encouragement. It does no good to praise their work when you know itis only 50% of what they are capable of. You don’t want to create an environment where there is no praise or recognition; you want to create one where the praise that you offer is valuable BECAUSE you use it judiciously. 9. Successful teachers know how to take risks: There is a wise saying that reads, “Those who go just a little bit too far are the ones who know just how far one can go.” Risk-taking is a part of the successful formula, Your students need to see you try new things in the classroom and they will watch closely how you handle failure in your risk-taking. This is as important as what you are teaching. 10, Successful teachers are consistent: Consistency is not to be confused with “stuck.” Consistency means that you do what you say you will do, you don't change your rules based on your mood, and your students can rely on you when they are in need. Teachers who are stuck in their outdated methods may boast consistency, when in fact it is cleverly-masked stubbornness. 11, Successful teachers are reflective: In order to avoid becoming the stuck and stubborn teacher, successful educators take time to reflect on their methods, their delivery, and the way they connect with their students. Reflection is necessary to uncover those weaknesses that can be strengthened with a bit of resolve and understanding 12. Successful teachers seek out mentors of their own: Reflective teachers can easily get disheartened if they don’t have someone a bit older and wiser offering support. You are never too old or wise for a mentor. Mentors can be that voice that says, “Yes your reflections are correct,” or “No, you ate off because. and provide you with a different perspective. 13, Successful teachers communicate with parents: Collaboration between parents and teachers is absolutely crucial to a student's success. Create an open path of communication so parents can come to you with concerns and you can do the same. When a teacher and parents present a united front, there is a lower chance that your student will fall through the cracks. 14, Successful teachers enjoy their work: It is easy to spot a teacher who loves their work. They seem to 2+ School Forumemanate contagious energy. Even if it is on a subject like advanced calculus, the subject comes alive. If you don't love your work or your subject, it will come through in your teaching. Try to figure out why you feel so unmotivated and uninspired. It might have nothing to do with the subject, but your expectations. Adjust them a bit and you might find your love of teaching come flooding back. 15, Successful teachers adapt to student needs: Classrooms are like an ever-evolving dynamic organism. Depending on the day, the attendance roster, and the phase of the moon, you might have to change up your plans or your schedule to accommodate your students. As they grow and change, your methods might have to as well. If your goal is to promote a curriculum or method, it will fel ike a personal insult when you have to modify it, Make connecting with your student your goal and you'll have no trouble changing it up as time moves on. 16. Successful teachers welcome change in the classroom: This relates to the above tip, but in a slightly different way. Have you ever been so bored with your house or your bedroom, only to rearrange it and have it feel like a new room? Change ignites the brain with excitement and adventure. Change your classroom to keep your students on their toes. Simple changes like rearranging desks and routines can breathe new life in the middle of a long year. 17. Successful teachers take time to explore new tools: With the advance of technology, there are fresh new resources and tools that can add great functionality to your classroom and curriculum. There is no doubt that the students you are teaching (far younger than you) probably already use technologies you haven't tapped into yet. Don't be afraid to push for technology in the classroom. Itis often an underfunded area but in this current world and climate, your students will be growing up in a world where technology is everywhere. Give them a headstart and use technology in your classroom 18. Successful teachers give their students emotional support: There are days when your students will need your emotional support more than a piece of information. Connecting to your students on an emotional level makes it more likely that they will listen to your counsel and take your advice to heart. Students need mentors as much as they need teachers. 19, Successful teachers are comfortable with the unknown: It's difficult to teach in an environment where you don't know the future of your classroom budget, the involvement of your student's parents, or the outcome of all your hard work. On a more philosophical level, educators who teach the higher grades are tasked with teaching students principles that have a lot of unknowns (i.e. physics). How comfortable are you with not having all the answers? Good teachers are able to function without everything tied up neatly in a bow. 20. Successful teachers are not threatened by parent advocacy: Unfortunately, parents and teachers are sometimes threatened by one another. A teacher who is insecure will see parent advocacy as a threat. While there are plenty of over-involved helicopter parents waiting to point out a teacher's mistakes, most parents just want what's best for their child. Successful educators are confident in their abilities and not threatened when parents want to get into the classroom and make their opinions known. Good teachers also know they don't have to follow what the parent recommends! 21, Successful teachers bring fun into the classroom: Don't be too serious. Some days, “fun” should be the goal. When students feel and see your humanness, it builds a foundation of trust and respect. Fun and educational aren't mutually exclusive either. Using humor can make even the most mundane topic more interesting 22. Successful teachers teach holistically: Learning does not happen in a vacuum. Depression, anxiety, and mental stress have a severe impact on the educational process. It's crucial that educators (and the educational model) take the whole person into account. You can have the funniest and most innovative lesson on algebra, but if your student has just been told his parents are getting a divorce, you will not reach him. 23. Successful teachers never stop learning: Good teachers find time in their schedule to learn themselves. Not only does it help bolster your knowledge in a certain subject matter, it also puts you in the position of student. This gives you a perspective about the learning process that you can easily forget when you're always in teaching mode. 24, Successful teachers break out of the box: It may be a self-made box. “Oh | could never do that,” you say to yourself. Perhaps you promised you'd never become the teacher who would let students grade each other (maybe you had a bad experience as a kid). Sometimes the biggest obstacle to growth is us. Have you built a box around your teaching methods? Good teachers know when it's time to break out of it 25. Successful teachers are masters of their subject: Good teachers need to know their craft. In addition to the methodology of “teaching”, you need to master your subject area. Learn, learn, and never stop leaming. Successful educators stay curious. source: feachthought.com No. 1 * January 2020 +36 STEPS FOR TURNING AROUND MIDDLE SCHOOL CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR Having kids write essays to reflect on their behavior seems thi s Mer eet like a great idea...but maybe Su Se there's a better way. se B® “| don't understand why you have all suddenly completely forgotten how to behave in a classroom. To help you remember, | want a two-page essay for homework about what the expectations are in our class and why you can’t behave today.” When the whole class has taken leave of their senses and you end a class period in a state of extreme frustration bordering on homicidal rage, an essay like this makes a lot of sense. It induces suffering—always good—and feels like a natural consequence of their behavior—also good. There are a few problems, though. First, if you're lucky, two-thirds of the kids will actually complete the assignment. | can guarantee you that it will be the students who had nothing to do with the misbehavior. The actual instigators are definitely not going to write the essay, which means that either they get away with whatever havoc they've wreaked, or you have to find a new and exciting way to make them suffer. Students Counselling Programme GUIDANCE PLUS Every 4" Saturday + 5.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. ‘Appointment over phone possible Guidance plus aims to help individuals reflect and excel in life through psychological processes including psychometry. Reflective counselling will be facilitated through individual counselling, exercises and case discussions. Target Group: (a) College and school students (b) Parents (0) Individuals aspiring for excellence in personal and professional ite Objectives: (a) To help individuals excel in life. (b) To help students explore their interests, aptitude and other aspects of their personality for befiting career decisions (c) To help parents facilitate the growth and development oftheir children. (d) To create self-awareness. Testing: (Optional): The centre is well equipped with more than fity psychological tests inventories to facilitate introspection. Some ofthe tests inventories available atthe centre are blockages Survey, focus of control, life script analysis, aptitude test, personality type inventory, stress profiling and self-awareness questionnaires etc, Fees for Testing: Rs. 600/- per participant per test including GST. No fee is charged for individual counseling. No Fee for Counselling. However, interested students/ parents, please contact AMA (Phone, e-mail, personal meeting) and ‘ake prior appointment about date and time for counselling.) Second, you have to grade those essays. And that's awful. Why would you do that to yourself? And third, all those essays are going to say exactly the same thing. “The expectations are that we do our work and listen to directions. We didn’t do that today because we were being crazy. We should do what the teacher tells us to because we are at school to learn.” A couple of years ago, | tried something new to replace the Rhetorical Essay of Shame and Suffering. | asked the same questions ... but | actually wanted to know the answer. Here's a step-by-step breakdown of how I now handle whole-class chaos: Step 1: Kids act crazy. | deal with it in all the ways | normally do—humor, focusing on the kids who are doing what they're supposed to, changing up the activity, whatever. If all this fails, | move on to Step 2: Sit down and wait for silence. It will come eventually. Don't make eye contact with kids. Just sit and stare at your fingernails until they get curious and shut the hell up. Step 3: Complete honesty. “'m really frustrated right now, and I'm trying not to take it out on people who are doing what they're supposed to. You guys don't usually act like this in my class. Can somebody tell me what's going on with you today?” Then you wait. The first time you try this, chances are nobody will say anything Step 4: Offer suggestions. Did something happen in another class? Do they not understand the assignment? Did they have multiple tests today and just need five minutes to move around before getting focused? Yeah, this may burn up some class time that you were planning to use on something else. But let's face it: They already weren't learning anything today, thanks to their ridiculous behavior! At Prof. Thomas Oommen, M.A. (English), M.A. (Politics), M.A. (History) Life skills Coach & Corporate Trainer conducted a workshop on “Teacher Excellence” 4» School Forumthis point, they probably still won't tell you anything. Don't worry! Move on to the next step! Step 5: Give the assignment. So it looks like you need some time to think about why you're acting this way, and that's fine. But I want to understand what's going on, because | usually leave your class feeling great, and today I'm Googling what kind of health insurance Walmart offers their employees. So here's what | want you to write about for homework. What went wrong today? Why was your class having so much trouble getting it together? And what steps can I take as your teacher to help you out and make sure we have a better day tomorrow?” Step 6: Bring the pain. “I was hoping we could do this fun activity today, but I'm too frustrated and | don't think you guys are focused enough to do it. So | think we're going to get ahead on next week's grammar notes instead, because I want to save a group project for a day when you can handle it. look forward to reading your suggestions tomorrow so we can figure out a way to make fun activities work in our class.” You're done, Here’s what happens next. The kids do the assignment. At least, most of them do. The good kids, instead of being punished for the other kids’ actions, have had a chance to share their side of the story and be heard. The kids who were misbehaving, in many cases, will actually give you good suggestions. Maybe they need a seating change, Maybe something is going on in the class period before yours that needs to be addressed. Maybe somebody brought cupcakes to lunch yesterday and they were just on a sugar high Regardless of why they were acting the fool, you now have some insight into their behavior. More importantly, you've positioned yourself on their team. This is a class problem and everyone—including the teacher—is working together to solve it. You're looking for ways to change your behavior as well as theirs, and kids will appreciate that. And the best part? While you do have to read their responses and adapt your class accordingly, you don't have to grade them or track down late assignments. Less work for you, less resentment from the kids, and hopefully most of them get their shizz together so that you don't have to do this again for at least a few weeks. GERMAN LANGUAGE COURSE German for Beginners Level - Al Duration: 90 hours (45 class sessions - 9 weeks) Monday to Friday, 8.00 a.m. to 10.00 a.m. (5 days a week) February 3 to April 7, 2020 (Holidays : Feb. 21 and March 10) The course will help the learner to acquire basic language skills d by the EU Language Portfolio. itis aimed at teaching Janguage sills suitable for use in different day-to-day situations in Germany, which includes introducing oneself and handling simple conversations in supermarkets, banks, railway stations etc. The course will also give an insight into the day-to-day culture, along with basic language skills. Basic German grammar such as various types of verbs, tenses and cases will be covered to support the learning. On completion, the learner should be able to understand, read, write and speak elementary German and be able to hold simple, short conversations. source: weareteachers.com For Registration, Please Contact: Ahmedabad Management Association Ph.: 079-26308601 to 5 Mob.: 9537407187, 7069940917 Email: ama@amaindia.org + Website: www.amaindia.org BOOK REVIEW: The Teen Girl's Survival Guide: Ten Tips for Making Friends, Avoiding Drama, and Coping with Social Stress (The Instant Help Solutions Series) to say about it. by Lucie Hemmen PhD As a teen girl, you are likely feeling pressure and stress from every direction. Having good, healthy relationships with friends you can count on makes all the difference. In this guide, psychologist and teen expert Lucie Hemmen offers ten tips to guide you toward creating and maintaining the social life you want, Even better, the real experts that make this guide special are older teen girls who have recently been where you are now—and have plenty ‘As you move through this fun and engaging guide, you will get a sense of who you are as a friend, appreciate authentic qualities you can share with others, and get moving toward expanding the quality and quantity of your social connections. Before you know it, small steps will lead to big changes and you will find yourself more confident, connected, and happy. Grounded in evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), the ten tips guide you in developing your- self in both simple and significant ways. You will engage in thought-provoking exercises and take fun quizzes spaced between tips to get you thinking more deeply about yourself and others. If you're ready to get going on your social life, this book will show you the way. No. 1 * January 2020 +5WHAT DON'T WE KNOW ABOUT GRATITUDE AND YOUTH? Gratitude helped Giacomo Bono survive a childhood disease, Now he's trying to understand how to help kids cultivate thankfulness. When | was nine years old, | came down with a serious case of encephalitis. | spent a couple of weeks drifting in and out of sleep, hooked up to tubes and IVs, unable to talk—and then | slipped into a coma. A doctor warned my mom and dad that I might not come out “normal” or be able to walk again. When | came through a week later, | was happy to see my parents and my aunt standing in front of me, masks covering their mouths, their eyes open with relief and trembling with concern. | figured something was wrong, but didn’t understand what “1 want pizza,” | uttered. Thad to wait a week before | could eat regular food. But my parents and relatives talked with me about the things I could do when | got out, which helped me to set my sights on getting better. And the many prayers from loved ones mattered; | believed them. When one nurse, named Flo, asked me about my hobbies and interests, it made me feel special and it focused me on things | wanted to do again. She was surprised to learn that | had never had a shake. As soon as | could eat regular food again, Flo showed up with a chocolate shake for me! | was filled with gratitude. Knowing that people were there for me and believed in me guided my focus and gave me strength. It was the highlight of each day when my parents arrived with a treat or homemade food. | believed their encouragement that | was strong and would get out soon. | surprised the doctor with my recovery by the end of the week and, after leaving the hospital, with my progress through physical therapy. My lifelong interest in the positive power of relationships started with this negative life event. Twenty-three years later, | began scientifically exploring gratitude in postdoctoral work with Michae! McCullough at the University of Miami. Though | started out studying forgiveness, | was surprised to learn that there was virlually no research on the development of gratitude. | had found my niche! As an immigrant who had always gravitated towards adults who personally cared about my development, gratitude seemed particularly valuable to me and to the topic of supporting youth achievement. In 2007, Michael Furlong at UC Santa Barbara invited me to write a chapter on the potential of gratitude in school. Research on gratitude in youth was just emerging, mainly being by Giacomo Bono done by a psychologist at Hofstra University by the name of Jeffrey Froh. Jeff and | wrote two chapters about gratitude, and as we embarked on more research together, we sought a grant to support our work. In 2011, thanks to funding from the John Templeton Foundation, the Youth Gratitude Project (Y@P) was born. We're working with hundreds of students and educators to understand how to measure and cultivate gratitude in schools and at home. Today, I'm often asked, “What's the secret to instilling gratitude in kids?” This question is tough to answer in a few sentences because gratitude is a complex social behavior that we must personalize and work at regularly to grow (ust like nutritional or exercise habits that last) It will emerge spontaneously, in situations like the one laced. But can we cultivate gratitude and its benefits in our daily lives? The truth is that the science of gratitude is just starting out—and there's a lot we still don't know. Here’s an overview of what we've discovered about kids and thankfulness, and the questions we're still trying to answer. Figuring out what happens when kids say “thanks” To start, we tried to figure out how to measure gratitude in children and teens. Research had yet to verify if existing measures of gratitude were suitable for assessing gratitude in 10-19 year olds. We examined this in a study six years ago, and our main findings were that the standard for measuring the grateful personality in adults, the GQ-6, did not perform well for 10-13 year olds but was sufficient for 14-19 year olds. We recommended that better measures needed to be developed for children younger than 13. We are now examining if modified versions of the GQ-6 that use more age-appropriate wording or formatting perform with greater consistency and accuracy for 7-19 year olds. We also need a measure for preschoolers, and we're currently conducting assessment studies with that group. Lack of such measures hinders basic and applied research on gratitude in youth. The YGP also addressed the effects of gratitude on children and teens. An early study of 14-19 year olds linked gratitude to outcomes like better GPA, less envy and depression, and more life satisfaction and flow. We also found that materialism tended to negatively affect these outcomes. We're examining these and other relationships longitudinally—meaning that we're following how they unfold over time—and findings so far show that gratitude is related to more prosocial behavior, satisfaction with life, hope, and search for purpose, and less antisocial 6 * School Forumbehavior and depression over a period of four years. (One study we just submitted for publication shows that gratitude and prosocial behavior reinforce each other— and that adolescents who show more gratitude are more likely to be skilled at identifying goals and strategizing ways to reach them, and they tend to be more empathic and trusting. These findings suggest that gratitude helps youth develop their competencies and become their own person by gradually improving themselves and how they interact with others. Finally, another study of ours found that 8-11 year old students could be taught to think gratefully (i.e., be better at appraising gifts they receive from benefactors) in school and that doing so supports their emotional well-being over a period of five months. It also, unsurprisingly, leads them to express thanks more, compared to students who were not taught grateful thinking. We are also examining the effects of a gratitude and purpose curriculum on students in grades 4-12, What good is gratitude to students? However, a recent paper by Tyler Renshaw and Rachel Olinger at Louisiana State University casts all this work into doubt. Their study examined research on whether gratitude is beneficial for youth in schools by meta- analyzing studies from 2006 to 2014, including some of ours. They basically found that measures of gratitude in youth are not as accurate or consistent as they need to be for scientific purposes, that gratitude interventions with youth in school and in after-school programs were ineffective, and that enthusiasm for promoting gratitude in youth and in schools should be tempered with further research in this area. According to Renshaw and Olinger, researchers like Us are facing three main obstacles: the homogenous samples, the lack of uniformity in how gratitude should be practiced in school, and a narrow theoretical understanding of the causes and consequences of gratitude when practiced in school. This meta-analysis highlights how much more work we still have to do, Indeed, overcoming these three limitations are major goals of the Youth Gratitude Project. As part of this effort, the research is targeting ‘a wide age range of students (ages 4-18) from multiple ethnic backgrounds and examining processes and outcomes relevant to schools, like achievement, grit, social conduct, relationships with peers and teachers, and school satisfaction. Renshaw and Olinger also found that gratitude interventions have not proven effective. Here, however, their findings might be premature. The small number of interventions that have been done formally—and, specifically, the six that could be included in their review—has been limited by the types of gratitude induction activities (such as counting blessings or letter writing) and settings (during school and in after-school programs). In other words, researchers and educators are still trying to figure out what techniques and settings work best in fostering gratitude among kids—and we're still a few years away from definitive conclusions. Itis, for example, worth considering variables that could moderate intervention effects before drawing conclusions about the effectiveness of gratitude interventions, such as how often students engage in gratitude practices— ‘a major factor influencing the effects of any positive psychology technique. Other variables matter, too, such as students’ enjoyment of the lessons, and the effectiveness with which the lessons are delivered, How gratitude is practiced matters The main idea of the YGP curriculum is that varied gratitude practices, such as journaling, that genuinely build on students’ strengths and guide them to have more meaningful interactions and discussion with peers, teachers, and other adults more regularly should help students feel more socially competent and connected, be more satisfied with school, have better mental health and emotional well-being, and be more motivated about school and their future. Preliminary evidence for the effects of our gratitude and purpose curriculum so far indicate that it is helping to decrease depression, anxiety, and antisocial behavior and increase hope, emotional regulation, and search for purpose. We will soon explore effects on other outcomes. of interest to schools and move to fill many of the crucial gaps in this research area. What practices should gratitude interventions include? They should start by identifying and engaging students’ character strengths and interests; and they should let students appreciate the different benefits and benefactors in their lives for themselves. Let's go beyond lists and dry journals. As my story shows, when people “get” us and help us through tough times, gratitude grows. Bringing the full spectrum of human experience into grateful focus is key, and it seems to be a missing ingredient from youth intervention studies done so far too, My research so far suggests that this is the way to go. The lessons are helping students to appreciate the value of altruistic choices in school and recognize the good intentions of others, which helps them feel supported in reaching for better. | imagine that's good for teachers, staff, and neighborhoods, too. It's hard to say where gratitude research will lead us. But my childhood experiences tell me that it’s a project well worth pursuing. source:greatergood.berkeley.edu No, 1 * January 2020*7WHAT YOU NEVER REALIZED YOU WERE TEACHING YOUR CHILD ABOUT GRIT & RESILIENCE An MIT Study Captures Techniques That Work for Babies as Young as 13 Months by Kate Stringer Even at MIT, no one's been able to create a computer as powerful as the brain of a baby. “They're better at doing this fast learning from one or two examples than any computer algorithm we have right now,” MIT graduate student Julia Leonard said “That's a big interest here — everyone's like, ‘We want a computer to lear like a baby.’ * Leonard was curious about how babies learn too, so she gathered up more than 200 to analyze their genius brains. Specifically, she was interested in studying how babies learn skills like grit and growth mindset from adults, especially as schools are placing more emphasis on developing student character and sociakemotional competencies. In a study Leonard published in Science, she found that babies were able to persist in a difficult task if they first saw an adult struggle to succeed, suggesting that grit and perseverance can be taught by example to the powerfully observational young baby brain. Leonard conducted her research on babies 13 to 18 months old. She had one set of babies watch an adult struggle for 30 seconds to retrieve a toy from a tomato container and succeed, and then repeat the process to try to remove a key chain from a carabiner. Another group of babies watched an adult successfully complete these tasks without any struggle. Then the babies were shown a toy that played music, but only the researchers knew how to activate the sound The babies were given the toy, and the researchers noticed that the ones who had watched an adult struggle beforehand made more attempts at pushing a button on the toy to try to get it to play music. The babies who had watched the adult who didn't struggle exerted less effort and pushed the button fewer times than their toddler peers. The experiment showed that the babies’ actions were not mere imitation, Leonard said, because the children were given an entirely different toy than the ones they saw the adults struggling with For Leonard, these results revealed that after just a few brief moments of observation, babies’ brains are able to lear the value of effort and persistence. “This study suggests that we're not born necessarily with a certain amount of grit that can’t change,” Leonard said. “I's not a stable character trait. It can be learned and influenced by social context.” However, it is unclear from the study how long these effects last, or whether these effects apply as well at How 70 TEACH OTT Ue home as in a laboratory. But if parents do want to try modeling grit, the best way is to make sure the adult is engaging the child with eye contact and saying the child's name while demonstrating overcoming a difficult task. Leonard's study found that adults who used these cues when struggling with the toys in the study had a greater effect on the children’s perseverance than the adults who purposely didn’t engage with the children but solely modeled the effort-flled behavior. Character traits like grit and perseverance are teachable, according to researcher Angela Duckworth, author of the book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. “The parenting style that is good for grit is also the parenting style good for most other things: Be really, really demanding, and be very, very supportive,” she said in an interview with The New York Times. But, Duckworth added, “you cannot will yourself to be interested in something you're not interested in,” and grit is best developed in areas where people already have passion. Journalist Paul Tough, author of How Children Succeed, wrote in an article for The Atlantic that learning these skills isn't something that can simply be written into a curriculum. “What is emerging,” he said, “is a new idea: that qualities like grit and resilience are not formed through the traditional mechanics of ‘teaching’ * but rather through a child's environment. When it comes to the classroom, researcher Carol Dweck has documented the importance of praising children for effort rather than success in order to develop ‘a growth mindset. A series of studies found that children who were praised for intelligence were less likely to persist after they failed, compared with those who were praised for their hard work. A study of middle schoolers in New York City found that students who believed that their intelligence was malleable rather than predetermined were able to do better in math class over time. The next step for Leonard is trying to determine how long the effects she saw in the lab might last with young children. “Even in infancy, babies are paying attention to what adults are doing and using that information to guide their persistence,” she said. “I think that's an interesting message for educators to think about how they're modeling behavior.” source: the74million.org INVITING YOUR CONTRIBUTION School Forum is a medium for interaction among the teachers. We welcome your valuable articles, anecdotes and suggestions to make this magazine your own. Send in your contribution to ama@amaindia.org so that we can go ‘through them and include them in our forthcor issues. TIRA. Campus,