Developmental Designs approach

The Difference a Word Can Make

by Edna Attias

It never fails to amaze me how some words can be taken so literally by middle school kids. Yet, as a teacher, I don’t always think of capitalizing on it. Each year, when I start a new advisory I wonder how am I going to get my students to bond and connect with one another. How am I going to build a community in which they learn to care about each other rather than a fragmented group of individuals who end up bickering and then paying lip service during advisory? I believe cultivating a community is essential to meeting my students’ needs for productive relationships. My hope is that they will be able to work together across genders, race, and socioeconomic backgrounds without the need for cliques and bullies, and that they will come to accept each other without categorizing or making judgments. In other words, they become like members of a family.

With-it-ness

With-it-ness
by Ann Larson Ericson

 

How with-it are you? What do you see happening in your classroom, in the halls, and on bus duty? Are you a teacher who notices everything? Development Designs’ philosophy says that we can never not notice things. We always have to be aware of the kids in our room and all the overt, as well as covert, behaviors that are going on. It can be exhausting, but what a difference it makes in your classroom when you’re with-it and your kids know you’re with-it.

Raindrops and Torn Flesh

Ann Larson Ericson

What power we educators wield in the words we choose and how we choose to deliver those words. Our words, tone, and body language have a profound positive or negative influence on our students. Developmental Designs names seven “raindrops” in teacher language—ways of speaking to our students that we try to avoid. These raindrops are guilt, manipulation, voice-overs, verbosity, excessive praise, blaming, and sarcasm. When we see ourselves using this language, we are open to working on our personal raindrops—except for one: sarcasm.

Where We Are and Where We Want to Be

 

by Edna Attias

I stood there trying to tolerate the deafening silence. I finished a Mississippi countdown in my head, to make sure I was giving students enough call time, but there were no responses to my question. Were they paying attention? Did they understand the question? Was I an alien who just landed from space? I thought my lesson was engaging and fun, but my advisory group was not grabbing onto its hook.

Lately, I had noticed that during my teaching time and class discussions, students were very quiet, yet when it was time for partner or group work, the classroom buzzed with voices that were a few notches higher than what I would have wanted. There was also more giggling and off-topic conversations (such as who was dating who) than necessary. Our CPRs were no better. Side conversations and attention-seeking behaviors started to cloud and poison our meetings. I couldn’t help but feel discouraged. I’d tried to isolate each of these behaviors and address them with my students. I was sweating the small stuff, yet I was failing to make an impact on my social butterflies.

How Teaching is Like Doing Laundry

by Erin
Klug

The other day I had a moment of satisfaction when the laundry was finished. It had taken my family an entire week to wash, dry, fold, and put away clothes in dressers. Yet just as the laundry was supposedly finished, I was reminded of more dirty clothes, bulging from the hamper, awaiting the washing machine.

Truly, I’ll never be done with laundry—like so many things in teaching.

Ending The Year with a Growth Mindset

 

by Anne Ericson

Every now and then, a word starts popping up everywhere. Mindset is that word for me these days. Mindset was the main topic of a lively discussion in my neighborhood book club. Mindset is the focus of my school book-study group, dinnertime conversations, and countless faculty lunchroom discussions, and readers of my previous blog indicated that the topic was on their minds. So why do mindsets resonate with so many people both in and out of schools right now? Maybe it’s because many of us struggle with maintaining a growth mindset, whether we’re parenting, teaching, or interacting with colleagues. Maybe it’s because as educators or parents we inherently want to believe in the space of possibility for the growth of our kids. Maybe it’s because the end of the school year can be exhausting, and we find that maintaining that space of possibility for growth is getting harder. How do we keep our minds focused on growth in our students and ourselves when we get tired or discouraged?

As I near the end of another school year, I find myself reflecting on the kids at my school. I think about students such as Aaron who blurts, Seth who shuts down, and Tasha who wanders and distracts. I find myself slipping into a fixed mindset with these students and thinking, “It’s May and that kid will never . . .” or “I can’t believe she’s still . . .” But then I think about the actual, if unsteady, growth they have had this year.
Aaron raises his hand more often. Seth grabs his lab materials and gets started on the latest experiment. Tasha stays focused and engaged for the whole class period. These things are happening, and that means my students are growing! Growth mindset doesn’t tell us that our students will be perfect. What growth mindset tells us is that they are learning and improving. It’s so important to remember growth when Aaron blurts again—he’s not perfect, but this time he caught himself and quickly raised his hand. A colleague shared a note a student gave her that said, “Even though we’ve had our ups and downs, you’re always there for me and never give up on me.” This boy felt the impact of his teacher believing in him and pushing him, an affirmation of a growth mindset and its positive consequences.

Just like our students, teachers aren’t perfect either. We can slip back into fixed mindsets, especially at the end of the year when we’re tired, our students’ standardized test scores aren’t what we had hoped, or we’re feeling overwhelmed. However, now is the time we need to dig deep and look at the good things happening in our schools.

We might think about some of the following: What changes have we seen that tell us our students are ready to move to the next grade? What classroom routines that we had to lead in September are now led by students? Let’s take a minute to talk with a colleague about changes we’ve seen in our students. Let’s jot down a few positive changes we’ve seen in our most challenging students this year. Let’s make sure our students know that we’ve noticed those changes and that we see their growth—it might encourage faith in their own growth mindsets.

And, as we investigate our students, let’s take a minute to look at our own growth this year. What are we better at now than we were in September? Let’s find a buddy teacher and share how we’ve seen each other grow this year. Take a minute to praise each other and ourselves for all our hard work and effort.

Please share some of your ideas on how you keep yourself focused on growth mindset in these final weeks of the school year. And for another time, let’s think about some of our most challenging students and how “our village” works for them as they struggle from one year to the next.

If you enjoyed this reading you should check out
"Wrap Activities Sprout Surprises" by Scott Tyink

 Additional Resource; Mindset Works

 

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Please share your thoughts—Post a Comment below or subscribe to the RSS Feed in the Comment box.

About Ann Larson Ericson 
For more than nine years, I've been using the Developmental Designs approach in my school. I am currently the 7–12 Instructional Coach at Community of Peace Academy, a public charter school on the east side of St. Paul, Minnesota.  Before starting my new position, I taught high school chemistry and physical science at Community of Peace Academy. Since 2011 I've spent my summers as a Developmental Designs facilitator of professional development. Previously, I've taught science at urban and suburban schools, served as a director of gifted and talented education in a rural Wisconsin school district, and taught English in Shanghai, China. I hold a Bachelor of Arts from St. Olaf College and a Master of Arts from St. Catherine University. Contact me at [email protected]

Minding Our Mindsets

by Ann Larson Ericson

Aaron interrupts the class for the fifteenth time. As soon as I turn my back, he’s out of his seat, clowning around and disturbing his neighbor. He stays on task only so long as I let him know I’m tracking him. When I move to focus on another student, Aaron stops work and begins distracting his classmates. I am losing patience and hope.

And then there is Seth. I notice that his head is down on the desk again. He’s ignoring the materials in front of him. His lab notebook is on the floor. His experiment is stalled out on step one. Rousing him, I hear my own nagging voice and frustration. Have I given up on Seth too?

And let’s not leave out Tasha, who dances into the classroom, circulating her giddy chatter and teasing playfulness as the rest of class settles in to learn. How many more times must I redirect her back to her seat and to the task at hand?

Then I think about “mindsets.” There is a powerful sentence in the Developmental Designs 2 Resource Book that has been running through my head lately:

The growth mindset is the space of possibility that we hold for students, created by our belief in their capacity for growth toward responsible independence and achievement. (99)

Those words “the space of possibility” resonate with me and have led to a lot of soul searching. Do I believe in the “space of possibility” for Aaron when he blurts out in class and distracts the entire class for the fifteenth time in one class period? Do I believe in the “space of possibility” for Seth when he again puts his head down on the lab table and refuses to participate or interact? Do I believe in the “space of possibility” for Tasha when midlesson she dances around the room singing and laughing and shouting to her friends? The answer to those questions is a resounding yes! I have to believe in the space of possibility for them even as I dig deep to find the tools to combat my own impatience and loss of faith.

But how do I do this? How do I change from “He can’t . . . ,” “He always . . . ,” and “She will never . . . ,” to truly believing my students can grow and change? I have to actively and consistently respond to these situations in a way that lets my students know that I notice what they’re doing and that I will step in to redirect them when they need it. While at the same time, I must let them know that I believe they can grow into responsible independence. Whether it’s one time or fifteen times, I need to gently, yet firmly, let Aaron know to wait his turn to speak and attend to his work with or without my immediate attention. I have to send the message to Seth that checking out is not an option, because we both know he is capable of learning. Tasha needs to be given as many reminders as it takes that her dancing and clowning around in class is not how high school kids behave. I have to remain objective in my interactions and not take their behaviors personally while letting each and every one of my students know I care deeply and hold high expectations for them. There is so much I have to do to develop my growth mindset with my struggling students. Some days I have to take a deep breath and regain my composure before responding, but my kids need to know that I haven’t given up on their growth.

            How do I, or we as teachers, keep ourselves from slipping into a fixed mindset? How do you find the space of possibility for your most challenging students?

Download PDF:
"Language that Encourages a Growth Mindset"

 

Join the conversation.
Please share your thoughts—Post a Comment below or subscribe to the RSS Feed in the Comment box.

About Ann Larson Ericson 
For more than nine years, I've been using the Developmental Designs approach in my school. I am currently the 7–12 Instructional Coach at Community of Peace Academy, a public charter school on the east side of St. Paul, Minnesota.  Before starting my new position, I taught high school chemistry and physical science at Community of Peace Academy. Since 2011 I've spent my summers as a Developmental Designs facilitator of professional development. Previously, I've taught science at urban and suburban schools, served as a director of gifted and talented education in a rural Wisconsin school district, and taught English in Shanghai, China. I hold a Bachelor of Arts from St. Olaf College and a Master of Arts from St. Catherine University. Contact me at [email protected]

 

Songs and Chants and Teaching Math

by Erin Klug

We’ve all had moments when we can’t get a tune or jingle out of our mind. I have young children, and this happens frequently with songs from their CDs. I may cringe when I find myself quietly singing the theme song from Arthur, but this phenomenon is good news for teachers.

Educators have long used songs and rhymes to help students learn and remember content. In my coaching experience, I’ve seen this teaching strategy used less with older students—but it’s too good to lose!

No Laps, No Lines, No Lectures

By Erin Klug

This summer I attended a soccer-coaching clinic and was inspired to see that the lessons educators have learned about social-emotional and brain-based learning can be applied to the field as well as the classroom. Our instructor’s theme was “no laps, lines, or lectures.” I was easily able to make direct connections between this motto and my own teaching experience.

Students as Managers of their Learning

by Dr. Terrance Kwame-Ross

I love to visit friends and families in informal settings. I play and talk with and observe children and adolescents outside the formal school setting.

At a community barbeque, there were black and brown children and adolescents everywhere: a group of 2-to-4-year-olds playing in the grass and dirt; 5-to-7-year-olds managing to safely play assertive water games in the pool; a group of older children and adolescents horsing around, and small groups jumping rope and playing ball games. 

My educator’s instinct kicked in, and I thought, “How much time will pass before horsing around, assertiveness, and pulling and tugging in the dirt erupt into chaos?”

As Goes the Signal, So Goes the Class

By Kristen Konop        

As long as I’ve worked with kids, older and younger, I have used signals to get their attention:
as a lifeguard I used a whistle;
as a camp counselor I used musical call and response, “Hey/Ho.”  
As a pre-school teacher, I used a Spanish phrase with motion,
and while team teaching with an artist in residence, I used a Ghanaian call and response, “Ago/Ame.”

Helping Students Become Thoughtful Conversationalists

By Scott Tyink

One day in my classroom halfway through the year, a student asked, “Do we have to share today?” This question absolutely floored me, because from my observations, what middle school students seek most is to know one another. They pass notes, text each other, chat by their lockers, side-talk during class, and chat at virtually any chance in a school day.

Avoiding the After-lunch Avalanche of Willpower Depletion

By Scott Tyink

Any middle school teacher knows about the avalanche: Students who at 9:00 a.m. are polite, orderly, and studious can become antsy, blurting, or sleepy after lunch. The relative calm of self-control during the morning turns into a quick-moving avalanche of “willpower depletion.”

The Bright Side of the Dark Days

By Eric Charlesworth

Winter's in high gear in the Northeast. The cold, dark days do have downsides, most notably a slew of indoor recesses. However, there is a bright side from the perspective of a teacher.

Using Nonverbal Signals to Help the Conversation Flow

By Eric Charlesworth

In my class, I love to discuss strategies that students use to solve problems or make connections between mathematical concepts. However, a whole-class conversation among 20+ students, however focused the crew is on a given day, is full of potential issues.

Full Student Endorsement Leads to Full Participation

By Terrance Kwame-Ross

Teaching young adolescents day after day is taxing. As a teacher and as a principal, I spent many hours and days being a detective, getting to the bottom of adolescents’ problems: being excluded, having a conflict with peers, struggling academically, or being at odds with a teacher, and many more. Most were significant and stressful for students.

Pass the Torch without Anyone Getting Burned

by Eric Charlesworth

Now that the school year is in full swing, students know and appreciate many of the routines and rituals of our class. This is the time I begin to give my sixth-graders more responsibilities in the classroom.

The Coddling Question: When is it “Sink or swim”?

by Eric Charlesworth

My six-year-old son Henry is learning to swim, and recently I was with him in the pool as he flailed and splashed about. I wasn’t sure how I should hold him; in fact, I decided to not hold him so much as make sure he knew where I was at all times.

Similarly, in school, I often struggle with how much support to give students.

Meet 'em at the threshold

by Chris Hagedorn

A threshhold is a place or point of entering or beginning.

Being at the threshold of your classroom between periods can be one of the most beneficial moves you make each day.

 

Students Play by Their Own Rules

by Eric Charlesworth

My son Henry is in kindergarten at the school where I teach. When I picked him up on a recent Tuesday, I asked him what he did that was really fun that day.

“We played Silent Ball,” he answered.

Silent Ball! Wow!

Chemistry and Art? An unusual but winning combination for student engagement

by Ann Larson Ericson

When I tell adults that I teach high school chemistry, the response I most often hear is, “I never liked chemistry. Learning all those formulas and memorizing that big table … how can you teach that?!”

The Power of a Quick Problem-Solving Conference

by Ann Larson Ericson

I have many wonderful students who have periods when they struggle.

They may be struggling with the subject matter, with time management, with self-control, with their attitude, with their peers, with their family, with me, or with the challenges of being an adolescent.

Seriously?!

by Erin Klug

One of the interesting aspects of working with adolescents is keeping up with their language.

Getting Students in the Flow

by Ann Larson Ericson

What gets students excited about learning?

At a recent staff development meeting we read and discussed Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s article “Thoughts About Education,” about creating engaging learning experiences.

He calls these “flow experiences,” because “when what they were doing was especially enjoyable it felt like being carried away by a current.”