INSTRUCTION: Read the article to answer question.
Making Sure Students’ Struggles Are Productive
By Peg Grafwallner
While we know every learning challenge is an
empowering opportunity to grow, we also know that
message might sometimes be lost on our students.
Those learning challenges can cause some students to
become frustrated and shut down from the learning.
We need to empower our students to celebrate those
learning challenges and help them realize that obstacles
and setbacks are a valued part of the classroom
culture. We need to create a not-yet classroom where
productive struggle is encouraged and students see
themselves as capable learners and fearless risk-takers.
The not-yet approach is all about designing and creating
an authentic classroom culture that encourages the
process of learning while accepting that setbacks and
obstacles are part of that process.
EMBRACING THE STRUGGLE
Let’s start with productive struggle. According to
Jo Boaler, professor at Stanford Graduate School of
Education, “If you aren’t struggling, you aren’t really
learning. When we’re struggling and making mistakes,
those are the very best times for our brains.”
As educators we understand and appreciate the
importance of that struggle. We have often struggled
ourselves to learn something new. But because that
new learning was important to us and because we had
support in case we weren’t successful, we continued until
we achieved our goal.
So how do we create a classroom community where
students value the importance of that struggle and where
they see themselves as not-yet learners?
Here are four suggestions to help you create a
not-yet classroom.
1. Create a vigorous learning intention:
Scaffold success criteria that give students the opportunity
to make sense of what they’re supposed to know and
be able to do. Give students a chance to ask questions
about the learning intention and time to paraphrase it so
that it makes sense to them.
In my book Ready to Learn: The FRAME Model for
Optimizing Student Success, I explain, “When students
paraphrase the learning intention and success criteria,
it gives teachers a chance to discover what their students
know or understand about the learning intention.”
This discovery is critical because if students find
paraphrasing the learning intention a challenge,
this could indicate a gap in the students’ learning.
Teachers, then, can address this gap and, if necessary,
rewrite the success criteria so that the students have the
opportunity to overcome the deficit.
Scaffolding the success criteria provides a means to
motivate students and gives students an opportunity to
self-assess their understanding and determine whether
they’ve achieved that particular criterion. As students
move through the success criteria, there’s a sense of
empowerment – they know they’re heading successfully
toward the fulfillment of the learning intention. If they
haven’t met a specific criterion, however, the teacher can
dedicate time so that students are able to work in small
groups with their peers or one-on-one with their teacher
for more support in meeting that criterion.
2. Eliminate the word failure from your vocabulary:
As an example, if your essay directions asked students to
write a thesis paragraph and a student turned in a body
paragraph, did the student fail the assignment?
The student fell short of the goal of writing a thesis
paragraph, but there certainly was some degree of
understanding, since the student was able to write an
analytical body paragraph. Make allowances for that and
offer positive guidance.
3. Be transparent in your introduction of the work:
Don’t sugarcoat the assignment or project by telling
your students it’s “so easy” or that everyone will “get it.”
On the contrary, tell your students the task will be difficult,
but the work they’re about to do is worthy of their time
and their talent.
Let students know they’ll encounter setbacks and
obstacles as a part of learning that task, but with support
from you, their classmates, and various teacher-chosen
resources, students will be able to meet that challenge
and work toward mastery of the goal.
4. Give students the time and space they need to be
successful: Create learning opportunities to normalize
development and empower students to realize that
learning takes time and that mastery isn’t the end of
growth. We’re all working within parameters of schedules,
and those schedules dictate the time spent on learning.
Often those schedules are determined by mandates
beyond our control, but there are ways we can offer time
and space within our own classrooms.
To add in extra time, maybe the lesson covers two class
periods instead of one; or maybe the teacher is able to
co-teach with another educator to assist students who
might need extra help, therefore moving the learning at a
more structured pace.
To offer extra space, perhaps the teacher and students
could utilize the library or auditorium to give students
more room to create groups or pods of learning;
or maybe the teacher is able to create learning
situations that move beyond the classroom walls through
the use of virtual field trips. We’ve seen the curiosity and
wonder in our students as they devour something that
piques their interest because they have the time and the
space to dig deep into something of relevance to them.
Where each student is on their learning journey at any
given time is a result of situations and experiences that
might often be beyond our control. We know that high
expectations don’t mean anything if the learning process
doesn’t support achieving them.
Designing classrooms and routines that normalize
productive struggle as part of the learning process gives
students the opportunity to meet those high expectations
within a supportive yet challenging classroom community.