As I was doing some writing earlier today, I came upon a question for myself.
How do my students define success?
More importantly, how do they define their own success?
As teachers, we traditionally tell or demonstrate what success looks like at each grade level. We set bars. We set Lexile levels. We set grades. We set cut scores. We define success. (for our class)
But what does success look like or feel like for my students?
I recall a conversation that I had with a parent of one of my students last month. She told me that success for her son is straight Cs in all of his classes. Even though he is in the 7th grade, she wants him to hold on to his youth. She would rather he play and enjoy life than spend time getting good grades. For now- his mother has defined what success is for him.
Most of my 7th and 8th grade students actually do define what success is for them.
My honors students have high standards. They push themselves on all data points to be the best that they can be. They are well aware of where they are and what it means.
My students that have various struggles with learning wait for their teachers to assign the definition of success.
I know that I am early for next school year, but I have plans on being more intentional about having my students consider what success is for them. Maybe within this reflection, some of my students will make intentional choices of their own...towards success.
Be Mindful.
Peace.
Mark Levine
#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites
I caught a high ability student cheating this week. It broke my heart because I know she was putting the pressure on herself. She wants a 4.0 and wasn't prepared for the test. She said she forgot, and I believe her. This makes me wonder, what are we doing to our students where success is only measured by grades? Great thinking here.
ReplyDeleteWow. Sorry to hear that. Thank you Leigh Anne. Mark
DeleteI actually have been "gradeless" for 2 years now, and I find that students have a really difficult time defining what success looks like for themselves. They have been so trained to rely on teachers to define success for them that when they are asked to self-assess, it really throws them for a loop. I think that we as teachers need to be much more intentional in asking for them to define their own success. It's such a great life skill, and it seems to me that we cripple them when we don't teach them how to do it.
ReplyDeleteYes! Thanks for the reply and more to think about. Mark
DeleteYour post is making me consider a discussion or some sort of reflection for my students to complete tomorrow. Success is so different for each child and I wonder how many don't know, esp. as sixth graders what success is to them--not to their parents or to me. Very thankful for your post today.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Wendy! This is why I write. Mark
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