tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707703066300530859.post5900071033727832456..comments2024-03-15T02:09:23.712-06:00Comments on for the love of learning: Let them eat grit: 4 reasons why grit is garbageAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15047405950514440042noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707703066300530859.post-2634249367744644112014-01-29T10:55:49.760-07:002014-01-29T10:55:49.760-07:00Thanks for all the great ideas! I started tutoring... Thanks for all the great ideas! I started tutoring one little boy who is starting second grade but reading at a kindergarten level. He's in public <a href="www.educator.com" rel="nofollow">Educator</a>, so he has to keep up the pace. I enjoy working with him. Maybe I'll get a few more as the school year goes on.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06117166448574876645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707703066300530859.post-66776616917233984742014-01-14T10:15:23.028-07:002014-01-14T10:15:23.028-07:00for a balanced view see http://myemail.constantcon...for a balanced view see http://myemail.constantcontact.com/CSEE-E-Newsletter--Simply-Solid-Strategies.html?soid=1112786617179&aid=EWbenVwx7R4<br />AllanKatzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01832588840708909428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707703066300530859.post-77385100946706742502013-12-23T22:32:31.783-07:002013-12-23T22:32:31.783-07:00I just watched the TED video [1]. Dr. Duckworth on...I just watched the TED video [1]. Dr. Duckworth only briefly touches on grit for low-income kids in the talk. Her main point appears to be that given an equal playing field, presence of grit is a coinciding factor with success. Her call to action is that we should learn to measure grit and validate this observation.<br /><br />I see nothing wrong with this point or with her talk.<br /><br />I agree with you that motivation is not the problem for low-income children. Until their basic necessities are met, they can't achieve academically. I don't think Dr. Duckworth was suggesting that grit was the solution to low-income achievement, just that grit could be an indicator for success among low-income students.<br /><br /><br />[1] http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ted-talks-education/speaker/dr-angela-lee-duckworth/Heathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16219966444108277892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707703066300530859.post-1427534959163980422013-12-23T22:30:20.466-07:002013-12-23T22:30:20.466-07:00I just watched the TED video [1]. Dr. Duckworth on...I just watched the TED video [1]. Dr. Duckworth only briefly touches on grit for low-income kids in the talk. Her main point appears to be that given an equal playing field, presence of grit is a coinciding factor with success. Her call to action is that we should learn to measure grit and validate this observation.<br /><br />I see nothing wrong with this point or with her talk.<br /><br />I agree with you that motivation is not the problem for low-income children. Until their basic necessities are met, they can't achieve academically. I don't think Dr. Duckworth was suggesting that grit was the solution to low-income achievement, just that grit could be an indicator for success among low-income students.<br /><br /><br />[1] http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ted-talks-education/speaker/dr-angela-lee-duckworth/Heathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16219966444108277892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707703066300530859.post-81887354505615117532013-12-23T21:11:20.097-07:002013-12-23T21:11:20.097-07:00I understand and agree with your perspective. Grit...I understand and agree with your perspective. Grit is being used as the new snake oil cure all for education - it isn't, nothing is. But, that is not to say that grit isn't needed. I teach in a school that is affluent - upper middle class. They are high scoring and in many ways privileged. But, a lot of times, especially when we ask them to do things that are very complicated, or to really think about things, they quit.<br /><br />No - gritis not a universal solution to every education issue, but the kids need it.Jeff Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12019502987257151589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707703066300530859.post-83664327545052503942013-12-14T10:14:16.109-07:002013-12-14T10:14:16.109-07:00I agree that saying kids need to have more "g...I agree that saying kids need to have more "grit" and try harder runs the danger of being a cop out for poor instruction. For me, this illustrates the importance of adaptive instruction and mastery-based instruction…approaches that provide an approach that allow every child to be successful. Thanks for the thoughts!Karen L. Mahon, Ed.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/18140894546037644179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707703066300530859.post-45366930852907772482013-12-13T08:12:22.887-07:002013-12-13T08:12:22.887-07:00As a person who started teaching in 78 and only re...As a person who started teaching in 78 and only recently retired let me say that we went from installing special ed to help struggling students, thru gifted and talented (the cream doesn't always rise to the top) to No Child Left Behind which seemed to be a concept of lets make sure everyone gets an A. NCLB PUSHED MEDIOCRITY BECAUSE IT HAD TO DIP DOWN TO REACH THOSE WHO COULDN'T OR WOULDN'T MAKE THE BETTER GRADE. As we got closer to demanding a passing score from every pupil in every school, republicans finally realized that the only way for that to happen was to dumb down the curriculum. As we kept reaching and exceeding each goal demanded of NCLB the tests were changed and passing scores changed and any excuse to make our kids look bad and teachers look worse was used to poo poo public ed. <br />Then we get a democratic administration nationally and lots of republican state administrations. What a shambles. Race to the top means competition for money to improve education's accountable, not education of students.. STUPID! <br />Politics has gotten us so far from professional input in our educational system that the state department here in Oklahoma doesn't even listen to university professors if they disagree or criticize poor decisions. <br />We need to have normed tests again and use them to find out which students are behind or ahead and let teachers determine grades and graduation qualifications as they are trained to do. Let parents, teachers, and students have input in a student's passing or failing. Trust universities to know if a person is qualified to teach.<br />REQUIRE PEOPLE WHO MAKE DECISIONS FOR CLASSROOMS TO BE QUALIFIED TO DO SO.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12823828742144262385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707703066300530859.post-68142918276627401652013-12-13T07:43:37.553-07:002013-12-13T07:43:37.553-07:00In my experience, resiliency needs to be fostered,...In my experience, resiliency needs to be fostered, modeled, encouraged. It takes years to build capacity. You cannot DEMAND a child be resilient...Thank you for exposing the hypocricy of these 'deformers' who want to educate kids on the cheap, so there are more profits for their buddies.Fourth Generation Teacherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16700328444005416956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707703066300530859.post-63365561440319415132013-12-12T21:18:18.409-07:002013-12-12T21:18:18.409-07:00Thank you very much for this post. When you write,...Thank you very much for this post. When you write, "[M]ore grit might teach kids how to play a game stacked against their favour without teaching them how to change the game," what do you mean?<br /><br />I understand that you would like to address systemic issues and to change systemic problems, but I'm unsure how best to help students "to change the game."<br /><br />Thank you again.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17650051119076894461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707703066300530859.post-13718502995266119252013-12-12T20:44:56.756-07:002013-12-12T20:44:56.756-07:00Great post, Joe. I'm with you 100%! We need to...Great post, Joe. I'm with you 100%! We need to stop looking at the pieces of the puzzle and start looking at the whole picture.Marilyn Price-Mitchell PhDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15228743394499179015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707703066300530859.post-29286695044593744172013-12-12T09:13:10.243-07:002013-12-12T09:13:10.243-07:00Thanks for the perspective. Joe and Chris, you bot...Thanks for the perspective. Joe and Chris, you both make great points. Like Chris, I don't necessarily agree that grit is garbage, but I do agree it is often thrown out as a miracle cure to what ails society. <br /><br />I think we need to teach kids to be resilient, have grit, or as my 7th grade social studies teacher called it, intestinal fortitude. But that will look different for every kid in every situation. <br /><br />My son kind of figured it out earlier this year. Here's my post about it. http://teachfromtheheart.wordpress.com/2013/04/28/extrinsic-motivation-through-the-eyes-of-my-son/ Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2707703066300530859.post-34259595463400333172013-12-12T08:10:27.742-07:002013-12-12T08:10:27.742-07:00Hey Joe... Ok, so maybe my recent post http://bit....Hey Joe... Ok, so maybe my recent post http://bit.ly/1b6S05w wasn't as blunt as yours but I think we are sort of on the same page :-)<br /><br />When we hear people say "we need kids to learn how to lose" and "we need kids to develop grit" and all the stuff about the "real world".... The strategies that are thrown out there are often the ones that purposefully place students already challenged into arbitrary situations in which they are set up to lose... To fail... To fall... And this purposeful created condition is somehow supposed to teach our (struggling already) kids "grit". The conditions we create are important but they have to be done in a way that provides an opportunity to teach... and meet kids where they are.<br /><br />Mindset is key, resilience is key... For all students. What I hear from you is that we need to be careful that we don't try to overcome the challenges of societal inequity by simply forcing kids to try harder... obviously effort is so important but societal and educational issues are much deeper than that.<br /><br />Everyone wants a simple solution that will "solve" education.... Although I disagree with the statement "grit is garbage", I agree with the fact that the way it is being used as a silver bullet to solve deeper issues... Prevents us from moving the conversation to where it needs to go.Chris Wejrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12780371633522986214noreply@blogger.com