Week+5+Reflection

Pitler states, "When a student makes a connection between academic successes with factors outside of his or her control-things like heredity, gender, or race-it's easy to develop a defeatist attitude."

This really hit home for me. It all goes back to expectations. If a student thinks they will not do well in a class or subject their own expectations lower. I have seen this with students even in elementary school. The trends really start to show up in 3-5 grades. It is heartbreaking to see a child give up on himself. I liked the effort rubric suggested. I am very big on data and the rubric lets the students see how an improved effort relates to higher grades (for most students). I feel this is an important concept even for the little ones.

I searched and found a few more rubrics geared toward student effort. I was amazed to see so many out there. I guess it's not a new concept, just new to me, which is just a good! [] [] This one even includes a version for ELL students, which could also be used with any student who struggles with reading. []

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.