Although I do not teach in a public K-12 school I thought I might share some things I had been taught by students in the public school system.
I spent about 8 years working with "identified" or "at risk" middle and high school aged kids in partnership with a school district. During that time, I spent lots of time facilitating challenge groups in which the participants often struggled in monumental ways and they taught me a few things that I would like to share.
The size of the reward doesn't seem to matter either. We would use "Gummy Bears" as part of the reward system. Over and over again I would watch students struggle to the point of tears, and beyond to get a Gummy Bear only to give it away or leave it behind at the end of the group.
Most of all I learn't that it is okay to struggle and even fail! I learn't that failing, as long as it supports some new realization, movement or plan is really a step forward closer to where you want to be and that usually feels pretty darn good.
I spent about 8 years working with "identified" or "at risk" middle and high school aged kids in partnership with a school district. During that time, I spent lots of time facilitating challenge groups in which the participants often struggled in monumental ways and they taught me a few things that I would like to share.
- There should be a reward for the struggle that is meaningful to the person doing the struggling- not what is meaningful to the teacher or a parent.
- For some this can be an intrinsic reward, but many kids have not developed this capability, so often the reward needs to be extrinsic.
- The smaller the steps or project the easier the struggle is to accept. Of course many small steps very quickly turn into significant achievements. We learned that when the kids started to "bail" on the activity, it often meant I had to make the steps smaller or the reward more immediate, not bigger.
- The person struggling has to feel there is a realistic chance that they could succeed, or it would lead to an alternative, otherwise why struggle.
- The greater the clarity and transparency of the structure, expectations of the task and process and the reward, the more likely the person will step up and try, even if there is struggle.
- Part of the process needs to include steps and process for when the struggle becomes too intense or the individual starts to feel they are wasting their time. For example, a flowchart of resources or steps that can possibly help, such as other students, online resources or tutorials, friends, social media, and last step, the expert or teacher.
- The intensity of the struggle, or the difficulty doesn't matter as long as the above criteria is in place
The size of the reward doesn't seem to matter either. We would use "Gummy Bears" as part of the reward system. Over and over again I would watch students struggle to the point of tears, and beyond to get a Gummy Bear only to give it away or leave it behind at the end of the group.
Most of all I learn't that it is okay to struggle and even fail! I learn't that failing, as long as it supports some new realization, movement or plan is really a step forward closer to where you want to be and that usually feels pretty darn good.