Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8

The book I chose for July 2012 is Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8 by Debbie Silver.




Chapter 1:  Self-Motivation
Motivated learners are willing to seek more learning.  The goal should be to help students have a higher sense of self-efficacy which is bolstered when a student achieves something previously thought unattainable.  This can occur as we engage students in meaningful tasks. 

Chapter 2:  Zone of Proximal Development
Lev Vygotsky:  "Reach just beyond present state but not beyond a reasonable expectation."
Scaffolding:  helpful interventions to assist learners in moving forward.
We must be mindful of where learners are in their growth--not where they are supposed to be nor where we wish they were, but where they really are.

Chapter 3:  Self Regulation, Deliberate Practice, and Failure  (delayed gratification)
Mischel's Marshamallow Study
[Great resource:  Don't Eat the Marshmallow Yet by Joachim Posada]
Learners can never make progress in their comfort zones
     Because each student is at a different place, differentiation is necessary
Expertise comes when the learner begins to do things automatically so the mind can deal with higher-order tasks
Ten-Year Rule:  Ten thousand hours of practice to become an expert
Steps in deliberate practice (Ericsson):  (different than just a practice session)

• Obejctive:  Improve performance
• Repeat, repeat, repeat
• Seek contant, crticial feedback
• Prepare for process to be mentally and physically exhausting

Chapter 4:  Attribution Theory
Attribution theory incorporates the major tenets of self-efficacy, self-regulation, cognitive theory
Effort is the only factor of attribution theory that can be controlled
Learned helplessness leads to a victim mentality
Effective feedback should not judge, label, excuse, accuse, or even praise--the purpose is to help the learner get better at something--ASK QUESTIONS
Rosenthal's Self-Fulfilling Prophecy  (Pygmalion)

Chapter 5:  Mindset
*Carol Dweck
Fixed Mindset:  There is a predetermined amount of gifts, talents, skills, intelligence in each human
*It's about being perfect right now
Growth Mindset:  Whatever intelligence and abilities a person has, he can always cultivate more through focused-effort--the focus is on learning and growing  
*It's about learning over time:  Confronting a challenge and making progress
The divergent patterns between these two mindsets usually emerge when the learner begins to address more difficult work

Praise children for effort and hard work--Give learners feedback that will help them make improvements--Focus on things they can control such as effort, perseverance, attitude, and commitment

Students most likely to cheat are those who are labeled as gifted so they can keep up their image.

Chapter 6:  What Do I get for Doing It?  (Examining Rewards)
Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn
Guidelines for rewards:

• Use the weakest reward required
• Avoid using rewards as incentives
• Reduce frequency of rewards
• Reward only the behavior you want repeated
• Different rewards work for different people
• Set standards so that success is within each student's grasp
• Continually work toward a system that uses less-extrinsic rewards
• Theresa Amabile:  "Give extrinsic rewards when unexpected and after the task is completed." 
• Use recognition rather than rewards

People offered rewards frequently take the shortest or quickest path, often sacrificing deeper meaning.

Drive by Daniel Pink

Chapter 7:  Autonomy, Time, and Flow
Autonomy is an important part of self-determination

1. Provide the learner with choices
2. Encourage learners to experiment, do creative thinking, and challenge themselves
3. Focus the student in the student's zone of proximal development
4. Provide feedback that is nonjudgmental and give specific nformation about how to improve
5. Give meaningful reasons for the task
6. Support learners in using strategies to solve their own problems

Nel Noddings and her work on "care" in the classroom and school

Increase wait time
     Timed tests are one way to move students from mastery into automaticity but they are harmful for a non-mastery learner
      Varying time is one way to apply differentiated instruction

FLOW (Mihalyi Czikszentmihalyi):  state of highly concentrated action and awareness

• Be sensitive to students' goals and desires
• Empower students to take contol of their own learning
• Provide clear and immediate feedback
• Arrange for students to have appropriate time to focus, and help limit distractions

Chapter 8:  Helping Students Stay Motivated as They Get Older
Do It Now:  Break the Procrastination Habit by William Knaus

Chapter 9:  Inspiring Young Children
Adults need to be cautious about not only what they say to children but also what they within earshot of them.
It's important to avoid labeling children.
Be careful to not contribute inadvertently to learned helplessness

Chapter 10:  FAQs About Teaching Students to Be Successful

Binet's IQ Test was developed to inform educators on how they could better serve the needs of diverse learners, not to sort and track students.
Students who participated in the Accelerated Reader program showed marked decrease in interest in reading on their own

"Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit."  Vince Lombardi
Differentiated instruction supports the concepts of self-efficacy.
Schools need to decide on a philosophy/policy regarding a school wide reward system that supports rather than hinders.