• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Search our Website

FIM Portal

IEE

Changing the Conversation

  • PD & Coaching
  • Tools
    • Upcoming Events
    • Virtual Learning Support
    • Products
  • Programming
    • Grants
    • Schools to Watch
    • Get Involved
  • About
    • About IEE
    • Our Team
    • Success Stories
    • Careers
    • Blog
    • Contact
  • FIM Portal

Perfect Effort

April 7, 2017 by Molly Sholten

Nobody expects you to play perfect, that’s impossible…but what we expect and you should expect from each other is a PERFECT EFFORT

“Perfect Effort” has made such a significant impact on student achievement with our work in schools. Have you ever interacted with an infant just trying to walk, talk, or learn to count?  My bet is that you have never heard an adult respond by saying to the infant that he is wrong and should not do it that way again.  Most likely you hear adult encouragement and support to reach these milestones.

Research states that the human brain scans for threat every three seconds. If it detects threat, it will do whatever possible to put up a barrier to protect.  In classrooms across the country you see students rip papers, break pencils, ask for bathroom breaks, and overtly misbehave…. right in the middle of direct instruction!  It correlates with the threat these children are feeling inside. Calling on them to solve, demanding they read the next two pages, asking them to come to the board and show the strategy they used to solve… All of these put up the wall to learning. Threat and fear will over-ride any learning opportunity every time.

But if we shift our thinking and use formative assessment as a way to encourage perfect effort in learning, we lessen the threat. These are opportunities for students to show their thinking which then creates new ideas and opportunities for teachers to capitalize. When we are only looking for perfect effort the students understand our intention is to help not harm.

With that being said, I am not an advocate for the belief that everyone gets a trophy. It is my bias that each individual has the ability to grow and learn through experiences. There is a place for summative assessment and there is also a place for perfect effort.

 

 

Instructional Strategies, Learning, Student Engagement, Student Motivation, Teaching Strategies

Primary Sidebar

Categories

  • Adaptive Schools
  • Assessment
  • Coaching
  • Collaboration
  • Developing Groups
  • Education
  • Educational excellence
  • Educational Leadership
  • Events
  • Instructional Strategies
  • Leadership
  • Learning
  • Parent Portal
  • Press
  • Professional Learning Communities
  • Reflection
  • School Planning
  • Shared Leadership
  • Student Engagement
  • Student Motivation
  • Teaching Strategies
  • Video Blog

Join our Email List!

Footer

Professional Learning

  • PDs & Coaching
    • PDs
    • Coaching
  • Products
    • Accountable Talking Stems (set of 30)
    • Brag Tags
    • Flippin’ Great Strategies
    • Math Strengths and Stretches sets
    • Strides Kit
  • Research
    • Grants
    • Schools to Watch
    • Get Involved

Cart

Blog

  • Blog

About

  • About
    • Our Team
    • Success Stories
    • Careers

Contact Us

  • Contact Us
    • (989) 317-3510
    • info@excellenceined.org
    • 711 W. Pickard street, Mount Pleasant, MI 48858

IEE is an IACET Accredited Provider and adheres to IACET’s internationally recognized ANSI/IACET Standard for Continuing Education and Training. IEE may award CEUs and SCECHs based on this accreditation.

Copyright © 2023 · IEE · Sitemap

Website Development by LimeCuda