Grit, Resolve, Perseverance, And Resilience

Grit, resolve, perseverance, and resilience in my mind all mean to overcome. Duckworth gave me a better understanding of grit in an interview with Educational Leadership. Resilience to some means bouncing back from adversity, cognitive or otherwise. (Perkins-Gough, 2013) Other people use resilient about to children who succeed even though they have come from at-risk environments. (Perkins-Gough, 2013) Each definition of resilience share a common idea, that success can come from a positive response to failure or adversity. (Perkins-Gough, 2013) Grit and resilience are closely related because part of being gritty is to be resilient in the face of failure or adversity. (Perkins-Gough, 2013) Resilience is not the only trait you need to be gritty. (Perkins-Gough, 2013) Grit also needs character which is like a set of values. (Tough, 2012) Grit is also

having a deep commitment towards a long term goal. (Perkins-Gough, 2013) This is a tough concept for our instant gratification society. If success is related to Grit and grit is related to failure, why not let our students fail to become successful? We can use their goals to propel them past their failures to become successful.
“Fear of failing is from judgement and ridicule.” (Botton, 2009) This is what Alain De Botton said in his “A Kinder, Gentler Philosophy of Success” Ted Talk.

That is so true. I only cared about what kind of fool I would look like when I failed. We all know kids can be cruel when you make mistakes. Our students never want to feel the pain of ridicule. It is up to us to teach them it is okay to fail through positive reinforcement. If any of us want to have Grit we need to have optimistic approach. (Tough, 2012) Carol Dwek shares ideals in her Ted Talk called “The Power of Believing That You Can Improve.” She believes students need to feel confident and to be removed from their comfort zones, because students normally like to run from challenges. (Dwek, 2014) Challenge your students, because effort and difficulty is when neurons are making connections and kids are getting smarter. (Dwek, 2014) Dwek explains rewards should be on effort or process and not on intelligence. (Dwek, 2014) When you reward the process students have more engagement over longer periods of time and more perseverance on harder problems. (Dwek,

2014)
I have seen a lot of talented students who do not achieve, because of the fear of failure. Duckworth comments fragile gifted and talented kids who don't know how to fail. (Perkins-Gough, 2013) Gifted students don't know how to struggle, because they are not used to struggling and when they do start to struggle, they crack under the pressure. (Perkins-Gough, 2013) Talented students often work to a certain level of proficiency and then stop. Where a less talented student works harder to get an A and learns the benefits of working hard. (Perkins-Gough, 2013) One thing that has been proven is being gifted is no guarantee of being hardworking or being passionate about something. (Perkins-Gough, 2013) Just because you are talented does not mean you are gritty. Standardized tests, although they serve an important function in testing IQ, are limited in their ability to pick up things like grit and self-control as well as many other traits like gratitude, honesty, generosity, empathy for the suffering of others, social intelligence, tact, and charisma. (Perkins-Gough, 2013) During our Occupational Advisory Committee meetings, we talk about these traits being more important than the automotive curriculum we teach. Woody Allen said eighty percent of success in life is showing up. (Perkins-Gough, 2013) We can see students as they are, but I always wondered if they knew if they were talented and not gritty, not talented and gritty, or something else.
I had my class complete a survey that Duckworth used in her research. (Appendix N) This survey gave me a chance to see if my students thought they were gritty. Half of the questions dealt with resiliency during failure and the other half dealt with consistent interests over a long period of time. (Perkins-Gough, 2013) The scale was one through five, where five was extremely gritty and one was not at all gritty. I surveyed forty-two students from ninth grade to seniors. The results were three students were twos, twenty were threes, and nineteen were fours. There were no fives or ones, which I expected. I expected a lower number in the four category and a higher number in the two category. The survey led to a discussion on Grit and a better understanding of its definition.
My last lesson was about teaching Grit. (Appendix O) Some ideas and strategies came from Amy Lyon’s lesson plans labeled “A Bit of Grit” (Lyons, 2014) These lesson plans were found the Edutopia website. Amy Lyons plans were built primarily for fifth graders, but the concepts are universal. (Lyons, 2014) Students would write down something that was hard to finish, but when they finished it they felt really good. My introduction is an amazing video of Heather Dorniden running in 2008 Big 10 indoor track championships. During her six hundred meter run she trip and fell with one lap left. She got back up; tracks the leaders back down, and won the race. (Attard, 2013) I ask for a show of hands from those who thought she was done. It is an exciting way to show Grit and get my point across. Students will then work on the marshmallow project.(Appendix P) Students are put in teams of four and given twenty pieces of spaghetti, one meter of tape and string, a marshmallow, and eighteen minutes to build the highest structure to hold the marshmallow on top. This exercise helps the students use critical thinking, communication, and problem solving and teamwork skills. Many students also experience failure, which tests their grittiness. Again we have a discussion after the project, which leads us into the Grit graphic organizer. (Appendix Q) Students are given time to fill out the graphic organizer. Once time is complete, we have a classroom discussion on what they wrote. I then start to give them instruction on how to tackle difficult tasks in the shop. I give them ideas on where to start and then review many of the concepts covered in the earlier lesson plans. The students’ homework that night is the questionnaire for a family member. (Appendix R) The next day we will share our questionnaire with each other and answer questions about them. Summarizing the lesson will involve students sharing how they will change the way they will handle difficult situations.
As I began to change the culture and mind set of my students, there were many growing pains. My level ones, a class of primarily ninth grade students, are having the hardest time in adjusting. This is to be expected, because of the expectation set on them in middle school compared to high school. Our school is fed by fourteen school districts that all have different philosophies. I have learned in eight years the transition to high school coupled with a new school, new students, and new rules are difficult for incoming freshman. The middle schools have held their hands and have not put them in sink or swim situations. Also the fact of being in a technical area where it is wide open and they are not stuck in one chair behind a desk is a huge adjustment. My high standards are an extreme adjustment to students. I do start off slow and do a lot of modeling of my expectations. As the year goes by I lessen my grip and allow them to fly. Through this process I get many questions they know the answers to and I respond by letting them figure out those answers. Don’t get me wrong I still help my students, but they need to exhaust their other resources before I can help them. I have seen growth in many of my level one students and it will be exciting to see them keeping growing.
My level three students are where I have seen growth in leaps and bounds. First they are beginning to mature and that is a huge step in this process. With maturity comes responsibility and responsibility for their education can be more on them. I have been working on doing a better job with my level three students on teaching them independence and grit and with this project this year, it has be a success. I have watched students with their heads down in defeat while working on a car and to finish it with a smile. They never gave up; they used their resources, and used their minds with minimal help from me. I walk around to check in on students and they are on ALLDATA or watching a video on CDX. It is a wonderful experience to see students buying in to the system. Yes, we have days where it is not like this, but those days are few and far between. My level three students this year have completed tasks we have never completed or tried before this year. This may have something to do with the dynamics of the class, but I have seen them flourish since I had them their level one year.
In conclusion this project has been an awesome learning experience. I believe the research I have done will create a better learning atmosphere for my students. There are so many things I would like to accomplish with my students and I feel this project has given me a plan. My first year of teaching if a student could not do something; I jumped in and did it. I quickly learned this was not the way of teaching. I have found a balance of getting my students to do their own work without being an ignorant dictator. I truly feel my students know I genuinely care about them and their success in my class and life. I think giving my students directions and then giving them an explanation to my methods have helped this process. At this time in the year even my level one student understand I will not lower my high expectations and are starting to buy in. The respect I show to my students and expect back has created a better culture in our shop area. My push for their independence and grit would not be able to be fostered without this mutual respect. I am blessed to be able to do what I do each day and to see my students succeed is a benefit beyond words.