Resilience: How Students Respond To Challenges

"Resilience-or whether students respond positively to challenges-is crucial for success in school and in life" (Yeager & Dweck, 2012, p. 302). Without resilience, one would stagnate as a result of any stressful event. Being resilient means being able to use adversity as a mode for change in one's life (Yeager & Dweck, 2012). Changing one's thinking from one of an entity theory to incremental is possible and can be learned if the proper strategies are in place (Yeager & Dweck, 2012). It therefore, seems that it is the responsibility of adults to teach children how to overcome challenges and become resilient. An important takeaway is that facing adversity and accepting mistakes as a way to grow is a major component of neuroplasticity, which enables

It is important to me to work on my own mindset so that I will be better able to facilitate growth in my students. Growing up in my home where only my best was accepted, I tend to look for perfection in what I do. I will need to pay closer attention to conversations I have with students to ensure that I am fostering resilience and focusing on the process and not the grade or result because as explained by Dwyer, "Yes, it's the environment-what we do-that actually changes brains" (Dwyer, 2013, para. 5). That staement is extremely powerful. This has led me to rethink the way I grade homework. In order to improve my teaching strategies, I will convey this to students in the comments I write on their papers, as

To bridge the gap between school and home, I would like to share examples of student work so that parents have a better grasp of what is expected in fourth grade. It would also be worthwhile to have parents complete a sample high stakes reading test so that they are able to feel the challenges their children do and come to understand the importance of encouraging their children to complete their work so they are able to build stamina throughout the year. Building stamina will enable students to be ready for end of year testing. I would also like to implement a nightly calling program in which I would call a few students each night to check in on them as they complete their homework. I would like to encourage them to at least try to complete their work to the best of their abilities. All too often I hear complaints or excuses from students that either they don't know what to do or that there was no one home to help them. Knowing that I may be checking up on them will create a sense of connection between