Building Blocks for Success

Students are  motivated when they believe they have a chance to be successful.  Too often, we have students who have never been successful in a school setting. Students need to set and achieve goals in order to build a sense of confidence, which leads to a willingness to try something else, which in turn begins a cycle that leads to higher levels of success. Success leads to success, and the achievements of small goals are building blocks to larger goals.

Part of raising expectations is to help students believe they can be successful. There are many ways you can build students’ confidence in themselves.  Here's a few:

• Provide questions or assignments that are open-ended and for which there is no wrong answer. This also provides another opportunity to get to know each student.
• Provide additional support during lessons, such as graphic organizers, learning guides, etc.
• Use multiple intelligences activities linked to students’ strengths.
• Encourage students and provide feedback and praise that reinforces their efforts, not just the final product. 

How can you help a student be more successful, and therefore more confident in their learning?