The Power of Focusing on Growth

How you approach and talk to your students about their grades can make all of the difference.

All but 5 of my 100+ of  students grew from their pretest to their post inference test! I was so excited, however when some of my students received their paper back and saw a 56 (or lower), they were immediately defeated. 

One boy even took his paper, balled it up, and threw it in the trash. I pulled it out, smoothed out the wrinkles as best I could, and marched it over to my computer. I pulled up this student's pre and post test scores to determine his growth....24 points! Amazing, right?!?

When I wrote out the scores and the amount of growth, my student said, "really?! I grew that much?!?" 

I then hugged him, told him I was proud, and he should be too! ( a feeling they are sooo not used to and slightly uncomfortable with, but that's a post for another day)

"The Great Wall of China wasn't built in a day", I told him, "but they started by laying one brick,  then another, then another until one day they had something impressive." 

"Right now we are laying a foundation, and if we keep up the forward momentum, in just 130 more days we will have a strong wall that will last a lifetime."

I challenge you to really focus on your student's growth instead of the final grade. The difference in attitude and future effort is well worth the extra effort! I promise! 

Although he did not ‘pass’ by traditional grading standards, there was tremendous growth! I am so thankful this student taught me the power of not just writing grades, but showing the growth as well!