Already this year we’ve talked about how to contact parents if a student has missed work in class (e-mail the student, CC the parents and Bret) but what about positive contacts?!? Last year a few teachers made concerted efforts to make positive contacts home each week…with a fantastic response rate! They followed the same formula, e-mailing the student and CCing to the parents and me. The response and “thank you” rate for these e-mails was nearly 90% compared to a response rate for missing work of about 40%…amazing, parents really do get those e-mails you send 🙂 When it comes to praise and motivation those of you who read Mindset this summer know that Carol Dweck’s research shows that praising effort as opposed to intelligence is the key to helping students “maintain their confidence in learning.” This week I have two challenges for you: First, read the attached summary of one of Carol Dweck’s past articles, it’s great stuff; especially the last paragraph! Second, if you haven’t already, read Mindset (my copy is available to borrow) and join Dan and I during our first SIPs for a book discussion. Let me know what you think…I’d love to hear your two cents!
Originally published in SCIS MS Headlines on August 30, 2013
This article summary came from the Marshall Memo, an amazing professional resource!
Pushing Forward 