Article 20: Successful Praise When reading the article “The Perils and Promises of Praise”, I was taken aback by the fact that there was a thing as negative praise. The studies show that just telling someone that they are intelligent is detrimental to future success in challenging situations because of the fear of failure. Encouragement of hard work and effort works more effectively than praising intelligence. I still feel that there is a missing element that was not mentioned in the article. It is secret number three in motivation for success in school. That motivation is the parents of the students. I was told that if I failed my classes, I could expect severe punishment and retribution for my failure, unless I prove I tried my best. Motivation is not just praise; it is the support of those adults in a student’s life that gives reinforcement of positive ideas …show more content…
I left my school books inside the bottom of my desk, just as all the students had done in my class. My father was home on vacation that particular day and asked me where my books were. I replied that they were in my desk at school. That answer led to a ten minute lecture on how I was to never leave my books at school ever again. He told me that I would never succeed if I did not take schooling seriously. That was the only motivational speech I received while I was in school. That conversation affects me to this day. I bring all the books I am required to buy at the beginning of each term to my classes. I purchase my books the moment I find out what books I need for that quarter. I have always strived to excel in all the courses I take because of that conversation. My father intervening made me angry at the time; however, over time it made me reevaluate my approach to school. Yes, it was difficult to carry all those books home every day after school, especially in high school, but that was my
When you praise your students, what words come to mind? Intelligent, smart? According to the article “How Not to Talk to Your Kids” by Po Bronson, these words may do more harm than good. When labeling a student “smart”, they are more likely to rely on their intelligence and disregard the importance of effort entirely. Alternatively, students should be commended for their effort. Effort-praising advocates working hard to get the results you desire. Praising students for their effort can promote them to challenge themselves, strain less, and develop growth mindsets.
In one of the studies she gathered up some fifth graders and split them into two groups. Tracy Cutchlow goes into further detail about the experiment: “...Dweck gathered up fifth graders, randomly divided them in two groups, and had them work on problems from an IQ test. She then praised the first group for intelligence...she praised the second group for their effort….kids praised for effort tended to take a challenging task...kids praised for their intelligence requested the easier task, knowing there was a higher chance for success” (3). The kids complimented for intelligence wanted the easier challenge so they would have a higher success rate, thinking they have the natural ability to do well based on what others have been implying. The other kids, however, chose a challenge because they knew that hard work and making mistakes can help your brain learn more. This shows how praise can influence the mindsets which can affect school work and
I was raised in an encouraging household where both of my parents greatly valued education. Although they were high school graduates, neither could afford to attend college; a combination of family and financial woes ultimately halted their path. As a result, my parents frequently reminded me that getting a good education meant better opportunities for my future. To my parents, that seemed to be the overarching goal: a better life for me than the one they had. My parents wanted me to excel and supported me financially and emotionally of which the former was something their parents were not able to provide. Their desire to facilitate a change in my destiny is one of many essential events that contributed to my world view.
“Students don’t necessarily know how to improve their test scores, so even if they’re motivated to try harder, that doesn’t mean they can actually do better.” One of the parents should help them study everytime they have an upcoming quiz or test. I would understand if the student is younger and they get a sticker or something but getting a child a new bike is a little overboard. Kids should be motivated for good grades without getting any kind of reward or gift in return. Rewarding students for good grades will teach them to only work for the gift. That gives them the idea to only study when they are getting a gift. In other words, it teaches them to be lazy. They only want to work when they get some kind of gift or reward in
Meaning that when children grow up with praise such as “oh you must have been so smart to get an A on that test”, instead of “you must have worked really hard on that lesson”, children could take the praise to their intelligence the wrong way and think that since they are “smart” instead of their effort on a task which will cause them problems in the future and they might want to give up and quit. I have seen this first hand and this has actually happened to me before, so I know from experience that this could have a negative effect impact on a student not just students in elementary school but also adults who are going to college or young adults who are looking for a job. In contrast, some students love to get that kind of compliment but they would always end up expecting that so when I work with children I will be complimenting them on the effort they put into everything that they do. From now on, I will be praising children on their effort and not on their
In When Success Leads to Failure, Jessica Lahey is faced with a tough situation involving a student, whose love for learning is fading, and a parent who does not seem to understand why. Lahey establishes that parents are starting to teach children to fear failure, and the fear is what is destroying their love for learning (Lahey). I support Lahey’s proposition that kids are beginning to hate learning because children are taught that failure is not an option. In today’s society, many teachers and especially parents push children to only strive for success and to fear failure, which results in many children’s growing hatred for learning.
Throughout my life my mother has always been my backbone and push me to strive for excellence and be academically perfect. I was taught to go above and beyond everyone else in class and work nonstop without excuses. However, the pressure from my mom triggered a negative effect in me and I eventually shutdown. Though I still managed to finish strong I felt that I did it to please my mom. That is why going to college is so important to me because I know that I can go to college and be triumphant on my own, so right now I am pushing through adversity in an attempt to prove myself right.
When I was a child my parents would punish and reward me for things I had done. When I was in high school I was expected to get the best grades possible. My parents were always checking to see if my work was done on time and that my grades were to their expectations. I would get small rewards for getting good grades. It was in line with the behaviorism concept of positive reinforcement/punishment and negative reinforcement/punishment. When I would get good grades I would get complements that didn’t seem that sincere. The way they verbalized their praise did not have much enthusiasm. It would make me feel like I didn’t accomplish what they wanted, even though I believed I was doing excellent. However, when I received poor grades the punishments
Many of my goals have been met through my hard work and dedication through my mother's constant pressure to do well in school. To give a clear example of what I mean, there was the time that I got Principal's Honor Roll. In order to get Principal’s Honor Roll I had to work very hard and maintain a G.P.A of 4.0 or above with no U’s or fails. Many times, I had to sacrifice going to parties, hanging out with friends to do my homework just to study for a test. Many times, I had to stay up very late to finish an assignment or study. My hard work allowed me to meet my goal of getting Honor Roll. If I didn’t work hard and dedicated myself into pursuing to get Principal’s Honor Roll I would have probably never got it. This has impacted me in a very positive way because I know that in order to obtain what I want I have to work hard, dedicate myself, and commit myself to that goal. My grades are another great example of my hard work and dedication. If I didn’t work hard to obtain all A’s , I would have probably never have got a 4.0 G.P.A. in my report card and would not get the Principal’s Honor Roll award. My dedication to succeed in life has made me into the person that I am
We as educators and parents want our children to grow up to be the best that they can be. Are we helping them when we tell that they are doing a good job on something or are we hurting them? Some research has shown that praising a child with words like “Good Job” or “Way to Go” is not helping them build their self-esteem or grow as individuals. We need to do more to help them grow as individuals and learners. According to Alfie Kohn (2001) “praise is a verbal reward” (p. 1). He states in his article “Five Reasons to Stop Saying Good Job” that praise is also controlling (Kohn, 2001) Have you ever been at a restaurant or out to local grocery store (or even said to your own kids) and hear if you will be good I will buy you a treat. Controlling? Yes controlling, but in the classroom do we use the same type of praise to get our students to do the same thing?
Education was very important to my father. Once I started attending school my grades took precedence over anything else in my life. My dad helped me with school work when I needed it, so bad grades were out of th...
The reward system is a beneficial behavioral modification teaching method, which promotes more positive behaviors in the classroom (Charles & Barr, 2014). Many teachers generally use the reward method of praise within their classrooms for a variety of reasons. The first advantage of using praise within the classroom is because it encourages students do repeat positive behaviors in the classroom. Many children are simply looking for attention and enjoy it, which makes it a great technique to use in the classroom (Charles & Barr, 2014). Another advantage for this reward type is that due to the encouragement, the students are able to perform at a better rate; students excel academically. A final advantage to using praise is that it is easily implemented into the classroom and requires little to no preparation. This makes the reward method a great addition for teachers as well as students because students get instant feedback without
According to Berk (2012), children with a history of parental criticism of their worth and performance give up easily when faced with a challenge and express shame and despondency after failing (p. 367)”. Knowing that children who come from a home where they are not being encouraged and are constantly being put down can help me as a teacher in my future classroom. Knowing this I know how important it is to encourage my students so that they can build up their self-esteem. Berk (2012) states, “Adults can avoid promoting self-defeating reactions by adjusting their expectations to children’s capacities, scaffolding children’s attempts at difficult tasks, and pointing out effort and improvement in children’s work or behavior (p.367)”. This is important for me as a future teacher so I know that not all students in my class are going to perform at the same level and that is okay. I will know to point out when a student is doing something good and showing improvement in their work even if it is not the best yet. I want all of my students to have high self-esteem and feel good about themselves and their work because, I know how important having high self-esteem is for a child and how it will help them throughout their
On top of everything else, teachers must possess an irrepressible yearning to motivate and educate children. Some children receive very little praise and motivation outside of the classroom environment. This puts a new responsibility on teachers to make sure that children (especially those who are underprivileged or disregarded by friends and family) get the attention and motivation they need in order to achieve. This can make all the difference in a child?s ability to do well in school.