We really enjoyed watching Lex's video lesson about perseverance. The students always get so excited when I tell them we are going to get to watch a message from Lex. He is an amazing mentor for my students. The students were very interested to hear about how Lex and persevered through challenges in his life.
After watching his message, we had a discussion about what Lex did when he had challenges in his life. Then, the students talked about challenges they have had and how they have persevered. After talking as a class, they wrote and draw about times when they have had to persevere.
Some students talked about times when they had trouble learning how to do something but kept trying and were able to improve. Other students talked about things that had happened at home that were really difficult but eventually got better. When the students were done drawing and writing we all sat down in a circle and the students shared their stories.
This message of perseverance is one of the most powerful ideas for my students. Many of them face incredible challenges and the ability to persevere is going to help them make it through to the other side. This idea goes along very nicely with the idea of having a growth mindset which is a constant theme in our classroom. My students really understand that if they are not able to do something yet as well as they would like, they can get better at whatever it is with effort and time. The pictures are of the stories that they drew and wrote about their experiences with perseverance.
I've been looking forward to discussing perseverance with my class and this month I had the chance to focus on it! We started our discussing by watching Lex's video. It was very powerful for the students to hear his story again. Lex has overcome a lot and we are inspired by his perseverance.
Our school is focusing on growth mindset this year and my class has heard a lot about it. The students and I talked about how having a growth mindset helps you persevere. Students were then asked to think about a time they that was difficult. They wrote about those times and explained how they got through them. My students have been through a lot! Some students focused on how they coped with the loss of a family member, while others focused on new skills they've learned. One student wrote a great story about how she learned to tie her shoes!
The next week we studied the poem by Myra Cohen Livingston. It's about a girl who gets roller skates and falls as soon as she puts them on. Even though she skins her knee and gets dirty, she brushes off the dirt and gets back up to try and skate. The students discussed the girl's attitude (she never gives up even though it would be easy to quit). It reminded them that persevering isn't always easy and that they must stay motivated.
Here we go again! Just as in years past, my students did not know the definition of perseverance when I asked them before showing Lex’s video. Ironically our class mission statement, that we wrote at the beginning of the year, has "never giving up" in it. They just never knew that meant perseverance. We even talked about never giving up as a theme in some of the poems we read the first week of the month. It was a true light bulb moment when they heard Lex talking about perseverance. “We’ve been talking about that all year!” shouted one student. In Lex's video this month, he shared with us how he lost his eyesight. His video is titled "Achieve Your Vision Through Perseverance". Since he talked about losing his sight and his motto is "No need for sight when you have a vision" we connected that into “Fun Friday” activities.
Lex’s Challenge
Lex challenged us to write about a time we had to overcome an obstacle and explain what we did to persevere through the challenging time. Here are all my students’ responses to Lex’s challenge.
Perseverance Challenges
Since Lex’s video was titled “Achieving Vision Through Perseverance” and he shared with us how he lost his sight and persevered through all his challenges, I decided to connect this to extra perseverance challenges this month. We completed these fun challenges each Friday during the month.
Shoe Tying Challenge
Students were blindfolded and had to put their shoes on and tie them. Most were successful and it took them the normal amount of time to tie their laces. Others were successful, but it took them longer than normal. I had one student tie his shoes on the wrong feet. He even said, “I thought something didn’t feel right, but I went with it anyways”. Another student could not tie them at all and ended up with a knotted mess.
Writing Challenge
Students were blindfolded and had to write “My name is …” on a piece of paper. Lex can write his autograph so why can't we write something too. One student tried to write with the eraser end because she was missing the eraser on her pencil and could not feel the difference. Most of my students did not have difficulty writing, but their actual handwriting was a whole different story. It was sloppier (which says something for some of them who already have rough handwriting), bigger, and wavier on the lines. Our classroom roared with laughter when they took their blindfolds off revealing what they had written.
Walking Challenge
Students were blindfolded and tried to walk from our classroom to the cafeteria. This path takes us down two long hallways. Each blindfolded student had a guide helping them along the way. Their techniques for walking were quite interesting and different. Some pairs walked holding arms, while others had the guide pushing or pulling the blindfolded partner. There were even a couple pairs who had the blindfolded partner trying to lead the seeing partner down the hallway. There was a lot of zigzagging, slow walking, and laughter filling the hallways during this challenge. This by far was my students favorite challenge.
Persevere Through Your Fears
Before students watched Lex's video, I had them write one thing they would be afraid to do in front of the class. Since they are 5th graders, most were like "Why? So you can make us do it?". I guess they know me too well because that was part of my plan. For the last “Fun Friday” challenge, I asked, “How many of you think you have perseverance and are willing to tackle our biggest challenge yet?”. All but two hands raised. When I revealed their notecards, their hands went down real fast. It was slow going at the start, but once a few students faced their fears and persevered, others were excited to join in on the fun. I am proud of the students who persevered. Some of my most shy and quiet students stood up in front of the class and faced their fears. We also had a lot of laughs. This challenge was so much fun!
Zoe hugged a friend.
Nataly did a handstand because she participates in gymnastics.
Devin and Sarahi danced.
Parrish snitched in front of the whole class.
Racheal lip synced and did hand motions to a song.
Crystal and Cordero sang.
David danced crazily.
Mikey talked in front of the class sharing science facts.
Perseverance with William Green
We were lucky to have former running back and first round draft pick for the Cleveland Browns William Green come speak to the 4th and 5th graders. Before his presentation, I told my students I would be willing to bet he would speak on perseverance. The first time he mentioned “never give up” and perseverance, my whole class looked at me. He also talked about dreaming big and having a vision for the future. There were moments during his presentation that we thought he was a Classroom Champions mentor and that he knew Lex. My students were fascinated with the connections. It was the perfect presentation for Perseverance month!
We have made progress in persevering through our obstacles, but we still need to keep persevering for success, especially in reading. I think we are going to have to set perseverance goals in this area for the remainder of the school year. #NeverGiveUp
Standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.2- Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.8- Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.4- Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 5 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence. Jim Watkins
Perseverance is definitely my favourite topic in the Classroom Champions curriculum. I truly believe perseverance separates achievers from the not so successful. I have taught for 35+ years and in each and every year I have met at least one obstacle that required persistence and determination to master.
Perseverance is one of the most valuable life lessons students can learn. It fits in well with all the pedagogy surrounding mindset lessons. Without perseverance and positive mindset, students are slated to experience negativity, failure and lack of self esteem. When I hear students give up on difficult tasks I am reminded of my responsibility to encourage them to try and try again.
Arianne Jones challenged students to ask their parents to tell their stories about perseverance. A homework sheet was promptly sent out and students brought these back to school with some amazing stories of perseverance. From overcoming shyness, competing in athletic endeavors, finishing post secondary education, and starting their own companies, parents provided the class with amazing stories of hard work and accomplishment. As a teacher, I have met these individuals, so I shed a few tears when I read about their struggles, their determination and grit.
Students shared their parents’ stories with each other and talked about times when they have struggled to reach a goal. Then we watched some youtube clips to reinforce what perseverance looks like and how individuals met their goals through perseverance. Two years ago +Arin Kress shared the “Ducklings Verses Stairs” video and I have used it for for the past three years.
Showing this video was a great way to bring empathy to the forefront. Students verbally encouraged the little ducklings to keep going, as they watched their struggle to get up the stairs. Even the most self involved students understood how critical it was for the ducklings to reunite with their mother. Students asked to watch this clip many times. It was a great jumping off point for discussing feelings related to perseverance: determination, frustration, failure and success. We loved the way Momma Duck kept encouraging the stragglers. She never, for a moment, acted like they wouldn’t achieve success.
This class could not speak for a few moments after viewing Nick’s capacity to live life with enthusiasm. The students who daily recited their litany of “why they can’t do an activity” recognized that Nick would have practiced each skill for hours or days before mastering it. They decided that if “he could do it then they could meet their goals, too.” Next we watched Kyle Maynard’s Video - No Excuses
The students were awestruck by his determination and grit. We had several discussions about his journey up Mount Kilimanjaro and its significance in his personal life journey. We really thought about the anonymous quote - “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”.
Then students were challenged to write, “No Excuses” without using their hands. Here is a video that shows our experience:
We had a lot of fun working on this activity. It was challenging but students with good attitudes enjoyed every second. Some students did express their frustrations with negative self talk but when we debriefed we learned that the frustration was often due to setting expectations for self that did not really match what was happening in the activity. How could you expect perfection on your first attempt? We really had a great month examining the value of perseverance. Thank you +Arianne Jones for your mentorship. It was a great month!
Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.Newt Gingrich
Curriculum Links:
Science
perseverance in the search for understandings and for solutions to problems
Math
engage and persevere in mathematical tasks and projects
For our monthly challenge, we were to find a time where we faced great difficulty and describe how we persevered through that time. This was easier said than done. Many of my students had to think a while for a time where they faced great difficulty, not knowing that their daily lives (to most people) would be facing great difficulties.
Once thought of all of my 6th graders found a time and were able to think about how they over came that difficult time.
It was great hearing about Lex opening up and telling about he lost his eye sight and it really gave a different perspective on our lives. No matter how difficult we think we have it, someone else is persevering through their difficult time.
