They only have to BELIEVE they’re right! | Tom Schimmer. Belief is a powerful mindset. When we truly believe something, we don’t just think it – we feel it. When you believe, you know like you know like you know like you know – it’s unmistakable. Our belief about anything is usually what sets the wheels of success or failure in motion. It’s Henry Ford who is credited with saying: If you think you can or if you think you can’t, either way you’re probably right. When it comes to learning, it turns out belief is every bit as powerful. Those who know me know how often I speak about the importance of developing student confidence as a precursor to maximizing student engagement and success; that the development and maintenance of confidence should be our first priority. So much has been written about the importance of failure in the process of learning; that we have to create an atmosphere within our classrooms where failure is ‘okay’ and where students view their initial failures as part of the learning process.
Again, confidence in correctness. Education Week. As a learner, what is your goal every day? As teachers or school leaders we should always have a goal. Maybe we want to provide more inquiry-based lesson opportunities...or we have a student who seems to meltdown at certain times during the day and we are trying to find proactive ways to get him to stop. What about our students?
What are their goals as they walk into our classroom...or school? Do we care about what they want to learn...or what they know already? Or do we mostly care about what we think they will need to get jobs that "do not exist yet? " Our students certainly have goals. The reality is that we should all care about learning, because when we have students who don't, we are losing someone with great potential. Effective feedback should be one of our greatest goals when it comes to teaching or school leadership. What, When, How and Why of Feedback As much as we all want to hear "Nice job" or "Well done" that is not feedback. So how do we know what the learner knows? Questions and Answers About Formative Assessment. Feedback for Learning:Seven Keys to Effective Feedback. t11_providingpres. 3_feedback_powerpoint.