I can honestly say that after writing what seemed like one hundred progress reports for the first time in my career, that I am very proud of my students and myself for having had the patience to get through them all! Writing comments about a students work in 2-3 lines on a program does not seem to give the students the justice that they deserve. I found a way to get around that.
A very amazing mentor of mine in my school board showed me during my teaching placement how to foster a spark in student’s minds. He showed them their learning skills on their reports before sending in the final project. It showed the student’s what success looked like if they had already attained it and if they wanted to succeed, how they could attain that. Students attitudes changed drastically after seeing their marks.
My students have done nothing but succeed since the moment I met them. They are always working hard and always making sure to be the best student they can be. I make sure that at all points of the day I am showing them how proud I am of their success whether it be a class points system, awarding them marks for it or just pulling them aside to let them know they are appreciated.
When a concerned student came to me today and told me he was worried about his progress report, it seemed to me that students sometimes are more worried about doing poorly then they are about doing well. I think we should start to foster a positive attitude in our classes and show and tell students about success and how to succeed and to stay away from using words like failure or unsuccessful.
Positivity can go a long way and student success is what this entire progression is about, is it not?
