Confidence - the word that was most consistently articulated by both parents and teachers in response to the most important trait of a PNA graduate. But how do you build confidence in young learners? I think the best way to do this is through developing independence, maintaining high expectations, and giving students the space to fail. "My teacher thought I was smarter than I was - so I was."This is one of my favorite educational quotes, one that so beautifully and simply captures the importance of adult expectations. Young children are often capable of more than we (and they themselves) give them credit for. An important way that our kindergartners develop confidence is through developing independence in academic tasks. One way that I help my students become more independent is through high, but attainable, expectations and the space to make mistakes. I expect students to read and write even before they can conventionally read and write. I expect students to observe the world and carry out experiments like scientists do or to follow the engineering design process to plan, create, test, and redesign solutions for problems. I expect students to solve problems and make a difference in our world. I expect students to try anyways, make mistakes, and learn from them. I expect students to do these things with my direct supervision, but also on their own when they are working independently. How do high expectations and making mistakes translate to independence in a kindergarten classroom full of very young learners who are not yet competent in their academic tasks? The answer is explicit expectations, routine, and structure paired with modeling and practice. Students know exactly what is expected of them during Math Workshop, Reading Workshop, Writing Workshop, and Inquiry Workshop. Even though the focus changes, the routine and structure remains the same and students know what to do within that structure. To learn the expectations and routines, I explicitly teach and model them and then students practice, at first with guidance and then independently. In education, this is known as the Gradual Release of Responsibility. We practice growing stamina (getting started right away, working the whole time, working quietly), using the scientific method and the engineering design process, planning for and carrying out imaginative play, and solving problems independently using learned strategies and skills. (Each academic skill or strategy is also explicitly taught, practiced with support, and then practiced independently.) . We discuss the importance of trying anyways. With my guidance, students reflect on their choices and think about what they can do differently next time to do even better (to read even longer, focus, write a word, solve a problem, etc.). Reflecting on mistakes or something new that was tried helps students see the value in trying something regardless of the outcome. If failing can lead to learning and growth, it is less scary to fail. And always, I let our little ones know that they can accomplish whatever I am asking them to accomplish, that they are competent and capable, that even if they can’t yet, they will if they keep practicing. I give the appropriate instruction and scaffolding for students to be successful, but I also give them the space to try, struggle, and make mistakes, even if it makes them a bit uncomfortable. After teaching a skill, I force students to attempt to solve their own problems before swooping in. Even when students persistently assure me that they cannot do something, I insist that they in fact can. I sometimes offer advice, further instruction, or guiding questions but I also let students try on their own, fail, and try again. More often than not, when I tell a student that they need to try on their own first, they have already solved their problem when I check in with them. If I would instead help them solve their problem immediately, they would not gain the independence and confidence in their own abilities that they do by trying first on their own. Their early attempts, of course, are approximations, but they become more capable and confident as the year progresses. Because the structure and routine remains the same, they feel comfortable working within it and taking risks, trying and failing, learning, and attempting on their own. They know what to do, so they do it. There is something inexplicably satisfying about walking into a classroom and seeing young learners reading, writing, doing, exploring, creating, and learning with independence and confidence. Seeing our youngest learners truly believe that they can read, write, act like mathematicians, scientists and explorers, tell their stories, create new things, and make a difference in our world is magical.
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Saania AliMs. Ali graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelors of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies. She specializes in Early Childhood Education, ESL, and Special Education. Her hobbies include traveling, reading, and painting! Archives
April 2021
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