Present: Michelle, Cassie, Connie, Nicole, Susan, Bethany, Laura P., Kiran, Susie, Josh, Annette, Lisa L.
1. Attached is a copy of an article by Shane Lopez about establishing hope in our students.
We will highlight main points from his writing.
Three Myths
- Daydreaming is not okay – It IS okay for kids to think about what they are learning and envision how that helps them toward their future.
- All goals are created equal – Students helped to make goals relevant to them put more effort into reaching those goals. Make goals meaningful.
- Wishing is the same as hoping– Hope is sustainable. There can be definitive steps toward what student is hopeful about.
Hopeful – how it works
- Hope happens when kids are engaged – How do we get more of our kids here?
- Hope can change our day to day behavior
Plan – When they see a direction connection between what they are doing has a direct correlation to what they want – Action triggers –
- Finding something important
- Showing how to do it
- Giving them a time line
How can we help make that happen:
- Modeling – set goals and comment on the way
- How do we set goals that make a difference to them? Involving students in goal setting.
- Teaching the steps to a final product– work backwards from the end product– example: first grade animal reports
- Emphasize effort over “being smart”. Fixed mindset vs. growth mindset. Want students to know that it’s effort, persistence, that makes you smart, not an innate, fixed “given” ability.
Hope – ideas and energy we have for the future drives effort, achievement and retention of students all ages
2. A ppt was shown about Randolph’s student results to the Gallup Student Survey which measures
hope, engagement, and well-being. The ppt is in docushare, in the GET folder. Each GET representative has
a paper copy of the ppt.
- Take your power point copy to your team and discuss what could and should Randolph be doing to help the students who have scored in the “stuck” or non-hopeful range.
As we work into a new school improvement cycle, it’s important that we consider numerous kinds of data about our students and our school.
Next GET meeting = March 3
Please come with ideas for increasing hope, engagement, and well-being in your grade level and in our school.