This will be the last post related to How Children Succeed. I would love you to consider strategies that we  could implement to help develop persistence, self-control, curiosity, conscientiousness, grit and self-confidence in our students? The will help inform our plan for next year's work!

Tough writes, "It is a central paradox of contemporary parenting (and at times instructional scaffolding)... we have an acute biological impulse to protect our children, to give them everything they want and need, to protect them from dangers and discomforts both large and small. And yet we know.. that what kids need more than anything is a little hardship: some challenge, some deprivation they can overcome, even if to prove themselves that they can."(84) How can we work together as a learning community to develop adult strategies that allow children to experience adversity and even failure if it is beneficial to a child' character development?

Tough reports that a national evaluation of the character education programs by the U.S. Department of Education found that seven popular elementary school programs "had no significant impact at all from the programs-not on student behavior, not on academic achievement, not on school culture"(60) How would you rate our character education program.

Tough writes, "Children who grow up in stressful environments generally find it harder to sit still, harder to rebound from disappointment, and harder to follow directions."(17). What can the community and school do to mitigate the stress students bring with them to the classroom?

On page 33, Tough refers to "Blair and Evan's research, suggesting that regular good parenting-being helpful and attentive during a game of Jenga-can make a profound difference for a child's future prospects."

This made me wonder how our 24/7 connection to technology, social media, emails and the Internet will affect our ability to truly be in the moment with our children as parents.

 As educators, I wonder, how addressing so many needs and demands at once in a classroom, will impact our ability to be in the moment with our students, which proves to make the difference. How do we continue to balance connectivity, ever increasing demands and yet be in the moment with  face to face interactions and connections with our students?

In his introduction, Tough discusses the cognitive hypothesis-the commonly held assumption that success depends primarily on cognitive skills. How is the cognitive hypothesis reflected in the curriculum? What are your experiences and thoughts?

Welcome to the Nate Perry Blog

Please consider joining with the NPE Community for an online book study of How Children Succeed. Staff and families together are encouraged to read this book to learn and grow. As we begin next month, I will post thought provoking questions to guide our reading and thinking. As with things that are new, I am sure I will encounter some bumps along the way, but I appreciate you coming along for the ride. Join us at the PTO meeting on February 4th at 6pm to learn more.
Also, watch this video to see why this book and why now!

http://video.ted.com/talk/podcast/2013S/None/AngelaDuckworth_2013S.mp4