I asked AI (Pi Ai) to come up with the profile of a teacher who fosters Academic resilience in students. It generated the following 7 traits. So what I decided to do was play a game to see if I fit the profile. I decided to rate myself out of 7 for each trait based on one week of teaching. Let me know if you agree with the ratings.
Let's begin
Trait 1: BUILDING POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS
The criteria was to:
-establish caring, supportive, and respectful relationships with their students
-create a safe and nurturing environment that fosters resilience.
-make students feel valued and respected
Did I build positive relationships this week?
This week, one student was in tears. She didn't want to open up at first but after I returned and enquired several times I was able to find out the source of the problem. I took the time to listen and provide support and she’s well on her way to being better. Another student confided that they hadn't eaten all day, highlighting the issue of food insecurity. I made several suggestions on how they could get meals during the school day and even offered to purchase. Although my offer to provide a meal was declined, likely due to pride, I directed them to alternative resources like the school's lunch program.
One of my greatest challenges this week was that a usually regular and punctual student had been absent from school for over a week, prompting concern about their well-being. In response, I informed the deans, and school counselors, and made phone calls to the student’s home. Neither of us were able to make any progress and the classmates haven’t heard from them either. This as you can imagine is very alarming.
Several other issues popped up, I was impatient with one class, in another we spent a tedious amount of time working through behavioral issues, in other class, one student expressed discomfort with physical touch and a planned field trip was canceled(see blog here). In response to all of this I took the following steps:
I apologized for unintentionally offending students by referring to their behavior in a manner that offended them. I recognized the impact of my words, reached out to their families, and publicly apologized in class.
I aimed to create a positive learning environment by praising students' work, guiding them through difficult concepts, and encouraging kindness toward one another.
When a student expressed discomfort with physical touch, I respected their boundaries and made a mental note to be mindful of personal space.
After a planned field trip was canceled, I provided an opportunity for students to express their disappointment through writing reflective journals, fostering open communication.
This week also saw students attempting the National Oral exams. This allowed me an opportunity to engage in more relaxed conversations which revealed students’ rich personalities. Later on in the day when a student expressed confidence in passing my exam, I felt a sense of progress in building positive relationships.
RATING 5/7
Trait 2: SETTING HIGH EXPECTATIONS
Do I/ Did I set high expectations?
The criteria was
-appropriate support and scaffolding to help students meet those expectations.
Yes! Most certainly and always. I firmly believe in the potential of students— cliche as that may sound. I literally tell them that I expect them to pass and do well and present their work well.
RATING 6/7
Trait 3. TEACH EFFECTIVE LEARNING TECHNIQUES
Did I Teach Effective Learning techniques?
The criteria was:
explicit instruction in study skills, time management, goal-setting
Breaking down material into manageable chunks, using tools like study schedules, and prioritizing tasks helps students persist through challenging work.
With exams coming up—it was providence that one of the topics on the National Exam was “School” and one of the questions asked whether they used a study timetable. I took this opportunity to talk about goal setting and breaking down their subject content into smaller parts and prioritizing their tasks based on their exam timetable which we used to determine their importance. It felt good when later in the week during assembly and when students were asked if they were studying, many of those from my class raised their hands and started discussing how they were studying. They were using the techniques I taught!
RATING 4/7
Trait 4. PROVIDING CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK
Did I provide constructive feedback?
The criteria was:
praising effort while also giving specific guidance for improvement
Oh yes! In every class, I made it a point to review students' essays and provide individualized feedback, highlighting their strengths and areas for improvement. This method enabled me to find weaknesses in my own instruction. For example, while students did great work with their character development and setting descriptions, there was often no conflict or suspense in their stories. This helped me realize that there were areas I needed to work on in my own instruction.
RATING 4/7
Trait 5. MODEL RESILIENCE
Did I model resilience?
The criteria was :
-openly share about overcoming their own challenges and setbacks
While students waited for the oral exam, we ended up in pockets of impromptu conversations that circled back to a central topic of having children. When one student expressed her disinclination to have children she faced keen pushback from her along the lines of "You'll change your mind." I had no problem acknowledging her stance and encouraged her fellow students to do the same. I shared my own experiences with people who expressed similar sentiments. My intention was to establish a safe environment for candid conversation while still highlighting to the student who was feeling outnumbered that she was demonstrating resilience in the face of societal pressures and differing opinions. I was trying to empower her to maintain her own beliefs, stick to her convictions—even when they went against what everyone else thought or expected of her. I made sure before they left to point out that there is no honor in valuing people’s opinions, individuality and right to autonomy.
RATING 4/7
Trait 6. ENCOURAGING A GROWTH MINDSET.
Did I encourage a growth mindset?
The criterion was
internalize the powerful truth that abilities aren't fixed
For me this is tied in with setting high expectations. “emphasizing that intelligence and abilities are not fixed, but can be developed through effort, persistence”. This was more an intention for me this week rather than an action. I do think it is the underlying basis for what we do as teachers and for what is done continuously. If I had to use an example from this week, I would say that in the process of doing oral work in whole class activities and giving students individual and personalized feedback, I was able to show students how much they had grown and improved in their work. When I first started with my current classes, many of the students did not want to share their ideas publicly with the class (I also reasoned out later what was niggling at me- was the fact that they did not raise their hands at all- they just spoke directly to the teacher and across each other). I had to reinforce that classroom management skill. Part of that behaviour was a holdover from online school it seems. In reviewing what we did for the term I was able to show students how they could all apply and tackle work using concepts that we had learnt during the term. How much they had grown in their critical thinking and inference skills. They complained incessantly about some inference questions I had given to them but after talking them through it and breaking down the questions they were able to work through it.
RATING 5/7
Trait 7. COLLABORATING WITH FAMILIES AND SUPPORT SYSTEMS
Did I collaborate with families and support systems?
The criteria was:
-Keeping families informed and looping them in to provide support
I was hesitant to contact families outside of scheduled parent meetings. But when I saw that there were students who had and were really working, I made an effort to call their parents to acknowledge how well their children were doing and progressing. I also called those who were not doing well—not just academically but behaviorally as well. I called because I needed their support in involvement and in correcting and reinforcing behaviour. The Deans supported in setting up some meetings so that interventions could take place before things got out of hand. I was pleased to see results as several parents were up to the task and provided support.
RATING 5/7
Moving forward, I remain committed to understanding and addressing the diverse needs of my students, fostering a supportive learning environment. I understand that it requires care and high standards but it’s worth it to ensure that we nurture students' ability to persevere through any academic challenge that comes their way.
Overall rating 5/7
Copyright © 2024 Lana. S
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