When reading about the importance of creating supportive relationships as a strategy for helping struggling readers, I was reminded of our class discussion of “the gremlin” (after listening to the Radiolab piece on the “Obama Effect”). The gremlin is that voice inside us that speaks loudly when we are challenged, telling us that we aren’t good enough or smart enough. The gremlin believes that we will fail and its voice is so distracting that we actually end up failing, proving the gremlin right and making it stronger. But the gremlin is wrong – and once we learn to talk back to it, to quiet or silence it, we can free ourselves from its damaging effects. For students who struggle with reading, the voice of the gremlin is loud. It may be so loud and have gone unchallenged for so long that they have given up. As teachers, the first thing we can do to help struggling readers is to help them recognize that the gremlin actually exists. The gremlin may have had control for so long that the students can’t separate it from their own voice. Recognizing the gremlin as something that can be changed is the first step. Next, we can teach students to talk back to the gremlin. This involves two things. First, we must be a counter-voice to the gremlin, telling students that we believe in their ability to learn and succeed. We have to approach our students with a growth mindset and be understanding of where they are coming from. As D&Z say, students need to know that “they’re in a safe place where they won’t suffer further hurt if they don’t succeed on the first attempt.” Next, we must set students up to succeed by using strategies like those mentioned by D&Z in this chapter an others.
Jenna!
ReplyDeleteI love the gremlin pic! I agree that we must be the counter voice of the gremlin. When students are told they can achieve something they may actually begin to believe and replace the gremlin voice in their head with our voices of positivity and encouragement. This gremlin is something I have witnessed during my observations at NPHS where kids simply say "I can't finish the paper I'm bad at writing." I've also heard, "I'm just gonna get a bad grade anyway." It's sad to see kids who really do have potential give up on themselves. They do not receive the counter-gremlin-voice at home so it is one of our responsibilities to be that voice for them.
I definitely agree with having positive relationships with the students being necessary. It is also really important that they know that they can make mistakes. How do you think you will create these relationships, and how will you create an atmosphere where they feel comfortable making mistakes (besides have a good relationship with them)?
ReplyDeleteJenna!
ReplyDeleteBuilding good relationships with your students feels like its been burned into my memory. So when I was thinking about what to comment about I really didn't feel like just repeating that notion. I came up with this, obviously we are going to have some kids who will not like us, do you think a adversarial relationship can be used as well? For example, my best friend teacher a small class of students with behavioral issues at a high school. These students cannot stand being in school. So for an assignment my friend gave them the assignment of pretending they had just overthrown the high school and had to write a new constitution of how they think the school should operate.
Hi Jenna,
ReplyDeleteYou brought up an excellent point that I hadn't thought of. I don't think that D&Z mention it either and that is to acknowledge the gremlin. So much of the "Obama effect" is about positive language. Yet by acknowledging the gremlin, in part, we are acknowledging a students respective faults. Not to sound too cliche, but only through acknowledging those faults can a student move forward, become more self aware, and ultimately eliminate the negative talking gremlin.
Hi Jenna,
ReplyDeleteYour points are great. Creating a safe learning environment is really key to getting students who are engaged in learning. We've all had teachers who are unable to create a space to make mistakes, and I think acknowledging that we all make them but can still move forward is really important to the learning process.