There is quite a bit of recent research pointing to the idea that psychological interventions in learning environments can have a great impact on achievement. Eric Jensen summarizes some of this evidence in his article Your Students’ Number One Life Skill.  While the idea of social emotional learning is complex, there are some easy ways to implement these ideas in the classroom and they can have an enormous impact on student success.

1. Rethink grading and feedback! Implement grading and feedback systems that focus on growth, expect initial failures and reward effort and perseverance.  While grading is one of the most difficult aspects of a classroom to change because of its tie to the larger system, there are sometimes small things that can be done within our current system that can change how students think about their grades or maybe the extent to which they think about them in your classroom. While each classroom will have its own limitations, attempt to stretch your current system in small ways to incorporate some of these ideas.  Is there a way to reward growth made by students? Is there a way to encourage growth in your grading or feedback system? Would you be willing to allow students to revise a writing piece as many times as they want, giving them their best grade instead of an average?  Could you be flexible with grades if a student is engaging in some sort of intervention? Would you be willing to allow retakes of tests or quizzes in order to refocus on the importance of learning the material? Consider self assessment options.  Would you consider eliminating practices that don’t focus on growth? The character report card used by KIPP in New York City really got me thinking about grading. Is there a way something like this could be incorporated into your system.

Make it clear that mistakes are a natural part of learning and not an indication of intelligence.  Grades aren’t going away and are especially problematic at the high school level. I am a proponent of doing away with them altogether; I am also realistic.  But consider your current practices and challenge yourself to make changes that won’t impact the larger system whenever possible.

2. Focus on classroom management! Implement classroom management practices, routines and procedures, that focus on growth mindset and 21st century skills.  Use routines and procedures that allow students to self-regulate, become more independent and make choices about their own learning.  For example, during a class discussion, you may want to put a procedure in place that students get a certain number of tickets and once those are gone, they cannot add to the discussion until everyone else has participated.  When students are working in groups, implement a routine about asking group members first or implement a rule like “ask 3 before me”.  We have been using classroom Dojo to track behaviors during group work and also during book discussions.  The behaviors are based on the Common Core standards and the program allows us to collect valuable data.  This data can be shared with students and parents as well.  Collecting data and using it to help students improve behaviors that impact achievement can be a useful strategy.

Implement a system that acknowledges behaviors like persistence, self-control or curiosity. A bulletin board or area of the classroom can be used for this.  You can reward behaviors that help create a culture of collaboration and growth.  Maybe you already have a reward or privilege system in your classroom and you could simply tweak or add specific behaviors like persistence.  Identify productivity behaviors and acknowledge, give feedback or grade those behaviors during classwork or group work.

I want to acknowledge that some classroom management strategies rely on extrinsic rewards.  While this is not an ideal situation, consider that sometimes students need to experience success with behaviors before they will exhibit them independently.  I am a proponent of balance. If we are not manipulating students to behave but rather providing opportunities to practice intelligent behaviors then they can in fact become more intelligent and ultimately more intrinsically motivated.  Be clear with students that they may not receive recognition every single time they exhibit a behavior so they don’t come to expect it; instead look for patterns of behavior that can be acknowledged.  And be careful to focus on behaviors that will have lasting effects, focusing on growth and 21st century skills such as collaboration.

3. Be careful what you say! Focus on the unintended messages you are giving to students.  The words we choose can have a great impact on student achievement.  Check out this video by Carol Dweck.  Consider giving feedback on effort rather than attributing success to being smart.  I really appreciate Alfie Kohn’s article Five Reasons to Stop Saying “Good Job”.  He identifies three possible alternatives to praise including asking questions, saying simply what you saw or just saying nothing at all! Be specific; let students know what makes something “good”. Consider asking them how they feel about their accomplishment instead of telling them how they feel about it.  Being thoughtful about what you say and the message it sends can have an immediate and also a lasting impact on student achievement.

4. Don’t swoop in right away!  There is definitely not agreement on this one.  Check out this recent report from Vermont Public Radio to hear more about it.  It seems to me that there is enough evidence that swooping in to help students too quickly can’t possibly help them be more independent, while getting to a point of frustration can also be unproductive; there can be a balance.  Try asking questions to help kids get to the next level on their own.  Resist the urge to give students the answer just because they ask for it.  Hold students accountable for asking group members or classmates for help before they ask you.  When students are independent, solve difficult problems on their own or help each other without needing you, process what they did that helped them experience that success.  Check out this video about the unintended messages we sometimes send.

None of these strategies are brand new or especially innovative but I don’t think that there is an understanding of just how dramatic the impact can be on student achievement when these small interventions are used.  A focus on academic intervention has taken a front seat to this much more efficient strategy of intervening with the social emotional aspects of learning.  Also, consider using Mike McRaith’s blog as an amazing resource for materials on this topic.