Courage

posted Mar 30, 2016, 8:50 AM by Amy Wix  

In the July/August 2015 TENNIS magazine, there is an article written by Allen Fox, PH.D. titled “The Meaning of Courage.”  The introductory quote, “Persevering when everything is falling apart takes guts- and is the mark of a true champion” caught my attention.  Perseverance, persevering, etc.  have become the new buzz words in education. Our Advisory program dedicates a whole month to the character trait.   The author gives an example of a high level teen choking during a match.   He blamed the choking and subsequent loss of the match on the player’s lack of courage.  Fox states that “Choking is a normal phenomenon-  everybody does it, even Roger Federer and Serena Williams. The difference is how players recover from it.”  He goes on to say, “Courageous players accept their failures without wincing, whining or feeling sorry for themselves.  They are prepared to make rational adjustments as needed and move on with a positive attitude. They realize that choking is part of  the game, you must accept it quickly, without drama, and keep chugging along.” I just needed a reason to include a picture of Roger! How does this apply to my classroom?  I often have parents coming to  me talking about their student having “test anxiety” and struggling with math.   I’ve changed to a standards based grading system and allowed students to  retake assessments on any concept they don’t score well on.  I would think this would alleviate the “test anxiety” stress caused by taking tests.  What I  see is similar to what Fox said- only instead of the “choking” we can replace it with “failing” and how students recover from it. I see lots of wincing, whining  and feeling sorry for themselves when they have made a mistake.  I don’t  see a lot of the accepting it quickly and chugging along.   About 20% of the  students make the rational adjustments (work more, and reassess) and move on with a positive attitude.  How do we teach courage? I’m interested in how others deal with teaching perseverance in the math  classroom.  What strategies have worked for you?