Persistence is the ability to stick to a task especially when the going gets tough. It is being able to hang in there and keep going when a task becomes challenging, never giving up and keeping on going.
Do your students say often say, “It’s too hard,” so they don’t have to think any further? Do they crumple up their paper and say, “I can’t do this” meaning so I don’t have to do this? These show lack of persistence.
Give your students a repertoire of problem solving strategies. Invite students to make a plan before solving a problem and if plan A does not work use plan B, C, D or E.
Teach your students to find at least 3 ways to solve a problem so they have a back up if one strategy doesn’t work. The more ways you have to solve a problem the more likely you are to keep going.
As a teacher you may hear yourself saying, “who has another way to solve this?” or “What’s another way?” Develop a bank of different strategies and ways to approach a task.
Allow children to be proud of and display their draft work along side the finished piece of work to show the development and persistence that has taken place. A fantastic book which shows the persistence of an author is
Dr Seuss’s ‘Hooray For Diffendoofer Day.’ It shows Dr Seuss’s workings and changes as well as his developing thought processes in his writing of the book.
A great activity to introduce persistence is to teach you students to juggle and it’s even better if you don’t know how. Find a book on juggling and all start together. You learning at the same time will show your persistence levels too. Great role modeling! As Margaret Carty says, “Be like the postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there.”
Use a simple sticker reward chart in the junior school to reward every time you catch someone keeping on going. It can simply say WE ARE PERSISTENT, with names ticked underneath. Persistence awards or ribbons may be given out at assembly.
Reflection writing or Journal writing can be given to students after a task, activity or day with questions such as; how did I show I’m persistent today? ‘When I’m persistent I...’ Parallels may be drawn between a character in a book and the student. For instance, after reading the Tortoise and the Hare, discussion may be about how the tortoise was persistent and how the student shows persistence in other settings, such as home.
Great books to illustrate persistence include:
Horton Hatches the Egg - Dr Seuss
Are You My Mother – PD Eastman
The Tortoise and the Hare – Aesop fable
Curious George - HA Rey
The Little Engine That Could – Walter Piper
The Little Ren Hen – Paul Galdon
Charlottes Web – EB White
How to Eat Fried Worms – Thomas Rockwell
The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
El Dorado – Llyod Alexander
Z for Zachariah – Robert O’Brien
Persistent people begin their success where others end in failure. Here are a few ideas to demonstrate this to students. Study people such as
Sir Edmund Hillary – 1st to climb to the top to Mt Everest, Sporting Heros, Para Olympians or Entrepreneurs. Meet with successful people in your community and have students ask questions about the tough times and how they kept going.
Art Costa says “teaching persistence is a matter of teaching strategy. Persistence does not just mean working to get it right. Persistence means knowing that getting stuck is a cue to ‘try something else.’”
**References:**
Art Costa and Bena Kallick: Discovering & Exploring the Habits Of Mind
Karen Boyes: Creating An Effective Learning Environment
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