Increasing Student Confidence to Increase Overall and Lasting Success

1. Increasing Student Confidence to Increase Overall and Lasting Success Center for Teaching Excellence Faculty WorkshopMonday, April 14 at 2:00 p.m. Presented by Susan Houts Assistant Professor; EFSC

3. Agenda • Fear • Power

4. Agenda • Fear • Our fears • Their (our students’) fears • What fear FEELS like • Definition of fear • How fear interferes with success

5. Fear • What are you afraid of? • What makes you feel fear? • What makes us afraid? Consider: are these asking the same thing?

6. Fear: finding ours 5 minute Activity: In silence on a separate sheet, put in writing your fears as a….

7. Fear - Us Man/Woman: Parent: Child: Spouse/Partner: Citizen: Employee: Educator: Other roles?

8. Fold it up. Save for later.

9. On another sheet In ADDITION to all of those fears, what do our STUDENTS fear? 4 minute group discussion

10. Fear - THEM Math Student: English Student: Science Student: Prep Student: Research Paper Author: Dual enrolled Student: Adult Student: Un/Under Employed: Student with a Disability: Biology Student: First Generation Student: Recent High School Graduate: Non-Native English Speaker: Financial Aid Recipient: Failed 4 year College student: Returning student: Job Seeker: Rider of Public Transportation: Other Roles:

11. Fear:So What? On another sheet of paper: What does fear FEEL like? (2 minutes)Physiologically. Physically. Mentally.

12. Definition of Fear • A distressing emotion aroused by a by a perceived threat. • Basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or threat of danger. • Set of other innate emotions such as joy, sadness, anger. • Should be distinguished from related emotional state of anxiety, which typically occurs without any external threat. Princeton.edu

13. Full article • Fear is a distressing emotion aroused by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger. Some psychologists such as John B. Watson, Robert Plutchik, and Paul Ekman have suggested that fear belongs to a small set of basic or innate emotions. This set also includes such emotions as joy, sadness, and anger. Fear should be distinguished from the related emotional state of anxiety, which typically occurs without any external threat. Additionally, fear is related to the specific behaviors of escape and avoidance, whereas anxiety is the result of threats which are perceived to be uncontrollable or unavoidable.[1] Worth noting is that fear almost always relates to future events, such as worsening of a situation, or continuation of a situation that is unacceptable. Fear could also be an instant reaction to something presently happening.

14. Fear: More than “Fight or Flight” • Fight or Flight is initial, unspecific physiological response. • Followed by slower, more detailed psychological assessment of the situation. • Individual becomes conscious of feeling afraid. • Sensory stimulus is recognized as potentially dangerous; neurons from sensory organ sends signal directly to amygdala. • Amygdala stimulates discharge of hormone that secretes cortisol to create an increase of glucose production giving fuel to brain and muscles. www.serendip.brynmawr.edu

15. Fear: So what? Behavioral responses to fear:Escape and Avoidance.Also… anger, depression, over or unhealthy eating and drinking, the DVRing of reality tv shows, health problems, blame…. …none of these lead to success.

16. Group Discussion What do ESCAPE and AVOIDANCE look like in the classroom?

17. Group Discussion What do ESCAPE and AVOIDANCE look like in the classroom? Absences Not turning in work Not showing up to class Cell phone usage Disrespectful Behaviors

19. Fear What does FEAR keep us from doing in OUR lives?

20. Fear Adults do not do things they are not good at. Why not? Lack of confidence. No one wants to fail.If we like it, we’ll be good at it.

21. Personal Story: I’m afraid of ART?

22. Fear vs. MotivationIn the Classroom Students who are NOT GOOD at your discipline do not want to fail. Students who are NOT GOOD at your discipline may be afraid.

23. Susan’s Thesis: Therefore… Students who are NOT GOOD at your discipline are LESS LIKELY to succeed. Because they are AFRAID to further fail.

24. Wait… What? “So, Susan, Why don’t they just try harder?” Re-Open your List of Fears.Re-Open your list of what FEAR FEELS like. That’s why.

25. Before moving on… • I am not suggesting that you change your class structure, lesson plans, course policies, grading scale, teaching style, learning objectives, personalities, academic freedom choices, lecture style, assessments, assignments, room location, disciplines, objectives, expectations, requirements, activities, textbooks, online learning management, deadlines…… ….As I tell my students, “Excuses are a waste of time”

26. Greater Good: Berkley.edu • “How to help kids overcome fear of failure: According to the research on failure, students may need more than just grit to succeed.” December 5, 2013 http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_help_kids_overcome_fear_of_failure

27. Fear’s Impact • A fear of failure is directly linked to your self worth, or the belief that you are valuable as a person. • Students (and other humans!) will put themselves through unbelievable machinations in order to avoid failure and maintain the sense that they are worthy. Martin CovingtonUC Berkley Professor

28. Machination: Definition A scheming or crafty action or artful design intended to accomplish some usually evil end. Marriam-Websterm-w.com

29. “The Games we Play to Avoid Failure” • Covington’s years of research found that one way people protect their self-worth is by believing they are competent and making others believe it as well. • Hence, the ability to achieve—and the quality of performance that reveals that ability—is critical to maintaining self-worth. • This is particularly true in competitive situations such as school and, later, the workplace.

30. In a nutshell, failingto performmeans that one is not able and, therefore, not worthy.

31. Result: • If a person doesn’t believe he or she has the ability to succeed—or if repeated failures diminish that belief—then that person will begin, consciously or not, to engage in practices or makeexcuses in order to preserve his or her self-worth both in his or her own eyes and in the eyes of others.The more intense the effort behind the failure, the more important the excuses or defense mechanisms become. http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_help_kids_overcome_fear_of_failure

32. Discussion: The more intense the effort behind the failure, the more important the excuses or defense mechanisms become. How does this manifest itself in the classroom?

33. 4 Categories of Students • Success Oriented Students • Overstrivers • Failure Avoiding • Failure Accepting http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_help_kids_overcome_fear_of_failure

34. Let’s Talk Power

35. I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. Nelson Mandela

37. Courage is being scared to death… and saddling up anyway. John Wayne

38. Power So to give our students courage to TRY HARD in YOUR discipline, they must feel courageous as PEOPLE. Let’s give them PERSONAL POWER.

39. The 3 Ps (and 7 Activities) of Building Confidence 1. Physiological = Body - Ted Talks: Power Posing (Amy Cuddy) 2. Psychological= Mind - Affirmation, Nametag 3. Physical = Action - Power Song, Coat of Arms, Practice!

40. I. Physiological Activity 1: Power Pose Ted Talks: Amy Cuddy “Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are” http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.html

41. Amy Cuddy: Ted Talk

42. I. Physiological: Your Turn to Power Pose – 2 minute activity • Choose a power pose. • Also a great energizer for the class!Mark McBride’s Story. “You may feel silly right now, but your hormones are making you powerful anyway!”

43. Group Discussion: Activity 1 • How can you use power posing in your classroom?

44. II. Psychological = BrainActivities 2 & 3 Nametags and Affirmation

45. Activity 2: Nametag Activity (5 minutes) • Your name is important! • Make a nametag for someone ELSE in your group. • Creates Team atmosphere: Speech Family; Coach vs. “Teacher”

46. II. PsychologicalActivity 3: Affirmation (10 minutes) Your Affirmation is a statement of traits you do not yet have and want to have - or that you have but want to have even more - stated as if you already have them: “I am a patient, wealthy and patient woman”…I’m really working on patience.

47. Power of Affirmations • Affirmations do indeed strengthen us by helping us believe in the potential of an action we desire to manifest. When we verballyaffirm our dreams and ambitions, we are instantly empowered with a deep sense of reassurance that our wishful words will become reality. • Affirmations are proven methods of self-improvement because of their ability to rewire our brains. Much like exercise, they raise the level of feel-good hormones and push our brains to form new clusters of "positive thought" neurons (http://www.arlenetaylor.org/brain-care/953-affirmation). • In the sequence of thought-speech-action, affirmations play an integral role by breaking patterns of negative thoughts, negative speech, and, in turn, negative actions. Dr. Carmen Harra HuffingtonPost.com

48. Affirmation Activity Step 1: As a classroom team, create list of positive traits to succeed in that class. • Math: • Speech: • Communication: • Science:

49. Example: Speech Traits • Confident • Organized • Poised • Humorous • Prepared • Powerful • Persuasive • Credible • Calm • Informed • Knowledgeable • Personable

50. Affirmation Activity Step 2:Write Personal Affirmation • Examples for your classroom: • I am a ____,_____ and _____ Math Student • I am a ____, _____ and _____ College Student • I am a ____,_____ and ______ Writer • I am a ____,_____ and ______ Man/Woman.