The Importance of Developing Grit and Perseverance

As I sit her and think about 2 things I would like my students to learn and understand this year, grit and perseverance are the two things that come to mind.  These two nouns are similar in definition, but are still different.  These are 2 skills I want all my students to develop.

The definition of grit:  courage and resolve; strength of character.

The definition of perseverance:  steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.
After looking deeper at the definitions, you can't persevere without having grit. Grit gives you the resolve to pull up your big boy/girl pants and decide that you will succeed and accomplish what you set your mind to. When you do this, you have the ability to persevere.

This is what I want to get across to my middle schoolers. Many of my middle schoolers give up when things are difficult or requires them to try something uncomfortable. It doesn't matter if it is academic, personal, sports related, music, or art. Kids do not push themselves when things get tough. That is why we need to do a better job of developing and enhancing skills in grit and perseverance.

It is something that I am calling all educators to develop in our students. Build students' grit and perseverance. These will be the students who succeed in life, overcome obstacles, and problem solve.

The movie Mcfarland, USA is a HUGE metaphor of both of these words. It also encompasses more than just the runners and the sport of cross county, but also, the lives of the people (the pickers, the teachers, the parents, Jim White).

As the song in this movie talks about the runners working "juntos" (together in Spanish), grit and perseverance work juntos as well.  It is impossible to persevere without grit.

This is going to be my focus and theme for the year. We are starting the year by doing a beginning of the school year #oneword. Every student will write their word on an index card or stickie and I will hang them in the hall. I will model the idea by sharing what my 2 #oneword(s) are (I'm the teacher, so I can break the rules). Students are going to monitor their one word over the year to check their progress to make sure that they are where they want to be.

I will model this with my students daily. I will walk through the new things I want to do and accomplish this year as a counselor. I will also share with them the difficulties of my wife's battle with 2 different types of cancer (thyroid and neuroendocrine) and congestive heart failure. They will see that I am choosing to show my strength of character and will remain steadfast in progress towards accomplishing my goals.

To steal a play of word off of @sheehyrw (Ryan Sheehy) book BE THE ONE FOR KIDS
#betheone to develop grit and perseverance!