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St. Peter: How We Celebrate Grit

by | Nov 18, 2020 | Grit, Umbrella Schools

This blog post is written by one of our Umbrella Educators, Meaghan Crowe from St. Peter Catholic Elementary School. Read to know how they celebrate Grit!

At the beginning of each month, we hold a virtual assembly to introduce the new Umbrella Skill. We show a video to demonstrate what the skill looks like and end with an activity for students to complete in their classes. For Grit, students will be asked to make a goal they would like to achieve each week. They will then brainstorm the steps that are required to achieve their goal.

At St. Peter, we have a bulletin board featuring The Umbrella Project in the front foyer. On it are pictures of each of the staff members and the monthly skill. Beside each staff member’s picture is a small umbrella. Each month the staff writes something reflective of the skill that is personal to them. For Grit, each staff member will write one goal that they wish to achieve.

Each month teachers receive a Links and Resources document that compiles each of the video links in the monthly lesson plans provided by The Umbrella Project. As included are all of the suggested readings along with links to YouTube videos of read alouds on each book. Finally, there are relevant quotes included in the document for teachers to use as conversation starters with students.

We also provide daily tweets linked to the St. Peter Twitter account that provides families with information about Grit, links to videos and read alouds, tips for teaching Grit, and inspirational quotes.

From there, teachers take on the job of applying the skill to daily learning and reinforcing its use throughout the month!

If you want to share how your school is running The Umbrella Project in your school, contact me!

Build Grit with Deliberate Practice

Build Grit with Deliberate Practice

by | Nov 29, 2018 | Grit

Download your PDF copy of today’s infographic by clicking HERE.

Practice is a big part of building grit. In order to work towards goals, we need to get really good at practice. Practicing well is not simply doing the same thing over and over again. When we practice this way, we often miss the opportunities for improvement and instead reinforce small mistakes that become habit.

Instead of this mindless practice, teach your children to be deliberate with their learning. When your child is practicing something, help them follow this 4 step process:

    1. Break down the challenge into smaller pieces.
    2. Identify a spot of weakness.
    3. Try different strategies to improve that part.
    4. Integrate the new learning back into the big picture.

This has multiple effects on your child, including making their weaknesses feel more manageable and preventing them from getting stuck when they face challenges.

Many children feel the need to hide and cover up weaknesses instead of accepting them as a normal part of growth and learning. Perfection isn’t normal. We all have things that come more easily to us and areas that take more time, effort and thought. Through deliberate practice, we can help our children feel more empowered in their learning journey.

Does your child’s community have grit?

Does your child’s community have grit?

by | Nov 14, 2018 | Grit

Research has shown us that the grit of a classroom as a whole is more predictive of future literacy achievement than the grit of the individual.

Big take away – We need a gritty team around us to help us succeed!!

Take a few minutes to think about the people your child is surrounded with. Do they have opportunities to be part of a team, class or group that is motivated to help each other persevere and work towards goals? Is there a way to help build this sense of grit in their communities?

As parents, it’s easy to get focused on our own children’s wellbeing. Do not forget how much the wellbeing of their peers influences their success too.

Share this post to start building grit as a team!

Download your PDF copy of this infographic by clicking HERE.