Taking Responsible Risks
Taking a responsible risk is a trait that can lead to self-growth. I chose this mindset because if one struggles to take responsible risks, one can become stagnant. To promote academic, social and emotional growth I chose to explore this habit and mindset with my students.
Table of Contents
1. Explicit Teaching
2. Student Affirmation
3. Video Reflections
4. Daily Log and Reflection
5. Charlie Chaplin- Self Love
6. Other Strategies
7. Conclusion
Explicit Teaching
Teaching this lesson was a surprise because I was worried that my students would struggle with the concept of taking a responsible risk. With thorough planning and great instruction, my students were able to understand what responsible risk-taking means. I incorporated two unique stories, Moana and Scaredy Squirrel, to engage my students and a reflection activity. Located below is my lesson plan.
Since I taught this lesson late in the year, I had to choose a book that was engaging. The book, Scaredy Squirel, was perfect because it was not rigorous to read. The theme was easy for them to relate and understand.
In addition, we created a T-Chart that defines taking a responsible risk. The students used this T-Chart throughout other lessons to refer to the correct language to use and what responsible risk-taking should look like. To reinforce what risk-taking is, I created a presentation that defines all of the habits and mindsets. Students used this presentation to make their own notes. Below is the presentation I created for this lesson.
Students learned additional information about Taking Responsible Risks with this presentation.
I provided a video to help with the understanding of the habit. The video is about an adult that tries to cook for an entire week rather than going out to eat. This was a responsible risk because learning how to cook is a great and healthy asset.
Below are artifacts from the lesson.
Above there's a T-Chart we completed as a class. This T-Chart was used as a reminder to motivate students to take responsible risks. In addition, this gave the students visual and auditory examples of healthy risk-taking.
Student Affirmation
My students recite a student affirmation poem every day before we start the day. This poem is unique to our classroom because it prepares our students for the day and helps them prepare to take responsible risks. I reiterate daily to apply the words of the affirmation to their lives so that they can become responsible risk takers. Below are two of my students reciting the poem.
In addition, I asked students to reflect on the student affirmation and tell me how the poem has the theme of taking responsible risks. Below are examples of that reflection.
Moreover, the student affirmation is one of the most important rituals of the day. The affirmation prepares our students for learning and for growth. With this poem, they know that they have another opportunity to take responsible risks.
Video Reflection
After I introduced this Habit and Mindset, I showed my students a short clip a week after explicit teaching. I want them to reflect on how the character in the video took a responsible risk. This is another way to engage my students and show examples of others taking responsible risks. Below is an example of the video and reflections after playing the video.
Daily Log and Reflection
After introducing the habit and mindset of taking responsible risks, I gave each student a daily log. With the log, students are to write if they took a responsible risk or not at the end of each day. Once they complete a log that covers an entire week, I want them to reflect on their actions throughout the week. It is only through repeated practice that responsible risk taking becomes a habit and tracking one's behavior on a daily basis can promote responsible risk taking according to Costa and Kallick (2008) "It is only through repeated experiences that risk-taking becomes educated. It often is a cross between intuition, drawing on past knowledge and a sense of meeting new challenges." Below are different artifacts from this activity.
Charlie Chaplin- Self Love
My students analyzed a Charlie Chaplin poem over four days. Chapman's poem is about self-love and I felt that this poem was necessary for my fifth graders to learn because of them approaching adolescents. During that time of year, my students argued so much with each other and broke down mentally a lot even before coming into my classroom. Loving oneself is a huge risk that most humans struggle with and loving oneself can allow you to take responsible risks. Students who have a lower self-esteem tend to perform lower in my class. Your view of yourself has the potential to affect your success in activities, at school, and in your relationships. It will influence whether or not you participate in class or contribute to a small group. It will determine whether you take the risks necessary to achieve your goals. Costa and Kallick (2008) speak on the importance of risk-taking as a child "When someone holds back from taking risks, he is confronted constantly with missed opportunities. Some students seem reluctant to take risks. Some students hold back games, new learning, and new friendships because their fear of failure is far greater than their experience of venture or adventure." I used this poem not only to push my students academically but to allow them to make their own self-love goal to become responsible risk takers. Below are artifacts from that activity.
Other Strategies
Costa and Kallick (2008) speak on negative mindsets when taking responsible risks "if you don’t try it, you will never know is trapped in fear and mistrust. They are more interested in knowing whether their answer is correct or not, rather than being challenged by the process of finding the answer." I have incorporated the opposite of this mindset in my language arts instructions. Most people can relate to the struggles of learning how to read, which is a responsible risk in itself, and I created various anchor charts on taking responsible risks that support with student learning and independent work. Below are examples of those charts and student work.
Conclusion
This experience of teaching my students about responsible risk-taking was unique. I personally enjoyed teaching my students about the habit of mind through the story of Moana. After reviewing their reflections on that lesson, I knew my students were ready to internalize responsible risk-taking. I also enjoyed teaching my students about self-love. Within that lesson, students understood that loving oneself is a responsible risk and it is a lifelong journey. Even though many did not enjoy the lesson because it made them uncomfortable, I know that being uncomfortable is a catalyst for growth. In addition, I enjoyed my student's reflection on the student affirmation. The affirmation itself prepares students to take responsible risks and they truly appreciate the poem.
Although there were great times teaching this mindset, I had some struggles. While introducing the mindset, students did not enjoy learning about Scaredy Squirrel because the book was too easy to understand. I should have known this because most of my students are used to completing work on or above grade level so I used the book on Scaredy Squirrel to focus on the theme rather than rigor. I know next time to challenge my students throughout the entire process of teaching a mindset. I also found it difficult to motivate my students to complete their daily log. In my opinion, this was difficult for them because they were not used to tracking their daily actions. I think once students get comfortable with tracking their behaviors, their motivation to do it will increase. Moreover, this experience was not only beneficial for me but most importantly my students. My students are now aware of their actions and can effectively decipher whether they are responsible or not.