After having a lecture on self-esteem, I had gone home and explained to my Mother about what had been discussed in the lecture. As she is a teacher she was very interested in having a discussion about this with me. She explained to me that she had been on course and was shown this video so I went away and watched it myself.
In the self-esteem lecture we were taught that it was alright to make mistakes in the classroom and explain to the children in the class that you had make a mistake. This emphasises to them that it’s okay to make mistakes in life in order to learn. If you show children that you yourself make mistakes then this will show them that everyone in life makes mistakes too and as long as you learn from them then it is okay to make them.
In the video Rita explains that she gave her class a test and that one child missed every single 18 questions out of a possible 20. When she marked this test she said that she put “2+ and a smiley face” on the paper. The child questioned this as they knew that they had failed the test quite badly but Rita then went on to explain that they were “on a roll.” This was a good way in order to praise the child for their effort and not for their achievement which I think is a good way in order for the child to want to better themselves and try harder the next time. This also can help boost their self-esteem and make them not think that because they didn’t achieve the best grade but they tried their hardest on something anyway.
Another way that I felt was a good way to boost the children’s self-esteem in her class was to tell them that she had the best class and that they were to show off to others that they were so good and should “strut” their stuff in the hallways. I feel that this is a good way in order to boost children’s self-esteem as they may not feel great about themselves but she is explaining to them that they are the best which would make them feel more positively about themselves.
Overall I think that Rita Pierson is an inspiration and this video was very interesting for me to watch.
Hi Alice, thank you for sharing this video! This woman is an inspiration to all of us and has so much to teach us about the kind of teachers we ought to be.
Thank you so much for linking the video; it was completely inspiring! We hear so many negative things about teachers feeling stressed etc but the joy that exudes from that woman just reminds me of the absolute privilege teachers have to connect and (as she says) have relationships with the children who need it the most.