Teaching Perseverance to Middle-School Students in Boston

In this Kappan article, Scott Seider (Boston University) describes three of the ways Roxbury Prep, a grade 5-8 charter school in Boston, drives home the importance of effective effort to its 300 students, constantly reminding them of the value of persisting despite difficulty, delay, or opposition:

• The Pi recitation contest – Each year, grade 6-8 students compete to see who can remember the most digits in π – winners remember well over 100 digits. The champ gets to “pie” the school’s principal in front of the entire school. Note:  SL 2.0 does not approve of this practice.  There must be other ways to reward students!

• Powerful Speaking Extravaganza – On the last day of school before the February vacation, students perform pieces of literature selected from the works of Shakespeare, Langston Hughes, Shel Silverstein, Maya Angelou, and others. They have practiced their passages in weekly advisory group meetings, focusing on accuracy, volume, eye contact, posture, expression, tone pacing, pauses, and emphasis, and are evaluated and given feedback by community members. “How many of you are nervous?” asks an eighth-grade emcee of the assembled student body at the beginning of the event, and every hand shoots into the air. “It’s really good we’re here then,” she says, “to overcome that fear. Today’s event is not about speaking perfectly but about trying your best and getting better. Congratulations to everyone for being willing to try.” 

• Interview prep – Every winter, eighth graders prepare for interviews at selective magnet and private schools to which they will apply. In advisory meetings, students discuss appropriate dress, questions to expect, and questions they will ask, and then they engage in mock interviews and watch themselves on video. 

These and other activities, says Seider, lead Roxbury Prep students “to see themselves as perseverant, self-disciplined individuals capable of putting in the sustained and deliberate practice necessary to accomplish their goals.” That kind of self-concept will be crucial to success in high school, college, and careers.

“Effort Determines Success at Roxbury Prep” by Scott Seider in Phi Delta Kappan, October 2013 (Vol. 95. #2, p. 28-32), www.kappanmagazine.org; Seider is at seider@bu.edu. 

From the Marshall Memo #508