Just Education Blog

☺☺ Did you have an opportunity to listen to  Rita Pierson on You Tube in the last Blog?  This is not her only video, but it is one of my favorite.  Unfortunately, she died in 2013.  It was sad for me as I feel she had wisdom that she had not yet shared.  I encourage you to look up her other videos and watch them.  She was an inspiring woman who combined wisdom and humor.  You won't be disappointed. Remember, we are discussing building self-confidence in our students.  Albert Bandura referred to it as self-efficacy.   Rita said it so well when she asks, "Do you think you will like all your kids?  Of course not!!!! But they can never know it." Think about all the kids who say they "can't do it".   Think back to a time when you were unsure of yourself.  When you were afraid to try something new:  maybe tackle a project, take a test, enter a competition. Who inspired you with the confidence to move forward?...

Blog 2 May, 2018 One of the important considerations from the video we viewed, I believe, is the positive perception of self depicted in the video by each of the students. Did you think to yourself, “ These kids are so comfortable with their 'differences' and seemed to be able to advocate for themselves in positive and constructive ways?"  Albert Bandura (1999) believed that each person's perception of himself can have an effect on how well we learn, how successful we will be in life and how we interpret life events. He called this concept Self-Efficacy. Self-Efficacy can effect our ability to sustain effort and to achieve, our ability to confront difficult tasks and our reaction to constructive criticism as well as how we diffuse stress and interpret threats. When we are exposed to criticism and name calling on a regular basis, when we are discouraged from pursuing a challenge, and when our inquiries go unanswered, we develop a negative sense of se...