212 Degree Attitude

It's that time of year again - back to school.  Some teachers have already started back; others will be starting over the next few weeks.  Regardless of what grade you teach, every teacher wants their students to do their best and be successful.  They want them to push through the challenges and come out on the other side with that "light bulb" moment where their learning makes sense and they feel that sense of achievement.


A few years ago, my principal shared a video clip with us during our professional development before school started call 212:  The Extra Degree.  I teach middle school and many of my students each year just want their work DONE - they don't care about the quality or even if they learned anything.  I started showing this video clip to them and found that a few of these "It's good enough; I'm done" students started to take another look at their work . . . and some other things too.  You might want to use it in your classroom too.  It's a great discussion starter and something you can refer back to as you have those "moments" where students aren't wanting to make an effort.