May 9, 2023 • 27 mins
When a majority of students are willing and equipped to pursue goals with tenacity and attempt to solve problems without prodding and redirection, it frees the teacher up to focus on student who require more intervention. Mentally tough students have that ability. In this episode of #TMBS, I share 3 more tips to help develop mentally tough students.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
All right, welcome to another editionof the Marvin Bird Show. I'm your
host, my name is Marvin.Here we believe that teachers are leaders,
and we strive to do all wecan to equip teachers with skills and information
that they can use in order tohelp lead their students to success. That's
what we're all about here. Webelieve that teachers are leaders, teachers or
(00:23):
leaders. So you caught us ina series where we were talking about how
to develop mentally tough students. Howto develop mentally tough students. Our definition
that we're using is from Mental ToughnessInc. Dot com. I love this.
(00:43):
It says mental toughness is the abilityto resist, manage, and overcome
doubts, worries, concerns, andcircumstances that prevent you from succeeding. And
last episode I talked about how it'sjust really interesting that just everything that we
(01:04):
talk about here, when we talkabout leadership, it all goes back to
the mind. It all goes backto work that we have to do within
our students as it relates to theirthinking, because out of the thinking come
your thoughts. Mental toughness. That'ssimply put, we want to develop resilient
(01:33):
learners. Resilient learners because math isnot easy for some students. You know,
science is not easy for every student. Social studies is not easy.
There's going to be some resistance forevery student because life is filled with resistance.
(01:56):
Life is filled with resistance. Overon the Vision Chaser's YouTube channel,
I tell young people that success isabout the having the ability to set goals
and manage and overcome resistance on theway to accomplishing those goals. That's what
(02:19):
success is about. So school isthe perfect training ground for people to learn
how to set and accomplish goals whiledealing with resistance along the way. And
I also talked about how it's notideal. It's not ideal that for some
(02:44):
students that will enter your classroom,you're going to have to do more work
in this area in terms of gettinghelping them get their mind right, helping
them to set their mind appropriately sothat they're willing to sit down and do
the things that you're asking them todo in your classroom. As just the
(03:05):
way it is. But I'm gladthat you're here because I purpose to give
you information and skills and experiments thatyou can try to help those those students
who're you've been putting a lot ofthought into You've been putting a lot of
energy into your concerned about what's goingto happen to those students. I'm here
(03:28):
to help and I'm glad that you'rehere. So I said that I was
going to give you five things thatyou can do to help to develop mentally
tough students. The last episode,I gave you two of those. First
one is you have to have toshow them the why, or at least
give them something that satisfies that appetiteto one to know why why am I
doing this? Why am I doingthis? And then the second thing I
(03:52):
gave you was I told I gaveyou the fact that it's in the habits.
It's in the habits. And thenas it relates to habits, I
gave you the idea of stacking habitsfrom James Clear in his research stacking habits.
So I put it in terms ofsomeone who is going who wants to
(04:16):
they want to do a better job, they want to lose weight. Well,
step one, you need to justget up, get up one hour
early on Mondays. Just do that. Do that simple thing for two weeks
straight. Okay, Now we've madethat a habit. That's easy. Okay,
I'm getting up an hour early onMondays. That's good. Now let's
stack another habit on top of that. Now you're getting up early. Now
(04:40):
put on some workout clothes. That'sit. Just get up early and put
on some workout clothes. Let's stack. So we stack that habit, and
then you go on from there,going a light walk, get your heart
rate up. We can do thatsame thing with students in the classroom because
I believe it's through faithfulness in thosehabits that's where we get motivation. That's
(05:02):
where we achieve a higher level ofmotivation with our students. Again, we're
trying to put our students on cruisecontrol by helping them set their mind,
set their mind in the appropriate waythat they should set their minds so that
they can acquire knowledge and apply knowledgein the classroom. All right, So
let's get onto some new stuff.After I share with you Marvinbird dot com.
(05:28):
Marvinbird dot com, that's where youcan go to check out my blog.
Those blog posts. Let those blogposts be your daily or weekly or
bi weekly if you will. That'syour personal professional development. Those blog posts,
they'll take you maybe at most fiveto seven minutes to get through,
(05:51):
depending on which one you go through. I intentionally wrote them in a way
so that you can get through themquick, quick, quick. And many
of them they have simple bullet points, so if you can go straight to
the bullet points and get the informationthat you need so that you can be
on your way to attack the restof your day. So I encourage you
(06:11):
check that out. That's Marvinbird dotcom. Marvinbird dot com. All right,
number three. When we talk abouthow to develop mentally tough students,
mentally tough students, you want toencourage them to focus on only what you
can control. Focus on what youcan control. It's just it's really and
(06:35):
again we're talking about the mind.We're talking about the mind. These are
habits of the mind. Focus onwhat you can control. It's really interesting
that there is there seems to bejust a natural proclivity to when one comes
(06:55):
up on problems, or when thereis a problem, to admire the problem,
to just really look at the problemand just say, oh wow,
look at look how big this problemis. Look at these are the reasons
why this can't be done? Becauseof this problem. It's just so magnificent.
Well, that exercise can go onand on and on and on,
(07:18):
but it takes it takes a specialkind of thinking. It takes a leader.
It takes a leader to see itdifferently to snap out of that.
And yes, I think it's natural, it's it's it's human nature to just
really just like wow, look atthat problem. But ultimately we've got to
(07:39):
snap out of it. And asleaders, people who are in leadership,
I think everyone is a leader,by the way, but people who are
who have a formal role of leadership, like they cannot afford to stay in
that in that mode where they're justlooking at that problem and just thinking,
oh my gosh, because things haveto be done. Things have to be
(08:01):
done, decisions have to be made. And I tell students once again on
the vision Chase of YouTube channel,I tell young people that ever, we're
all leaders, we're all leaders.We may not be leading a team of
people, but at the very leastwe start by leading ourselves. We have
to lead ourselves first. And that'san angle. That's an angle that you
(08:24):
can take with your students. That'sa lesson that you can teach your students,
because again, your idea, whatyou want to do by leading them,
is you want to help them beable to set and accomplish goals while
also managing problems along the way.That's it. In each and every class,
(08:50):
students are encouraged to do that,And each and every class, students
have the opportunity to practice setting anaccomplishing goals while dealing with resistance, dealing
with problems along the way. Thatis a great thing. That's a great
thing. That's a great thing.So as you know, life is imperfect,
(09:18):
and you know I'm teaching this tomy kids. You know it's not
perfect, but you know we haveto respond ultimately to imperfect situations. We
have to do the best that wecan with the information that we have.
And I think it goes back towhen we talk about mental toughness. I
(09:39):
think the other word, the otherword that is appropriate is believe. You
have to believe in yourself. Youhave to believe in yourself, because if
you believe in yourself, then youcan just say, oh, let me,
let me stop admiring this problem.Because I believe in myself, I
believe in my abilities. I believewe can solve this problem. Because here's
(10:01):
what happens. Here's what happens whenwe admire the problem for too long,
Then excuses enter the picture. Excusesenter the picture, and then the real
danger is this, the real dangeris is that then comes entitlement, entitlement,
(10:26):
and here is here, here's whatI my definition of someone who's entitled.
They there at that point of entitlementwhen they believe that their excuses matter,
when they believe you're you're you're entitled, when you believe that your excuses
matter. Sure, there's a problem, but decisions need to be made,
(10:50):
decisions can be made. There areopportunities around the problem. Even though the
problem exists, there our opportunities.And that's the message that you, as
a teacher, you need to bepreaching to your students because this is not
only a skill that's going to helpthem in your class, but it's also
(11:13):
going to help them in life.This is a life skill, this is
a life lesson. Here we haveto respond to imperfect situations and we cannot
give into excuses because when we startto give into excuses, then that becomes
the habit of making excuses, andthen ultimately we start thinking, yeah,
(11:33):
you know what, that's a goodexcuse that I threw out there that should
count for something. No, wedon't want our students to do that.
So now what I want to wantto do also is I want to share
with you that I did a videoon my Vision Chaser's YouTube page and you'll
see the link to a pop upnow and I'll put a link for those
of you who subscribe to the newsletter, you'll get this as well. But
(11:56):
I did a link. I dida video about the problem solving process,
like a process steps one through fourthat you go through in order to solve
a problem. So that's an importantit's an important skill for students to have
to help them focus on what theycan control, because if they don't have
(12:18):
anything else, if they don't haveany other tools, then of course they're
going to just focus on the problemand all the reasons why they can't get
it done. So help them focuson what they control. And you know,
another thing, another thing that studentscan control is they can control whether
(12:39):
or not they choose to stay inthe comfort zone, whether or not they
choose to stay in the comfort zone. And we're talking about we're talking about
risks here, taking risks and doingdifferent things to face a problem head on
and and again This is a lifeskill. This, this is a skill.
(13:03):
This is experience that we want studentsto acquire while they're in school.
While they're in school, so thatby the time they leave the classroom,
they graduated, they've gone on tocollege, and they get a job.
They've they've got they've got so muchexperience. They know how to do this.
They know how to set their mindright, they know how to get
(13:24):
their mind off of things that theycannot control and focus on what they can
control, and they're okay operating outsidethe comfort zone to find a solution to
the problem because many times, manytimes that's where the solution to problems to
(13:46):
resistance. So that's where it's goingto be. It's going to be outside
the comfort zone. So it's important. It's important for students to always be
developing new habits so that they getdifferent perspectives and they're they're thinking differently and
they're able to acquire different tools sothat they so that they when they do
come up against a problem, they'vegot a number there's a number of solutions
(14:13):
going on in their mind. Oncethey get once they get their heads straight
and they start thinking right, they'vegot a number of solutions where they they
just don't even have time to thinkso much about the problem because their habits,
their habits are on points they knowand they understand that I may have
(14:33):
to get way outside my comfort zonein order to find my solution here and
just and when students spend more timeoutside that comfort zone and they find solutions
to their problems, out of thatcomes more learning and more confidence. And
that's a great thing because what happensthere and then is that's less time that
(14:56):
you have to you have to spendwith them to support them because they got
it. And that frees you upto go support other students in the classroom.
All right, So that's number three. Number four, teach them the
value of feedback. Teach them thevalue of feedback. And this is the
(15:16):
other thing too, And I'm I'mworking on I'm working on this with my
daughter. You know the value offeedback. And here's mine and here's a
saying that I have for feedback.Feedback gives us the opportunity to try again
with better information. Feedback gives usthe opportunity to try again with better information.
(15:37):
It doesn't necessarily take the sting awayfrom having to deal with the problem
or maybe you failed, doesn't takethat away. It happened, but it's
an opportunity to grow. It's anopportunity to do better the next time,
because out of feedback should come anatural hunger to try again. I got
(15:58):
better information. If we carefully applywhat we learned to the next attempt,
that's that's gonna be a good thing. And that speaks to number three again,
focusing on what you can control.You can control that, you can
control your next attempt. You cancontrol how you take in feedback. You
(16:19):
know, with my daughter, werecently went traveled to Springfield, Missouri for
a tournament. She's playing soccer clubsoccer, and I can't believe that we're
about that life now. I usedto think that it was crazy before we
had kids, to drive by soccerfields late Saturday night, early Sunday morning
(16:41):
and see them out there playing soccer. I used to say to myself,
I'm never doing that. That nevernot doing that. That's crazy. But
here I am. You know,my daughter, she likes she likes soccer
a lot, and so we supportmy baby girl. So Gianna, she
went down to this tournament and theythey they lost every game. They played
(17:02):
three games and lost every game andit was tough. They didn't score goal
and Gianna she had a goal.Her her goal was to score at least
one goal, and she didn't meetthat goal. She didn't meet that goal.
But what I what I told heris what the great John Maxwell says
is either you win or you learn. You win or you learn. And
(17:25):
Gianna she got. She improved alot during that time. Now playing those
three games in two days, thatwas really good for her because she got
that extra experience, the muscle memory. She played very well. I was
very proud of her, but shewas disappointed as she didn't score goal that
(17:48):
they lost those three games, andso she kind of had some tears at
the end of that last game.But she just she learned so much about
the game with her positioning, defensive, antis, patient, and she just
just learned the game. So thetime wasn't wasted. And it's yeah,
it's it's it's difficult, and Ibelieve it's human nature that you know,
(18:11):
we want what we want, youknow, you know, it's it's hard
to it's hard to embrace those smallwinds because that's that's not the ultimate thing
that you want. But those smallwinds just like when we were talking about
habits and stacking habits. I believethose small winds they lead to bigger winds.
Just like those small habits they leadto to to bigger and better results.
(18:37):
And we've got to we've got tosend that message to students as it
relates to feedback. Even though theydidn't do as well as they wanted to
on that test, let's go backand let's do those test corrections. What
were you thinking on questions to eightand twelve? What were what were you
(19:00):
thinking on those questions like were youcertain that you had it right? Or
what did you think? What didyou think the question was asking you to
do? Or or did did youdo you think you studied enough based on
the results here? Or you know, what adjustments do you think you could
(19:21):
have made in terms of in termsof how you spent your your time during
during your study hall hour? Thosethings. I really get it again going
back to thinking and how our studentsare setting their mind, because if their
(19:41):
mind is set correctly, it'll bea little bit easier for them to see
the value in these small winds,to embrace feedback and the fact that hey,
this is I have another opportunity totry again with better information. All
right, So that's four. Nowbefore I give you number five, I
(20:04):
want to encourage you to check outmarvenbird dot com. And on marvenbird dot
com, there's a tab at thetop that says support the message. Support
the message. Now when you clickon that tab, what you're going to
see is that you're going to seea number of ways that you can support,
help partner with us to support thismessage that teachers or leaders. Now,
(20:26):
many of you are doing this already, and I appreciate you. But
the one thing that I want tohighlight that's on that page is our Amazon
link. And if you click thatAmazon link, it'll take you directly to
Amazon. You'll have all rights andprivileges to buy anything and everything that is
on Amazon. But when you usethat link that's on my website, what
(20:48):
that does is whenever you buy something, we get a small commission and that
goes a long way to help meto continue to do research in and put
out content for you to once againhelp lead your students to success. So
I appreciate those of you who aredoing that, and if you're considering doing
that, i'd like to ask youtoo, yes, please please do follow
(21:11):
through with that thought and partner withus to spread this message. All right,
So number five, Number five,I like this, This is I'm
just gonna give you. I'm gonnagive you a power phrase that we use
at our church and my family isChampions do Extra. Champions do Extra.
(21:32):
And again, all of this isabout how you set your mind, the
thoughts that you have, the habitsthat you embrace. Champions do Extra.
And it's just that simple. It'sjust that simple because the words you say
in your class they matter. Thewords that you embrace matter, and the
words I would say also, thewords that you repeat. What you repeat
(21:56):
matters if they can finish your sentI do this a lot with my kids,
and I love it because it showsthat they've been paying attention and I've
been consistent with my habits. Championsdo Extra. Numerous times throughout my teaching
career, I had students, youknow, I would share with students,
Hey, this is what it takesto be successful. This is what this
(22:18):
is what Sally did over there inorder to earn the good grade that she
got. And I would have studentssay, well, that's that's doing too
much, you extra, doctor bird. It's like, no, no,
no, no, no, Championsdo extra. Champions do extra. It's
just that's that's what it takes.And again, you know, we admire
(22:41):
athletes, successful athletes when they talkabout everything they did off the field of
play, off the court, offthe ice, whatever it is, all
the things that they did that helpedthem to be successful when when the lights
were on and everyone was watching them. Because champions do extra. Champions do
(23:07):
the most. They do more thanit is than is required, because they
understand that eventually they are going tobe pushed to their limit. They're going
to be pushed to their breaking point. And what do I mean by that
in terms of us everyday people,us non athletes. I mean, we're
gonna we're gonna come up with toresistance. We're going resistance is going to
(23:32):
meet all of us on the wayto accomplishing a goal. But as champions,
as champions in life, we haveto understand this and so we have
to prepare ourselves. This points allthe way back to habits. This points
back to habits. How we think, focusing on what we can control,
(23:55):
valuing feedback. It's just amazing howall of this goes together, perickly,
it goes together perfectly. So whatI would say, what I would say
for this one when we talk aboutchampions do extra, is I want you
to embrace power phrases in your class. Adopt let's start start with start with
three. Start with three power phrasesin your class to help students. And
(24:19):
when they come up against that resistance, when they come up against that problem,
they just know what's gonna come outof your mouth next if they if
they bring it to you after theymade a half attempt to deal with the
problem, or if they start makingexcuses. No, Champions do extra,
Champions do extra. I need youto just I need you to have a
(24:40):
take. Take a moment, Taketake I see that you're frustrated. I
want you to take take a coupleof minutes, take a couple of minutes,
and do a couple of deep breathingexercises. I get it, it's
frustrating, but I believe that youcan do this, and I need you
to believe in yourself as well.So I need you to take a couple
of deep breath and with every breathyou're you're pushing out that negativity, You're
(25:03):
pushing out the excuses. And thenI need you to I need you to
sit with this problem, and Ineed you to start from the very top,
start from the very beginning, andand and work and see if you
can problem solve this situation. Seeif you can see if you can figure
it out. While you're doing that, I'm gonna go I'm gonna be working
(25:25):
with Andrew over here, and Iam going to check on you in ten
minutes. Okay, I'll be I'llbe right there in ten minutes. But
I need you to I need youto do what you can do right now.
Just understand, I'll be with you. I'll be with you, but
I need you to get the negativeout and I need you to sit with
this and focus and problem solve onyour own. That's that's the way it
(25:48):
works. Give them that power phrase. And it's through that power phrase they
they know that, hey, youcare about them. They know that you
anticipated this very moment. They knowthat you knew this was going to happen.
And by doing what I just whatI just um, I just demonstrate
it that that gives them that confidencethat hey, they're not alone, You're
(26:15):
gonna You're gonna be right there withthem. But you need champions, do
extra. I need you to.I need you to do what you can
do while you're waiting on me.Don't just give up. Don't just give
up and turn off your mind untilI'm available again. No, champions,
do extra. I need you todo something. I need you to look
(26:36):
at this and be thinking about theproblem while you're stuck, because something may
kick loose and you may get iton your own. That's the way that
works. Well, that is it. Those are the five ways. Those
are the five ways you can helpyour students. Well, that's it.
(26:59):
Those are the five I have fivethings that you can do to help develop
mentally tough students in your classroom.I want you to I want you to
try those, and I want youto come back. Let me know in
the comments, let me know,let me know how they work. If
you've got something else that you doin your classroom with your students that works,
(27:19):
well, please come back and sharewith us in the comments as well.
We'd love to hear from you.Well again, I thank you so
much for being here spending time withme listening watching this episode of The Marvin
Bird Show. I really really appreciateyou. Please consider partnering with me here
to continue spreading this message. Anduntil we meet again. Please don't forget
(27:44):
that. Teachers or leaders
All right, welcome to another editionof the Marvin Bird Show. I'm your
host, my name is Marvin.Here we believe that teachers are leaders,
and we strive to do all wecan to equip teachers with skills and information
that they can use in order tohelp lead their students to success. That's
what we're all about here. Webelieve that teachers are leaders, teachers or
(00:23):
leaders. So you caught us ina series where we were talking about how
to develop mentally tough students. Howto develop mentally tough students. Our definition
that we're using is from Mental ToughnessInc. Dot com. I love this.
(00:43):
It says mental toughness is the abilityto resist, manage, and overcome
doubts, worries, concerns, andcircumstances that prevent you from succeeding. And
last episode I talked about how it'sjust really interesting that just everything that we
(01:04):
talk about here, when we talkabout leadership, it all goes back to
the mind. It all goes backto work that we have to do within
our students as it relates to theirthinking, because out of the thinking come
your thoughts. Mental toughness. That'ssimply put, we want to develop resilient
(01:33):
learners. Resilient learners because math isnot easy for some students. You know,
science is not easy for every student. Social studies is not easy.
There's going to be some resistance forevery student because life is filled with resistance.
(01:56):
Life is filled with resistance. Overon the Vision Chaser's YouTube channel,
I tell young people that success isabout the having the ability to set goals
and manage and overcome resistance on theway to accomplishing those goals. That's what
(02:19):
success is about. So school isthe perfect training ground for people to learn
how to set and accomplish goals whiledealing with resistance along the way. And
I also talked about how it's notideal. It's not ideal that for some
(02:44):
students that will enter your classroom,you're going to have to do more work
in this area in terms of gettinghelping them get their mind right, helping
them to set their mind appropriately sothat they're willing to sit down and do
the things that you're asking them todo in your classroom. As just the
(03:05):
way it is. But I'm gladthat you're here because I purpose to give
you information and skills and experiments thatyou can try to help those those students
who're you've been putting a lot ofthought into You've been putting a lot of
energy into your concerned about what's goingto happen to those students. I'm here
(03:28):
to help and I'm glad that you'rehere. So I said that I was
going to give you five things thatyou can do to help to develop mentally
tough students. The last episode,I gave you two of those. First
one is you have to have toshow them the why, or at least
give them something that satisfies that appetiteto one to know why why am I
doing this? Why am I doingthis? And then the second thing I
(03:52):
gave you was I told I gaveyou the fact that it's in the habits.
It's in the habits. And thenas it relates to habits, I
gave you the idea of stacking habitsfrom James Clear in his research stacking habits.
So I put it in terms ofsomeone who is going who wants to
(04:16):
they want to do a better job, they want to lose weight. Well,
step one, you need to justget up, get up one hour
early on Mondays. Just do that. Do that simple thing for two weeks
straight. Okay, Now we've madethat a habit. That's easy. Okay,
I'm getting up an hour early onMondays. That's good. Now let's
stack another habit on top of that. Now you're getting up early. Now
(04:40):
put on some workout clothes. That'sit. Just get up early and put
on some workout clothes. Let's stack. So we stack that habit, and
then you go on from there,going a light walk, get your heart
rate up. We can do thatsame thing with students in the classroom because
I believe it's through faithfulness in thosehabits that's where we get motivation. That's
(05:02):
where we achieve a higher level ofmotivation with our students. Again, we're
trying to put our students on cruisecontrol by helping them set their mind,
set their mind in the appropriate waythat they should set their minds so that
they can acquire knowledge and apply knowledgein the classroom. All right, So
let's get onto some new stuff.After I share with you Marvinbird dot com.
(05:28):
Marvinbird dot com, that's where youcan go to check out my blog.
Those blog posts. Let those blogposts be your daily or weekly or
bi weekly if you will. That'syour personal professional development. Those blog posts,
they'll take you maybe at most fiveto seven minutes to get through,
(05:51):
depending on which one you go through. I intentionally wrote them in a way
so that you can get through themquick, quick, quick. And many
of them they have simple bullet points, so if you can go straight to
the bullet points and get the informationthat you need so that you can be
on your way to attack the restof your day. So I encourage you
(06:11):
check that out. That's Marvinbird dotcom. Marvinbird dot com. All right,
number three. When we talk abouthow to develop mentally tough students,
mentally tough students, you want toencourage them to focus on only what you
can control. Focus on what youcan control. It's just it's really and
(06:35):
again we're talking about the mind.We're talking about the mind. These are
habits of the mind. Focus onwhat you can control. It's really interesting
that there is there seems to bejust a natural proclivity to when one comes
(06:55):
up on problems, or when thereis a problem, to admire the problem,
to just really look at the problemand just say, oh wow,
look at look how big this problemis. Look at these are the reasons
why this can't be done? Becauseof this problem. It's just so magnificent.
Well, that exercise can go onand on and on and on,
(07:18):
but it takes it takes a specialkind of thinking. It takes a leader.
It takes a leader to see itdifferently to snap out of that.
And yes, I think it's natural, it's it's it's human nature to just
really just like wow, look atthat problem. But ultimately we've got to
(07:39):
snap out of it. And asleaders, people who are in leadership,
I think everyone is a leader,by the way, but people who are
who have a formal role of leadership, like they cannot afford to stay in
that in that mode where they're justlooking at that problem and just thinking,
oh my gosh, because things haveto be done. Things have to be
(08:01):
done, decisions have to be made. And I tell students once again on
the vision Chase of YouTube channel,I tell young people that ever, we're
all leaders, we're all leaders.We may not be leading a team of
people, but at the very leastwe start by leading ourselves. We have
to lead ourselves first. And that'san angle. That's an angle that you
(08:24):
can take with your students. That'sa lesson that you can teach your students,
because again, your idea, whatyou want to do by leading them,
is you want to help them beable to set and accomplish goals while
also managing problems along the way.That's it. In each and every class,
(08:50):
students are encouraged to do that,And each and every class, students
have the opportunity to practice setting anaccomplishing goals while dealing with resistance, dealing
with problems along the way. Thatis a great thing. That's a great
thing. That's a great thing.So as you know, life is imperfect,
(09:18):
and you know I'm teaching this tomy kids. You know it's not
perfect, but you know we haveto respond ultimately to imperfect situations. We
have to do the best that wecan with the information that we have.
And I think it goes back towhen we talk about mental toughness. I
(09:39):
think the other word, the otherword that is appropriate is believe. You
have to believe in yourself. Youhave to believe in yourself, because if
you believe in yourself, then youcan just say, oh, let me,
let me stop admiring this problem.Because I believe in myself, I
believe in my abilities. I believewe can solve this problem. Because here's
(10:01):
what happens. Here's what happens whenwe admire the problem for too long,
Then excuses enter the picture. Excusesenter the picture, and then the real
danger is this, the real dangeris is that then comes entitlement, entitlement,
(10:26):
and here is here, here's whatI my definition of someone who's entitled.
They there at that point of entitlementwhen they believe that their excuses matter,
when they believe you're you're you're entitled, when you believe that your excuses
matter. Sure, there's a problem, but decisions need to be made,
(10:50):
decisions can be made. There areopportunities around the problem. Even though the
problem exists, there our opportunities.And that's the message that you, as
a teacher, you need to bepreaching to your students because this is not
only a skill that's going to helpthem in your class, but it's also
(11:13):
going to help them in life.This is a life skill, this is
a life lesson. Here we haveto respond to imperfect situations and we cannot
give into excuses because when we startto give into excuses, then that becomes
the habit of making excuses, andthen ultimately we start thinking, yeah,
(11:33):
you know what, that's a goodexcuse that I threw out there that should
count for something. No, wedon't want our students to do that.
So now what I want to wantto do also is I want to share
with you that I did a videoon my Vision Chaser's YouTube page and you'll
see the link to a pop upnow and I'll put a link for those
of you who subscribe to the newsletter, you'll get this as well. But
(11:56):
I did a link. I dida video about the problem solving process,
like a process steps one through fourthat you go through in order to solve
a problem. So that's an importantit's an important skill for students to have
to help them focus on what theycan control, because if they don't have
(12:18):
anything else, if they don't haveany other tools, then of course they're
going to just focus on the problemand all the reasons why they can't get
it done. So help them focuson what they control. And you know,
another thing, another thing that studentscan control is they can control whether
(12:39):
or not they choose to stay inthe comfort zone, whether or not they
choose to stay in the comfort zone. And we're talking about we're talking about
risks here, taking risks and doingdifferent things to face a problem head on
and and again This is a lifeskill. This, this is a skill.
(13:03):
This is experience that we want studentsto acquire while they're in school.
While they're in school, so thatby the time they leave the classroom,
they graduated, they've gone on tocollege, and they get a job.
They've they've got they've got so muchexperience. They know how to do this.
They know how to set their mindright, they know how to get
(13:24):
their mind off of things that theycannot control and focus on what they can
control, and they're okay operating outsidethe comfort zone to find a solution to
the problem because many times, manytimes that's where the solution to problems to
(13:46):
resistance. So that's where it's goingto be. It's going to be outside
the comfort zone. So it's important. It's important for students to always be
developing new habits so that they getdifferent perspectives and they're they're thinking differently and
they're able to acquire different tools sothat they so that they when they do
come up against a problem, they'vegot a number there's a number of solutions
(14:13):
going on in their mind. Oncethey get once they get their heads straight
and they start thinking right, they'vegot a number of solutions where they they
just don't even have time to thinkso much about the problem because their habits,
their habits are on points they knowand they understand that I may have
(14:33):
to get way outside my comfort zonein order to find my solution here and
just and when students spend more timeoutside that comfort zone and they find solutions
to their problems, out of thatcomes more learning and more confidence. And
that's a great thing because what happensthere and then is that's less time that
(14:56):
you have to you have to spendwith them to support them because they got
it. And that frees you upto go support other students in the classroom.
All right, So that's number three. Number four, teach them the
value of feedback. Teach them thevalue of feedback. And this is the
(15:16):
other thing too, And I'm I'mworking on I'm working on this with my
daughter. You know the value offeedback. And here's mine and here's a
saying that I have for feedback.Feedback gives us the opportunity to try again
with better information. Feedback gives usthe opportunity to try again with better information.
(15:37):
It doesn't necessarily take the sting awayfrom having to deal with the problem
or maybe you failed, doesn't takethat away. It happened, but it's
an opportunity to grow. It's anopportunity to do better the next time,
because out of feedback should come anatural hunger to try again. I got
(15:58):
better information. If we carefully applywhat we learned to the next attempt,
that's that's gonna be a good thing. And that speaks to number three again,
focusing on what you can control.You can control that, you can
control your next attempt. You cancontrol how you take in feedback. You
(16:19):
know, with my daughter, werecently went traveled to Springfield, Missouri for
a tournament. She's playing soccer clubsoccer, and I can't believe that we're
about that life now. I usedto think that it was crazy before we
had kids, to drive by soccerfields late Saturday night, early Sunday morning
(16:41):
and see them out there playing soccer. I used to say to myself,
I'm never doing that. That nevernot doing that. That's crazy. But
here I am. You know,my daughter, she likes she likes soccer
a lot, and so we supportmy baby girl. So Gianna, she
went down to this tournament and theythey they lost every game. They played
(17:02):
three games and lost every game andit was tough. They didn't score goal
and Gianna she had a goal.Her her goal was to score at least
one goal, and she didn't meetthat goal. She didn't meet that goal.
But what I what I told heris what the great John Maxwell says
is either you win or you learn. You win or you learn. And
(17:25):
Gianna she got. She improved alot during that time. Now playing those
three games in two days, thatwas really good for her because she got
that extra experience, the muscle memory. She played very well. I was
very proud of her, but shewas disappointed as she didn't score goal that
(17:48):
they lost those three games, andso she kind of had some tears at
the end of that last game.But she just she learned so much about
the game with her positioning, defensive, antis, patient, and she just
just learned the game. So thetime wasn't wasted. And it's yeah,
it's it's it's difficult, and Ibelieve it's human nature that you know,
(18:11):
we want what we want, youknow, you know, it's it's hard
to it's hard to embrace those smallwinds because that's that's not the ultimate thing
that you want. But those smallwinds just like when we were talking about
habits and stacking habits. I believethose small winds they lead to bigger winds.
Just like those small habits they leadto to to bigger and better results.
(18:37):
And we've got to we've got tosend that message to students as it
relates to feedback. Even though theydidn't do as well as they wanted to
on that test, let's go backand let's do those test corrections. What
were you thinking on questions to eightand twelve? What were what were you
(19:00):
thinking on those questions like were youcertain that you had it right? Or
what did you think? What didyou think the question was asking you to
do? Or or did did youdo you think you studied enough based on
the results here? Or you know, what adjustments do you think you could
(19:21):
have made in terms of in termsof how you spent your your time during
during your study hall hour? Thosethings. I really get it again going
back to thinking and how our studentsare setting their mind, because if their
(19:41):
mind is set correctly, it'll bea little bit easier for them to see
the value in these small winds,to embrace feedback and the fact that hey,
this is I have another opportunity totry again with better information. All
right, So that's four. Nowbefore I give you number five, I
(20:04):
want to encourage you to check outmarvenbird dot com. And on marvenbird dot
com, there's a tab at thetop that says support the message. Support
the message. Now when you clickon that tab, what you're going to
see is that you're going to seea number of ways that you can support,
help partner with us to support thismessage that teachers or leaders. Now,
(20:26):
many of you are doing this already, and I appreciate you. But
the one thing that I want tohighlight that's on that page is our Amazon
link. And if you click thatAmazon link, it'll take you directly to
Amazon. You'll have all rights andprivileges to buy anything and everything that is
on Amazon. But when you usethat link that's on my website, what
(20:48):
that does is whenever you buy something, we get a small commission and that
goes a long way to help meto continue to do research in and put
out content for you to once againhelp lead your students to success. So
I appreciate those of you who aredoing that, and if you're considering doing
that, i'd like to ask youtoo, yes, please please do follow
(21:11):
through with that thought and partner withus to spread this message. All right,
So number five, Number five,I like this, This is I'm
just gonna give you. I'm gonnagive you a power phrase that we use
at our church and my family isChampions do Extra. Champions do Extra.
(21:32):
And again, all of this isabout how you set your mind, the
thoughts that you have, the habitsthat you embrace. Champions do Extra.
And it's just that simple. It'sjust that simple because the words you say
in your class they matter. Thewords that you embrace matter, and the
words I would say also, thewords that you repeat. What you repeat
(21:56):
matters if they can finish your sentI do this a lot with my kids,
and I love it because it showsthat they've been paying attention and I've
been consistent with my habits. Championsdo Extra. Numerous times throughout my teaching
career, I had students, youknow, I would share with students,
Hey, this is what it takesto be successful. This is what this
(22:18):
is what Sally did over there inorder to earn the good grade that she
got. And I would have studentssay, well, that's that's doing too
much, you extra, doctor bird. It's like, no, no,
no, no, no, Championsdo extra. Champions do extra. It's
just that's that's what it takes.And again, you know, we admire
(22:41):
athletes, successful athletes when they talkabout everything they did off the field of
play, off the court, offthe ice, whatever it is, all
the things that they did that helpedthem to be successful when when the lights
were on and everyone was watching them. Because champions do extra. Champions do
(23:07):
the most. They do more thanit is than is required, because they
understand that eventually they are going tobe pushed to their limit. They're going
to be pushed to their breaking point. And what do I mean by that
in terms of us everyday people,us non athletes. I mean, we're
gonna we're gonna come up with toresistance. We're going resistance is going to
(23:32):
meet all of us on the wayto accomplishing a goal. But as champions,
as champions in life, we haveto understand this and so we have
to prepare ourselves. This points allthe way back to habits. This points
back to habits. How we think, focusing on what we can control,
(23:55):
valuing feedback. It's just amazing howall of this goes together, perickly,
it goes together perfectly. So whatI would say, what I would say
for this one when we talk aboutchampions do extra, is I want you
to embrace power phrases in your class. Adopt let's start start with start with
three. Start with three power phrasesin your class to help students. And
(24:19):
when they come up against that resistance, when they come up against that problem,
they just know what's gonna come outof your mouth next if they if
they bring it to you after theymade a half attempt to deal with the
problem, or if they start makingexcuses. No, Champions do extra,
Champions do extra. I need youto just I need you to have a
(24:40):
take. Take a moment, Taketake I see that you're frustrated. I
want you to take take a coupleof minutes, take a couple of minutes,
and do a couple of deep breathingexercises. I get it, it's
frustrating, but I believe that youcan do this, and I need you
to believe in yourself as well.So I need you to take a couple
of deep breath and with every breathyou're you're pushing out that negativity, You're
(25:03):
pushing out the excuses. And thenI need you to I need you to
sit with this problem, and Ineed you to start from the very top,
start from the very beginning, andand and work and see if you
can problem solve this situation. Seeif you can see if you can figure
it out. While you're doing that, I'm gonna go I'm gonna be working
(25:25):
with Andrew over here, and Iam going to check on you in ten
minutes. Okay, I'll be I'llbe right there in ten minutes. But
I need you to I need youto do what you can do right now.
Just understand, I'll be with you. I'll be with you, but
I need you to get the negativeout and I need you to sit with
this and focus and problem solve onyour own. That's that's the way it
(25:48):
works. Give them that power phrase. And it's through that power phrase they
they know that, hey, youcare about them. They know that you
anticipated this very moment. They knowthat you knew this was going to happen.
And by doing what I just whatI just um, I just demonstrate
it that that gives them that confidencethat hey, they're not alone, You're
(26:15):
gonna You're gonna be right there withthem. But you need champions, do
extra. I need you to.I need you to do what you can
do while you're waiting on me.Don't just give up. Don't just give
up and turn off your mind untilI'm available again. No, champions,
do extra. I need you todo something. I need you to look
(26:36):
at this and be thinking about theproblem while you're stuck, because something may
kick loose and you may get iton your own. That's the way that
works. Well, that is it. Those are the five ways. Those
are the five ways you can helpyour students. Well, that's it.
(26:59):
Those are the five I have fivethings that you can do to help develop
mentally tough students in your classroom.I want you to I want you to
try those, and I want youto come back. Let me know in
the comments, let me know,let me know how they work. If
you've got something else that you doin your classroom with your students that works,
(27:19):
well, please come back and sharewith us in the comments as well.
We'd love to hear from you.Well again, I thank you so
much for being here spending time withme listening watching this episode of The Marvin
Bird Show. I really really appreciateyou. Please consider partnering with me here
to continue spreading this message. Anduntil we meet again. Please don't forget
(27:44):
that. Teachers or leaders
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