Perseverance is a tough thing to learn. I think because it is something you simply have to practice, and be aware that you are practicing. My colleague introduced me to something called the Daily Five . It is a program that gets kids to practice academic perseverance. It is based on reading and writing, but there is a mathematical version of it. What I love about having students participate in this, is that the goal isn't necessarily to be quiet for a long time, but to actually stay focused. I tell them that when I was a student I used to plead and beg with my mom to watch TV while I did homework. When I didn't get it done she would quarantine me to the dining room, close the door from the TV, and low and behold, I got stuff done. I am still learning the how to persevere in my own work (even after being out of my parents house for over a decade). I tell students that we need to be honest with ourselves. For me I need to be honest that I cannot get any meaningful amount of assessment done if I do not set a timer, and say, "I am going to focus on this for an extended amount of time." When I do that I get herculean results of perseverance. So in class we talk about strategies for this. We track our efforts to see if we are improving. They love trying to beat themselves, but we talk about how the graph, even though it shows ups and downs, it is a general growth occurring. This is what growth mindset is all about, seeing the improvement, setting strategies for growth, and celebrating the climb.
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