ETHOS ⢠FALL 2021
out forcing them to reflect, without making them feel guilty for NOT meeting expectations? Since we were discussing the end of the Mycenaean civilization and the Trojan War, the answer came from the ClassicsâŚ..it was Homer and Ulysses who would give me the solution! I asked students to write an essay about their Ithaca, their destination...They were provided with the following prompt: Ulysses had a goal; to return to Ithaca. On the journey back to Ithaca, there were a lot of temptations; there were times when he succumbed (he gave in) to those temptations, and other times when he resisted, but in the end he reached his goal. What is your goal / are your goals for the end of the year? (Where are your pebbles and your note? Find them âŚ.)
How Can Self-Reflection Help Students Develop A Growth Mindset? by Venie Gaki, ESL/EFL Faculty
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he first year of the pandemic was a challenging year; both teachers and students had to switch to virtual school overnight! And we did it and we pulled through! The second year was more difficult, though...despite the fact that we ALL knew what to do and how to deal with it or what to expect, it proved to be an exhausting year, mainly for students. At some point they had lost their orientationâŚ. When we first came to class in September, I gave each of my students two pebbles; one pebble represented their personal goal, and the other one their academic goal. They wrote their goals down on paper and kept them with those two pebbles somewhere safe. They were advised to try and reach for those two pebbles when they felt they were digressing from their goals... It was at the beginning of February when many of my students started to feel disoriented, distracted and tired; it seemed as if they had lost hope and purpose. They were there, for every online class, but not fully presentâŚ.from the other end of the screen, I could sense a feeling of emptiness. Some of my students were feeling desolate; they could not retain simple instructions or information mentioned in the previous lesson. They were doing things in a transactional manner, with no purpose, lifelesslyâŚ.But how could I ask a Social Studies class to deeply contemplate and change their mindset implicitly and seamlessly, with-
Are there any temptations that you feel might drift you away from your goal(s)? Which are these temptations? What can you do to remain faithful to your goals? Write about 200 words. Start with the following topic sentence: âUlysses had a goal; to return to Ithaca. My goal, my Ithaca is to.....by the end of this yearâŚ.â (continue) I received 17 essays and they were all so honestly, so frankly writtenâŚ.Most of the studentsâ academic goal was to excel as students or try and do the best they could to improve their skills in English. Their personal goal was to make more friends, as this was a group of students who were new to ACS and had not had the time to become close to their classmates. The most interesting finding was that all of the students admitted that it was very difficult for them to stay focused during class because they felt distracted from all the tabs they had on. Games, Instagram, Youtube videos, Tik-Tok, a pot-pouri of social media tools and applications were their âSirensâ, their âLaestrygoniansâ and their âCyclopsâ.... Gaming and funny videos were very tempting to abstain from, singing a song that was so alluring, that they would not care about what the teacher was saying regarding the end of the Bronze Age, the cells in science or mathematical equations âŚ. The pile of work they had to do since they had not met many of the deadlines was their Cyclops and the guilt they had for failing to be consistent was their Laestygonians. And then, it was the âangry Poseidonâ they had to confront, the frustrated parent and the disappointed teacherâŚ..Paying attention to class, staying productive and motivated, keeping up with assignments were the biggest challenges students had to deal with. However, they all knew what they had to do; they all suggested a daily plan that would help them with time management and everyday obligations.
