The Power of Identity
I recently heard a story about a young Teach For America volunteer who was assigned to a classroom of first graders, many who were already behind in typical first grade level skills. Early on she gave these children a sense of identity, and daily referred to them as "scholars". She promised that they would be behaving like 3rd graders by the end of the year. And- long story short- they were, both academically and behaviorally. This teacher believes that their success was largely due to who they had become under this collective identity as "scholars".
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