Fall Down 7 Times, Get Up 8

Teaching Kids to Succeed

In today's educational setting there seems to be a universal call for student engagement. The topic of student motivation is foremost in almost every attempt at educational reform. Recent research on the topics of motivation, self-efficacy, attribution theory, implicit personality theory, goal orientation, and resiliency has provided new insights about the malleability of mindsets in learners. Appropriate challenges and feedback seem to be the key factors in determining whether a student gives up or perseveres towards an objective. This book is written for teachers, parents, and other student advocates who want to help students become autonomous, enthusiastic lifelong learners. The purpose of this book is to inform adults about motivational theory, and more importantly, to give them concrete, applicable guidelines along with specific examples about what to say and what not to say to learners. The title, Fall Down 7 Times, Get Up 8, implies that failure in not only a possibility, it is a very concrete way of gaining ground. The author aims to change the conversation from today's. Failure is not an option. We can utilize what seems to be failure as the next logical step towards one's goals. Students need to be taught to view failure as a temporary glitch and a step towards success rather than as a permanent state of being. In layman's terms the author explains the research behind her ideas while offering down-to-earth, often humorous, real life examples.