Teachers need to work with school administrators to identify what it takes for students to be successful in the community.  Educators need to look beyond schooling and ask how they can best prepare students to deal not just with school, but with life.

In schools I have worked with in the past, we have borrowed extensively from the work of social psychologists and self-help gurus to develop Traits for Success: Organization, Attentiveness, Courage, Generosity, Persistence, Positive Attitude, Flexibility, Independence, Collaboration, and Responsibility.  The terms are not intended to exclusively represent what every student needs to be successful, but it does represent aspirational areas that any student can focus on to develop a positive skill.

Teachers need to get beyond the notion that Traits for Success cannot be taught or graded.  Students need to understand what Persistence looks like, what Flexibility means and how it can lead an individual to success, why Generosity is a critical element of what we want our children to achieve.  Teachers can discuss which traits to choose, but if they let go of the notion that Traits for Success must be finite, they will recognize that the list of traits is always evolving.

On Organization

Academic teachers can look to PE teachers for how they have graded for PE class.  In my experience, most PE teachers have understood that the student who gets an A is not necessarily the top athlete.  In fact, those who are gifted on the athletic field, often find it easy to succeed athletically purely based on their skill.  They often need to learn skills like Organization (bringing the right equipment to practice); Positive Attitude (putting out your best effort even with those who do not have the same level of ability), and Flexibility (dealing positively with a day when badminton is played rather than touch football).

Students need to understand the importance of Organization in their lives.  This is not to make every child fastidious, but rather, to help students understand that Organization is the first, easiest place to look when you are struggling at something.  In first grade, if a child does not have a pencil at the start of the day, that child will not be able to experience success.   If a fifth grader spends ten minutes before class trying to find his notebook, the child will lose important instructional time.   If the high school student arrives at school late every Tuesday, her academic grades will suffer.  Teachers at every grade level should be factoring the importance of being “ready to learn” at the start of class. This means thinking hard about many of the activities that strong students and effective adults take for granted.

Effective teachers factor Organization expectations into their grading systems.  Effective schools grade Organization skills- not for the purpose of labeling a student as “Organized” or “Not Organized”, but rather for the recognition that Organization is a lifelong skill that will help students who seek success.

We welcome you to the conversation.  Please let us know that you care by liking comments, forwarding posts, or joining in our dialogue at johnzurn.com.

Coming Next Wednesday- How to Grade for Attentiveness

From our first posting:

“As parents and teachers, we need to reclaim our traditional role as influencers of our children – not by shouting louder than the influencers our children discover online, but by stressing ideas that are more important than fancy shoes and snappy TikTok tunes. We need to emphasize traits that everyone agrees children will honor.  We need to convince our children that the people who are most important to them have a better understanding of what it takes to be successful in life.”

John Zurn began his educational career teaching fourth, fifth, and sixth grade children in K through 8^th grade independent school settings.   He went on to serve as Head of School for three independent schools over a twenty-eight year period.   John has written a book on a comprehensive school-wide character education program which was published in 2022 and updated in 2024.  He is currently working on a book directed towards teaching Traits for Success to students in grades 4 through 8.

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