Billy looked at me and said, “I’m seeing this now.”
He was a mild-mannered young man who had not excelled in school but wanted to prepare well for an assessment.
He had gone several weeks without any apparent progress before this moment of recognition came: It appeared that, in viewing a presentation of one concept, Billy suddenly saw a pattern among all the maths concepts he’d been working on.
In his soft-spoken way, Billy was letting me know that something had changed for him.
A few weeks later, Billy took his assessment, and his maths score was in the top 10 percent of test-takers.
The score was unexpected, clearly at a higher level than Billy’s past work in math.
Yes, it appeared to be a big gain. But it was truly the accumulation of tiny gains made over the weeks he practiced!
Billy had demonstrated the importance of OBSERVING AND CELEBRATING SMALL GAINS.
Students at all skill levels are often held back by the idea that they’re supposed to be smart and just “get it.” Everyone benefits greatly from the habit of noticing and encouraging small gains. This thinking habit keeps students “in the game” when they might otherwise become discouraged and disengaged. It can make their practice constructive and joyful.
