How do the words teachers hear from school leaders, instructional coaches and peers provide an uplift and motivation? Are there time that the words teachers hear create a subtle source of stress, confusion, or disengagement? Our language can be a vehicle through which expectations, emotions, and commitments are transmitted.  What we say—and just as importantly, […]

Words carry weight—especially in schools. Educators have countless research studies that exhibit the power of teachers’ language on students’ effort and learning outcomes. As an example, the research of Carol Dweck shows that students who hear “You worked really hard on this” instead of “You’re so smart” show significant improvement on subsequent tasks and are […]