Chapter 4: Creating a Culture of Success

This chapter focused on what a teacher can do to establish the classroom as a place where students feel successful. The pressures from family and peers that a teacher can try to downplay in the classroom can have a huge effect on the likelihood that a student feels able to succeed. The list of things not to do was helpful for me. Obviously, not favoring students is a no-brainer, as is comparing students to other students, but I imagine that when frustrated, having faith and believing in students is easier said than done. One thing that startled me in the chapter was the teacher handout for teachers to categorize students into “usual grade” categories. This idea seemed terrible to me. I think students should be judged by the work they do, and the very existence of this list seems to prejudice teachers.