Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results

    This author starts out by talking about how tough and grueling her old music teacher used to be. She then states that an abundance of his old students from all corners of the country came to his funeral because they had respected him so, and they even played a concert in his memorial. She also states that most of them had gone on to become musicians, lawyers, and doctors. The author begins to say that the US expects us to be ahead of every other country in academics but we're pretty far behind and it is scaring us. She says it is because teachers are not being tough enough because they will be criticized and students will not want to learn, so they are being soft and almost babying their students. The author states many sources that disagrees with this statement. She lists eight practices that teachers should start implementing in their classrooms across the US to get good results. These eight tips are: 1. A little pain is good for you. 2. Drill, baby, drill. 3. Failure is an option. 4. Strict is better than nice. 5. Creativity can be learned. 6. Grit trumps talent. 7. Praise makes you weak.....8...while stress makes you strong. There were studies to prove each of these practices were effective in students learning, being more confident, more self-motivated, resilient and handling every day stress better, just to name a few.
    I can really attest to pretty much all of the statements made by this author because I have experienced almost every situation mentioned. I remember my softball coach and gymnastics coach growing up being so hard on me and I would get so upset about it but still I was one of the hardest working kids they coached, and it paid off. I never realized why they were so hard on me until after the fact, and it was because they saw my potential and to get me to the point they wanted, they were very strict. That is just one example that I remember very fondly, but I really agree with this author on every aspect. I also coach cheerleading now, and I have tried to be nice and kids will not take you seriously if you are. I have to be strict, yet rewarding, to get the results that I want out of my students. I think the same goes into a classroom. To get the results you want, you have to push your kids to it and make them try.