Perse....what?

Perse….what?
When I was in sixth grade, I was tasked with giving the valedictorian speech as a representative from my classroom. I had no idea what was expected of me. And did I mention that I dislike very much speaking in front of people? Not being one to shy away from a challenge, I sought out help from my stepmother, who was a teacher and was eager to help me! During the speechwriting process, this was the first time I had heard the word persevere.
per·se·vere /pərsəˈvir/ verb continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no prospect of success.
	There are many synonyms for the word persevere: persist, continue, carry on, go on, keep on, keep going, struggle on, hammer away, be persistent, be determined, see/follow something through, keep at it, press on/ahead, not take no for an answer, be tenacious, stand one's ground, stand fast/firm, hold on, go the distance, stay the course, plod on, stop at nothing, etc...
“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.” – Randy Pausch
Students need to learn and know the meaning of perseverance at a young age; it is a great element of success.
	I use a particular science lesson to teach my kindergarten students the concept of perseverance. Students were tasked with making a clay boat float. I would model.  I would tell them it was hard.  I would teach the word.  Then we would use that word over and over while students were molding and testing their boats. I could hear them using the word throughout their frustrations.  In the end, only a handful of students would actually get their boats to float.  This year, I stumbled upon a different way to introduce the concept of perseverance and the students were even more hooked on learning this word (credit to Little Minds at Work blog)!  It involves a present… here is a link to the actual lesson I did with my students this year: We have a banner that hangs up in our classroom from our lesson so we always remember! Happy and Positive Teaching! Erin Grebel