Our students are stars – many just don’t know it yet. Together, we can create a school culture where more students live kindly, learn daily, and lead meaningfully in school and beyond.

By Ryan Keliher

The Potential Opportunity

Our schools are filled with potential. We know that. 

Students, however, too often view school as an obligation instead of an opportunity, which limits their motivation to acquire knowledge or skills and to demonstrate their learning. What if, moving forward, we could intentionally create an environment where students are more self-motivated, self-aware, and self-confident learners?

In four steps, we can turn students into superstars! 

The Process

1. Develop more leaders in every class.
2. Foster a ‘Superstar Mindset’ within students
3. Emphasize ‘CHOPS’ when setting direction
4. Implement more student-directed opportunities

1. Develop More Leaders in Every Class

Take leadership off its pedestal

Most people do not consider themselves leaders in the traditional sense. Because of the way society glorifies leadership, the notion of becoming a leader often becomes something that is destined for a select group of other people, not us. 

Simplify Leadership

The following definitions simplify the notion that we are all leaders, that leadership is an act and not a title, and that effective leadership is never set in stone – it is transformational and situational. The choices we make matter and affect our environments. Self-awareness and reflection help us to evaluate the effectiveness of our leadership. 

Leadership: Acting on the genuine belief that you can generate positive reactions for others and/or yourself.

Effective Leadership: The degree to which your actions generate positive reactions for others and/or yourself. 

Discuss Leadership

Explicitly discussing acts of leadership and leadership opportunities with students can help them realize that their actions have the power to create positive reactions for themselves and others. They are leaders, both in their own lives and in the lives of others. 

The more that students recognize and believe in their ability to create positive reactions, the more opportunities they will seize, and the more they will lead. 

Celebrate Leadership

When we see actions create positive reactions, celebrate those efforts both individually and collectively. 

2. Foster a ‘Superstar Mindset’ within Students

What is a Superstar Mindset?

A Superstar Mindset is a genuine desire to develop and contribute.

The concept of growth mindset is wildly popular in education. Growth mindset is a belief that one’s abilities and intelligence can be developed and improved over time through effort, perseverance, and learning. This concept, developed by psychologist Carol Dweck, contrasts with a fixed mindset, which is the belief that abilities are innate and cannot be changed. Individuals with a growth mindset are more likely to embrace challenges, persist in the face of setbacks, see effort as a path to mastery, and learn from criticism. By promoting a growth mindset, schools aim to help students see challenges as opportunities for growth, rather than obstacles to be avoided. This can lead to improved academic performance, as well as increased motivation and self-confidence.

A Superstar mindset builds upon Dr. Carol Dweck’s growth mindset theory by taking a further step to consider the contribution effect of a person’s beliefs and actions. 

With a superstar mindset, there is not only a belief that purposeful actions can improve skills and knowledge over time, but also an extended belief that those actions can generate a positive impact on individuals, groups, situations, and environments.  With a superstar mindset, students can develop not only skills, but high standards, positive relationships, self-awareness, opportunities, confidence, perspective, empathy, habits, gratitude, reputations, moments, and the list goes on.

Students with a superstar mindset become increasingly purposeful in how they approach school and increasingly prepared for life beyond school. Students embracing a superstar mindset will cultivate qualities that hold them in high demand and even higher regard. They will sharpen their skill sets and brighten each room they enter. They will create more moments in their lives where they live kindly, learn daily, and lead meaningfully. The more of these moments they create, the more fulfilled their lives become, both now and in the future. 

3. Emphasize ‘CHOPS’ when Setting Direction with Students

What is CHOPS?

CHOPS is a performance planning and evaluative framework. Its name is an acronym that stands for Character, Habits, Opportunities, Priorities, and Skills. The framework is useful for daily or long-term planning and evaluation. It is useful for self-assessment or external assessment. Here is how it works:

Plan/Goal/Outcome:	Create and Deliver a Class Presentation	April 5, 2024
CHOPS Framework	Core Elements of High Performance	Notes/Eval:
Character	Calmness CourageResponsibility
Habits	Thinking and communicating with Clarity and precisionPersistingStriving for accuracy
Opportunities (for growth, contribution, and support)	Step out of my comfort zoneHelp others learn course contentSeek advice from teacher/peers
Priorities	Preparation (over procrastination) Visuals (over text when possible)Confidence (over memorization)
Skills	Communication skillsVisual-design skillsTime-management skills

The CHOPS framework acknowledges the importance of skill development while emphasizing other crucial elements of high performance and goal execution that are sometimes overlooked. These elements are major predictors of longstanding success. By prioritizing the aspects listed in the framework over skills, there’s a much better chance that the skills will improve as well. 

4. Implement More Student-directed Learning Opportunities 

What are examples?

• Project-based Learning
• Self-reflection
• Group work
• Co-constructed Success Criteria
• Student choice

What about assessment?

• Provide more advice than feedback
• More formative than summative
• Assess product, observations, and conversations
• Include self-assessment
• Focus more on distance covered than peak performance

What else works?

• Connect the present to future
• Embrace discomfort
• Balance your communication
• Include self-assessment
• Frame challenges as opportunities 
• Anchor charts, word walls, quotes

The more we can get students to understand that the process of learning is as much about themselves as it is about the outcomes, the more we can engage them in learning. By focusing mainly on the outcome, like an exemplar, the process can become undervalued. When trying to reach the pinnacle, often times we need to rethink our process, back track, utilize supports, and re-strategize. Focusing on the personal character, habits, opportunities, and priorities required to demonstrate learning will help ensure the skills demonstrated are representative of our students’ best work.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for leading.