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I feel it coming.

Have you seen surfers catch big waves? They paddle out, wait and watch. Some waves pass by. Others crash over them. Sometimes the surfer gets up, punches through and rides it out. Other times they wipe out. It is fascinating that they get back up and go back out. They persevere. I wonder how I can do that.

I feel it coming, but I cannot predict how I’m going to handle it. It is different every time. Sometimes I cry. Sometimes I turn and fight an internal battle to stand my ground to punch through the wave. Sometimes I can ask for help, but not always.

I am afraid it won’t be perfect.

I am afraid I can’t do it.

I am afraid others will laugh at me.

I am afraid I’ll disappoint my parents.

I am afraid I’m not good enough.

I am afraid I won’t be accepted.

I am afraid I don’t belong.

I am afraid I am not enough.

I am afraid.

Labels make it easy to attribute student disengagement to a lack of ability or motivation, when disengagement often results from a lack of confidence. (Hassan and Lennard, 70 pag.)

The key to creating psychological safety, as Pentland and Edmondson emphasize, is to recognize how deeply obsessed our unconscious brains are with it. A mere hint of belonging is not enough; one or two signals are not enough. We are built to require lots of signaling, over and over. This is why a sense of belonging is easy to destroy and hard to build. (Coyle, 13 pag.)

How might we learn more about our learners? What actions are needed so that learners know they are psychologically safe?

What conditions must be set so that more learners punch through and rides out the wave?