Name:Date:Class:Classwork: Attitude Check

This is just a questionnaire, not a test you’re being graded on. It is designed to give you insights into your attitude, so it is crucial that you put down the response that best reflects what you truly think and feel, not what you think is the “right answer.”

Directions: Read each statement below. Write a 1 if you agree with the statement. Write a 0 if you disagree with it. Do not agonize over your decision, but do give each statement some thought before responding. Take a stand and answer every question.

___ 1. You are not naturally good at or even interested in learning, so you need to be told by a teacher what to learn and how to learn it.___ 2. You cannot be expected to learn on your own or from other students.___ 3. You learn in essentially the same way and at the same rate as every other student in your class.___ 4. Textbooks are the best resource from which to learn a subject.___ 5. Since you are not good at learning, subjects need to e simplified and broken down into a series of skills (tasks, units, objectives that are presented as drills or workbook exercises. You find such exercises especially rewarding.___6. Your teacher telling you something is the same thing as teaching it and you understand the material when you can repeat what the teacher has told you.___ 7. The more facts you can repeat, the more you understand.___ 8. You would not be interested in learning if you were not “motivated” with rewards like good grades and public praise, or with punishments like bad grades and public criticism.___ 9. You would not be interested in learning if you were not tested frequently.___ 10. Calling on you randomly in class and expecting an immediate response is a particularly effective teaching method.___ 11. Grade competition increases how much you learn and brings out the best in you and your classmates.___ 12. If you find, say, history boring, this is because the subject is dull rather than because of the way you are forced to learn it.___ 13. There is a certain amount of key cultural information that you and everyone else should know; if you do not learn this information by the time you graduate, you never will.___ 14. The important information that you need to know is on tests; if something is not on a test, it’s not important.___ 15. Teachers determine your grades on a consistent, objective basis.___ 16. Your grades on tests accurately reflect how well you understand the course subject matter; your grade point average is a good indicator of how much you have leaned in the past and how smart you are.___ 17. If you listen to what your teachers say and do what your teachers tell you to do, you will learn as much as you are capable of learning.___18. The faster you learn, the more intelligent you are.___ 19. Any learning that takes place in school is a result of your teacher’s teaching you; not learning is your fault.___20. If the way school is run causes you to become confused, discouraged, or rebellious in any way, something is wrong with you.

Count up the number of “1”s you have. The highest number you should have is 20

Total _________

Name:Date:Class:Classwork: Attitude Check

DIRECTIONS: Actively read the excerpt from What Smart Students Know and then reflect on your own attitude.

Interpreting your “score”If your grand total was a zero, congratulations – yours is the attitude of a smart student. Welcome to the club. But perhaps you haven’t thought of yourself as a smart student. Many potential smart students have the right attitude about school and the learning process, but they’ve been made to feel guilty about their beliefs.

If your grand total was a little high, take a look at some of the Smart Student Principles below. These are things that successful students believe, so put aside your doubts for a moment and see if you could believe them, too.

The Smart Student’s CredoAll smart students, consciously or unconsciously, share twelve beliefs or principles about school and the learning process. Study this list:

Principle 1 Nobody can teach you as well as you can teach yourself.

Principle 2 Merely listening to your teachers and completing their assignments is never enough.

Principle 5 Making mistakes (and occasionally appearing foolish is the price you pay for learning and improving.

Principle 6 The point of a question is to get you to think – not simply to answer it.

Principle 7 You’re in school to learn to think for yourself, not to repeat what your textbooks and teachers tell you.

Principle 9 Few things are as potentially difficult, frustrating, or frightening as genuine learning, yet nothing is so rewarding and empowering.

Principle 11 If you’re doing it for the grades or for the approval of others, you’re missing the satisfaction of the process and putting your self-esteem at the mercy of things outside your control.

Principle 12 School is a game, but it’s a very important game.

What do you think about these principles? Do you already believe in them? Do you want to?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________