Enrichment · Wellbeing

Talk a student toward
“I can try that.”

Confidence grows from small wins that someone notices. Choose a grade band and a theme, and get questions to ask one student or a small group, each with a short note for the adult on what to say and what to skip.

Make a confidence deckWhat you get

Deal a deck of confidence conversations

The worked example is made up: a grade 5 lunch group and a grade 11 one-on-one deck. Use initials or a code, not a student’s full name; the page keeps the cards and your notes, in this browser only.

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What you get

Enrichment · WellbeingFree

What you finish with
A deck of 6, 10 or 15 questions for one student or a small group, each with a line for the adult, used over a few short talks, with next steps noted and favorite cards starred.
Who it is for
Teachers, school counselors, advisory leads and parents of students in grades 3 to 12.
Format
Browser card generator with saved decks and a talk timer. Prints the cards to cut out or as a list; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Wellbeing space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Choose the grade band and one or two themes.
  2. Pick a calm moment: lunch, a walk, the car.
  3. Ask one card, and read the adult line before you respond.
  4. Agree on one small next step and note it.
  5. Come back to the starred cards in a week or two.

Make a confidence deck

What builds confidence, and what does not

Where confidence comes fromDoing itSmall wins,one step at atimeSeeing othersSomeone like memanaged itBeing toldSpecific praisefrom someonetrustedReading the bodyNerves asenergy,not proofWhere confidence comes fromDoing itSmall wins,one step at a timeSeeing othersSomeone like memanaged itBeing toldSpecific praisefrom someone trustedReading the bodyNerves as energy,not proof
Drawn for this page, after Bandura’s four sources of self-efficacy. Doing it yourself counts most.

Small wins count most

In self-efficacy research, the strongest source of confidence is succeeding at something a little hard. That is why the adult lines keep pointing to one small next step.

Mindset lessons are a small part

Two large analyses found that teaching a growth mindset has small effects on grades on average, larger for students who are struggling. A national study found it helped most where classmates and teachers backed the message. Use these cards as part of everyday support, not as a one-time lesson.

Praise the process

Specific praise for effort, strategy and asking for help gives students something to repeat. Calling them smart does not.

Sources

  1. Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychol. Rev., 84(2), 191 to 215. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.84.2.191
  2. Sisk, V. F., Burgoyne, A. P., Sun, J., Butler, J. L., & Macnamara, B. N. (2018). To what extent and under which circumstances are growth mind-sets important to academic achievement? Two meta-analyses. Psychological Science, 29(4), 549 to 571. doi:10.1177/0956797617739704
  3. Yeager, D. S., et al. (2019). A national experiment reveals where a growth mindset improves achievement. Nature, 573, 364 to 369. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1466-y
  4. Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The impact of enhancing students’ social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. Child Development, 82(1), 405 to 432. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x

Questions and adult lines were written for this page; the example decks are made up. These cards support everyday conversations; they are not counseling or an assessment of a student. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.