Day Three of the 2015 Foundations for Student Success English Summer Institute included Christine Helfers, English Faculty, presenting on “grit” (as in True Grit) as a key factor in student success, in and out of college.

Grit is another word for passion and perseverance for achieving long term goals, such as obtaining a college degree or a becoming a master in a chosen profession.

Grit is about stamina and resilience – seeing goals and life as a marathon rather than a sprint. It’s holding onto a vision of what’s possible and working hard to achieve it, day in and day out, for as long as it takes. This is a critical ingredient that students need to succeed in college.

Christine suggested resources and activities instructors could use to introduce this concept to students and help them begin to build their grit. 

Helice Agria, Instructional Technologist at MCC’s CTL, facilitated both a beginners and advanced program on Canvas. For beginners, she presented “Canvas in Ten Steps,” which included the Getting Started Module for establishing a Canvas course.

For the more advanced users, she took them through “Best Kept Canvas Secrets,” which included using scheduler, discussion boards, media tools, and badges.