When they struggle despite strong effort:

• OK, so you didn't do as well as you wanted to. Let's look at this as an opportunity to learn.

• What did you do to prepare for this? Is there anything you could do to prepare differently next time?

• You are not there/here yet.

• When you think you can't do it, remind yourself that you can't do it yet.

• I expect you to make some mistakes. It is the kinds of mistakes that you make along the way that tell me how to support you.

• Mistakes are welcome here!

• You might be struggling, but you are making progress. I can see your growth (in these places).

• Look at how much progress you made on this. Do you remember how much more challenging this was (yesterday/last week/last year)?

• Of course it's tough — school is here to makes our brains stronger!

• If it were easy, you wouldn't be learning anything!

• You can do it — it's tough, but you can; let's break it down into steps.

• Let's stop here and return tomorrow with a fresher brain.

• I admire your persistence and I appreciate your hard work. It will pay off.

When they struggle and need help with strategies

• Let's think about how to improve (the accuracy of) this section/paragraph/sentence/word choice/logic/description/problem/calculation. 

• Let me add new information to help you solve this....

• Here are some strategies to figure this out.

• Describe your process for completing this task.

• Let's do one together, out loud.

• Let's practice (skill) so we can move it from our short-term to our long-term memory.

• Just try - we can always fix mistakes once I see where you are getting held up.

• Let me explain in another way with different words.

• What parts were difficult for you? Let's look at them.

• Let's ask for advice—s/he may be able to explain/suggest some ideas/recommend some strategies.

• Let's write a plan for practicing and/or learning.

• If you make changes, we can reassess your score. Let's discuss a plan for you.

When they are making progress

• Hey that's a tough problem/task/concept that been working on for a while. What strategies are you using?

• I can see a difference in this work compared to_____. You have really grown (in these areas)

• I see you using your strategies/tools/notes/etc. Keep it up!

• Hey! You were working on this for a while and you didn't quit!

• Your hard work is clearly evident in your process/project/essay/assignment.

When they succeed with strong effort

• I am so proud of the effort put forth to/in/with

• I am very proud of you for not giving up, and look what you have to show for it!

• Congratulations — you really used great strategies for studying, managing your time (behavior, etc.).

• I want you to remember for a moment how challenging this was when you began.

• Look at how far you have come!

• All that hard work and effort paid off!

• The next time you have a challenge like this, what will you do?

• What choices did you make that you think contributed to your success?

• It's exciting to see the difference in your work now when compare it to your earlier work.

• I can see you really enjoyed learning_.

When they succeed easily without effort

• It's great that you have that down. Now we need to find something a bit more challenging so you can grow.

• It looks like your skills weren't really challenged by this assignment. Sorry for wasting your time!

• I don't want you to be bored because you're not challenging yourself.

• We need to raise the bar for you now.

• You're ready for something more difficult.

• What skill would you like to work on next?

• What topic would you like to learn more about next?

For Communicating a Learning Goal

• New material is an opportunity to stretch!

• Today's learning objective will give everyone an opportunity to stretch.

• Today, your brain will get stronger. I am hoping that you all do not know this already; I wouldn't want to waste your time.

• I really want us to stretch our comfort zone on this!

• After you do this, I'm going to ask everyone to share one mistake so we can learn from it.

• I'd like everyone to share one thing that is really confusing with their partner.

• The point of the lesson is learning; we want to know what parts are unclear so we can all meet our learning target.

• Today's target for learning is…By tomorrow our goal is.

• I do not expect you to know this already. I am here to help you learn challenging material.

• Today, I want you to challenge yourself. Stretch to learn this challenging material.

• This is very dense reading/challenging material. L am not going to hold you accountable for understanding all of it right away, but I want you to give it a first try.

• This is just the first draft—you'll have lots of chance to improve it.

• I want you to push yourselves to tackle this concept.

• You won't be graded on this—it's a risk-free zone!

• We're in the learning zone today. Mistakes are our friends!

For Communicating High Expectations

• I know that you (all) have the ability to do this, so I have set the bar high.

• This will be a challenging concept to learn, but all of us can reach the goal.

• Be sure to communicate with me about your progress so I can provide support to you.

• I am going to push you all because I know if I do you will all do amazing work!

• Our classroom is a place for everyone to learn challenging material. I am here to help you meet that goal.

• This is challenging, but rewarding!

• This may be difficult right now, but you will remember it for the rest of your life.

• When you master this learning, you can be proud because this isn't easy.

• Here is my challenge for you. I know you can meet it. I want you to challenge yourself.

• As you learn this, mistakes are expected. Your mistakes help me support you.

• Let's make mistakes together!

• I have seen you stretch and succeed in the past. Let's do it again.

Additional Resources 

• The Power of Yet  

• Effective feedback

• Embrace error to improve learning