Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Leadership Cohort: Growth Mindset

Read the following article
Choose one of the questions below to respond to.   

How does this connect to leadership?
How does this apply to what you teach?
What impact can growth mindset have in your classroom?
How does your mindset impact your classroom / students?


http://www.sociedadytecnologia.org/file/download/212611



25 comments:

  1. Students are not afraid to make mistakes in class and are more ept to create a different thinking pattern rather than being stuck on a one answer to rule them all attitude. When that comfort level is there kids take more chances and feel a better sense of accomplishment to continue their learning rather than sit and wait for the answer to be explained. Giving praise and grade for process thinking as well as product thinking allows students to be rewarded for thought and decisiveness in their immediateness of content.

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    1. The idea of recognizing process over product really connects with me. Thanks for sharing.

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    2. You are so right about that! That also aligns with the Brain Balance concept - which shows that when you can reduce a student's anxiety, their brain stem will allow for new learning - and it shuts down when they are anxious! It's important to decrease he anxiety about making mistakes! The most important piece is through effort, their minds will grow!

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  2. Recognizing our own fixed mindsets might be a first step in learning how to promote a growth mindset in our students. A teacher who talks about promoting growth mindset in students as they face challenges but does not exhibit one themselves will be seen a false to others. Actions must match words. If you seek students to try and try again, then allow them to turn in corrected work once you have given them a "final grade". Allow them a chance to grow and show their knowledge in different ways then the one way you wanted.

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    1. Actions must match words... How true! Promoting a growth mindset as you said is more than words one must work on matching classroom practices to them as well. Thanks for sharing your thinking.

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    2. That is SO right on! I am glad there are students lucky enough to have a teacher with the right mindset!

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  3. Last year I implemented the Growth Mindset concept into my classroom, and it was pivotal in fostering a safe learning environment! Students learned to differentiate between "Struggling" and "Struggling through" something. We all learned the power of perseverance - and the gratification of coming out the other side through E-F-F-O-R-T! Third graders especially like envisioning their brains growing like a muscle when you are lifting weights! One hugely important breakthrough I had, was with two boys who would go from 0-Distraught in milliseconds when they would make any kind of mistake! I couldn't believe the meltdowns! Then I learned that people with fixed mindsets believe that when they make a mistake, that all of the intelligence drains out of their bodies - and they think they are stupid! I was able to help reassure them that they were still very intelligent - and that the meltdowns weren't getting them what they needed.....they needed to be brave enough to try - and even possibly fail...so their brains would have a chance to grow! Those kids are now handling mistakes much better! It also helps that my nickname is "The Walking Mishap" so I can emulate how I learn - ESPECIALLY through my mistakes!

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  4. I am having a Growth Mindset right now because the blog response I just typed up disappeared when I went to post it! Ha! What are the chances?? Someone/something is testing me...

    So yes, I model Growth Mindset in my classroom, because I think it is vital that we are 'walking this walk' with our students and modeling what true learning looks like (trying something, often being uncomfortable, sometimes failing, and always reflecting). If we do not sincerely believe that we can improve, and if we never feel those small successive steps, it can be hard to have a Growth Mindset. Our students need to live this with us every day, and I think it's important that we are mindful about celebrating their learning (including the steps where they catch their mistakes), as then we are truly demonstrating what it means to build up our brains and grow in new and different ways. This is hard for many kids, and sometimes seems harder with adults. I believe in the power of people, too...I think we need to surround ourselves with like-minded individuals in order to build up this community of trust, risk-taking, and honesty. It takes a village, right? I believe this requires Growth Mindset, as well.

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  6. Got G R I T ?

    ...is spelled out in 8.5 by 11 inches letters across the windows in our classroom, as well as Art Costa’s (http://www.artcostacentre.com/html/habits.htm) sixteen HABITS of MIND across the front of the room. They are there for my students AND I each day - constant reminders of our desired conversation and motivational goals, not just forgettable adornments in our inspired space.

    I see and feel a deep connection between our constant reference, conversations, and work with these Habits and Growth Mindset.
    “Habits of Mind is knowing how to behave intelligently when you DON'T know the answer. It means having a disposition toward behaving intelligently when confronted with problems, the answers to which are not immediately known: dichotomies, dilemmas, enigmas and uncertainties.”

    As we work through our days together as facilitator and student, we refer to the 16 Habits so often that the words and their consequential actions spill into who we are and how we handle things in general, not just in the classroom.

    The most important aspect of planting and nurturing the seeds of a Growth Mindset using the Habits of Mind is that I see that we all begin to take ownership of our own reflective practices and actions.

    “I had a realization several years ago that my goal is not a good essay from Student A, but rather for Student A to know that she's in charge of her progress as a writer and feel confident to keep writing for the rest of her life.”... (Nurturing Intrinsic Motivation and Growth Mindset in Writing)

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  7. How does your mindset impact your classroom / students?

    Having a growth mindset is undoubtedly important as we aim to help all of our students take ownership of their learning and improve. However, something that we may not realize is that to ensure that this mindset shines through in our daily work, requires a lot of work from us, the teachers. We all work our best to plan, create, and implement a variety of standards driven instruction. Yet, we all know that so many things can change during the actual implementation of this work. Papers are late, students aren't catching on, and all of the sudden are mindset has changed from growth to survival. We must intentionally plan for the opportunities to teach our kids the skills they need to improve their metacognition. Luckily, we should be asking ourselves the same questions that we will ask our students. When we can return to the basics- creating authentic, real tasks that connect to our world, providing opportunities to see growth and improvement, and relinquishing control, we'll see that we're not in survival mode. Instead, we are shifting the cognitive load to our students and giving their learning meaning. Our mindset creates and molds that same mindset in our students. What a powerful thing that we have to keep in mind if we are wanting to create lifelong learners.

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    1. I like the idea that we need to intentionally plan for the opportunities. Especially as we learn how to change our own mindset and our teaching to reflect this mindset. I'm thinking that after several intentional commitments to working on growth mindset, it will become more of a natural part of my everyday teaching.

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  8. Age and Growth Mindset...
    I find it interesting teaching 6th,7th, and 8th grade this year. I'd say these 3 years really reflect students getting more and more set in their mindsets. 6th graders come in sweet and with the desire to learn and listen to ideas. 7th graders tend to be more cynical and 8th graders know it all and don't need to listen to teachers. Of coarse this is a bit exaggerated, but it is definitely harder to change older kids to a growth mindset when they have a fixed mindset. The same definitely applies to a teacher with a fixed mindset. If I can save just one child's mindset!

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  9. The concept of growth mindset works beautifully with the teenager brain...
    I believe that teaching a language like French or any other language with the idea that learning building blocks are all steps in the process of growth towards a goal of efficient communication in the target language. As no one step is a final or a complete set of knowledge in itself, it is how the next building block is connected to the previous one and the following one as well.

    I would be particularly interested to see how the building block mindset parallels also leadership in the learning and teaching process.

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  10. Daniel Pink’s intrinsic motivation statement resonated with me most. I believe that autonomy, purpose, and mastery are important elements to consider when helping students develop a “growth” mindset. Allowing choice and small opportunities for decision-making builds a student's sense of autonomy and confidence. Making connections to real-world, relevant topics helps students see purpose in their learning. Providing scaffolded and blended pathways for learning gradually releases students to higher levels of independence which can lead to mastery.

    In my elective classes, I ask students to consider how our activities and projects help them become more self-directed learners, quality producers, collaborative and contributing workers, complex thinkers, and effective communicators. These questions encourage reflection and a “growth”mindset. Here are some resources I have found helpful from an Edutopia post on Resilience, Grit, and Growth Mindset (http://www.edutopia.org/resilience-grit-resources).

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  11. This article reminds me that as educators we need to be very intentional and specific with the feedback/words we give our students. We want to inform students of next steps without shutting down their creativity. I really like using the work YET when I'm working with a student. "Your sentence structure doesn't yet match the tone you are trying to achieve."

    4th Graders already know/believe who is smart and who isn't. If they are good at reading, writing, or math. Motivating a student to change their mindset about themselves is very challenging. Guiding a student (who hates to read) to find something to read other than DoWK books and helping him believe in himself can be grueling. That's where our words, actions, and Mindset can change how a student sees themselves. We need to motivate, engage, and believe!

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  12. Growth Mindset is a focus we started in our August inservice in 2014 at Powell. I loved it from the very beginning. I love thinking about being the teacher who give his/her students, "The gift of struggle". My husband is reading a book right now called "The gift of failure" and it is about growth mindset in that it teaches us that it is ok not to "snow plow" the path for our children or students. Kids need to experience stuggle and failure to learn and they need a growth mindset so they can move forward. There is a middle school in Douglas County whose motto is "Leap In! Get Stuck! Push through!". I think that is growth mindset in 6 words! I love it!

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    1. That sounds like a perfect book to read as parents.

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  13. I believe that making sure that we have a growth mindset for ourselves and our students is key to fostering our students’ growth mindsets. If they don’t think that we feel they can grow and improve, then their “buy in” to anything will be minimal. I love this quote from the article : “Before, I'd let students choose prompts and readings as much as possible, providing autonomy. After reading Pink, I learned to unbend myself, make deadlines more flexible, and shape the writing process more to fit the student. Now, my students feel more control over their process”. I think we live in a world where student needs are increasingly more diverse and deadlines have to be flexible. This is especially true when we are thinking of the Growth Mindset… if we are asking students to challenge themselves and grow, we have to give them the time to do so (within reason). I also think that the power of YET is so important in our teaching practice. As teachers, our goal is to help students grow, and each student grows in their own way, at different paces. The yet implies they will get there, and we expect hard work and determination.

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  14. I find that I quickly backtrack if I say anything not "growth-minded" to my kids or my students now but I have trouble applying that same model to my self. I think that if we put growth mindset into the classroom and schools that it will carry out into the broader community and start to change the ways adults think as well. After the last cohort meeting I told my students that I loved seeing them all struggle with their ecology graphing assignment and this kid said, "wait, Ms. Silverman, you like seeing us struggle?" It was one of the best teaching days because I felt like students were embracing the struggle. I wish we would have had time that day to share more graphs but kids really were open to suggestions as the class critiqued them. Next time- we'll share on google slides instead of using the doc camera :)

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  15. This directly applies to how I teach in my classroom. I make sure students celebrate failures and turn it into a teaching moment. It was a very difficult challenge at first for not only the students but my self as well. It's interesting how much this has helped me in my life.

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  16. I love the growth mindset in the classroom because it empowers our student into thinking they can do something even though it is hard at the moment. Working with first graders, their self-esteem is easily affected by the slightest criticism and tears begin to roll. Making sure you state a positive attribute about their work and their work efficiency is important before you are able to say just one "not yet" comment. For example, I have a struggling reader and he gets easily frustrated during reading because he sees others reading better. Making sure that I recognize his effort and that he is able to know that he will be a better reader with practice is important to recognize.

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  17. “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” ~Albert Einstein

    Thank goodness one of the greatest scientific minds of the 20th Century had a growth mindset. Science at its core is about making mistakes and then learning from those mistakes. We talk all of the time in my classes about the value of making a claim, doing a test, and finding out how horribly wrong we were. Extra points are not earned for having a correct hypothesis the first time, for in the “wrongness” comes the true learning.

    However, I do find that at first many of my students are so conditioned to be on the search for the correct answer that they have trouble taking a risk. Over time and with the constant reassurances that science is about making mistakes and learning from them, most of them come to a place where they feel safe and are willing to extend themselves.

    I am a work in progress...I don’t always practice what I preach...I am my own worst critic...I don’t get them all...I make plenty of mistakes...I will keep trying new things.

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  18. I think the Growth Mindset is a lifestyle. It is something that changes the way you view your life, opportunities, and skills. If you are in a fixed mindset, you will be living in a fixed life. This is something that can be instilled in kids from early on. I feel like kids need to not only have a growth mindset, but also know that the difference between growth and fixed mindset. If they know the difference, they have a much greater chance of fixing their mindset when they get into a fixed one. We all inevitably go through periods of time in a fixed mindset, but the more aware we are, the sooner we can correct it. This is a skill that kids can learn early on and become excellent at with practice. The more we model it as teachers, the more exposed they become and the better off they will be.

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