The word "yet" is a fantastic word. This word truly embodies the concept of what growth mindset is. As a child, my father taught me the concept of failure being a good thing. He told me that failure is simply a stepping stone towards success. He always taught me to never give up when something is challenging. So if I wasn't good at something, but I wanted to be, I was not good at it yet, but I would be in the future as long as I worked towards that goal. By adopting this growth mindset, someone's ability to learn can be greatly improved. It is so easy to learn a lot of concepts, thanks to the access of tutorials on YouTube, but we have just have to get over the hump into the growth mindset of desiring to learn more and believing that you can do it.
Feedback is essential for growth for those who accept it and react to it positively. Unfortunately, feedback is often taken in a completely negative connotation. For those who adopt a growth mindset, they can soak in all typed of feedback and use that feedback to improve in an area that needed improvement. In my classroom, I have students who get so fixated on their grades, rather than the content itself. Some of my students that get behind, simply fall into the trap of believing that they will never be able to catch up. However, I have personally witnessed a few of my students transition from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. These students did start off poorly, but quickly realized that their "failures" were due to them wanting to fit in with their peers who thought that school was a waste of time. These students went from severely failing grades to a strong B by the end of the year. They worked their tails off and I was proud to see these students grow.
I have the luxury of having one desktop computer per student in my classes, thanks to me requiring computers for my content areas. I have used several videos in my class to get the point across on a specific topic. Regarding what resources I could use, I could simply YouTube Fixed Versus Growth mindsets. One video that I know changed the way some of my students worked is titled "Inside the mind of a master procrastinator" by Tim Urban. I have had numerous conversations about the "panic monster", mentioned in the video, with several students.
After reading through the first four chapters of the assigned reading and reviewing the provided chart, the fixed mindset is pretty much all about not having a desire to learn and develop beyond where we currently are. Anything that requires any kind of effort is simply dismissed. However, the growth mindset is all about consistently applying effort to enhance ourselves. Those who have a growth mindset truly believe that they can accomplish any task set before them, eventually.
Urban, T. (2016, April 06). Inside the mind of a master procrastinator | Tim Urban. Retrieved November 21, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arj7oStGLkU
Carol Dweck, Developing a Growth Mindset (9:37) Published by: Stanford Alumni Date: 10.09.2014 YouTube URL: https://youtu.be/hiiEeMN7vbQ
The Power of Belief - mindset and success, Eduardo Briceno (10:51) Published by: TEDx Talks Date: 11.18.2012 YouTube URL: https://youtu.be/pN34FNbOKXc
Key Takeaways From Peer Discussions:
It’s not about the grade. It’s about the end goal.
Always reflect on what works and where you can improve
The “panic monster” is real. Work towards not needing it.