My ultimate goal, as a teacher of technology, is to provide the tools necessary for gaining an understanding of the world of technology that can be used in our everyday lives. For my advanced classes, I strive for my students to earn industry level certifications that will be beneficial for their future. I strongly consider myself to have a growth mindset. I am consistently seeking new knowledge daily and I desire to learn. I do not like to see myself fail, but when failure hits me in the face, I recognize it as a growth opportunity.
I hate to see my students fail. I do everything that I can to help my students ensure their own success. Sometimes, this isn't enough and it can be easy for me to think they just a fixed mindset and move onward, however, I don't give up on them. I remind them daily that I will make myself available to them for assistance outside of the normal class period. Unfortunately, if I am not careful, I could ultimately throw myself into a false growth mindset when I simply consider certain students to have a fixed mindset and simply move on to help those that I can tell are trying. In order to combat this, I will make sure that I take a step back to really put focus on those students who show little effort upfront. These are the students that require the extra encouragement and appropriate praise. This leads the student, and myself, on the path of understanding.
Since the majority of background is in programming and technical support, I believe that the Strategic Networks, a.k.a. "the how of learning", is the most important. This network of the brain places emphasis on how to solve a problem, which is essentially what programming and troubleshooting is. Even though I believe that this is the most important one, not everyone will agree. Everyone has their own methodology of learning, but ultimately, everyone is capable of developing their ow
n personal growth, especially with a little guidance.
In order to help develop my skills, I used a lesson on growth mindset at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year and I have the poster posted in my room: Growth Mindset Lesson Plan
One example video from Carol Dweck is the following: "The power of believing that you can improve"
Dweck, C. (2014, December 17). The power of believing that you can improve | Carol Dweck. Retrieved November 28, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X0mgOOSpLU
CodeHS. (2016, August 09). Growth Mindset Lesson Plan. Retrieved November 28, 2017, from https://docs.google.com/document/d/1duvYbzrz1PWSAl_H2I3Q6M0xT09X9MfaeaQN05kxI/edit
Key Takeaways From Peer Discussions:
Don’t become fixated on one specific way to accomplish your goals.
Both Certifications and portfolios are highly beneficial for student’s future
Failure is simply a wall that is meant to be climbed