Week 8 Growth Mindset

Here are the following areas in which my growth mindset has improved throughout the course or that I have worked on throughout the course.

Doing the minimum — Pushing yourself to go farther

There are some days I only do the bare minimum but then when I have the time availability, I will push myself to go further. For example, on week 6 we were supposed to edit our intro for our storybook.  I edited it but also spent about 2 hours adding new fun features to my intro that were not part of the assignment like a new client form.  

Looking for praise and other rewards — Finding motivation inside yourself

I think it is necessary to find motivation within yourself but if it is not met with praise from others, it is hard to find that motivation.  between the two, its better to motivate yourself first, but I also think it's inevitable to need a little praise from others to keep that motivation going. 

Staying in the comfort zone — Being willing to try new things

It's easy to stay in the comfort zone but the stories that I have been willing to try new things with have turned out to be my favorite and turned out to be the most rewarding to write. 

Focusing on grades — Focusing on learning

It's almost impossible to not focus on grades.  This is the first class where I have completely forgotten about grades and thoroughly dived into focusing on the learning.  That is due to the way this course is graded.  It allows me to focus on the learning.  Unfortunately, my other classes are not as helpful in this area and I feel forced to focus on the grades more than the material at times.

Thinking you are "not good" at something — Being confident you can improve

It's easy to write a paper you are proud of and then letting that pride inhibit your ability to improve.  Through this course I have found the ability to share this pride with desire to improve.  The feedback I have received on my storybook has made my introduction even better and I was already extremely happy with it.  It's okay to improve something you already love.

Wanting only positive feedback — Being open to any and all feedback

I used to be terrified of feedback as I mentioned in one of my blog posts, but with maturity comes acceptance of helpful criticism.  No amount of maturity will help you accept rude feedback.  So as long as the person giving the criticism is helpful about it, it is easy to be open to and see new ways to improve. 

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(Productivity meme. Found on flickr.com)

Growth Mindset

(Math counters or "Manipulative" used for teaching simple math problems, found on Wikipedia)

I remember it like it was yesterday.  I was 6 years old, sitting in Ms. K's class reading "Frog and Toad Together" when all of a sudden, I watched the boy I chased around the playground at recess go to Ms. K's special table.  I was a very curious 6 year old girl, and I had a major crush on this little boy, so I decided to put my book down and casually walk by Ms. K's table to see what they were doing. 

On the table were our math counters, 10 or so little colored cubes we used to do math problems with, like 5+7 or 10-1.  This seemed normal but then I noticed a little shape that was different.  It was one horizontal line with a dot above and a dot below.  I stopped and stood behind Ms. K, facing the boy.  It was common knowledge that this boy was the smartest in the class.  He always read at circle and he was always the first one to finish his addition problems, so I knew whatever that symbol was, it meant it was hard.

I looked down at the table.  There was a pile of 10 cubes.  Ms. K looked at the boy and said, "Okay Cody, what is 10 divided by 2?"  He looked blank faced back at Ms. K.  She separated the pile into two smaller piles and said, "Okay how many counters are in each circle if we divide this pile of 10 into 2 piles?"

I chirped up, "5!"

Cody looked over at me surprised and Ms. K turned to me and patted me on the back, "good job McKenzie, you're right!" she said.  Then she turned back to Cody and set up a new problem.  Again, I blurted the answer out before Cody could open his mouth.  Finally, by the third problem, Ms. K turned to me and whispered, "McKenzie, I am working with Cody right now, let's let him try to answer the questions first."  So for the next 10 minutes, I whispered all the answers into Ms. K's ear while Cody tried to figure out the answers himself. 

I will always remember that day because it was the day I proved to my teacher that I was ready for more difficult work and ready to be challenged.  After that day, she started taking both me and Cody to her table to work on division and multiplication problems.  I didn't get the answers right every time but I was so proud to be sitting at Ms. K's table and being one of the only students learning how to divide 10 by 2.  

Watching Carol Dwek's videos instantly took me back to this memory, especially when she said "Make challenge the new comfort zone".  I thrived in kindergarten with those challenges.  Even today I take more difficult classes to challenge me.  I feel that I learn more when I am in a class that may be more difficult than my current level of study.  The process of challenge is where I do best and learn most.