Creating a Growth Mindset in Your Students
Belief that you can become smarter and more talented opens the doorways to success. That’s what twenty years of research has shown Carol Dweck of Stanford University. She has identified two opposing beliefs about intelligence and talent, beliefs that strongly impact our ability to learn. Though the fixed mindset has traditionally held sway, many recent studies show that the growth mindset better represents our abilities. Our brains are much more elastic than previously thought, constantly growing new connections. IQ and talent are not fixed, but are mutable based on experience and attitude.
How to Bring Playfulness to High School Students
It’s easy to focus on academics and college transcripts when children become tweens and teens, but retaining the agency and creativity inherent in play is crucial for them, too. But what is the high school equivalent for the kind of inquisitive learning that happens when little kids play in the sandbox, finger-paint, build with blocks or play make-believe? “When your 4-year-old is dipping his hand in the rice table, he’s learning really important things about tactile touch,” said Denise Pope, senior lecturer at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education and co-founder of Challenge Success. “Older kids need those same tactile, hands-on experiences to learn as well.” Teenagers need creative outlets, just like elementary school children. Those experiences helps open their brains in different ways, gets them excited about learning and allows them to have fun.
Tier 2 Positive Behavior Intervention And Support of Check In Check Out (CICO)
Why should I do it: Improves student accountabilityIncreases structureImproves student behavior and academics when other interventions have failedProvides feedback and adult support on a daily basisImproves and establishes daily home/school communication and collaborationImproves student organization, motivation, incentive, and rewardHelps students to self monitor and correctInternalizes success and accomplishment of goalsStudents get involved and excited about the program, enjoying the structure, support, and incentives of the interventionLeads to maintenance free responsible behaviors, habits, and effort When should I do it:
Teaching strategies to create 'growth' mindsets
As a kid I wanted to become a cliché when I grew up so I bought a guitar and grew my hair. I successfully learnt all the chords but struggled to combine them in a meaningful way (perhaps I should’ve joined an experimental jazz band instead of churning out 1980s power ballads). When my dreams of rock stardom eventually withered on the vine, I turned my attention to mastering magic, then to conquering chess, and to all manner of other hobbies. What all these childhood endeavours had in common – apart from their mutual failure – was that I took it for granted that I’d have to work hard at them, I knew I’d have to practise endlessly and that I wouldn’t become expert overnight.
Just what is DEEP learning?
We’ve been out running professional learning with hundreds of teachers so far this year and two of the popular the buzz words seem to be ‘deep learning’ and ‘powerful learners’. First step in any learning is to establish that there is a clear purpose and that the learning is important. While there is some ‘fuzziness’ about what deep learning might be, there seems to be universal appreciation of its importance and relevance. The idea of scuba v deep diving seems to help teachers think about what it is that we are chasing. Scuba diving represents: shallow, surface skimming across learning, coverage of content, use of worksheets, right answer thinking and low engagement or challenge.
Black History in America
1901 Louis Armstrong is born: The Jazz Original "Through his clear, warm sound, unbelievable sense of swing, perfect grasp of harmony, and supremely intelligent and melodic improvisations, he taught us all to play jazz." —Wynton Marsalis Louis Armstrong was one of the most influential artists in the history of music.
Developing a growth mindset
I’ve decided to use the spring break as an opportunity to catch up on some long overdue reading – starting with ‘Mindset’ by Carol Dweck. The theory explored in this book is that there are two types of mindset – fixed and growth. The diagram below summarises the main qualities exhibited by each one: It’s obvious to see the relevance of this to us as teachers and Dweck presents a very compelling case for it. Whilst the theory is interesting, what I’m most interested in is what we can actually do in schools, in lessons, to move more of our students from a fixed to a growth mindset? This is the real challenge of teaching!
Education Research Highlights From 2015
2015 was a great year for education research. fMRI technology gave us new insight into how exercise can improve math ability by changing the structure of children's brains (#13 below). We saw how Sesame Street's 40-year history has made an impact on preparing young children for school (#7). Several studies reinforced the importance of social and emotional learning for students (#2, 5, and 9). Two must-read publications were released to help educators understand how students learn (#4 and 11).
Jazz music, an African American art form - African American Registry
Jazz music, an African American art form The Superior JazzBand, 1910 On this date, we focus on Jazz Music in America and the Black culture's role in creating and influence its existence. Jazz is an American musical form, often improvisational, developed by Blacks and influenced by both European harmonic structure and African rhythmic intricacy. It is often characterized by its use of blues and speech intonations.
Empowering Student Voice Through Classroom Culture
Posted 02/17/2015 12:31PM | Last Commented 02/22/2015 1:53AM Empowering student voice transforms a learner from being an observer to an initiator. We’ve all seen students who walk in the door on the first day of school with a fixed mindset. Their previous educational experience may have led them to believe they may be great in math, but struggle in reading. These students come to us expecting to experience the same struggles and emotions they have in past years.
