Growth Mindset

I just found a great article written by Sarah D. Sparks on Education Week called "'Growth Mindset' Gaining Traction as School Improvement Strategy."  I loved this article and felt that it had a lot of good information in it.  The article states that students' belief on intelligence tends to fall into two categories.  The first is the "growth mindset."  Those of the growth mindset feel that intellect is not set but can be improved upon with "effort and experimentation."  These students tend to be involved and do not let failures discourage them.  However, the second type is those students that believe in a "fixed mindset."  These students believe that intellect is hereditary and cannot be changed through effort and experimentation.  These students are often less involved and tend to let failures discourage them. 

The article went on to talk about how schools are starting to teach students that the "growth mindset" is accurate, and it gave strategies that teachers can use to improve their students' intellect.  Additionally, it gives great advice on what teachers can do to help students gain the skills to become an active learner.  The article ends with a quiz that can be taken to determine what mindset you are at.  I am a neutral mindset.  It says that I am "unsure about whether and how much change is possible to intelligence or skill.  [I] care about [my] performance and want to learn, but also don't want to have to work too hard for it."  I thought that it was close to accurate. 

I feel that teachers and future teachers should read this article.  It has a lot of good information in it and a lot of good ideas on how to help students get into the "growth mindset."  I really enjoyed the examples the article gives on what to do in classroom situations.  Sometimes, we do not think how much simple words can affect others and the examples really hit this point home. 

Sparks, S. D. (2013, September 10). 'Growth Mindset' Gaining Traction as School Improvement Strategy. Retrieved March 16, 2014, from Education Week: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/09/11/03mindset_ep.h33.html

Creative Commons

I just watched a video on youtube called "Wanna Work Together."  It is about a movement called Creative Commons.  I will admit that I had never heard about this movement until I watched the video, but it is an interesting concept.  Creative Commons allows people to easily share their creativity.  Whenever someone creates or makes something, whether it is a picture, song, or written text, the creator automatically owns the rights to what he/she created.  Creative Commons is a free website that allows the creator to get a license that sets up perimeters of how the creator wants to share his/ her work.  This way, people around the world can effortlessly share their work.

 I have already benefited greatly from the creative commons movement.  I frequently use Pinterest to get ideas for personal and professional use.  I use Pinterest at home for recipes, crafts, and decoration ideas.  I also use it to get ideas to use in my classes.  Additionally, I have visited the website Teachers Pay Teachers.  I have yet to utilize this website, but I can see myself using it quite a bit when I become a teacher.  I think that this movement will only continue to grow and will benefit so many people.  I hope that I can come up with some creative ideas that I can share with others!

Wanna Work Together. (2006, November 6). Retrieved March 16, 2014, from Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3rksT1q4eg

Reflection

I am really excited about this semester in the teaching program at MTSU.  My previous years have focused on getting the content knowledge that I need to teach students, but beginning this year, the focus has been how to teach what I know to students.  I have spent the last month working in a classroom at Marvin Wright Elementary, and it has been an amazing experience.  I am getting to work with students, which is what I began this degree to do!

Additionally, this semester I am taking a digital learning class.  This class is teaching me how to teach students in a 21st century classroom.  I grew up with house phones, Nintendo consoles, and cassette tapes.  There were no cell phones, household computers, iPads, or mp3 players.  Digital learning has helped me learn how to use some of these devices in order to teach my students who have grown up in a world where technology is commonplace. 

I have used Pinterest before my digital learning class, but everything else I have learned in this class has been new to me.  I have learned how to create a blog (much like the one I am writing now), and I recently finished my own website.  It was a little frustrating trying to figure out how to create a website, but once I was done, I felt like I had learned so much.  Now when I get a teaching position, I will be able to quickly create a class website.   

The Science of Learning

I once again watched a terrific video on Edutopia called "Big Thinkers: Judy Willis on the Science of Learning."  This video was very informative and really got me thinking on how I want to integrate technology into my future classroom. 

The video is basically Judy Willis using her background in neurology to explain what does and does not work for students in the classroom.  Judy was a neurologist for fifteen years before she became a school teacher.  She explains that the reason she became a teacher was because she was getting so many referrals from teachers about students that they thought were ADHD, epileptic, or had other neurological disorders.  Curious at the increase of clients, Willis went into the schools to observe, and she said that what she saw was students being bored into acting out by teachers lecturing and using worksheets. 

Willis goes on to explain that the brain has a center of the brain, the amygdala, which is the emotional filter of the brain.  Whenever the amygdala becomes stressed, it sends all information entering the brain to the lower part of the brain.  This lower part of the brain is meant to deal with life or death situations and does not retain the knowledge that is entering it.  Willis says that boredom causes the amygdale to become stressed. 

What should teachers do to relieve boredom?  Willis recommends beginning by getting students attention in order to create curiosity.  Grabbing students' attention can be as simple as a new bulletin board, activity, or experience.  Once a teacher has the students' attention, he/she should then begin teaching.  However, there are times that teachers really want students to focus on a particular piece of information.  When this occurs, Willis recommends having a signal that says "pay attention this is important."  For Willis, she puts on a hat when she wants her students to focus or will change the color of her marker and has her students change the color of their writing utensil. 

Willis then goes on to talk about how 50% of the facts students learn will be modified.  She then asks, if it this is the case, is it important for teachers to teach a lot of fact?  She goes on to emphasize that it is more important for students to be taught application than to be given facts.  She says that students should instead be given the tools to enter the 21st century.  These tools are judgment, critical analysis, and problem solving, and by exercising the brain with the use of technology will help develop these tools.

Willis ends the video with the lessons learned from video games.  She states that video games give the brain achievable challenge levels and feedback at timely intervals.  She feels that students are so entranced with video games because of this.  She believes that teachers should implement differentiated learning in classrooms in order to emulate the benefits of video games. 

I felt that I learned a lot from the video.  I have heard a lot over the past few semesters on how students do no learn from lecture and worksheets, but I had not heard the neurological reason behind it. I am glad that research is being done to see what helps students learn and what hinders learning. It is also heartening to see schools changing from the traditional classroom that I grew up in, which was mainly lectures and workbooks.  I feel that this change will be beneficial to students, for teachers are focusing less on lectures and more on problem based learning.  However, I still see quite a few worksheets in the classroom.

I also felt that it was interesting that Willis was looking at why children find video games so interesting and is willing to take that knowledge and incorporate it into the classroom.  In my digital learning class, I have heard a lot of talk about how teachers are concerned with the amount of time students spend using technology.  I really liked how Willis was willing to take video games and use them as a guide on structuring her classroom.

Big Thinkers: Judy Willis on the Science of Learning. (2011, April 14). Retrieved March 16, 2014, from Edutopia: http://www.edutopia.org/big-thinkers-judy-willis-neuroscience-learning-video

Ten Ideas for Better Classrooms

Ten Ideas for Better Classrooms

I just watched the amazing video on Edutopia called “10 Ideas for Better Classrooms.” The video begins with a thought that I think sums up what teaching should strive for: “Imagine if kids, from the beginning, could be learning through developing the interests – through things they are in love with, that they care about.”  I fully believe that teachers should strive to teach students through the students’ interests and wants.  Right now I am taking college classes, and I know that I retain so much more when the material interests me and is relevant to my life in some way.  If it works for me, why would it not work for my future students as well?

The ten ideas in the video are simple, and yet I believe that the ideas are sometimes hard to implement in the classroom. The following are the ten ideas for better classrooms and my thoughts on what they mean:

1.     Project-Based Learning

·         Make the students excited about solving a problem.  The students in the video were competing with one another to design a dome for a futuristic school in geometry, or elementary students were building a fire extinguisher for space.  This hands on approach helps create interest in the students.

2.    Technology Integration

·         Technology is prevalent in today’s society and students tend to use it frequently outside of school.  The students are familiar with and interested in technology.  Therefore, teachers should utilize this interest, and incorporate up to date technology in their classrooms to cultivate interests and assist learning.

3.    Integrated Studies

·         Take a unit that may be featured across the curriculum and incorporate it in all studies.  The video showed an 8^th grade class that had a unit on cars.  The teachers got together and incorporated this unit in all subjects.  In Science, the students built the car.  Then, in Language-arts, the students wrote car commercials, and finally, they calculated loan payments in Math. I believe that this would be a fantastic way to build interests and hold students’ attention.

4.    Cooperative Learning

·         I did not have cooperative learning when I was in school and was hesitant about this concept when I first heard about it a few years ago.  However, the more I learn about it, the more I believe it should be incorporated in the classroom.  Students learn how to arrive at an answer through communication, collaboration, and problem solving.  These students learn through working with each other!

5.    Comprehensive Assessment

·         Focus on in-depth learning instead of teaching to the test!

6.    Emotional Intelligence

·         I really like the quote “educating the heart is as important as educating the mind.”  Students need to realize their feelings are important, and I think that good self-esteem will lead to better learning.

7.    Teacher Preparation

·         I believe that the direction that teaching programs are moving is a major improvement.  The video mentions that “getting perspective teachers into real-life classroom settings early and work with a mentor teacher” really helps teachers reach their full potential.

8.    Parental Involvement

·         Implement programs that involve parents.  I loved how the school in the video included the cultural aspects of the students into the school programs. 

9.    Community Partners

·         Get members of the community involved.  I think that this is an important aspect that gets overlooked.  The school is part of the community, and the community makes decisions that affect the schools.  By getting the community involved, it helps the schools, students, and those in the community.

10.  Maximize Resources

·         Don’t forget to utilize the resources in the community.

"10 Ideas for Better Classrooms." 2005. Edutopia. Ed. Edutopia. Web. 20 February 2014. <http://www.edutopia.org/10-big-ideas-better-classrooms-video>.

 

Just made these delicious chocolate muffins.  Yummy!!!