Learning More About My Own Mindset

This year, my wildly important goal as it relates to technology integration in my career is to integrate more technology into my daily small group routine. As more districts seem to be moving towards a mainly small group instructional model, I want to be able effectively utilize technological activities such as games, music, recording devices, videos, and computer projects in workstations to provide productive practice for students.

Would you consider yourself primarily on a growth mindset or a fixed mindset?

In general, I would consider myself primarily a growth mindset individual because, as Carol Dweck states in the text, I strongly believe that “my basic qualities are things [I] can cultivate through [my] efforts, [my] strategies, and help from others.” (13). I have a strong desire to learn and take on challenges because I know that they will only help me learn more, even if there are setbacks along the way. I also love seeing the successes of others and gain inspiration from their stories. I know that by paying attention to their journeys there are many valuable lessons I can take away and apply to my own journeys. The only area in which I see myself as having a fixed mindset is in the area of criticism. I still struggle with viewing criticism as a negative thing. However, my primary growth mindset will not allow me to give up on attempting to learn how to use criticism as a tool for growth.

Has one mindset set you back from achieving this wildly important goal?

Yes, having a fixed mindset in regards to how exactly to integrate technology into my small group routine while still catering to students of various learning styles and complying with what is required by my campus and district. In my current district, it is required that most of the instructional time be devoted to small group instruction. During this time, however, my campus and district administrators also want to see a lot of hands on learning activities, particularly in the primary grades that I teach. I also know that students have different learning styles. Some are more auditory, some more visual, some more verbal, and some more tactile/kinesthetic. So, I want to be able to cater to all of these as well and this is where the issue of feelings like “I can’t do it all” comes in. However, after giving it some thought, I think I may have found a way to go about reaching this goal. What I could do is have four small group stations in my classroom: one working with iPads, one working with our smartboard, one working on the computer, and one working with me. Since I am a math teacher, I could maybe make the iPad station can be a verbal station where students can record themselves saying math problems, play them back to solve the problem and then record their themselves reading the answer on the iPad. At the computer station, students can tap into the auditory learning style by listening to math songs. At the smartboard station, students do more visual activities such as drawing pictures or using pictures to solve various math problems. Finally, while working with me, they would do more tactile/kinesthetic activities such as using unifix cubes, base ten blocks, etc. to solve math problems. In order to comply with the district expectation of hands-on learning centers, I can have a set of manipulatives at each station for students to use in order to assist them in doing their work.

Do you build up resistance to failure, avoiding it all possible times?

I do build up resistance to failure but it largely depends on the situation. I think mine is more in the area of relationships with others. I have always been a very shy, introverted person who never quite feels comfortable in social situations. They just make me feel anxious and, therefore, I have never been one to really initiate communication and relationships with others. I usually just wait for them to come to me, chalking it up to “that’s just my personality”. However, after reading Dweck’s section on shyness, I now realize that this shyness may actually be a form of resistance to failure of which I was never aware. If I allowed everyone to come to me, I could “protect myself from rejection” (p.153). Like George, Scott Wetzler’s client, I hope to begin working towards overcoming and conquering this resistance.

What resources (content, video, media, etc.) might you use to help you develop your skills?

In order to develop my skills in integrating technology effectively into my workstations while still catering to students with various learning styles, I am open to receiving suggestions from my students, colleagues, Lamar classmates and instructors, researching articles and videos regarding technology integration and learning style, and attending workshops. Learning more ways to incorporate the UDL and personalization models into this area may also help in reaching this goal.

What steps will you take to ensure you will not downplay the growth mindset with the easier-to-do 'false' growth mindset?

To ensure that I will not downplay the growth mindset with the easier-to-do ‘false’ growth mindset, the most important step I can take is to make sure that I am being very realistic with both the student and myself in regards to how effectively they are learning. I need to make sure that I am making them aware of their shortcomings and how to fix them rather than simply praising all effort they put in (whether beneficial or not) and making them feel as though they can do anything. According to Carol Dweck’s article “Recognizing and Overcoming False Growth Mindset” posted on the Edutopia website, this can be accomplished through providing students with “meaningful work, honest and helpful feedback, advice on future learning strategies, and opportunities to revise their work and show their learning”. These are the strategies I plan utilize to combat ‘false’ growth mindset.

What is most important - the what, the how, or the why when it comes to learning and pursing life goals?

When it comes to learning and pursuing life goals, I feel as though the most important UDL network for each differs. For learning, I believe the “why” is most important. The “what” is how learners identify, recognize, and interpret things in their environment and the “how” is how tasks are performed. But the “why” is what keeps learners motivated and, if you can keep the learner motivated, you can cultivate a growth mindset in them. For example, a learner can recognize the numbers 2, 3, and a “+“ sign (“what”) and know that they need to add the two numbers together to solve the problem (“how”). However, if they are not motivated to solve this math problem because it is either too easy, too hard, or uninteresting to them, this learning experience will be unfulfilled. When it comes to pursuing life goals, however, I feel as though the “how” is the most important. The “what” helps you to identify the goals to pursue and the “why” helps make you aware of your reason for wanting to pursue specific goals. The “how”, however, determines the methods, strategies, and decisions you make in order to actually achieve these life goals. For example, a person can decide they want to attend a certain university (“what”) because he/she really wants to become a doctor and the school has a high ranking pre-med program (“why”). However, this dream stays a dream until the person figures out what they will do to ensure they get into the college (“how”).

What does UDL and personalized learning mean for the learner?

UDL and personalized learning means that learners will be more motivated and excited about learning because information is presented in a way that is most effective for them. By the teacher presenting information in a variety of ways as well as allowing learners to have choices in how to engage in information and demonstrate their understanding of that information, the learning process becomes more productive for each student.

Resources

Dweck, C. (2007). Mindset. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.

Dweck, C. (2016, January 11). Recognizing and Overcoming False Growth Mindset. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/recognizing-overcoming-false-growth-mindset-carol-dweck.