The start of winter break is literally just a few days away and I am ready.  Not because I’m fed up or exhausted, but because I am looking forward to some time to think.  Enrolling in the DLL program is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. I believe I am a becoming more open and flexible with my role as an educator.  I have begun to question the status quo and recognize the things that I would change regarding my practice if I could time travel into the past.

 

          What is the driving force behind these thoughts?  I didn’t wake up one day and decide to lead a revolution.  I did, however, recognized that I wasn’t quite the educator I wanted to be...yet.  There is was. The three little letters that mean so much. Yet is the mantra behind Carol Dweck’s growth mindset.  As long as I believe I am capable of reaching my desired goals, even setbacks will be learning experiences along my pathway to mastery.

 

          As I read about Dweck’s Mindset, and even recommended the book to a family member or two, I created a web based interactive activity for the Connections classes at the new freshman campus built in our district.  It was early in my DLL journey, I was excited to share my learning, and my neighbor was part of the committee that helped with the Connections lesson planning. I just knew my idea was exactly one of the elements that classes needed.  Construction delays caused the official move in date to drift closer and closer to the first day of class and ultimately no one had the time to entertain the ideas of someone who wasn’t truly a part of that campus.  There were other, more important tasks at hand. It wasn’t time to share my idea...yet.

 

          Now that I have made it through the first semester in my new job and back in school, I may be able to try again.  I’ve established a relationship (meaningful connections are so important to everyone’s success) with staff members at the freshman campus with whom I could now share my ideas.  

 

          When I initially created my growth mindset plan with the connections classes in mind, my innovation plan hadn’t really started to form.  I now see how I can use my growth mindset plan as a launch point for my innovation plan. Recognizing a growth mindset is part of learning how to learn and I could use this as one of my learning activities in my BHAG 3 column table.  

 

          I’m also realizing that even though I created a plan to share my understanding, I missed a great opportunity to have learners create their own growth mindset plan.  My innovation plan involves working with pre-service teachers and creating blended learning experiences. Having the IPET/PET students create their own growth mindset activities will be an additional opportunity for them to practice creating a blended experience for their own students.  

 

          As I move forward with my innovation plan, I look forward to adding the growth mindset to my initial conversations with the IPET/PET teacher and her students so we can best determine the needs of the learners.  If they have already done quite a bit of growth mindset work, we may not need to introduce it as something new, but instead focus on how to continually be in the growth mindset as we reflect on our learning.

 

          I did have the opportunity to share my growth mindset interactive this past fall with a classmate who was looking for something to help introduce growth mindset concepts to her parents.  She had designed something for her much younger learners, but wanted something to share with the folks that were a little older.

 

          Mindset alone won’t revolutionize education.  A quick read of Alfie Kohn’s 2015 article on “The “Mindset” Mindset” points out that if our teaching practices are bad, growth mindset isn’t a magic cure all.  Connecting growth mindset with choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities, creating significant learning environments and establishing big goals are all part of channeling a learner’s brain power in the most meaningful way possible.  

 

References

 

Dweck, C. (2006).  Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York, NY: Random House.

 

Fink, L. D. (2003).  A self-directed guide to designing courses for significant learning. Retrieved from:http://www.bu.edu/sph/files/2011/06/selfdirected1.pdf

 

Kohn, A. (2015).  The “mindset” mindset: What we miss by focusing on kids’ attitudes. Salon. Retrieved from https://www.alfiekohn.org/article/mindset/

Thibodeaux, T. (n.d.).  Digital learning: Giving learners choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://tilisathibodeaux.com/wordpress/?page_id=1539