"Growth" vs. "Fixed" Mindset

In the podcast "Growth" vs. "Fixed" Mindset, Dr. Carol Dwech, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, explains that students, or just people in general, that have a "fixed" mindset believe that their basic intelligence is a "fixed" trait. They believe they have a certain amount of knowledge and that's it. When faced with a task or an assignment, one with a fixed mindset focuses primarily on how they will look-will they look 'stupid' or will they look smart. They base their activities on whether or not it will allow their 'smartness' to shine. Contrarily, one with a "growth" mindset believes that their intelligence is not just a fixed trait, that, in fact, they could broaden or expand their knowledge through studying and thinking outside the box.

Dr.Dwech developed an eight session workshop to teach students the growth mindset where one half of the students obtained lessons on study skills and a growth mindset while the other half simply got the study skills session. Students that were exposed to just the study skills were not helped much, at all, in part because they were not taught the optimistic outlook of the growth mindset. Their grades just continued to decline. In the growth mindset session, students were taught that their brains are muscles and it expands and forms new connections every time they learn something new. They also learned that it is okay not to be knowledgeable about everything, that no one would laugh or make fun of them because they didn't know something.

Dr. Dwech also tried this growth mindset on race car drivers. Through her conversations, the drivers were taught that mistakes on inevitable-it's how you view them, learn from them, and what you do with them that allows you to enter the "zone" after making mistakes. It is essential that you know that you will make many mistakes, you have to LEARN from them and keep going. Keep learning new thigs, broaden your intellect.

I think this growth mindset is essential for teachers, and mentors, to have especially because we will be dealing with the youth. Just as Dr. Dwech says, you cannot be a good mentor if you, yourself, do not possess this positive and meaningful mindset. If you limit yourself to the fixed mindset, you will never reach your full potential-ever. You will remain simple-minded. It is good to go out and explore new things knowing that you can, in fact, learn new things even if you make mistakes. It is good to know that you are not born with this one small set of knowledge, your brains stretches every time you learn-and learn as much as you want because it is a very strong muscle!

WGBH Podcasts

The podcasts featured by WGBH ranges from grades k-12. The podcasts take a subject or a question and explains it. One that I watched, for grades 9-12, was about why the moon doesn't fall. It explained that in fact the moon does fall, it's just moving at such a high speed that as gravity pulls it down it makes an actual circle, or orbit, around the earth. If it were to slow down, it would then fall on us and if it sped up, it would orbit the sun instead of the Earth. So it's just a basic balance between the moon's speed and the universe's gravitational pull.

The podcastd were very insightful because it was more visual, which is great for me because I am a heavy visual learner, and it explains the concept so simply that it is very easy to understand and grasp it. Some were actually kind of entertaining...it reminded my of my FAVORITE science show 'Bill Nye the Science Guy'!

This would be great for students that may not understand a concept maybe the way the teacher is presenting it. It could give them a different perspective on the concept that they may relate better to or understand better.

Check out one of Bill Nye's episodes on "quick sand": Bill Nye at youtube.com

Edutopia

The Edible Schoolyard

The Edible Schoolyard is a podcast about Martin Luther King Junior Middle School, in Berkely, California, that allows their students to plant organic fruits and vegetables. The garden and the kitchen are used as the students' learning labs where they learn many subjects-life, science, math, and social studies. The garden is the actual center of teaching. The students learn how to cooperate together through group projects, ecology, photosynthesis, and much more. This edible garden also gives the students and teachers a nutritional diet.

I really enjoyed this podcast. It made me think back to Randy Pausch's lecture when he discussed the concept of the "head fake." These students are having so much fun gardening together while learning so much more.

This podcast really backs up my thoughts that learning should be fun. I learned so much more in many of my classes thanks to the instructor making it interesting and relating to me. This video really shows how having fun can be educational.

The Edible Schoolyard can also be viewed online: The Edible Schoolyard

A Night in the Global Village

A Night in the Global Village is a podcast about students at the Rocky Mountain School of Expeditionary Learning in Denver that give up their privileged status, as Americans, for one night to basically talk a walk in other, less fortunate, shoes. They explore structures/houses set up to mimic Guatemala, Thailand, Zambia, Appalachia, and a refugee camp. In each house, they are enligntened a little more about the actual housing structure and conditions. The students are grouped up and have to work together because no one group has all the resources they need, such as water, food, and wood. They have to work together to figure out how to "survive" the night, and this is made even more difficult while no one from the refugee camp cannot speak any English.

This is a really good program because it allows the students to actually put themselves in the shoes of ones less fortunate rather than just reading about. It is something about being able to actually see how others struggle and survive life day by day. It gives them a chance to reflect, be thankful for being an American, and maybe even a chance to help those less fortunate.

I wish I could send my younger sister to this camp because it really hurts and annoys me to see how ungrateful she is. She gets anything she wants from my mom. You name it, she has it. But yet, my mother can ask her something simple like take the trash out and she pouts! Not only does she pout, she may even yell a little. I'm always telling her she's ungrateful...I'm going to tell my mom about this podcast!

Accessibilty for All

I, unfortunately, did not get to experience Mr. Sullivan's presentation, Accessibility for All, in person but did get a chance to view the physical presentation on-line. Watching this, I learned that there are laws and acts that protect people with disabilities. I learned about different ways the Internet, or computers period, can be easily used by ones with disabilities by making them easily accessible. Zoom Text and Magic are computer software that magnify the content of the screen for people with low vision or a learning disability. JAWS and Window Eyes, typically used by those who are totally blind, actually reads all parts of the screen for the user and allows them to respond by using the keyboard. Via Voice and Dragon Naturally speaking allows the user to speak their commands into a microphone. This software is typically used by ones that suffer from hand impairments such as cerebral palsy.

I know and a little bit more knowledgeable on how to handle a student, or students, with a disability in the future.

Alabama Virtual Library

The Alabama Virtual Library (AVL) is basically an on-line library with such resources as journal, magazine, and newspaper articles. The AVL is an informative and reliable on-line resource for research readily available to all state of Alabama residents. AVL can be accessed from any computer by simple obtaining an AVL card from a local library. The school system can also issue AVL cards to their students,teachers, and faculty as well.

The AVL has many great resources for research. You can begin your research by selecting an age group(elementary, middle, or high school; college or university; general public), a topic (i.e. science, social science, news, reference, etc), browsing a particular magazine or journal, or by searching for a specific database. There is a variety of databases to search from such as Britannica Elementary and Kids Search for elementary-aged students or the Oxford English dictionary for the general public.

I think the AVL is a terrific and informative website that is user friendly. I found many things interesting on the website as I browsed through the High School category, since that is what level I will be teaching at in the near future. I also found some resources that are of interest to me. I will, personally, use this website for my own future research needs and will pass this information on to others as well.

Podcasts

The first podcast I listened to was the SMARTBoard Lessons podcast, episode number 142. The subject of this particular podcast is teachers connecting in cross-country collaborations, a.k.a teachers getting together and sharing ideas. Host Ben Hazzard and co-host Joan Badger discuss Hazzard's website teachersconnecting.com and pdtogo.com/smart. At the beginning of the podcast, the 'session' was light as Badger and Hazzard discuss their hectic summers. As the podcast progresses, Ben and Joan discuss many great and useful websites for teachers, such as bighugelabs.com/flickr, that has many great tools and ideas to make lecturing and information interesting and easy to learn for the students. Joan and Ben expand on how they, and others, used bighugelabs.com for their own individual teaching needs.

Kidcast.tv is a podcast, hosted by Dan, was put together in a very similar manner as SMARTBoard. A little music was played at the beginning, the host comes in and introduces him/herself, and then they share their experiences relating to their subject. A little conversation may be held at first, such as their day or their exciting weekend, but for the most part the conversation is limited to the subject of the podcast at hand.

One thing that I noticed a lot while listening to the various podcasts is how conversational the tone of the podcasts are. It not so much as a stern, "Hey you! Listen to me teach or lecture!" It was a very calm and normal tone as they gave their insights and useful information. There were funny points that made you laugh in the podcasts as well as points when you pull your paper and pen out and write down the information being dished out.

Listening to these podcasts really, really helped me a lot as I'm thinking of how to piece together my future podcast. The host(s) spoke clearly and intelligently and the information was ready and accurate. But most of all, I learned that I don't have to be so nervous because the tone of the podcasts were more conversational than anything.

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

Dr. Randy Pausch was an exceptionally inspirational professor at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Pausch, who was married to wife Jai and had three children, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2006. Around the time of learning that his pancreatic cancer was terminal, Pausch was given the opportunity to deliver a 'last speech/lecture' at CMU. After learning of his serious state, Pausch decided to deliver his last lecture, basically, for his kids. The lecture was entitled Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.
On September 18, 2007, Pausch delivered a moving and inspirational speech that included his childhood goals, how he achieved them, helping others achieve their childhood dreams, and how to be a better person. Pausch spoke of many of his childhood dreams, but one in particular that stood out to me was his dream to play in the NFL. Although he did not make it to the NFL, Pausch learned from playing football as a child thanks to his former Coach Jim Ghrahm. He spoke about how Ghrahm rode him an entire practice. At first, it made him feel bad until another coach pointed out the it was indeed good that Ghrahm was riding him because if he wasn't, that meant that he'd given up on him. Pausch explains that your critics, the ones who point out your mistakes and faults, are the ones telling you they still love you and care. Pausch also learned fundamentals from football. The fundamentals of anything is the foundation.
Pausch taught his students through a concept he called the "head fake." He believed using the head fake, or indirect learning, was the best way to get one to learn because they think they are doing something else but in actuality they are learning while having fun, such as when you send your child out to play football. They may think that they're out to simply learn to play football but they actually learn and gain so much more. They gain the fundamentals-teamwork, sportsmanship, perserverance, and teamwork.
Pausch best put this idea to work through a project called Alice. Alice is a way to teach students computer programming by allowing them to simply have fun making movies and games. Pausch's goal, and legacy, was to enable millions of kids to have fun while learning something hard. The 3.0 version of Alice, due this year, teaches students Java language by writing movies and scripts with characters themed from the popular computer game 'The Sims.' One of Pausch's former students, Caitlin Keller, helps carry on his legacy by bringing Alice to middle schools.
Dr. Randy Pausch had many valuable points in his last lecture, many of which stuck with me and will shine in my life day by day. Pausch spoke of brick walls in our lives-obstacles. Obstacles, brick walls, are not there to stop us but to show how badly we want something. The walls are there to keep out the ones that don't want it badly enough. Brick walls allows us to show our dedication. Don't let them keep you down, never give up.
Watching this video touched me in many ways. Dr. Pausch was a very smart and dedicated man. He wanted to make sure his children learned while enjoying his last lecture-the head fake. His intent was to touch the lives of his children, but in actuality he touched so many more and I am just glad he lived long enough to realize that. I honestly enjoyed the video.


You can view Pausch's Last Lecture here.