Growth Mindset: Sharing Growth Mindset

I took this assignment as an opportunity to talk about growth mindset with one of my friends. My friend is an education major, so I felt that knowing about growth mindset and its applications would be very useful. My friend was pretty familiar with the idea of growth mindset, but she did not yet know it by this name. She felt that the entire mindset required to successfully incorporate growth mindset activities into a classroom is something that should be taught more in class. We also discussed this topic with my other roommate who was completely unfamiliar with growth mindset. He is going to try and incorporate growth mindset into his life as a student. Sharing growth mindset has been a success.

Growth 

Growth Mindset: Bad Habits

I read the article 6 Bad Mental Habits That Sabotage Your Success. I found this to be very helpful as I am guilty of a few of these, and I know that I need to work on them. A few that I am guilty of are fearing the future, self doubt, and second guessing myself. I know that if I can work on conquering these bad mental habits, then I will grow as a student and a person in general. The cool thing about this article is that it pointed out things that I was not even consciously aware of that I do. It is hard to fix something if you are not aware that is a problem. I am glad this article brought these bad habits to my attention and I will work on conquering them this semester.

Growth Mindset 

Growth Mindset: Genius

I think the components of genius are dedication, perseverance, ambition, and openness to learning. I would give these attributes each a 25% rating because it is hard to have one without the others. I believe these four attributes are closely linked and key to success.

Growth Mindset: Getting Over Fear

I read the article about Getting Over Fear in New Situations. I think it was important to read that we should focus on getting better rather than being good in a new situation. Fear is all about the mindset that you bring into a new situation. I have noticed that when I approach a new situation with a learning mindset that I am more excited and enthusiastic about the situation. One thing I need to work on in the future is relaxing and having fun in new situations. I tend to be a bit anxious when I am out of my comfort zone. I think the tips in this article will help greatly with that.

Step out of the comfort zone

Growth Mindset: Cats

I chose these two cats because they are adorable. The first one is tiny and fearless. It serves as a nice reminder to always challenge yourself. The second image is also hilarious. I should strive to work as hard as the cat up in a tree trying to find a bird in a birdhouse. These images provided some more lighthearted motivation. 

Embrace Challenges

Dream big 

Growth Mindset: Advice from Students

This week, I looked at the paddle with advice from other students. The first I found helpful was the idea of feedforward rather than feedback. This allows you to still give advice about the past, but you can present it in a manner that is helpful for the future. This ties in well with growth mindset and getting better at your craft. Another quote I found was that failing is good. Growth mindset is all about getting better, so it is good to fail in order to learn how to grow from a failure.

Failure is Success 

Growth Mindset: Student Thoughts

The first quote that I found provided a new perspective is that feedback is a gift. I have never thought of it this way, but it really is. People are taking the time to genuinely engage with your work and help you to get better. This will help me in appreciating feedback in the future. The second was to find the lesson. This helps me to remain positive in moments of failure. It is important to learn from our failures rather than just become upset and give up. Both of these quotes put growth mindset in a new perspective for me.

Feedback gift

Growth Mindset extra credit

I read the article The Emotional Weight of Being Graded. I found this article to be extremely relatable. I find great joy in receiving an A, and, when I perform below my expectations, I feel very lousy and think less of myself temporarily. It is also true that negative emotions associated with a certain grade does lower your interest in a subject. This article makes me wish that more educators focused on actual learning of material rather than grades. You can completely master a subject but still not do well in a class because of busy work assignments that do not assess learning. I have friends that are education majors, and I showed them this article as well. Very helpful!

grades

Growth Mindset: Sports

I read the article Learning and Performance Zones in Sports by Jeremy Frith. This article confirmed that growth mindset is a great attribute to have in sports and athletics. One thing that I had not previously considered was using practice as a learning zone and games as a performance zone. I found this to be very insightful. It is important to make sure that you are growing and addressing flaws in practice, while focusing on what you do best in games. The goal is not to be flawless in practice. The goal is to learn as much as possible and grow in weak areas. I am going to try to use this approach more in studying by focusing on skills that I have not yet mastered rather than trying to be flawless in practice.

Advice in Sports 

Growth Mindset

I found the videos about the growth mindset very interesting. I have not heard of Carol Dweck, but I have heard of the growth vs. fixed mindsets. I serve as a volunteer mentor to a child in a local Norman elementary school. When doing my training, I watched a presentation on the growth mindset and its applications. By employing some growth mindset ideas in weekly meetings, I saw the child's attention, effort, and overall self esteem grow throughout the year. This is when I knew that I had to focus on a growth mindset more in my life. I try to use these ideas in my school. I love being challenged in my courses. I also enjoy the growth mindset in exercise. I know that the only way to improve in a workout is through being challenged and having the mindset that you can achieve greater feats through effort and perseverance. I do think I would be interested in learning more about growth mindset throughout the semester. Growth mindset was a huge asset to me when I took biochemistry. At first, I thought I would never be able to learn the material. By the end of the semester, I was truly amazed at everything I had learned. I look forward to the challenge of Human Physiology this semester, as well as my other classes that will provide ample opportunity for growth.

Image of Growth Mindset. Source: Pixabay