Wes Akers

While reading Mindset by Carol S. Dweck, I am constantly comparing my mindset to the examples she presents in her book.  Do I have a fixed or growth mindset?  Am I both?  Can I be both?  How do I change the areas of my life in which I have a fixed mindset?

As a teacher working in a data-driven instructional model, I believe I have developed a fixed mindset about generating test scores desired by my administration.  Test scores have been the indicator for determining whether students are mastering grade level skills.  The scores have been the payoff for my students and me and we are rewarded when we achieve high scores.  The learning process has not been the ultimate reward and often does unrecognized by our administration.

Every week, my administration sends out an email called the Weekly Update.  In the Weekly Update, my principal always includes quotes or ideas from published researchers as part of her “Soapbox” section.  This week she included Dweck’s mindsets and I almost laughed out loud.  Well, I definitely chuckled a bit because I do not believe our administration builds our school culture around a growth mindset.  I, however, need to be more forward thinking and not dwell on the past because I know my administration is trying to make shifts in their leadership style, just like many of us are trying to make instructional shifts in our classrooms.

My school district is deeply committed to data-driven instruction and we are learning how to find a balance between fostering improvement in numbers and valuing real, live human beings.  My principal wants us to start looking at our data from the lens of identifying “opportunity gaps” instead of “achievement gaps.”  When I read this, I was pleased because I hope we can start viewing our students’ struggles as opportunities to learn.  I also hope my principal continues to model this mindset because I fear many teachers, including myself, will revert back to a fixed mindset if she falls back into her former leadership style.  If the teachers revert back a fixed mindset, the students will too.

Last year, we saw negativity and pessimism take over the sixth grade because many of us did not take ownership and made excuses for our students’ low performance on tests.  When I read about John McEnroe’s excuses, I thought, “Aha, this was our problem last year.”  We were making excuses for poor performance, instead of making instructional shifts by differentiating or scaffolding instruction.

The example from Mindset that has stood out the most to me is about Marina Semyonova, the Russian dancer and teacher.  I love the way she evaluated her students by observing how they responded to feedback.  Research shows meaningful, timely feedback is one of the best strategies for helping students make learning gains.  By analyzing how students responded to feedback, Semyonova was able to determine which students desired improvement over success.

I believe it is important that I help students accept feedback as a motivating factor and to embrace a growth mindset about their learning.  Our students come to middle school already knowing they are not reading, writing, or solving math problems on grade level.  Many of them are defeated when they walk in the door.  As the year progress, I want to incorporate more opportunities to develop a growth mindset by using feedback.

Learning Activity

Student Learning Targets:

• I can evaluate my mindset.
• I can make connect the text to my life.

Agenda

• Answer the questions on pages 12 – 13
• Complete reflective stop and write
• Share out with a partner
• Read the sections at the end of read chapter and annotate the text to find places where they recognize themselves.
• Share out with your partners.

For my learning activity, I think it is important for those who have not read the book to be introduced to the two mindsets by personalizing them.  I would like my classmates to first answer the questions on pages 12 – 13.  These questions forced me to realize I have a fixed mindset regarding some areas of my life.  After answering the questions, I would like my classmates to reflect on their choices and describe their choices in a quick stop and write.  The reflective stop and write will be used as a conversation starter for sharing out with partners.  After my classmates share with their partners, I would them to read the sections at the end of chapters 2 and 3 and annotate the text by identifying examples where they see themselves.  Once they have read the text, they will go back to their partner to discuss the examples with which they made a personal connection.  Once partner discussion is finished, I want to close by doing another reflective stop and write focusing on the questions – so what?  What does this mean for you as an adult learner and human being?  By the end of the activity, I hope my classmates will have a better understanding of their varying mindsets and the role they play in their lives.