Mindset: Final Reflection

My reading has come to an end.  I have finished my book on Mindset and I am excited to take

everything that I have gained and learned from these readings and use it to shape me as a teacher with growth mindset.  In the last leg of the book, it discussed a lot of the ways that parents, coaches and teachers not only guide children on the path of mindsets but it also talked about how they themselves need to have a growth mindset.  If you are a teacher who is of fixed mindset but are only trying to have a growth mindset when around your students, they are going to know that it is a fake front and the encouragement that you are trying give them will be wasted time.  Children need the encouragement and praise to be as genuine as possible and the best way to do that is to have a growth mindset from the beginning.  This can be hard! 

As the book goes on further, it talks about how most people are a mix of the two mindsets.  That all of us have a fixed mindset about something and they found that it was usually ourselves.  As teachers or parents, we have growth mindsets when it comes to our children and we are always trying to get them to also have a growth mindset.  We push them and encourage them to keep trying even in the face of failure.  However, when the parents or teachers fail themselves or feel as it they have failed, they will turn to the small part of fixed mindset that they have.  The most important thing to remember in these times is to "Practice what you preach".  You need to listen to yourself and know that it is ok if a lesson didn't go as planned or that every student didn't get a 100% on the last quiz. 

This is something that I particularly hope that I can remind myself of daily when I begin my student teaching.  It is easy for us to be hard on ourselves but encouraging to others who are in the same situation.  Part of growth mindset is that we have to learn from our mistakes and appreciate those moments when we do fail for those are the times of exponential growth.  By no means should we go out of our way to fail, but remember that sometimes the failure is even more powerful than the success!  I know that not every lesson I am about to teach in the spring is not going to go as planned or that I have planned an activity that was not able to meet the objectives of the day.  It is going to very easy for me to think that I am a failure and that I should give up and only conduct lessons that are simple and boring.  However, by reading this book, I hope that I am able to use many of the things I have learned and help keep myself out of these "Poor me" spirals of mindset death.  I need to remember that those will be the times where both myself and students will learn and grow together.  It doesn't mean that any of us have failed; we just need to go back to the drawing board and see how it could have went better. 

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is going into education but more importantly I would recommend it to anyone!  This book can be beneficial to anyone who wants to change their out look on life or wants to become a more positive person because as I mentioned in earlier reflections, living with a fixed mindset will start to effect your interpersonal relations.  There are countless suggestions within the book on how to start to change your mindset or how to strengthen an already growth mindset.  The most important thing to keep in mind though, is that this is a process.  You can't change your mindset overnight, it will take time and effort to help keep yourself on track to change! 

Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success Part 2

Mindset: The New Psychology of Sucess Part 2
I have been super busy the past few weeks between getting to experience the Pennsylvania Association of Agriculture Educators (PAAE) Summer Conference and going on my first of several visits to future students' SAE projects, both events to which I will be blogging about very soon!  Between it all I have been able to read the second part of my book and I must say it is starting to really get interesting.  The first few chapters were mainly overviews, ideas, and definitions of what both fixed and growth mindset are.  In the next few chapters, it starts to discuss specific stories, studies and examples of how your type of mindset can influence you life and decisions that you make.  My cooperating teacher, Valerie Fry, and I have both really started to reflect on not only how our types of mindsets will influence us both in the classroom in the upcoming months but how it has truly shaped the way our lives are.  Shall we begin? 
Chapter 4: Sports and the mindset of a champion
This chapter  I actually really got into reading about the backgrounds of some of the most legendary sports heroes we know today like Michael Jordan, Wilma Rudolph, Mia Hamm, Muhammad Ali and Babe Ruth!  All of these people who we idolize all started as athletes who were not so hot in their fields.  None of them were considered naturals which what everyone thinks you have to be in order to succeed in sports.  In fact, most sports agents aren't looking for natural raw talent anymore, they are looking for a good player with an even better mindset.  All of these amazing players and athletes got

to where they are today because of their mindset.  A popular movie called A Cinderella Story has a famous line that has stuck with me (see photo to the right for quote).  This is truly the message that this chapter is pitching home (pun intentional)!  It is saying that if your not the strongest, the fastest, or whatever your excuse is; there is absolutely not reason that you cannot succeed if your mind lets you!  Don't let your mindset hold you back!
This chapter also talks about character and what it is deep down.  "Character is the ability to dig down and find the strength even when things are going against you."  This book does a great job of explaining that character grows out of mindset.  When someone wants to work hard and knows that no matter what, at the end of the day, as long as they have put everything into themselves and be able to say "I can do better or we will get them next time with more practice".  This isn't something that is easy to say or something that you want to say.  We would all like to say that we have growth mindset and that we never give up, but we all know deep down there is that one thing that we have turned our backs on.  This is when character has to be learned.  We have to learn to pick up the pieces, move on and try harder.  We have to learn to put our best foot forward even when things are not going for us.  We have to learn to have heart!  When we learn these things is when we will truly have the mind of a champion; a mind focused on growth!  My take away moment: Mindset is MORE important than talent!- I want my students as I go into my adventure to take risks.  If they are able to word hard, be dedicated and have a growth mindset they will have no barriers! 
Chapter 5: Business mindset and leadership
This chapter really made me think.  I am not very good when it comes to business and it is actually a great struggle of mine.  So when I headed into this chapter I was terrified that it was going to be talking over my head the whole time.  Thankfully, it brought it down to my kind of terms and didn't talk so much on the business end but more on how to be a successful leader and not letting your victories over take your mind.  There was a lot of discussion in the book about different CEOs and heads of companies who started out as geniuses in business, who were going to set so many companies on the fast track to success.  Only a few of the stories provided ended that way.  In all the others, these smooth and fast talking individuals who at first were very good at their jobs.  They quickly got caught up in the image and worrying about what would happen to that image if they failed even slightly.  Instead of admitting that maybe their ideas didn't work they wanted, they would sooner lie to investors and the public.  They just want to prove that they are better than everyone else.  They are only concerned about their reputation and have no concerns about the employees or the business itself.  This starts a bigger problem as these great geniuses don't want great teams to support them.  Eventually, the business will get rid of the toxic leader or unfortunately will fail completely.  The real sad part is that these toxic leaders were happy to see the company fail, they would rather see it close because of them than let someone else come along and gain praise for fixing it. 

Thankfully, the past has shown business owners and investors that these fixed mindset leaders will only harm the business.  They are looking for leaders who maintain a healthy sense of confidence.  Usually these are those who didn't set out to be leaders at all.  They didn't want to prove themselves, they just wanted to do what they love and see where it took them.  Leadership is all about growth and passion which is exactly what growth mindset is all about!  Being able to admit, I don't know what I'm doing can someone tell/show me how it is done is crucial in any type of leadership position.  These are people who are focused on how can the entire group better themselves by working there.  Are they able to push their minds and use their creativity to be able to create a new and better idea than the leader has.  In return that leader is able to say "Look, Joe has worked hard and came up with this great idea!"  My take away moment: Great leaders don't use the word me, they only say we! - I hope that I as a teacher, a leader of the classroom, realize this and remember it as I go forward.  I want us as a class to succeed together in this adventure, not just me! 
Chapter 6: Relationships mindsets in love or not
This chapter was all about how our mindset can affect all of our relationships with others; family members, friends and significant others.  We all have had a bad relationship once in our lives.  It may have been a co-worker, a friend, or even a family member.  When you part ways is when your true mindset will come out.  There two things you can think:  1. Revenge:  All you want for that person is hurt and pain for what they have done or 2. Forgiveness: You walk away saying I have a whole life to live and I am not going to let this hold me back, it went wrong and it's ok.  Can you guess which one is the fixed mindset?  Growth mindset people are able to know how to move on and embrace the future because they know that even though it didn't work out, they were able to learn something about themselves because of it.  There is no great relationship without conflicts and problems so you must be willing to learn as you go.  Which leads me to another favorite quote of mine that echoes this books message.  Country Singer, John Michael Montgomery tells us all in a famous song that "Life's a dance you learn as you go, sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow"( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLrnwnNycoQ ).  As people come into and out of your life you need to take advantage of the time you have with them and learn as much as you can about that person because in return you will learn more about yourself.  An important part of this chapter focuses on the friendships we make in our lives.  We need to search out for those that are going to guide us in wisdom, encourage and reassure us, and sometimes praise us.  There can be dangers in praise as I will later read about in the book, but as humans we all need a little bit of praise every once in a while to boost our moral and help us to not give up.  We also need to not worry about finding perfect people to surround ourselves with.  There are not perfect people and if you only look for perfection you will never learn or grow.  My take away moment: Things don't always work!  Forgive, forget and turn to those who you still have! - I will not win the heart of every student along the way.  I cannot let this bring me down.  I will work to become a better version of myself and learn from that of how I can connect better with all students! 
I am looking forward to what the last section of the book has in store for me!  I know that by reading this, it will only make me a better and more aware teacher of both my students' mindsets and my own.  I am already starting to brainstorm about how I can carry these ideas I have learned from this reading into how I can help inform others of how their mindset is key to how successful every aspect of their lives is!
Thanks for reading! 
- Macy

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am a senior at Penn State majoring in Agriculture and Extension Education.  I have reached the point in my education that I will be learning about methodology and teaching styles in the fall to prepare me for my student teaching experience.  I will be starting my student teaching in January with Valerie Fry at Selinsgrove High School.  Part of my fall classes requires myself and Mrs. Fry to both read the same book and then discuss and reflect on the ideas presented.  We have chose to read Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck, PH.D.  The book is about the difference in people's mindsets and how to identify the differences.  The book thus far, has included a lot of stories of successes of individuals with a particular type of mindset.  I would like to reflect and summarize main ideas and theories I took away from each of the first three chapters. 

Chapter 1:  The Mindsets
This chapter opened the book by teaching me of the two different mindsets that one can have; fixed or growth.  Those with a fixed mindset tend to believe that qualities and abilities are carved in stone and are assigned at birth.  For example, if you are gifted in math, you have always been gifted just with your natural abilities.  There is no extra required work needed; if your good, your good if your not, your not.  These individuals also require lots of feedback but only if it is positive and confidence building.  If they have any feeling that they have failed at a task, then they will give up and adopt the idea that they are a failure.  If they have excelled at a task, they feel on top of a mountain but need positivity and praises to keep them there or the will spiral down into a feeling of failure.  Once they have mastered a task, they don't want to challenge themselves by going to the next level for the fear of not succeeding so instead they just stay stagnant at the last level of success.  On the other hand, those with a growth mindset believe that basic qualities and abilities are things that can learned and can cultivate through hard work and efforts.  They never stop seeking to learn.  Growth mindset learners feel that there is no success earned with out effort.  Even if you already have mastered a task, you should strive for the next level and keep learning and pushing yourself to do better.  They appreciate a challenge and are want to hear helpful criticism so that they can adapt and grow.  

Chapter 2: Inside the Mindsets
This chapter includes many stories of individuals that compare their personal mindsets and where they have gone in life.  Many of those with a fixed mindset started early life off being called geniuses or child prodigies.  They were always being praised and told that their skills were amazing and had a natural gift.  These people just road on what people had told them was a natural gift and did not exert any additional efforts or practice, leading to them being passes up by those with growth mindsets and efforts have paid off.  It also discussed the idea that those with a fixed mindset also suffer from playing the blame game.  This is when they blame their failures or misfortunes on others.  It never has to do with them not practicing or learning new skills; its everyone else's fault.  The reoccurring example within the book is John McEnroe, famous tennis player.  He never strived to push himself or learn to adapt to new situations; it was never his fault.  The examples of growth mindset mentioned  were Micheal Jordan, famous basketball player and Chuck Yeager, an elite military pilot.  Chuck differed from other pilots, as they believed they were special and born with much more bravery and smarts because they were a pilot.  Chuck said "There is no such thing as a natural-born pilot.  The best pilots fly more than others; that's why they're the best." 

Chapter 3: The truth About Ability and Accomplishment
The final chapter I will be reflecting on talked about how to recognize accomplishments of students.  Studies conducted showed that if individuals were given constructive and specific praises they were likely to change from a fixed mindset to growth.  Saying things such as "Your hard work paid off" or "Really nice job, I can tell you put a lot of effort in" guides students into a growth mindset.  Phrases such as "Wow, your really smart" or "You really have a gift for this" will only support a fixed mindset.  This chapter also discussed stereotypes and the affects that they have on mindsets.  Stereotypes such as woman can't succeed in math and science, or African Americans are less intelligent hinder individuals.  This especially has negative effects on those with fixed mindsets because they feel that no matter what they will never succeed; they feel their destiny is already determined by stereotypes.  But it still expresses that with hard work, effort and a strong growth mindset, you can succeed and overcome your faults.  They do briefly talk about how this needs to be used in context of course.  Those who have access to money, higher connections, and additional resources have a better chance of achieving goals and keeping a positive mindset no matter why type.  No everyone is able to access all resources however, so some have to work and work even harder to achieve success but with a growth mindset they will have a better chance of reaching goals. 

I cannot wait to dive deeper into this book and see what the gems are held within the pages.  I am really hopeful that there are lots of example of how to keep a positive growth mindset overall in a classroom of students.  I would love to have my future students all have a growth mindset and continuously strive to do better and keep raising the bar for themselves.  I already have learned a lot and I have only began.  I never thought much about the feedback and praise given to students and how that can effect their mindset.  I didn't know that calling someone gift or smart could in return someday lead to downfall.  I would love to hear what you guys are thinking thus far of my book and my reflections; feel free to comment or leave questions below.

Thanks for reading everyone! 
-Macy