Week 2 Mathematics

This week I was reminded of a fixed vs. growth mindset. To remind whoever is reading this post, a fixed mindset is when a student believes that they cannot achieve something because they are not "smart enough" or that they "were not born with that knowledge." A growth mindset is when a student believes that they can do something even if they are struggling. This is when they are challenging themselves instead of giving up. It is important as educators to be aware of these different mindsets within our classroom as they can occur throughout any subject and appear with any student. Now this connects back to my first reflection as it branches off of my post about negative attitudes toward math. If a student has a negative attitude toward math then they probably have a fixed mindset. Now these kids are not stuck with a fixed mindset forever, it is in our job as educators to make children aware of these negative thoughts that are holding them back to hopefully convert them to a growth mindset.

Retrieved from http://big-change.org/growth-mindset/ 

Some tips I found to help shift students attitudes toward difficult subjects such as math are by making them aware that the brain is capable of getting stronger and smarter. This happens by the cells called neutrons in your brain that are connected to a thousand other neurons. The strength, number and location of the neurons affects how the brain works and change all the time depending on our experiences. By creating new experiences it creates new connections and strengthens previous connections to make the brain smarter.

Retrieved from http://www.tooandroid.com/use-these-5-apps-to-walk-more-and-improve-brain-health/

The video below is John Legend discussing his journey to becoming famous. He talks about the amount of effort he had to put to get where he is today and how many times he failed getting there but never gave up. I think this is an amazing video to show students as it is a short clip and someone they could look up to or hear on the radio.


Also check out this awesome TedTalk discussing a Growth Mindset!



So let's help students get into a growth mindset to not only gain short-term achievement but long-term success!!!