In thinking about my growth mindset this semester, the main aspect that has changed is that now, I'm thinking more about how to teach it to my colleagues. This semester, my collaborative team and I have created a Professional Learning Plan to implement blended learning on our campus. One of the sessions we will hold will focus on how teachers can develop a growth mindset within themselves and their learners. How does one teach a person to have a growth mindset? 

Two things come to mind...research and modeling. I learned about

embodying a growth mindset by reading Carol Dweck's book,

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, and watching several

YouTube videos. As we thought about developing our PL sessions,

we knew we were going to have to do the same for our teachers. We're going to create a significant learning environment and have them learn in a blended learning way. Instead of reading Dweck's entire book, we're going to have our teachers watch a few of the many TED Talks Carol Dweck participated in, along with reading Growth Mindset articles we have learned from. We'll then have extensive discussions about our learning, while we model what a growth mindset looks like and sounds like. We'll be having practice role-modeling where the teachers will be given scenarios to work through while using growth mindset dialogue. We recognize that teachers will more than likely have to work on their growth mindset voice first before they begin teaching or modeling for their students, so we'll start with scenarios that are aimed at developing their mindset first. Once they begin seeing the importance of having a growth mindset themselves, we can then focus on having those discussions about ideas on how to harness a growth mindset in our learners.

                                                                                                Putting our plan into practice is going to require           

                                                                                                continuous work on my part, as well as the teachers'.

                                                                                                We will have to have a lot of self-talks and reminders

                                                                                                posted in our learning environments, as our goal is to

                                                                                                create a significant learning environment for our

                                                                                                students. The environment we create can serve as an

                                                                                                obstacle or an asset to that development. We will have

                                                                                                to model how to overcome frustration, disagreements,

                                                                                                criticism, feedback, and failure and be able to help

                                                                                                students overcome those feelings and situations

                                                                                                through a lens of learning and through grit. 

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In conclusion, significant learning environments create motivated, engaged, self-directed, lifelong learners, and when we encompass a growth mindset within our SLE, learners will recognize that they can and will want to learn in a self-directed, meaningful way.

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Resource:

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Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success: How we can learn to fulfill our potential.

          Ballantine Books.