Professional Journey

I'm taking the plunge. Growing my knowledge and not being afraid.

For years (maybe even since I completed my undergrad) I have avoided the thought of a Masters Degree. Well, not avoided, I have thought about it a lot. But have deemed myself unable to do the work. However, recently several interactions have propelled me into this journey, and I will officially start course work in the summer for a Masters Degree. 

I could have waited to write about it until then, but a portion of the degree is taking "workshops" that directly relate to classrooms right now, with skills and strategies and everything that I love. And I am taking 3 workshops this spring.

The first one is one week in. And I LOVE it.

We are using the book The Growth Mindset Coach, by Annie Brock and Heather Hundley. 

I can now see that by saying I could not do this Masters work was a fixed mindset and I am SOOOOOO glad to have gotten past that and decided that I could be brave and do this. If all students can learn (and I do believe this with all of my heart), then, I too, can learn and do this.

Our current reading is chapters 1 and 2 and these are my responses to do I have a fixed or growth mindset, and what is the difference between the two:

I feel like I have been working on my growth mindset for decades (even before I knew the term). When I am in a good place I find that I flip most things to be positive, and that has helped me a lot. In the quiz I did not mark any "fixed" statements (but see that they could creep into my mind on a bad day), and I marked 3 "growth" statements. In the educational setting, I can see that I do like to get out of my comfort zone and accept new challenges (so I could have marked those), but in my personal life that is not as prevalent. 

As I reflect on my circle of teacher friends, I see that many (all) have a growth mindset and we absolutely love to share and inspire and build each other up. I used to call it teacher magic. Now I know that it is living and growing our minds.

The difference between a Fixed Mindset and a Growth Mindset is both simple and complex. It is simple, because fixed is doing the same thing, and growth is being willing to learn and grow and do things in a different way. A Growth Mindset reminds me of thinking outside the box. The difference is also complex because of a subtle difference. In a fixed mindset, a person wants to win (I like to win or be the best), but in a growth mindset a person can win, but not to the exclusion of others. I LOVE it when I can work with my fellow teachers on skills and strategies and then all of the students benefit, no matter who their teacher is. I find that I would rather talk and write about Growth Mindsets, it is where I feel relaxed and good about me.

I am hoping that my bloggy friends will point me in the direction for resources and lessons for teaching the little 5 an 6 year olds in my classroom about growth mindset. It is a process and I am eager to learn with my classmates, bloggy friends and my students.