Here I will post drafts of my Academic Mindset Assignment.
Blog posts related to the Academic Mindset Assignment:
DRAFT 1:
Exploring your mindset
Each individual student goes about a different way of learning and comprehending what is being taught. When breaking it down in a simple way, there are two types of mindsets that students can categorize themselves into. These two categories are Growth Mindset and Fixed Mindset. Having a growth mindset opens up a student's academic learning potential. Students with Growth Mindsets believe that things can be achieved through hard work, feedback, good strategies, and commitment. Students with Fixed Mindsets tend to believe that they're either good at something or they're not. These students look at their failures as a negative event instead of using it as a method to improve themselves. Reflecting on your past work and attitudes is a great way to determine what type of mindset you possess.
After reading Carol Dweck's Growth Mindset Research I thought about my own academic mindset. Having a fixed mindset constantly got in the way of me personally achieving my goals. I felt that I was unable to improve my abilities due to my state of mind. Dweck stated, "when we face challenges, receive criticism, or fare poorly compared with others, we can easily fall into insecurity or defensiveness, a response that inhibits growth." Having a fixed mindset made me think negatively and it held me back from achieving my overall goals and prevented me from challenging myself. Dweck stated, "We're finding that many parents endorse a growth mindset, but they still respond to their children's errors, setbacks or failures as though they're damaging and harmful,". My father was the type of guy that would always question why I wasn't doing better, or why couldn't I have gotten a 100% instead of a 98%. This negative feedback made me think that I wasn't good enough and that I would never meet the expectations.
As a student, I faced many obstacles and found it very difficult to concentrate and completely commit myself to any assignment. I had countless teachers tell my parents that I was a daydreamer, that I was always zoned out, and that I could probably describe the trees outside the window since that's all I look at. I've also had teachers say that I should be checked for ADD because of my lack of concentration. I seemed to fail many tests and I never turned in homework assignments. However, this wasn't caused by any learning disabilities or difficulties. I was stuck in this state of mind that I will never be good enough so what's the point of trying harder or trying new approaches. I thought that since my sister had learning disabilities and my dad failed out of college, that I had a reasonable excuse. I had this type of negative fixed mindset all the way up until my senior year of high school. Because of my lack of change or motivation to perform better, I was pushed up against the gun. I was failing 3 classes and was put on academic probation, which prohibited me from participating in sports and school activities for a period of time. The school also held my cap and gown all the way until 2 days before graduation. Clearly, I had this thought in my head that there was no reason to try harder because I'd never succeed.
However, one might think you can just adopt a growth mindset and everything will be magically turned around and fixed. This is far from the truth. In order to maintain a growth mindset one must remain positive and be optimistic. Constantly challenging yourself and using new tactics and methods to improve your work are all good characteristics of a growth mindset. I personally think that having a growth mindset is very important especially during a student's college career. Without a growth mindset, students are stuck in this repeated cycle. I believe that when new methods and tactics are approached the student has the ability to use the proper tools to perform well.
Blog posts related to the Academic Mindset Assignment:
DRAFT 1:
Exploring your mindset
Each individual student goes about a different way of learning and comprehending what is being taught. When breaking it down in a simple way, there are two types of mindsets that students can categorize themselves into. These two categories are Growth Mindset and Fixed Mindset. Having a growth mindset opens up a student's academic learning potential. Students with Growth Mindsets believe that things can be achieved through hard work, feedback, good strategies, and commitment. Students with Fixed Mindsets tend to believe that they're either good at something or they're not. These students look at their failures as a negative event instead of using it as a method to improve themselves. Reflecting on your past work and attitudes is a great way to determine what type of mindset you possess.
After reading Carol Dweck's Growth Mindset Research I thought about my own academic mindset. Having a fixed mindset constantly got in the way of me personally achieving my goals. I felt that I was unable to improve my abilities due to my state of mind. Dweck stated, "when we face challenges, receive criticism, or fare poorly compared with others, we can easily fall into insecurity or defensiveness, a response that inhibits growth." Having a fixed mindset made me think negatively and it held me back from achieving my overall goals and prevented me from challenging myself. Dweck stated, "We're finding that many parents endorse a growth mindset, but they still respond to their children's errors, setbacks or failures as though they're damaging and harmful,". My father was the type of guy that would always question why I wasn't doing better, or why couldn't I have gotten a 100% instead of a 98%. This negative feedback made me think that I wasn't good enough and that I would never meet the expectations.
As a student, I faced many obstacles and found it very difficult to concentrate and completely commit myself to any assignment. I had countless teachers tell my parents that I was a daydreamer, that I was always zoned out, and that I could probably describe the trees outside the window since that's all I look at. I've also had teachers say that I should be checked for ADD because of my lack of concentration. I seemed to fail many tests and I never turned in homework assignments. However, this wasn't caused by any learning disabilities or difficulties. I was stuck in this state of mind that I will never be good enough so what's the point of trying harder or trying new approaches. I thought that since my sister had learning disabilities and my dad failed out of college, that I had a reasonable excuse. I had this type of negative fixed mindset all the way up until my senior year of high school. Because of my lack of change or motivation to perform better, I was pushed up against the gun. I was failing 3 classes and was put on academic probation, which prohibited me from participating in sports and school activities for a period of time. The school also held my cap and gown all the way until 2 days before graduation. Clearly, I had this thought in my head that there was no reason to try harder because I'd never succeed.
However, one might think you can just adopt a growth mindset and everything will be magically turned around and fixed. This is far from the truth. In order to maintain a growth mindset one must remain positive and be optimistic. Constantly challenging yourself and using new tactics and methods to improve your work are all good characteristics of a growth mindset. I personally think that having a growth mindset is very important especially during a student's college career. Without a growth mindset, students are stuck in this repeated cycle. I believe that when new methods and tactics are approached the student has the ability to use the proper tools to perform well.