In Order to Grow
While growing up many students either have a growth or set mindset. Although they may seem similar they are drastically different. Based on my childhood and high school experience I would say that I have a growth mindset. Although I strived for A’s in every class I understood that being challenged was well worth the struggle of endless homework and extra help sessions. As Carol Dweck stated in her TED talk “In one study, we taught them that every time they push out of their comfort zone to learn something new and difficult, the neurons in their brain can form new, stronger connections, and over time, they can get smarter”. Students being taught to push outside of their comfort zones gain resilience, unlike students who are being praised for doing the easiest amount of work. In the article Seven Ways to Crush Self-Doubt in Creative Work written by John Spencer he talks about seven ways that you can help yourself when self doubt starts to get to you. Spencer says in his article “And I’ve learned that the existence of self-doubt is often a sign that I’m pushing myself to learn a new skill or try a new approach”. A life without self doubt means that you are not pushing yourself to your full potential. During my lifetime self doubt always found a way to creep in, and if it wasn’t in the classroom it was on the lacrosse field. One way that I used to combat hesitancy was to show up with my head in the game and not focus on all the little things that made me nervous. Sabrina Nawaz does a great job at explaining how to not listen to self criticism. The following excerpt is from her article “You may not keep a precise count of how many positive and negative voices you’re allowing inside your head each day, but once you start to stockpile positive comments, you’ll notice a difference in your energy level and output”. Basically she says that in order to keep a positive mindset focus on all of the positive voices inside your head while disregarding the negative thoughts. This method helps you see both positive and negative thoughts, while only focusing on the positives and carrying them forward as you grow. Over the course of the next thirteen weeks my goals are to become a better writer, by getting feedback from my peers and using the feedback to help grow my skills.
Source: The Hoofprint
Wow, Nora I really enjoyed reading this take on feedback and growth mindset. I think all of us as students all took our own unique take on this prompt and I've enjoyed the results that I've been seeing. I really like that you used the Ted Talk exmple because it really made your piece more persuasive to me, the scientific facts that challenging your brain physically helps produce more neurons was more than enough proof. I liked your connection to the lacrosse field as well, it is such a fast paced sport that really has no time for second guesses, fast breaks and goal scoring opportunities must be capitalized on. I think there is also a lot of growth mentallity that goes into the game itself, you might mess up the motion of a play in the first quarter, but youll always have the second half to fix your mistakes.
ReplyDeleteHey Nora! I really liked your reflection about how mindset affect young students. The part that got me the most was when you talked about self-doubt. I think you are completely right about it. A lot of times we are afraid when we have doubts, but that doesn´t necesarily has to be something negative. That shows that we are open minded and that we are preparing our brains to receive new information. It may be scary at the beginning, but it is the only way to learn new things and continue developing ourselves. I think about it as a sign of courage! Also, I wanted to say that your blog looks really good, it gets people´s attention (or at least mine). Good job!
ReplyDeleteHey Nora. I found it interesting that Carol Dweck's ideas stuck to you as her ideas were flawed in my mind. I believed she was saying that we must compliment kids strictly on their progress in their work and their hard work even though part of the process is the completion or excelling at a field you have passion in. It's always good to see someone else's opinion on a topic that you both think about or are connected to. It's sometimes very difficult to keep an open mind when you have mental health issues or your parents teach you a specific set of ideas of what to do and what not to do.
ReplyDeleteHey Nora. I strongly agree that having a growth mindset is a very important and beneficial attribute. Your really fortunate that your mindset works that way because I think some people have a tough time grasping new ideas and methods. I really like how you relate your growth mindset to lacrosse, I think its really important to not focus on the negatives but instead look at the possible positives.
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