Month: May 2018

May Growth Mindset – Wrapping Up the YEAR!

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“I Got This!” 

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The school year is dwindling down and we are beginning to look forward to our summer that lies ahead. Throughout this year we have placed an emphasis on pushing not only ourselves, but our students as well, into developing a growth mindset. We have shared strategies throughout the year that have allowed each of us the ability to develop a growth mindset. Now, as the school year is behind us we need to continue that growth as we will take in a new collection of students and watch ours move on to the next level.

The idea of self-talk: As kids many of us might still remember talking to ourselves and hearing those voices in our head- some of us still experience those actions today. As teachers, we find it important to talk to students about inner voices. Sometimes kids don’t even realize that everyone else has an inner voice too!

Believe it, or not, self-talk is critical to managing mindsets. Perhaps the best way to help students manage their mindsets is to help them develop an awareness of the fixed-mindset voices and growth-mindset voices in their head. Once they figure out which is which they can work to reframe it. From here, it’s important for students to develop an awareness so they can decipher between the two. Focus on the fixed-mindset voices that play out in their head and have them work on changing those voices in a growth-mindset voice.

Why is this important at the end of the year? The most important reason is that your current students are going to be enjoying their summer, just like you, and their old habits will begin to take over. By talking to them before the end of the school year you can advise a plan to prevent a fixed-mindset from sabotaging them this summer. Sending them away with a growth-mindset can start their summers off on the right foot.

Strategies students can use to manage their fixed-mindset voices:

Name your Fixed-mindset When their fixed-mindset voice says, “You know, it would be much easier to quit right now,” they could say “Buzz off Buddy!” right back at it.
Role-playing the Mindsets Help students prepare for dealing with fixed mindset in others by having them perform skits and act them out.
Accountability Partners Have students team up as accountability partners and pledge to help foster each other’s mindset. Give pep-talks when partner’s struggle.
Draw your fixed mindset Putting words and pictures to your fixed mindset is a great way to conceptualize it.
Pick a growth mindset catchphrase Studies have shown that coming up with a catchphrase can help as a psychological cue to get back in the growth mindset. (“I got this!” is a good one.)
Letter to my Fixed Mindset Have students write a letter to their fixed mindset from their growth mindset. Sounds silly, but it involves writing as well!

 

It’s important to develop a plan of attack for using growth mindset. Making a plan and visualizing how you’ll carry it out will help them use the growth mindset when faced with failure and struggle. By having students develop a plan on the last days of school will increase their odds of entering that new grade level in the same shape that they left your classroom.

 

Have a great summer and continue working on your Growth Mindset!

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1718 Digtital Citizenship Assessment Results

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Students in 2nd grade and 5th grade take a digital citizenship assessment each year to show growth. The assessment began last year and evaluates growth throughout the year, but will continue until we can see the growth from last years’ cohort of second graders  through their 5th grade year.

For this assessment to be valid in showing growth from the original second grade cohort through fifth grade, questions can not be altered.  We thought it is important to note the following observations based on questions that have arisen from the staff.

There are three questions on the assessment that have the phrasing, “which is NOT” in order to select the answers.  Teachers have expressed concern about the level of difficulty in comprehending the question. At both the second and fifth grade levels, this does not reflect as an issue in their performance.  Students scored well in two of the three questions that were formatted in this manner.

 

Results

This year’s results are posted below with some overall trends from each grade level.  

 

The second graders across the district excelled (above 93%) on the post test in the area of cyberbullying. The assessment reflects that reinforcement of staying safe on the internet is a priority for second graders. It is important to note that the second graders have yet to understand the concept of citations and the use of other’s work as well as the concept of their own digital footprint.

The fifth graders excelled in multiple areas.  They need to continue to consider when and how it is appropriate to use someone else’s work as well as staying safe on the internet.

Personalized Learning Resources #20QPL

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The Twitter chat #20QPL  by Natalie Smith and Nancy Meisenger wrapped up this week.  There were so many valuable ideas, quotes, reflections and resources shared throughout this online discussion.  We thought it would be beneficial to share for those of you who missed it!

One of our favorite questions was what resources people used in their personalized learning journey.  We were amazed at the plethora of books, people, and other resources shared by educators from all over the country.  We created a resource list to share with all of you, regardless of whether you were in our chat or not.

Here you will see the questions we asked.  If you search the hastag and the answer number on Twitter, you will see how people responded to that question.  Some questions were definitely more popular than others, but we valued all responses.

Here is an example of the answers for Question 8: What’s the biggest myth or misconception you’ve faced w PL?  Search: #20QPL A8