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Hello Faculty and Staff!
Chapter Six, What Messages Should Parents Hear About Mindset?, is fascinating. I acknowledge that students at Cross Creek are in high school and that many parents are beginning to step back in the role of "teacher." I also understand that, for various reasons, some educators are reluctant to look at growth/fixed mindset as research-based information. In a way, the research provided by Dweck and others are only confirming what teachers already know: hard work, practice, and attitude about facing challenges can make the difference for our students! From the most engaged high flyers to those students who struggle with basic organizational skills, there is room to improve.
Instructions for both Veteran and Beginning Teachers:
Read Chapter Six. Being a pragmatist, I am combining the ideas put forth in Chapter Six with the realities of early college life. Your assignment for this chapter will become the basis for a document that parents who attend common parent conferences will receive at the end of the meeting. I think "sharing" information rather than "telling" parents, especially for parents whose child is struggling, about mindset is worth the effort. You are welcome to be inspired by the sample newsletter(s) in Appendix B, but please make it specific to you and your discipline (science, mathematics, social studies, language arts, foreign language, ACR, etc.) For the administrators, please write your newsletter blurb with a school-wide comprehensive approach. Your newsletter submission's length should be a minimum of one fantastic paragraph to a maximum of three (equally awesome!) I have a 25.00 gift card for the winning newsletter submission! Remember, there are still cut-off limits . . .
Click on blog "comments" to answer.
If you have questions feel free to contact me. athetford@edumentality or alisonthetford@aol.com.
In this hybrid book study teachers will earn a total of 12 hours (1.2 ceu's) for reading each chapter, responding to discussion prompts online, and sharing application of ideas. You will be given no later than (NLT) dates for completing chapters.
Chapter Six, What Messages Should Parents Hear About Mindset?, is fascinating. I acknowledge that students at Cross Creek are in high school and that many parents are beginning to step back in the role of "teacher." I also understand that, for various reasons, some educators are reluctant to look at growth/fixed mindset as research-based information. In a way, the research provided by Dweck and others are only confirming what teachers already know: hard work, practice, and attitude about facing challenges can make the difference for our students! From the most engaged high flyers to those students who struggle with basic organizational skills, there is room to improve.
Instructions for both Veteran and Beginning Teachers:
Read Chapter Six. Being a pragmatist, I am combining the ideas put forth in Chapter Six with the realities of early college life. Your assignment for this chapter will become the basis for a document that parents who attend common parent conferences will receive at the end of the meeting. I think "sharing" information rather than "telling" parents, especially for parents whose child is struggling, about mindset is worth the effort. You are welcome to be inspired by the sample newsletter(s) in Appendix B, but please make it specific to you and your discipline (science, mathematics, social studies, language arts, foreign language, ACR, etc.) For the administrators, please write your newsletter blurb with a school-wide comprehensive approach. Your newsletter submission's length should be a minimum of one fantastic paragraph to a maximum of three (equally awesome!) I have a 25.00 gift card for the winning newsletter submission! Remember, there are still cut-off limits . . .
Click on blog "comments" to answer.
If you have questions feel free to contact me. athetford@edumentality or alisonthetford@aol.com.
In this hybrid book study teachers will earn a total of 12 hours (1.2 ceu's) for reading each chapter, responding to discussion prompts online, and sharing application of ideas. You will be given no later than (NLT) dates for completing chapters.
Similarly the path to fluency in a second language is a long journey. Please remind your child that learning a second language is a process. No one ever reaches perfection but everyone, with effort and encouragement, continuously grows in proficiency. If your child does poorly on a test or quiz, encourage him/her to find out what needs to be reviewed and to practice that skill until the content is mastered. Tutoring is available to help your child through this process. However, please reassure your child that getting an “F” on an assessment does not in any way mean that he/she is an "F" or a failure. Receiving an “F” on an assessment simply identifies where more work is needed. Once corrected, reassure your child that he/she is back on the path to achieving the goal of becoming fluent in their second language.
My standards, regardless of the course I am teaching, are incredibly high, but not so high they can never be achieved. Because of these high standards, it is not uncommon for a student to struggle. The key is for the child not to become disenfranchised and give up on the work or give up on themselves.
My approach is fundamentally post-modern. What that means is that I am far more focused on the individual pieces than the singular, monolithic result. Put simply - I am more concerned with the journey than the destination. The pieces are as important, if not more so, than the final product. All things must work together.
Ergo, if your child is not the greatest test taker, there are plenty of other avenues where he or she can be successful. If the child struggles with time management, there are pillars in place to assist them develop those skills.
Obviously, yes, results do matter. We live in a results-based, data driven world, but I feel that if we, collectively, focus more the individual pieces, including both strengths and deficiencies, then the positive results will follow.
When your child enters the class, they will assess what they knew about American Literature. If the child has done what they were supposed to do, to the best of his or her abilities, there will be no concern about grades and I assure you that your child will have grown and developed in numerous ways.
So get in the practice of celebrating your child’s efforts when they are sincere and praise them for the hard-work they do in pursuit of an end goal. If they are struggling in math, let them know how much you recognize the hours of studying and tutoring they are investing instead of waiting to praise them for the “A” on the next test. If they tend to be shy and struggle making friends, compliment them on the risk they took in saying hello to a student they don’t know very well. If organization and time management is a chronic difficulty, use yourself as a model and share your hands-on strategies or acknowledge your own struggles and insist that you will both improve on this together! In either case, you are expressing the belief that your child can master and overcome the issue successfully.
A parent’s voice tends to be the one a child hears with the most clarity; therefore make yours a voice of support that is non-accepting of excuses but instead expresses the sincere belief that your child can certainly achieve a level of meaningful success if they are willing to put in the necessary amount of time, effort, and revisiting. Never give up!