I absolutely loved what Carol Dweck had to say. I wholeheartedly agree with what she had to say. I don't think I've heard a lot about the concept of a growth mindset but I think it's simply amazing. We focus too much through out our school lives on a pass vs. fail system. We reward memorization and, for lack of a better description, the throwing up of information on a test. I like her focus on effort, improvement, and growth. I think this is what our children should focus on--and not if they are "smarter" than their peer or that if they can't solve a problem, that means they're dumb somehow. There was one statement that really stuck with me. Carol Dweck says that we've taught our children to feel good when things were easy for them. I feel that way most of them time. I'm sure most students young and old feel that way. We've been raised with a kind or restricted mindset. We focus on what we can get right, and if we get something wrong, our confidence and belief in one's self plummets. That's why I appreciate this class so much. When I'm writing a story (the one in orientation week for example) I did not have to worry on whether anyone would give it an 'A' or not. Without that added pressure, I was able to let my creative juices flow and I must say, I was pretty proud of myself. I was proud of my effort because it took me a good chunk of the day to finish it. I am most definitely interested in learning more about growth mindset this semester. I feel that as this class progresses, I will experience GROWTH as a writer and student. I'm not going to worry about right answers vs. wrong answers. I'm going to focus on putting my absolute best into every assignment and go from there!
