Growth Mindset Plan
Why is it important?
Having a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset reminds us all that we are a work in progress. According to Carol Dweck, if we praise students for being intelligent or for being talented, it makes them vulnerable. It creates vulnerability in the sense that they only feel successful or accomplished if they get it right the first time. Having that fixed mindset sets students up for failure because it ultimately makes them afraid to try due to feeling that they will let everyone who feels they are smart and/or talented down. This is my plan to promote a growth mindset in my dance classroom with eportfolios
Steps to a Growth Mindset
1
Learn to hear your fixded minset "voice"
I will guide my students on how to create a plan for their eportfolios. This will allow them to face their voices head on and challenge any fixed mindset thinking. When creating their plan they will be able to focus on individual tasks and eliminate the feeling of being overwhelmed while learning something new.
2
Recognize that you have a choice.
​The use of eportfolios in the dance classroom will allow each student to be freely creative. This will show them that they have a choice in their learning. This eportfolio will be uniquely them.
3
Talk back to it with a growth mindset
Encourage reflection. Allowing sufficient time to reflect on their work will give them the opportunity to talk back to their voice with a growth mindset and focus on all they have already accomplished.
4
Take the growth mindset
The students will use feedforward language when critiquing and working with their peers. By working with each other, they will see that they are all growing and learning new things.
The Power of Yet.
A professor of mine always had us reflect on one statement after every assignment, “It’s okay to make mistakes when learning something new.” This short, yet impactful statement has stuck with me over the years because it always connected my feet back with the ground when I would become overwhelmed or stress that I was doing something incorrectly. This is important for me to teach to my students so that they will always end their troubles, difficulties, or accidents with the word “yet.” Their eportfolios will have the ability to grow with them throughout their years in high school, and even after. Creating an e-portfolio is the perfect way to show the power of “yet” because there is always something to improve, create content for, and focus on.
The Impact of the Growth Mindset
I plan to promote the growth mindset daily, by being the model and example. I will share my challenges as I teach them how to navigate this new way of learning, as well as weekly check-in assignments and conferences with my students.The growth mindset has allowed me to view the work assigned as opportunities to learn, as opposed to just another task. I have gotten a little more comfortable with networking and asking questions without the feeling of inadequacy. It will influence how I implement my innovation plan by not allowing myself to see failures as, well, failures, but as learning opportunities for my students and myself.