What’s Your Mindset? Believing You Can Improve through Practice, Perseverance, and Perspective

A Model for a Growth Mindset “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” Luke 2:52

What You Can Achieve with PRACTICE ► Recall the well-known people from the title slide. They have all developed expertise in PRACTICE and MINDSETS. ► Is this a TALENT or a DEVELOPED SKILL? ► When we want to get better at something, don’t we know that we must PRACTICE?

PRACTICE is simply a lot of trial and error David Galenson - “genius” comes in two different forms. One can seem “natural” but carries much concentration and practice. The other seems less natural and proceeds by a lifetime of trial and error. And it applies to virtually every field of intellectual endeavor. “Just because some people can do something with little or no training,…doesn’t mean that others can’t do it (and sometimes do it better) with training.” – Carol Dweck, Mindset, p. 70

What YOU can do with PRACTICE …and PERSEVERANCE and PERSPECTIVE Daniel Pink, A Whole New MindCarol Dweck, Mindset

Brain-ology 101 “Many people think of the brain as a mystery. They don’t know much about intelligence and how it works. When they do think about what intelligence is, many people believe that a person is born either smart, average, or dumb – and stays that way for life. But new research shows that the brain is more like a muscle – it changes and gets stronger when you use it. And scientists have been able to show just how the brain grows and gets stronger when you learn.” - Carol Dweck, Mindset, p. 219

Good EFFORT creates better connections! Brain-ology 101 (cont’d)

“When you learn new things, these tiny connections in the brain actually multiply and get stronger. The more that you challenge your mind to learn, the more your brain cells grow. Then, things that you once found very hard or even impossible – like speaking a foreign language or doing algebra – seem to become easy. The result is a stronger, smarter brain.” - Carol Dweck, Mindset, p. 219

A Cycle for Learning and Development ► Effective Effort (Practice) leads to… ► Confidence leads to… ► More Effective Effort leads to… ► Development  Intellectual  Character Proficiency Target Feedback Strategy Attempt Skill (Assessments) Data (Results) From Jeff Howard, PhD © 2004 The Efficacy Institute, Inc.

Differences in Fixed vs. Growth Mindset FIXED MINDSET ► Assumes that “smart” or “talent” is a given ► Labels people as one thing or another ► Fears failure and avoids risk GROWTH MINDSET ► Assumes that “smart” or “talent” is learnable ► Understands that people can grow ► Accepts failure as a tool for learning

How To Promote a Growth Mindset BELIEFS and CONCRETE PLANS are keys! ► Find success in doing your best, in learning and improving. ► Look at setbacks as motivating. They’re informative. They’re a wake-up call. ► Take charge of the processes that bring success-and that maintain it. - Carol Dweck, Mindset ► “Having a system is even more beneficial than having a talent.” – Marvin Marshall, Phi Delta Kappan, March 2004, p. 503

Bibliography CBS. “Bet You Can’t Do This…” 27 Feb Dweck, Carol. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York: Ballantine Books, Getty Images. “Mia Hamm.” Photograph. Mrs. Caven’s Wiki, Lake Shore Middle School- Grade6. 18 Aug “Howard Gardner.” Photograph. International Baccalaureate. 18 Aug Howard, Jeff. Notes from Harvard School of Education, Principals Center, November Marshall, Martin. “Using a Discipline System to Promote Learning.” Phi Delta Kappan, March 2004: “Maya Angelou.” Photograph. Thethingsilikeaboutme 265’s Blog. 18 Aug Pink, Daniel. “What Kind of Genius Are You?” Wired. July Pink, Daniel. A Whole New Mind. New York: Penguin Group, Inc., “Tiger Woods.” Photograph. Montara Ventures. 18 Aug “Yo Yo Ma.” Photograph. Will Blog For Food. 18 Aug