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Welcome to the new book I will be reading and sharing with you for these next few weeks.
This book was a gift for all teachers this year at my school. I have been doing some research into this new psychology and am very pleased at what I have found. Stay tuned as I share my thoughts. Please feel free to let me know your thoughts as well. |
AUGUST 21
So, I can be a nerd or bookworm if you prefer.
But let me say this book is a must read. If you are a parent, a teacher, a business owner, or anyone in any kind of relationship with other people this is a great book. It is also a wonderful gift idea for those who are graduating from high school or college. Consider reading this book with your junior in high school before applying to college.
I am through the Intro, Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. It is a super easy read. It is not written in psychological vernacular that one cannot understand. In fact, after having viewed the YouTube above, I feel that I can actually hear Carol S. Dweck talking to me through her words as I am reading them off the page.
In my opinion, she immediately puts the reader at ease during the introduction when she writes that she wrote with the purpose of informality and immediacy so do not persecute her if she is not following all of the grammar rules.
Dweck sets Chapter 1: The Mindsets by defining the Fixed and the Growth mindsets. I love when she writes, "…it's not always the people who start out the smartest who end up the smartest." Truer words could not have been written. Seriously folks, I did not start off as the smartest kid. I would bet money we could have asked many of my elementary teachers and even some high school teachers and they would have never guessed I would have been able to attend a university like Vanderbilt on a full scholarship. Heck, I could tell you I would have never thought it was in the cards either. But in reading Dweck's book, I realized at that time in my life, when I took the leap to apply to Vanderbilt and apply for the scholarship, I was in a growth mindset. Truly, I can reflect back and remember thinking why not me. Why not take the chance on me?
I have always been a big believer that you can do what you set your mind to. I am also a big believer that learning is fun. Not just from a teacher's perspective but also from a students perspective. Something happened in my undergraduate years. Something clicked. And one day I realized, hey I am pretty smart. I actually can accomplish more than I think. And if anyone has test anxiety it is ME.
For goodness gracious I forgot how to spell my own name on the Millers Analogy Exam for grad school.
BUT, and it's a big one, I can also tell you I had professors who didn't believe in me. And had me believing that maybe I couldn't. I remember being in an undergrad class and being ripped to shreds in my writing course. I lacked imagination. I lacked style. I should consider changing majors. (I was a journalism major at the time.) I actually believed this dude. I went from thinking that there was nothing I couldn't do to there was nothing I could do. It was part of the reason I quit school mid semester and I came home.
I had to take a few months to reflect and think. Thank goodness my mom raised me with a growth mindset. And she didn't even know it then. Because after a few months I realized I can totally finish school. I could go to college. All of a sudden I went from a mediocre student to Dean's list college kid. Not every semester, Algebra was my nemesis. But you get the point. I realized "Hey! You are smart!" And I reveled in the challenge and became a more dedicated student.
I often wonder what became of that professor. I seriously hope he changed his mindset.
So, I can be a nerd or bookworm if you prefer.
But let me say this book is a must read. If you are a parent, a teacher, a business owner, or anyone in any kind of relationship with other people this is a great book. It is also a wonderful gift idea for those who are graduating from high school or college. Consider reading this book with your junior in high school before applying to college.
I am through the Intro, Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. It is a super easy read. It is not written in psychological vernacular that one cannot understand. In fact, after having viewed the YouTube above, I feel that I can actually hear Carol S. Dweck talking to me through her words as I am reading them off the page.
In my opinion, she immediately puts the reader at ease during the introduction when she writes that she wrote with the purpose of informality and immediacy so do not persecute her if she is not following all of the grammar rules.
Dweck sets Chapter 1: The Mindsets by defining the Fixed and the Growth mindsets. I love when she writes, "…it's not always the people who start out the smartest who end up the smartest." Truer words could not have been written. Seriously folks, I did not start off as the smartest kid. I would bet money we could have asked many of my elementary teachers and even some high school teachers and they would have never guessed I would have been able to attend a university like Vanderbilt on a full scholarship. Heck, I could tell you I would have never thought it was in the cards either. But in reading Dweck's book, I realized at that time in my life, when I took the leap to apply to Vanderbilt and apply for the scholarship, I was in a growth mindset. Truly, I can reflect back and remember thinking why not me. Why not take the chance on me?
I have always been a big believer that you can do what you set your mind to. I am also a big believer that learning is fun. Not just from a teacher's perspective but also from a students perspective. Something happened in my undergraduate years. Something clicked. And one day I realized, hey I am pretty smart. I actually can accomplish more than I think. And if anyone has test anxiety it is ME.
For goodness gracious I forgot how to spell my own name on the Millers Analogy Exam for grad school.
BUT, and it's a big one, I can also tell you I had professors who didn't believe in me. And had me believing that maybe I couldn't. I remember being in an undergrad class and being ripped to shreds in my writing course. I lacked imagination. I lacked style. I should consider changing majors. (I was a journalism major at the time.) I actually believed this dude. I went from thinking that there was nothing I couldn't do to there was nothing I could do. It was part of the reason I quit school mid semester and I came home.
I had to take a few months to reflect and think. Thank goodness my mom raised me with a growth mindset. And she didn't even know it then. Because after a few months I realized I can totally finish school. I could go to college. All of a sudden I went from a mediocre student to Dean's list college kid. Not every semester, Algebra was my nemesis. But you get the point. I realized "Hey! You are smart!" And I reveled in the challenge and became a more dedicated student.
I often wonder what became of that professor. I seriously hope he changed his mindset.
