Category Archives: Growth Mindset

I Feel Like I’m Living in an Amanda Jain Blog

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Students in my English 3 have been tasked with a project that I named, “Where Were Your People in the 1920s.” It’s a mini-research project, and I hope it will be engaging, reinforce some research skills students have, and illustrate that not everyone in the 1920s was spending their days/nights at glamorous parties; we’re reading The Great Gatsby. The project directions are pretty simple: interview a relative, find a primary source specific to your family (like an old photo), and research a world event inspired by your interview. Then, create a visual component using Adobe Spark that incorporates the research, interview, and primary source piece. I have never used Adobe Spark, but it receives great reviews regarding how user friendly it is.


When I introduced this project, the students did not budge. They were super reluctant to even begin, and when I asked them about this, they essentially said that it was too much work, there was too much ambiguity, and there were too many decisions to be made. They were reluctant to even open up the Adobe Spark app, which is free. I then asked if they would prefer reading questions, and they said yes.

I think that this response is normal, however. Whenever I have to learn something new or do something new or even start a new novel, I experience a desire to avoid the learning curve. Getting through the uncomfortableness of a beginning is tricky. So, I gave up on the project and gave them reading questions.

Just kidding! I’ll let you know how it goes.

Growth Mindset: It’s working!

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I’m knee-deep in writing college letters of recommendation right now, and while I’ve been somewhat dreading writing these because I just feel so strapped for time, All.The.Time, I’m surprisingly really enjoying this experience because I’m so inspired by what our girls have to say about Math and Learning in their Naviance profiles (these are a gift, by the way, College Counseling, thank you!).  And, I just can’t keep these messages to myself.  They’re too good that they have to be shared.

I worked really hard last year (and continue this year) to insert healthy doses of challenge and growth mindset into my Algebra 2 with Trigonometry class (Junior/Advanced Sophomores).  And if you read any of my blogs last year, you know I was met with an equally (healthy?) amount of resistance.  So reading these comments makes it all worth it:

I am most proud of achieving a growth mindset. This was a new concept that was introduced to me throughout this class. Math has never been my favorite subject, primarily because it’s so black and white. However, I learned from this class that it doesn’t have to be. Like I said earlier, I learned it’s okay to not get the right answer all the time. Every time I made a mistake, I learned from it and my brain grew instead of me just getting frustrated with myself because I couldn’t get the right answer. I used to have a fixed mindset about math, but after taking this class I have grown to really like it because it taught me to look at math differently. Math can be fun and creative and thought provoking, it doesn’t just have to be simply going through the motions to get the right answer. My growth mindset that I learned in math class is something I have also applied to my other classes, and has changed my outlook on learning and school as a whole.

My favorite academic memory of this class was learning about growth mindset. I can say that I have learned a lot more than just math in a math class and it has helped me outside of the classroom as well. I think that having a positive attitude toward situations will help you to be successful in any situation. I love that some of the valuable life lessons I have learned came from my math class. We started out with learning how to perfect the growth mindset in our math problems but could later apply it to our daily life as well.  The thing that I am most proud of achieving in your class was perfecting the growth mindset. As we know, it was my favorite thing about the class. So technically, I was proud of each individual thing that I did in the class because every time I had the opportunity to improve, I would count that as an accomplishment.


I am most proud of achieving a growth mindset. Having a growth mindset was a major theme in this class and it really helped me learn information on my own. At first, it was hard because I was always used to teachers feeding me information, but after this class, I am able to understand information on my own.


I am most proud of always pushing myself in your class. Math is not a subject that comes easy for me, and I have always had to work hard to achieve a good grade in my math classes. However, I took every challenge test that was offered and I came in for extra help whenever I could. I also worked efficiently with my classmates to solve problems during group work periods and expanded my critical thinking skills by solving difficult problems. Throughout the year, I feel that I truly embraced struggle because I learned that making mistakes was okay. It is how I grew from my mistakes that helped me absorb the material.  I also learned that when there is a difficult task I am faced with, I should not get overwhelmed an give up, but rather embrace the challenge and grit it out.


My favorite part about this class was how you were so into growth mindset and gritting it out. I was so used to the same types of math classes all my life so hearing how you had new innovative ideas for the class made me really excited. The growth mindset Ted Talk’s were super interesting in class and I never thought I would watch a Ted Talk in math class. They showed me that it’s really beneficial to challenge myself and to be confident in the capabilities of my mind.


An experience that stretched me the most in your class would be when we were assigned with a Performance Task. These performance tasks were meant to be perceived with a growth mindset. The idea of the task was to try and fail. Although I would get frustrated whenever I was not able to get the answer, the idea of having a growth mindset pushed me to keep trying until I finally solve the problem. This stretched me the most in this class, because I was able to realize that if you push your mind and believe you can achieve something, it can happen.

The road to changing the way our girls learn can be quite bumpy, but reading these comments and knowing that these girls are leaving with such confidence in themselves and their capabilities makes it all worth it.

For Frosh: Weighting grades by MONTH rather than on TYPE of assignment

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Frosh: Weighting Grades by month rather than by the type of assignment.
I am playing around with weighting grades in a new way if I
get to teach frosh next year and I am looking for feedback.
When we assess the work that freshmen are doing at the beginning
of the year we are NOT assessing the skills they have learned in our class, we
are assessing what they learned from their teachers in 8th grade.
An essay that a 9th grader writes in September is
a bigger reflection of what they learned from their 8th grade
teachers about writing than it is an assessment of what we have been able to
teach them. To me this leads to grades that do not reflect what a student has
learned in OUR CLASS and therefore are not really valuable assessments to
determine how effective we are as teachers.
We know that there are inequities in the quality of
education that our incoming 8th graders are receiving. I know this
full well having been one of those incoming 9th graders who came
from a K-8 where quite frankly my education sucked and I was way behind until
about junior year.
Here is what I propose: we weight the grades based on how
far into the semester we are. So in other words assignments and tests from
August count for 10% of a student’s grade. Assignments and tests in September
count for 20%. Assignments and tests from October count for 30%. Assignments and
tests from November to December count for 40%.
By giving weight to the assignments at the end of a semester
we are allowing students to grow and demonstrate content mastery without being
so heavily penalized for work that was subpar at the beginning of the year. A
student who cannot write a coherent essay in August should not have that essay
count to the same degree as the writing that they are doing in December.
This also put more responsibility on US – to make our grades
reflect what we have taught them instead of how much skill they already have
coming into 9th grade.
What do you think – has any one tried this?? Do you hate the
idea?? Is it worth a shot??

Algebra – Initial Thoughts

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Now that we have survived the first 5 weeks of our new Algebra program, I thought it would be helpful to write down some initial thoughts on how things are going.  It has been really exciting to see something that was just a crazy idea last year morph into a real program that we are already really proud of now.  There have been some adjustments already and there are some things we are still trying to figure out but overall the feedback from our students and the teachers involved has been positive.  

Here’s what has worked well:
  • We spent the first two and a half weeks establishing a group culture of the class.  We discussed growth mindset and had all of our students take the “How to Learn Math for Students” course.  We spent time discussing the messages from this course with our students. 
  • There are a lot of moving parts to this course (online learning through Carnegie Learning, collaborative activities, how Schoology is organized, GoFormative exit tickets, topic guides, etc.) which can be overwhelming if everything was explained at once.  Instead we used the first two and a half weeks to chunk things out and explain each one separately before putting it all together. 
  • We had all of our students take the Mathematic Diagnostic Testing Project High School Readiness test.  We will also test them again when they complete the Algebra program.  This will be one way we measure the success of this program.  
  • Students are truly moving at their own pace.  Those who are familiar with the concepts in the first topic have moved quickly through it and already taken their first assessment.  We also have some students who need the extra time to really master the content and are moving at the right pace for them.  This wouldn’t happen in a traditional classroom.  
  • The four teachers who are implementing this program (shout out to Mary Beth Dittrich, Kristina Levesque, and Christy Marin!) work well together.  We communicate often with one another.  We are all flexible with what we need to do each class period (even when it’s decided 10 minutes before class).  We do not always agree with one another but we are comfortable speaking our thoughts.  We are able to discuss things openly and honestly to come to a solution that is best for our students.  
  • Carnegie Learning is a good tool for our online component of the program.  The problems are rich and require students to be engaged.  The reporting section allows us as teachers to determine where they are struggling and what the students need extra support with.  Students are also able to go back into the program in review mode without losing their saved data which is a huge plus. 
  • The new furniture is amazing.  This program would not be what it is now with the old desks.  The new furniture allows students to work well in groups, using their smaller white boards when needed.  The individual desks work well for the online learning or assessments.  Plus the colors of the chairs brighten up the room and change the learning environment.  
This is just a short list of what has worked well.  There are so many more including hearing students comment that they really understood something or watching them work well with their groups on collaborative activities.  
We do have some challenges:
  • We have 4 teachers for over 94 students in period 3.  Sometimes we need an additional teacher (or two!) in the classroom to work with students, particularly those who are struggling.  In the past these students would have had 2 periods of math in a smaller class setting.  One requirement we’ve established in our program is that a teacher signs off on the collaborative activities.  When doing so we ask each student in the group to explain to us what they have just learned.  This is a great way for us to gauge student understanding and to see that everyone is responsible for their own learning.  However at times multiple groups need to be signed off and we just don’t have enough teachers to get around to everyone.  
  • Space is an issue.  The new furniture is great but having separate classrooms isn’t as ideal.  As teachers sometimes we are in one classroom but can’t necessarily see what is going on in other classrooms.  We try and pop in and out of the classrooms during the period but it’s not always possible.  If we had a larger, open space we would be able to  spread ourselves out to help the students more.  
  • The 45 minute class periods are tough.  It’s not quite enough time for students to transition to more than one activity once you account for taking attendance in the beginning, explaining which classrooms are for each activity, and ending a few minutes early for the exit ticket. The block periods work better for this program.  
  • As teachers we need to find more time to meet to discuss how things are working and what adjustments we need to make.  It’s hard finding that time even with a common 7th period prep.  Teachers have other classes they are teaching and need to use this prep for those classes at times.  We also have so much to discuss that even if we used every 7th period, there’s still always more to talk about.  This collaboration is so important though.  Yesterday we graded our first topic assessment together and this was necessary to make sure we are all grading the same way.  But it takes time which has become a precious commodity.  
Despite the challenges I am so excited for what we are doing.  I am loving watching our students engage in mathematics in a totally different way.  I’m inspired by the dedication and commitment from my colleagues.  I know that we will continue to reflect on what we are doing and revise it to continuously improve as we strive to meet the needs of all of our students.  
We would love you to come visit the organized chaos of our Algebra program.  We meet periods 3 and 4 in rooms 2, 5, 6, and MacLab.  Come by anytime as we would love to hear your feedback on what you observe and any ideas you may have to improve on this program.  

Fun Friday in Math

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One of our goals in the math department this year is to foster a culture of math that is collaborative, accessible and most importantly, fun!  Several times throughout the year we have planned Fun Fridays with today being our first one.  During these days, students from different classes work together in small groups on one challenging problem during their usual class period.  Students are purposefully placed in mixed groups to help encourage students to leverage their unique skill-sets and perspectives to come together to solve a problem they may otherwise not be able to solve on their own.  We hope students experience the value of teamwork and problem-solving on these Fun Fridays and that they realize that math is much broader than what they might currently be studying in their current math class.  We also hope this gives them a chance to practice grit, resilience, and resourcefulness.  Our whole department is working hard to promote the growth mindset with our students and this is one way we are modeling it.

Today was our first Fun Friday.  Each group received a bag with 27 cubes in total – 9 different colors, 3 of each color.  They were instructed to create a 3x3x3 cube with each of the 9 colors represented on each face, similar to a 3-D Sudoku puzzle. 

 

This was a problem that had multiple ways to solve or strategies to implement.  It was so fun as teachers to watch students work together to try and solve this.  They would think they had it solved only to realize their last cube wouldn’t work.  Many students tried and tried again with some finding success in the end and others not being able to solve it. 

 





































As students were working you could hear teachers telling students that it was OK if they didn’t solve it.  Their brains were growing as they learned from their mistakes!  Synapses were firing!  

 It was great to listen to their different strategies and ways of approaching the problem.  
 
Mr. Cushing and Mr. Schooler stopped by to try their hand at solving it.

   


They were modeling to our students the struggle of working on a problem that they couldn’t immediate see the solution to and also the joy that comes when you finally solve it.  
  
We would love to invite any faculty and staff members to come join us on our next Fun Friday October 5th.  It will take place in every period in rooms 2, 5, 6, 7, & 8.  Our first Fun Friday was a success and we are already excited about planning our next one!

Intersecting Bravery and Math

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It’s been another rocky start for me in Algebra 2 with Trigonometry.  [Algebra 2 is a predominantly Junior (some Sophomore and rare Freshman) level class.  These students had to meet a prerequisite to get into this class, so as you might imagine they are somewhat accustomed to receiving good grades and doing relatively well in Math.]  Just as with last year, I’m receiving fierce pushback against my style of teaching, which is more “guide on the side” than “sage on the stage.”  Students are  complaining that they aren’t being taught and that they are having to figure out too many things on their own.  Students are complaining that my assessments are too unpredictable and that they can’t handle the anxiety they feel at not knowing exactly on what they will be tested.  Students who had been really good at “doing school math class” up until now are suddenly finding that their usual strategies aren’t working.

There’s so much to unpack in this.  I am teaching them, just not quite as directly as they’d like.  But, perhaps more complicated is that we seem to have different definitions of what math is and what math should be.  I see math as an opportunity for problem solving and critical thinking, as a language and a set of tools that can be used to chip away at unsolvable problems.  My students, on the other hand, see math as a collection of formulas to be memorized and quantities to be calculated, and problems with only right or wrong answers.

To try to bridge this disconnect, and to open a dialogue with them about why I structure the course the way I do (it’s for their own good, I promise!), I planned an entire class period of no math but rather an opportunity for sharing.  I showed them Reshma Saujani’s 2016 Ted Talk, “Teach Girls Bravery, not Perfection.”  There’s so much I love about this talk.  I’ve probably watched it over twenty times and each time I watch it I get chills of excitement.  One of my favorite lines is:

We have to socialize our girls to be comfortable with imperfection, and we’ve got to do it now. …We have to teach them to be brave in schools and early in their careers, when it has the most potential to impact their lives and the lives of others, and we have to show them that they will be loved and accepted not for being perfect but for being courageous. 

I chose this video because I want them to know that they can achieve anything they imagine, but that, socially, they have been wired to back down from many of those dreams, out of caution and out of fear of failure.  In my classroom, in my small way, I want to give them opportunities, safe opportunities, to practice taking risks, practice failing so that it becomes common for them.  I want them to become so good at failing that they will bravely and courageously pursue any dream they have.

I then showed them a short video from Jo Boaler’s Youcubed.org about what math truly is and what it means to be successful in math.  A favorite line from this video is:

No matter how math is presented in school, you should know that math is not about memorization and it is not about calculations.  Math is a much broader subject about ideas, visualization, connections.  And don’t think test scores or grades define who you are or what you can do.  You can do anything.

I love looking around the room when this line is presented (it’s spoken by a fellow student in the video) and it’s such a powerful moment.  I think for many of our students it may be the first time they’ve heard the idea that math isn’t about calculations or formulas.  So many of our students have reduced math to this.

I gave the students surveys before and after watching these videos and we also had time for discussion (some periods more spirited than others) after each video.  This anecdotal feedback is so fascinating.  Below are some results and anecdotes that are particularly interesting,

The above graphic was from the Before Survey.  I find it fascinating how many students don’t see math as a vehicle for problem solving and critical thinking.  For many students, they don’t believe that math is a subject to be figured out.  They believe the only way to learn math is to be taught it by someone more knowledgeable than them.  I am working hard to show my students that much of math can be discovered through experimentation and deduced from very simple principles.

I was heartened to see so many students willing to change, adapt and try a new style of learning, especially after our discussion and the videos.  These comments are from the after survey:

At first, my initial response reflected on my irritation of not understanding the style of teaching. I have been taught that you need to understand the material the second you’re taught it. I’ve learned that it’s okay to not understand at first and feel lost because I will eventually know what is being taught.



I understand more why this class is the way it is, which is good but at first it is a bit of a shock to have things be so different. However, I think that this growth mindset concept is a good one to teach students, especially with all the research backing it up. It should be useful in the future.



I used to be primarily fixed mindset, but after watching these videos I feel as though I can learn to be better at math

I would say now that learning teamwork, critical thinking, and problem solving are things that I will value more during class time.



After learning about the research, I now realize that math is not all about math, but rather about how you look at the math material and your mindset going into it.


I know I will struggle somewhat in this class, but I think my mindset has grown a little more

I am more open to new topics and categories of math now that I haven’t learned before. I am motivated to learn new things and try harder on problems I think I can’t do rather than give up on them.

I really liked these videos and they helped me to realize that I have the ability to solve every math problem as long as I work hard and don’t give up. I like the way the course is going and I’m open to this new style of learning.

I think that this style of teaching will be more challenging in teh moment but more beneficial in the long run.

I used to be primarily fixed mindset, but after watching these videos I feel as though I can learn to be better at math

I appreciated the many students who brought up the very real burden of grades:

I want to be able to make mistakes and learn from them but I am too worried to fall back in grades. I think that it will be difficult to me to forget about the consequences of failing.

I think it’s good that we are learning to have a different mindset but it isn’t very realistic in today’s high school classes

I think that these people in the ted talks and math videos are making a valid point about having to fail to succeed but the way our school system works is that every mistake we make goes straight into the grade book, which makes making any mistake seem like the end of the world.

I think that struggling in math is essential to learning, and I think we will have the opportunity to do that in class. I think that this course may have some benefit for my particular learning style, but I am nervous about what will be graded in this class.

I like the idea of having the growth mindset, but its not always practical. In the video, they said that grades don’t define what you can do. This is sometimes true, but you were given a grade based on what you proved you could do. I think this is interesting, but it’s not realistic and it’s going to take a lot more than just videos to change the school and grading system from how it is now.

I like the idea of our minds becoming stronger, but I feel like the challenges involved cause a lot of anxiety because the grading system penalizes our mistakes.



I still feel hesitant. I believe it will help one-day, but our generation has not been raised me this, which for me, makes it harder for me to become minded about this new style of learning

Other than getting rid of grades altogether (is that a possibility for us?), I don’t have a good answer for this.  I do try to give my students lots of opportunity to fail without a huge grade impact (ability to remaster quizzes and group assessments are two of my favorites) but their concerns are real.

Finally, these two comments really hit me, as I think they are evidence of everything Reshma Saujani talks about:

After the first lesson I cried because I was so stressed about failing. I felt like you valued the benifets of failing but overlooked the grade aspect of it. I feel like this data is accurate though, and I relate. My mother is a perfectionist and stresses the importance of work being perfect. My father treats me like I’m so perfect and precious. Failure isn’t an option. Failing is hard for me.



As much as I’d like to believe in growth mindset I believe it will be difficult to change my view on math as a junior in high school.

Sometimes I think I’m crazy to try to change the way our students learn Math, especially for those who are about to walk out our doors.  I keep thinking it will be so much better in a few years once our Algebra program takes off and students walk into my classes already equipped with bravery and a growth mindset.  Other times I see it as my calling and I believe that it’s never too late to learn and practice courage and risk taking.

I’d love to hear how this is playing out in other departments.  My students tell me all the time that Math is just different:  you need to be taught math.  Critical reasoning is important in History or English but not in a Math classroom.  And the graphic above highlights this perception.  How do you see our girls being brave (or not) and how can I channel that bravery into my math classroom?

What Kids Baking Championship Taught Me About Teaching

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What Kids Baking Championship Taught Me About
Teaching

I
just spent the time I should have been using to do school work watching Food
Network’s Kids Baking Championship for the first time. The rules are basically
the same as any of the five million other food competition shows on TV, but being
that the contestants were kids I figured that they would be doing much simpler
tasks…..like I don’t know, making muffins from a box? But no! These kids were
tasked with the same level of challenge that the adults usually are and given the same
tools – blowtorches, sharp objects, etc. eek!
Many
of the child-prodigy bakers are self-taught. On one hand this is impressive,
but then again pretty much anyone can learn anything with YouTube, the desire,
and the right tools.  What is more
impressive is that they have parents who;

  • ·      ALLOWED THEIR KID
    TO MESS UP THEIR KITCHENS ON THE REGULAR

  • ·      LET THEIR KIDS POTENTIALLY
    FAIL OR GET HURT (CAUSE: KNIVES)

  • ·      WERE WILLING TO EAT
    THEIR KIDS’ BURNT OR UNDERCOOKED FOOD AND PRETEND THAT IT WAS THE GREATEST FREAKING
    THING THEY EVER ATE CAUSE THEY WERE JUST SO PROUD OF THEIR LITTER BAKER.
When
I think back to “cooking” or really doing any grown-up task as a kid with the
adults in my life, I remember doing the most menial, safest tasks possible (i.e. peel potatoes). I remember always being warned not to get hurt, having all
the fun tools pried out of my hands, and the look of disappointment (or more
realistically yelling) when I spilled or messed something up, especially if the
kitchen “was just cleaned (insert angry parent taking the Lord’s name in vain).”



To me, this relates
a lot to teaching. I think that we all can be prone to being the kind of
teachers who don’t want a “mess” in our classrooms or who are scared that
someone may get hurt (triggered, offended, whatever) by something challenging, and
assign projects where we have a super specific idea of what the end product
should look like.
I know that I am
guilty of this; especially when it relates to a topic I love in Ethics– I have
an idea of exactly what I want them to learn or feel and I tailor the lesson to
a desired outcome (In other words I am giving them the boxed cake ingredients and
the Easy Bake Oven) when the reality is I should be throwing out an idea and
see where it goes (i.e giving them raw
ingredients and sharp objects) in order to see what they can do on their own.
Kid’s Baking
Championship mirrors what our girl Carol Dweck (the Growth Mindset Lady) keeps
reminding us to do; “derive just as much happiness from the process as the
result.” It’s scary though. Cause sometimes our students are like:


It’s also scary
because we want to be data driven and have solid work samples to demonstrate that we are great teachers. We want to give our students autonomy but also ensure
that we are providing real academic skills that will help them in college.  And when other people walk by our classrooms we
want to look like we have it somewhat under control. So how can we do both?? How do we provide structure and rigor AND be like the parents of the kids in this show? I don’t
know yet.  Something to marinate on.

“I Expect You to Fail”

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I consider myself to be a very encouraging, patient, and understanding person who genuinely cares about my students.  However, yesterday I did something that may, at first, seem a bit harsh and out of character.  I told my four AP Computer Science Principles classes that I expect them to fail…. and not just once either… I told them that I expect them to fail repeatedly.

You should have seen their faces and felt the energy in the room.  I think I could feel their hearts sink and their stomachs tighten.  I let them sit with that for a second, and then proceeded to tell them that I also expect them to keep going once they fail.  That every failure is just a “First Attempt In Learning”.  
If they are failing, they’re trying something that is challenging them.  They are learning something new.  They are growing!  I fail every day, sometimes more miserably than others, but I keep going.  They will see me fail – and that’s ok.  I am human.  They are human.  We would never expect that someone master a sport, instrument, etc. in the first try – nor will I expect this from them and they shouldn’t expect it from themselves either.  What I will do is push them to keep going.  Be there for them when they need to talk through a problem (which they oftentimes solve themselves, but then thank me for – so I remind them that they did it themselves).  Rather than tell them what to do, I try to make sure to ask my students repeatedly is “What do you think?”  My goal here is for them to be active in their own learning.  
So, let’s embrace failing.  Failure is a guaranteed part of learning and we learn just as much, if not more, from our failures than our successes.  Now we will see how this goes over when I tell all the parents at Back-to-School Night that I expect their students to fail.  

Growth Mindset Isn’t Only About Math

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I am a bad writer.  I tell
myself this consciously or subconsciously every time I start to compose
something.  I will excitedly embrace the
most challenging math problem you can find, but staring at a blank Word
document paralyzes me.  In fact it has
taken me at least two weeks to get around to writing this blog post.  I reread an email multiple times before I hit
“send.”  Are my grammar and spelling
correct?  Did I get my message across clearly?  Do I sound like an idiot?  My Twitter posts are composed in my head long
before my fingers touch the screen.  Even
after posting I often question my words as I picture the broad audience they
reach.
I was thinking about this several months ago and came to the
conclusion that I’m probably not as bad of a writer as I think I am.  I’ve written a few blog posts.  I regularly communicate with parents,
students, and colleagues via email.  Maybe
people are just being polite, but I’ve never gotten any negative feedback about
what I’ve written.  I think it’s just
that I don’t like to write.  It doesn’t
come easy to me.  It takes me a lot of
time to come up with the ideas and even longer to figure out the best way to
express them.  It’s hard and painful work
for me.  It’s a struggle.  And I don’t think I’m very good at it.  (Right now I’m even questioning all the
contractions I’m using!)
Then it dawned on me. 
These are some of the exact phrases my Algebra 1 with Math Lab students
use when speaking about math.  “I’m not a
math person.”  “I’ve never done well in
math.”  “It’s too hard.”  All year I’ve been trying to nurture in them
a growth mindset: “Mistakes are good.”  “Your
brain is growing.”  And their favorite: “Synapses
are firing.”  I want to instill in them grit,
determination, positive thinking, and risk-taking.  I want them to see the beauty and creativity
of mathematics.  Well, of course, I
do.  I love math, and I want them to love
it, too.
I now realize what a hypocrite I have been.  Here I am encouraging a growth mindset in my
students with regard to math, while happily embracing (and nurturing) a fixed
mindset it when it comes to my own writing.
Recently I was “forced” to face my discomfort when one of my
husband’s colleagues asked me to write an article for a journal she edits.  Laura is one of four female scientists at
Lawrence Livermore National Lab who visited Carondelet four years ago at our
last Career Fair.  They came to talk with
our students about career opportunities for women in physics.  We had just embarked on our Physics 9 program
and I was excited to show them the steps we were taking to get girls into
science early.  More recently at a social
event, I was telling Laura about the flipped math classroom and some of the
changes we are planning for our Algebra 1 program.  It was after this that she invited me share
what was going on at CHS in an upcoming issue of the APS Forum on Physics and Society.
I was surprised, honored, and excited.  I’ve never been “published.”  At the same time, I was terrified.  Not only did I have to write, which is painful
enough in itself, but who knows who would be reading the article and what they
would think of me.  This is a journal for
scientists who “do” physics.  I just
teach math.  They’re so much smarter than
me.  What do they care about high
school?  I was overwhelmed with
self-doubt, but I knew that this was something I should do.
The first draft was bad – almost an embarrassment.  Too short, not enough detail, and a little
cheesy.  I spent two weeks psyching myself
up for the rewrite.  I set aside a whole
day.  I armed myself with a growth
mindset.  I told myself that I could do
this – that I could produce a quality product, knowing full well that it would
not be easy.  If the words weren’t
working, I took a short break, but knew that I was coming back to it.  Grit, determination, perseverance.  After about eight hours, it was done and I
felt pretty good about it.
So, what did I learn? 
I need to practice what I preach. 
If I expect my students to have a growth mindset about math, I need to
have a growth mindset about the things I find challenging.  I’ve come to realize that developing a growth
mindset is a process.  Just because I
wrote one article doesn’t mean I love writing. 
I need to keep working on it.  I
also know that I need to continue to be patient with my students.  To compassionately encourage them.  To stand beside them as they face their math
fears.  Because I, too, know what it is
like to work at something that is hard for you. 
But I also know the joy of completing the task and taking a few baby
steps of growth.
Synapses are firing!

Student-Centered Good Times

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Students in my honors English 1 class are writing research papers and they will present a rendition of the TED Talk based on their papers. During the last two weeks, students were tasked with teaching their peers different skills needed in order to start these research projects. The different skills taught are 1)what makes a good TED Talk 2) public speaking skills 3) Nuts and Bolts (paraphrasing, synthesizing and MLA rules) 4) using reliable sources. These are all the skills needed in order to create a successful research paper and TED Talk. Different groups were assigned different skills that they taught/presented to the class. After each student-centered lesson, the students individually assessed the group that had just taught, and immediately “shared” the assessment with the group members. Here is a link to the peer assessment doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ka2eKoDo6QlpiThQQQzLd5e77VrBHcNmbfdp9G_gkcU/edit.

My biggest critique of skills teaching with a student-centered approach is that it takes forever. Students in each group needed to learn the information pertinent to their skills; they had to create a lesson for teaching the information; and, they had to teach their lesson to the entire class. What I could have taught in a fraction of the time, took two weeks for students to complete. Plus, two weeks ago, I had a ton of students out sick, which put off the student-centered lessons as well. The second critique that I have for this type of student learning is that students didn’t always explain the material that they were assigned to teach in a clear and coherent way, so for those situations, I have to take more time to reteach the material.

However, a couple of the groups’ lessons were awesome, and I couldn’t have done a better job myself. The public speaking groups, in both of my two honors classes, killed it! The lessons were fun, engaging and informative. They were what I assume student-centered learning is supposed to be. Students left class that day really happy, and you could tell that they fully enjoyed class.

I conducted a survey at the end of this lesson. Here is a link to the results:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1VxlhniHoV6VNF6cgprPqR3xlsgmF41YbmaeEDZ5uNFk/edit#responses. The results are across the board. Most of the students seem ambivalent to this style of teaching/learning.