Week 13 Growth Mindset

For this Growth Mindset, I chose to do the "Your Other Classes" challenge. Reading through the description for this challenge I automatically knew about what I wanted to talk about. And that is...my Microbiology class. This class has really kept me in check the whole semester. It's the class I'm struggling with the most since it is so much information and our grade comes from three tests. That's it. So every. test. counts. The reason it has been difficult for me is because I had not been sure how to study for this class. I'm much more of a visual learner so when all the information was handed to me I had to figure out how to make it into a way where I could effectively study and understand it. The tests are very different too. I feel like knowing the information front and back is imperative for this class. The challenge I've had, like I mentioned, is studying for it. I'm trying to make sure I figure out a good way to study for this class. That has been my learning curve. So, I guess the most exciting and stressful challenge I have had for this class is determining the best way to study.

"Studying for finals"
Flickr

Week 12 Growth Mindset

For this week's Growth Mindset challenge, I chose to look at some memes. (I really enjoy memes :D). As I was looking through the list this particular one caught my attention:

"Dream big... and dare to fail"
Source: MythFolklore Growth Mindset Memes

 Which was inspired by this poster:

"Dream big... and dare to fail poster"
Source: MythFolklore Growth Mindset Memes

Besides the fact that I found the meme funny, I could also relate to the actual quote. Usually when thinking about dreaming big, some people's initial thought is the success that could come with reaching their goals. However, it's not always easy to reach your dreams. There is a good chance that you may run into a bump in the road, make a mistake, or fail at something along the way. With dreaming big I think it's important that you dare and anticipate failing. What I took away from the poster is that, failing is what comes with the experience. No one is perfect and it's always good to learn from your mistakes. You can't expect to reach your dreams without hard work and a possible difficult journey!

Week 3: Growth Mindset

Beyond School.

This week, I decided to do the "Beyond School" challenge. I have two aspects where I think I could apply this approach outside of school. The first one is work. I currently work as a pharmacy technician. My job entitles me to do things such as taking care of and filling prescriptions, working with customers, and other miscellaneous things. When I first got hired as a pharmacy technician there was a lot of information to learn and take in. However, I'm still learning new things everyday. I always take a different route other than shortcuts just so I know that I'm really learning about the job. Being a pharmacist is what I'm ultimately working towards so I think it's important to learn as much about the field as possible and truly learn my job.

The other aspect is, of course, writing (I feel like I talk about this a lot, but it really is something I enjoy..so this definitely isn't the last of it)! I'm always trying to grow everyday in writing. I read a lot of things, even if it's something short, I check out books on writing, I attempt to write even a little bit outside of class, I reread my writing, etc., etc. Continuously learning about an art honestly helps to understand it better and become more skilled in it so that's what I try to do as often as I can!

"Pharmacist's Mortar"
Source: Wikipedia

Growth Mindset Week 2

This morning I completed a Growth Mindset Challenge! The first one that stuck out to me was the Meme one (I love memes). So, for this post I chose this particular meme:

"Real learning takes work"
Source: Growth Mindset Memes

I picked this meme because I feel like I can relate to it and it reminded me of the Carol Dweck video I watched last week. I really think this saying is true. I've come to realize that, especially in college, you can't always slack off or just do assignments then expect to ace to a class. There's so much more to it. If you honestly want to succeed in learning a subject, it will take you time and work. It's important to challenge yourself and have patience in learning something so that you truly know it and not just the basics. I wish more emphasis was put on learning material rather than the grade. But, this year, I'm continuing to try to stay on top of my classes, read ahead, and make sure I really understand the material. I think that will help me a lot in the future.

Growth Mindset

Before joining this course I had not heard about Carol Dweck or the growth mindset before. Therefore, it was a very new topic to me. I liked what Dweck had to say and I agree with her. I think students are getting more praise for getting the correct answer than the process leading up to the correct answer. Sometimes, students can easily find the answer online or get it from a friend. The challenge and road to getting to the answer is far more important because it helps to truly know how to do something and can lead to more creative thinking. When we start praising students for working through a tough problem instead of just seeing that they got the correct answer, that's when we're really leading them to achieve more. In high school, I felt like this issue was the case, too. Certain assignments seemed too easy to do. It felt like students were given just the very basics of how to do specific problems and then before you know it, it was on to the next subject.

Coming to college was a wake-up call for me. Here, I believe I have more of a growth mindset than I ever did before. With mostly all of my classes, in order to succeed, I know I have to honestly try at the subject. I have to sit down and do a lot of practice problems that weren't assigned to me. This method has helped me tremendously. Doing the practice problems switches on a light bulb for me in such a way that I really understand how to do something, why I'm doing it, and how it relates to a number of other things. I reward myself for working through a challenge more than I do for the final product.

Every semester I try to go in with a more determined mindset than the semester before, so I'm ecstatic to learn more about the growth mindset and how it can help me in some of my other difficult classes. I feel like it's sort of a recipe for success in more ways than one. I hope this tool will also help me stay more on top of things and not get behind! :-)

"I drive my own learning"
Source: Growth Mindset Memes