Week 15 - Growth Mindset

Morgan's Growth Mindset Post

I completely agree with Morgan when she says she finds herself saying this a lot. I do as well. I've probably said "I don't know" more times than I've said "I know this", during my college career. Since I've been in college, I have come to second guess myself more than anything. Even when I know what I'm talking about, I always end, "but I don't know" at the end. It's really hard to be confident in yourself in college because it's difficult subjects. It pushes you to think outside the box and it tests your ability to learn and adapt. One day I hope I can confidently say "I know exactly what I'm talking about" and not turn around and take it back right after. 

Week 14 - Growth Mindset: Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone

What will happen?

After looking at this image, one can realize that there are only positives that come from stepping out of your comfort zone. We all have a really hard time actually doing it though, but sometimes you have to take a risk to get where you want to go in life. It helps to build you up instead of keeping you sheltered. I unfortunately have not been able to step out of my comfort zone yet, but one major step I hope to take one day is moving to Colorado. It's something I've wanted to do since I was a kid, and I hope to follow through with it one day. Moving to Norman was a big step for me and it was hard enough. I learned to love it and I am so happy that I did so. I'm nervous about making an even bigger move so far away from home, but I am looking forward to it. 

Week 10 Growth Mindset

Article: What's Going On Inside the Brain of a Curious Child?

This article was about a study done with adults and their curiosity to learn. They were given a 100 different trivia questions and were asked to rate their curiosity for the answer. While participants reviewed the questions, their brain activity was being monitored via an MRI machine. Researchers noticed that when participants were most curious about the topic the areas of the brain that control pleasure and reward lit up and that there was increased activity in the hippocampus. Research also showed that participants remembered more about the topics they were most interested in than the topics they weren't. 

The author related this information back to peaking interest in kids in the classroom. They mention learning what the children are interested in and using that to help teach. If you use what students are interested in, they are more likely to remember that information. 

After reading this article, I can relate to the information they mention. Looking back through my college career, the professors that used information that related to me and what I was interested in, that is the information I can recall now. If I was just being taught to get through a lesson, that information was lost as soon as I completed the course. I can also relate this information to my work place. I work with an acute care (in hospital) physical therapy team and one of the first questions the patient is asked, is what their goals are. If they just had a knee replacement and they eventually want to get back to running, we use that information to relate to their treatment. When we do that, patients always seem more motivated and eager to work with us. 

Week 8 Growth Mindset

Motivational Tuesday

For each class, I think I have strengths and weaknesses for each. For this class, I think on of my strengths would be being open to any and all feedback. I really enjoy getting feedback from my fellow classmates and professor about what I can do to better my stories and writing. This also relates to being confident that I can improve. Writing has always been a big hobby of mine. I used to write crazy stories all the time when I was younger. Since being in college, I haven't been able to do much of that anymore. Being in this class has challenged me to get back into writing once again. It has allowed me to be creative with my writing. Instead of writing the short corky stories I wrote when I was younger, I'm able to write longer stories that have direction. Another thing I really enjoy about this class is that it does focus on learning more than it is about grades. Most classes you are stuck taking tests and quizzes and other participation tactics to earn your grade. This is the first class that I've taken that has allowed me to make my own schedule and actually have fun while I'm earning a grade. It's focusing more on the content than it is passing. 

One thing I am really bad at, is waiting until the last minute to do anything, for any class. I usually have assignments in another class so things get pushed back until I realize that it's due tomorrow and it needs to be done. Between going to school full time as well as working a full time job and occasionally traveling back home for another, I really don't have much down time. I barely get enough sleep most nights. Many times, I have to lay down and take a nap so once again something gets pushed back until it's almost too late. 

Luckily I think over the last couple weeks, I have figured out a way to better manage my time that will allow me to get things done in an appropriate amount of time (It's only taken half a semester to do so, lol). 

Growth Mindset

Source: Laura Gibbs via cheezburger

I have never heard of Carol Dweck or Growth Mindset before learning about it in this class. I definitely see myself looking at class/class work as getting a passing grade. I let life get in my way all the time, so I tend to focus more on what I need to learn to do good enough on the assignments. I like the way of the not yet, that Professor Dweck mentions in the first video. My brother was one of the many kids that had ADHD when he was younger. He hated school, and learning and struggled with it until he was in middle/high school. Luckily for him, as he got older, he was able to overcome his challenges and focus better and is now finishing his junior year as a Mechanical Engineer major with a relatively high GPA. If he had the not yet option when he was younger, I feel like he wouldn't have been so hard on himself. I remember him being upset all the time as a kid, because he just couldn't grasp what was going on in school.

Being at OU, you have a large variety of teachers and teaching assistance/grad students that help professors. All of them have their own teaching styles. Some that are completely different from mine. I've definitely had to put more time and effort into some classes than I have with others. I have had to change my learning styles to adapt to the teacher rather than what is best for me. My freshman year was a shock. In college, professors, especially in larger lecture classes, only focus on teaching the information required for the class. It doesn't matter whether or not you understand it. I definitely went into college as a fixed-mindset student, but over the years, that has changed.