My Driving Question: What impact does students’ attitudes and self-perceptions have on reaching proficient reading levels in intensive intervention for 1+ years? In the process of doing research related to student attitudes and the challenges with reading achievement in younger elementary age students, it did not take long until I came upon the work of Carol Dweck and the concept of growth vs. fixed mindset. As the graphic above demonstrates, the overarching concept is that intelligence can be developed and is not a static or merely genetic. This idea has been confirmed by the latest brain research which shows the plasticity of the brain and how neural pathways are created and strengthened. Teaching students to be metacognitive about their thinking patterns can foster this growth mindset and how to handle the inevitable "failures" that are part of the learning process. Pinterest has hundreds of creative ideas of how teachers are encouraging their students to turn those "I can'ts" and "I'll nevers" into "I'll try another way" and "This may take some time to learn". The business community is also latching onto this concept as a way to increase productivity and creativity in the workplace (this graphic is from a business website) I just returned from an AVID 3 day college readiness training which focused on critical thinking and the inquiry process. Low and behold, our presenter told us that AVID Elementary is based upon Carol Dweck's book "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success". This has been a powerful experience for me as a teacher this summer to see connections between the latest brain research, our district's vision (4 C's, PBL, etc. ) and what is happening on a daily basis at my site and own classroom with AVID strategies. I feel revitalized and eager to use some of AVID's resources to help my own struggling reader's develop the connection between their own self-perceptions and reading achievement. Having the extra push of doing quantitative and qualitative action research is scary, but at the same time I know that it will force me to dive in and not let this important work take a back seat to all of the daily business that tends to pile up on my desk!
2 Comments
Lori
7/18/2016 06:18:47 pm
Dana, I'm really excited and interested to see how your research turns out. I teach first grade, and I see firsthand how important a growth mindset is for all of my students, both struggling and not struggling. Last year, I picked up on the word "yet" to help reinforce a growth mindset. If one of my students says "I can't read that", I'll say "You can't read that YET."
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Dana HandI teach Read 180 at Northwood Elementary School and I am passionate about reading (obviously!) In my "free time" I love hanging out with my 2 teenagers and taking our two dogs for long walks. Archives
March 2017
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