Where Do We Go From Here?

As my first class in the Digital Learning and Leading program draws to a close, it's a logical time and place to take stock of what I've learned so far and where that learning will take me.

Quite possibly the most significant concept in the program for me has been the idea of the fixed mindset versus the growth mindset. In studying this concept, and in figuring out how to present it and advocate for it to my colleagues and students, I feel as though I have been given the words and framework to understand a concept that will revolutionize the way I learn and the way I teach. All the other concepts presented in this course (and the ones that follow) mean very little without embracing the fundamental principle that anyone and everyone is capable of unknown growth. No matter how much choice and ownership students have over the most authentic projects imaginable, if they don't believe they can learn, they won't.

Professional Learning Networks

My name is Bryan, and I'm a member of several Professional Learning Networks.

(*group responds in unison* "Hi, Bryan.")

I tried to start this thread by making a list of the PLN's I'm already a part of:

A Growth Mindset Plan

Unless we believe we can improve, we can't. A belief that growth is possible is Step Zero toward meeting any goal.

Our students often come to us in the grips of what Dr. Carol Dweck, in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, calls a "fixed mindset." It is a belief that intelligence and ability are essentially static, and that efforts to improve are pointless and even a sign of inadequacy. To be honest, we often carry that mindset in our own lives. In order for learning and improvement to take place, our students (and we ourselves) must be encouraged to develop, in Dweck's words, a "growth mindset," a belief that intelligence and ability are not predetermined, and that effort, struggle, and even failure are not catastrophes, but opportunities.