Embrace Struggle #SAVMP 2:3

The Growth Mindset – Not Just a Kid Thing

The research by Carol Dweck has been so affirming for me as an educator. As a teacher, I always loved the most challenging students in my class because they caused me to grow and become a better teacher EVERY day. I was frequently setting goals and trying to grow and improve, and I also believed those same “hard to teach” students could grow at any second, minute, or hour of the day. I made it my personal challenge to meet them where they were and to unlock the key to their learning. Many times these were the students who were despised by other teachers. I even became the classroom where students who were kicked out of other classes ended up--yep, a new schedule was written with Rine as the new teacher! LOL. With my teaching eyes, I would size up every single student and ask myself the question, “How can I help you learn?” Many times, the obstacle was helping the student understand that they COULD achieve. Conquering a fixed mindset in a student can be a challenge.

With that sort of growth mindset in my teaching past, I have been so invigorated by Dweck’s research which is extremely popular right now. The growth mindset ensures that the opportunities for learning are present for the students. I am devastated, DEVASTATED, when I hear educator conversations that include statements like: “Oh, that teacher has (Insert name here) in his/her class. They can’t do anything with THAT child.” 

Our mindset has power. We can have a FIXED mindset where we let failure define who we are or a GROWTH mindset where we see setbacks as opportunities to grow and improve ourselves. I think of my short bout with cancer. I could be mad about the fact that I had to live through a season with cancer, and my life will never be the same because of it OR I can reflect on that difficult time and look for ways it has made me a stronger person. Probably the one way I see that experience as valuable has been the conversations and advice I have been able to give those who walk the "cancer walk" for the first time. I can share my experiences and help them know that it is not always fatal even though it will be traumatic. As teachers and educators, we encounter some very damaged children--maybe it is not cancer damage but we see physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, abandonment, and worse. I mourn that so many of them have seen so much evil in their short lives. But, I never count any of them out of the game. No matter how mischievous, lying or conniving a child might be, I show them the pathway to truth and life and especially the roads where education can lead them. I believe they can all grow. This  mindset can also translate to our impact on students. Do we view our students with a growth mindset and believe that they have the power to change their circumstances? Or do we view them with a fixed mindset that they cannot rise above their circumstances? To be a CHAMPION for a child, you must view them with a growth mindset.

Here are some resources from Project Happiness that compare and contrast the fixed vs. growth mindset. We are focusing on the growth mindset as part of our #SpeakLife theme this year at our school.

  Excerpted from: Project Happiness 

It Is up to you!	FIXED MINDSET Belief that intelligence, personality and character are carved in stone; potential is determined at birth.	GROWTH MINDSET Belief that intelligence, personality, and character can be developed! A person’s true potential is unknown and unknowable.
Desire	Look smart in every situation and prove myself over and over again. Never fail!	Stretch myself, take risks and learn. Bring on the challenges!
Evaluation of Situations	Will I succeed or fail? Will I look smart of dumb?	Will this allow me to grow? Will this help me overcome some of my challenges?
Dealing with Setbacks	“I’m a failure.” OR “I’m an idiot.”	“I failed.” BUT “I will try harder next time.”
Challenges	Avoid challenges, get defensive or give up easily.	Embrace challenges, persist in the face of setbacks.
Effort	Why bother? It’s not going to change anything.	Growth and learning require effort.
Criticism	Ignore constructive criticism.	Learn from criticism. How can I improve?
Success of Others	Feel threatened by the success of others. If you succeed, then I fail.	Find lessons & inspiration in other people’s success.
Result	Plateau early, achieve less than my potential.	Reach ever-higher levels of achievement.

Here is a video from Dweck that we watched during our pre-service training days. I encourage you to shift from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. #YouCanLearnAnything

Follow this link if this video display below for you! #YouCanLearnAnything

Cross-School Collaboration

This past month, I had the pleasure of participating in my first ever cross-school collaboration. I had several times in the past been a part of vertical teaming between feeder schools where a middle school that feeds into a high school met and planned together or where an elementary school that feeds into a middle school met and planned together. This time, for the first time EVER, I was a part of a very exciting cross-school collaboration. How did that look? Well, two sister schools, Cherry Street and Oakland Terrace Elementary partnered up to work together. We spent the summer in a collaborative book study.

The book study was hosted at the home of Lyn Morris, our 5th grade math teacher. The idea to have it in someone's home was so clever. It really gave the venue a feeling of coziness and comfort. Teachers brought in breakfast items, and of course, the coffee pots were filled and refilled.

Lyn's Beautiful Home

The first thing that happened with the intermingling of these two faculties was that current relationships were encouraged. We got to see Lyn's lovely home. In the picture below, Lyn is showing us some of the labors of her garden.

Peppers from Lyn's Garden

Kim Nix and Paula Clements

Also, I saw current relationships revisited. Here, are two of our kindergarten teachers, Kim and Paula, sharing a Blueberry Pound Cake recipe.

Next, I noticed all the learning going on between these two groups. We spent two separate days at Lynn's home digging into the book. The book, Transforming High Poverty Schools into High Performing Schools, brought into focus the various traits of schools with under-resourced students and how the teams in those schools fostered them into high performing schools based on certain principles. Teachers had been asked to complete reading the book prior to the collaboration days. When we collected the data about the perceptions of our groups, across the board we recognized that people's perceptions about poverty... were all over the place. 

Here is a sample question and you can see our responses fell all over the map. The question wanted to know what the reader believed was the reason for the lack of parent involvement among children in poverty. The graph of the results demonstrates that perspectives were broad.

However, about mid-way through the first day, you could see our perceptions begin to unify and take hold. Here are the major points from the book that exposed what the HP/HP schools look like:

• Have high expectations for their students 
• Embrace and use all data they can get their hands on 
• Use data to focus on individual students 
• Constantly re-examine what they do 
• Embrace accountability 
• Make decisions based on what is good for kids, not what is good for adults 
• Use school time wisely 
• Leverage as many resources from the community as possible 
• Expand the time students, particularly struggling students, have in school 
• Do not spend a lot of time disciplining students in the sense of punishment 
• Make sure the kids who struggle have the best instruction 
• Ensure principals are important leaders but they are not the only leaders 
• Pay careful attention to the quality of the teaching staff 
• Provide teachers with the time to meet to plan and work collaboratively 
• Provide teachers with time to observe one another 
• Think seriously about professional development 

Full Group Debriefing

Full Group Debriefing

Our teachers then took action to transfer this learning back to our individual schools. During the final break-out session, teachers who had studied and analyzed the information with diligence contemplated how to share these critical elements with the rest of their school's faculty. Each school's study group developed an action plan for sustaining this information throughout the course of the entire school year.

This was a 100% positive experience. I have to say that Lendy Willis, who I consider a mentor, was brilliant in thinking up this possibility. Behind the scenes, Deniece Moss and Tammy Boyer helped make it happen! For both of our school's faculty, it was an endeavor of collaboration, BUT even more so, I believe it was an arena for creating support networks among educators. We are working harder than ever at both of our schools, and it is critical that we get some "wind beneath our wings" every once in a while. We need to have a shared experience -- knowing that we are not alone in giving every last bit of energy to improve the lives of children, especially our children in poverty.

I commend the faculty at Cherry Street Elementary and Oakland Terrace Elementary. Go Cheetahs and Orcas! Have a fabulous school year! I look forward to our next project together.

To all the other leaders out there, I recommend this experience of cross-school collaboration!

Smiling Is a Super Power

     

Well, the school year is over, and we all made it safely to the end! As I look back on the many events that occurred, I would have to say it was truly challenging. The thing that saved me again and again was and continues to be my positive attitude. For example, there was a situation that occurred during the school year where I was speaking with some very hostile parents. They were seated in my office, raising their voices, and just plain mad.  I have asked office staff to be sensitive to such situations and to close my door when they hear folks get emotional or upset so that we can respect their feelings. Well, right on cue, Kathryn comes to my door and closes it for me. Can I tell you how much I appreciate my office staff!!!  Later that day, she said something to me that I will never forget. She said, “When I came to close your door, you were just smiling at these parents as they were yelling at you.”

     Well, I have to confess, keeping a smile at such times might be difficult, but I have found that it never fails me. As I recently read in Dan Kerr's blog entry on Connected Principals, “A smile breaks down barriers, it diffuses tense or contentious situations, it fosters positive intent, and it inspires a student’s or colleague’s perception of who you are and how you feel about them.”  Being positive is something I demand of myself and of my staff. School climate and culture grounded in positivity is one of the foundations of a great school.

     We have many more challenges ahead of us with the upcoming school year. AND, school grading and accountability can certainly put a spotlight on things that desperately need attention in the schoolhouse. Sometimes these needs might seem daunting, but keeping morale high and pressing on to positively face every obstacle are critical to surviving this job with a happy and healthy outlook.

     And when it comes to the children, your smile and your welcome greeting might be the only happiness that a student encounters in their life all day. I can walk into classrooms and tell where students are happy and into others where they are not. I can walk into classrooms where students love their teacher, and I can also walk into others where they fear their teacher. Practice smiling and keep everyone around you smiling. Do you laugh during your day? Look around you and find inspiration in the faces of the children you teach. Did you know that 1 smile can generate the same level of brain stimulation as up to 2,000 bars of chocolate? Click here to see a YouTube video about The Power of Smiling.

A smile is something you can’t give away; it always comes back to you.                    – Maya Angelou

                      

Inspired by dkerr’s blog entry, The Power of a Smile, April 21, 2013, Connected Principals