Week 8 Growth Mindset

Two of my classes this semester have been pushing me further then ever in how I think about writing, not just creative writing but just writing in general. This class and Latin. With this class, I do not have the time to take my writings to several different people and have them go over and edit it. I have had to rely on myself. Latin has taught me so much about English surprisingly enough. Because of Latin, I now know what passive voice is, and how much I enjoy abusing it.

There are definitely things I still need to push myself on. I shy away from dialogue. I my mind I relate that so something akin to the plague. I need to force myself to sit down in class and comprehend texts, for more then just writing a story, rather than  relying on my classmates or teachers to explain it for me. I also need to push myself to go out and talk to others instead of hiding away in my room and doing homework all day.

This class has defiantly enabled me to feel more comfortable approaching difficult or taboo topics in a friendly way, like cannibalism or sexism. It has also allowed me to gain confidence in my creative side, something that I have always been wary of before. It is also a wonderful class for self-motivation, with out increasing that I may have given up on this class early on.

Hopefully later this semester, I can give myself enough confidence to tackle dialogue! At the same time I hope I can push myself further in other classes, especially those that I am bored in.

WeKnowMemes

Growth Mindset

I had never heard of Carol Dweck 's growth mindset before, but after hearing about it I can see how it plays a major role in today education system. So much of education today is geared towards the final results and not on learning or enjoying the process. Personally, I fall somewhere in the middle of her scale, somewhere in between fixed and growth mindset. When a class challenges me, I am definitely growth. For me it is all about learning, not a grade. Rather it is about the sheer enjoyment of learning something new. I will go out of my way to acquire new and interesting information, because that information may a missing puzzle piece that will start to complete my picture. In reverse, if a class is easy I will do just barely enough to get an A , and that is it. I will not try. Everything seems gray and drab in comparison to a challenging course.

I agree with Dweck that the end result should not matter as much as contemporary education thinks it should. The process, how and why the knowledge was acquired should matter. Knowledge should be gathered for the should for the sake of leaning new things, not to satisfy some far off end-game requirement.

I would love to learn about how how growth mindset could be applied to daily life. I think it would be interesting to see how it could be applied to overcoming personal goals outside of school. Perhaps, in pursuing competency with technology or personal health goals, like healthy eating or exercise. I can definitely see growth mindset or a similar program helping me overcoming my shyness and getting me to go beyond my introvert safe comfort zone. Hopefully I will not need to use these strategies in class, if they are challenging enough on their own I can rely on my previous habits of going above and beyond out of enjoyment. However, growth mindset could certainty encourage me to challenge myself regardless of the difficulty of my classes.

Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
issue 5/22/1992: Go Comics