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"It is common sense to take a method and try it, if it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something" - Franklin D. Roosevelt, former US. President
As a Teacher Canadidate, I try to help the students I am working with see all true learning as a rumbustious process of trial, error, and eventual (and provisional) achievement.
Our failures - and those of our pupils - are events, not reflections of who we are. And all events invite us to learn. By reflecting on what lies behind our failures we can convert them into powerful learning experiences!
In class this afternoon, I taught a Geometry lesson on investigating the properties of similarity & congruency in 2-D & 3-D shapes (as well as how they relate to each other.)
I had students work in groups with assigned jobs positions - (leader, scribes, coach, etc.) I asked them to investigate a series of models I had built for them (made up of 2-D and 3-D shapes). Before I assigned the groups tasks, we had a valuable conversation about the common strengths and weaknesses that are connected to group work. We discussed how we could avoid things like one person pulling a heavy load, among other things. During the consolidation piece of the lesson, we revisited this conversation. Rather than announcing the group that I thought was working most collaboratively straight away, I asked the groups themselves to describe how well they thought their groups worked together. Sure enough, the groups were honest in relation to whether or not they thought they had been working effectively. As a class we discussed the weaknesses of our group work, as well as the strengths of the winning group/ the things groups did that were effective. Overall this was extremely valuable, because the students recognized their own failures as an opportunity to improve. I tell them constantly that I think group work is one of the most valuable ways to learn, because we have so much to learn from one another, and we are able to gain insight into multiple perspectives that we otherwise might never have developed. My students love group work, because they are able to socialize as well as learn. As a teacher I found it moving to listen as my students openly identify their points of weakness and begin to strategize with regards to how to improve (without me even asking them).
Our failures - and those of our pupils - are events, not reflections of who we are. And all events invite us to learn. By reflecting on what lies behind our failures we can convert them into powerful learning experiences!
In class this afternoon, I taught a Geometry lesson on investigating the properties of similarity & congruency in 2-D & 3-D shapes (as well as how they relate to each other.)
I had students work in groups with assigned jobs positions - (leader, scribes, coach, etc.) I asked them to investigate a series of models I had built for them (made up of 2-D and 3-D shapes). Before I assigned the groups tasks, we had a valuable conversation about the common strengths and weaknesses that are connected to group work. We discussed how we could avoid things like one person pulling a heavy load, among other things. During the consolidation piece of the lesson, we revisited this conversation. Rather than announcing the group that I thought was working most collaboratively straight away, I asked the groups themselves to describe how well they thought their groups worked together. Sure enough, the groups were honest in relation to whether or not they thought they had been working effectively. As a class we discussed the weaknesses of our group work, as well as the strengths of the winning group/ the things groups did that were effective. Overall this was extremely valuable, because the students recognized their own failures as an opportunity to improve. I tell them constantly that I think group work is one of the most valuable ways to learn, because we have so much to learn from one another, and we are able to gain insight into multiple perspectives that we otherwise might never have developed. My students love group work, because they are able to socialize as well as learn. As a teacher I found it moving to listen as my students openly identify their points of weakness and begin to strategize with regards to how to improve (without me even asking them).
Above, are memes created by students who have - very obviously, given up. They are displaying a definite fixed mindset in terms of their beliefs towards their ability to succeed in mathematics. Today I asked my students who believed they were good at math - Only one hand went up. When I asked who was bad at math, half of the classes hands went up - the rest of the students... asked me if I this was a trick question (haha).
This was the only fuel I needed to motivate me even more than I already was to address - again - this concept of growth and fixed mindsets. I quite boldly told them " I am about to teach you something that will change your lives. It could, quite possibly be, the most valuable thing you will ever learn throughout your educational journeys."
I told them, intelligence is not fixed. Then, I asked them what that meant to them. Lots of students raised their hands and contributed valuable points to our discussion, my favourite one being - "when you are playing hockey, you don't just give up and think "I'm not good at hockey" because you miss a shot on net." I found this class discussion to be very valuable. It provided me with an opportunity to form a dialogue around my assessments (math notebooks etc.)
I explained to them that I am interested in assessing their efforts & providing them with feedback - as a hockey coach would in order to help them improve. I knew that students had a concrete understanding when they mentioned/ agreed that if I was interested in a measure of fixed intelligence I wouldn't be asking them to do work, or even teach them for that matter. Realistically if that were the case I would only provide and evaluate tests, and not providing any support or feedback. This discussion really involved students in their learning, they now conceptually understand the importance of assessment & my feedback - rather than just seeing it as criticism, or negative "picking".
This was the only fuel I needed to motivate me even more than I already was to address - again - this concept of growth and fixed mindsets. I quite boldly told them " I am about to teach you something that will change your lives. It could, quite possibly be, the most valuable thing you will ever learn throughout your educational journeys."
I told them, intelligence is not fixed. Then, I asked them what that meant to them. Lots of students raised their hands and contributed valuable points to our discussion, my favourite one being - "when you are playing hockey, you don't just give up and think "I'm not good at hockey" because you miss a shot on net." I found this class discussion to be very valuable. It provided me with an opportunity to form a dialogue around my assessments (math notebooks etc.)
I explained to them that I am interested in assessing their efforts & providing them with feedback - as a hockey coach would in order to help them improve. I knew that students had a concrete understanding when they mentioned/ agreed that if I was interested in a measure of fixed intelligence I wouldn't be asking them to do work, or even teach them for that matter. Realistically if that were the case I would only provide and evaluate tests, and not providing any support or feedback. This discussion really involved students in their learning, they now conceptually understand the importance of assessment & my feedback - rather than just seeing it as criticism, or negative "picking".