Is your brain fixed or fluid?

 

In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. They’re wrong.

In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities.

 

Mindset can be evident in some of the subtle differences in self-talk as you approach a challenge. The way you respond to different challenges can indicate what sort of mindset you have. Which of these do you recognise in your own personal/internal responses to different situations?

This is a great short video to help explain the differences in mindset between “fixed” and “growth”. Carol Dweck’s work in this area highlights one of the critical challenges for teachers in their ever-changing professional roles. As the changes come thick and fast adapting a “growth mindset” is an imperative!

Disrupting boundaries: how digital devices became a resource for transformative change in a time of crisis

…the community of Pegasus Bay had experienced ‘great environmental change’, many of the traditional boundaries defining community, school, teaching, and learning had already been disrupted, which provided a context for teachers to think and practice differently; the introduction and use of digital devices intensified this change process.

via Disrupting boundaries: how digital devices became a resource for transformative change in a time of crisis.

Interesting article on how the challenges faced by some schools in Christchurch following the earthquakes resulted in a project that “… not only created new pathways for learning but also new ways to demonstrate care and concern for others.”
Learning communities growing through adversity!

What will students learn in the future?

By Artmax (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Many schools face complex challenges as they work to adjust and adapt to new ways of working and thinking – sometimes hindered by the traditional curriculum frameworks they work within. Many national curricula are developed with a mindset that still focuses on content, although many are moving towards more conceptual frameworks to allow flexibility in locally-shaped school-based curricula which respond directly to the learning needs of any particular learning community ( e.g. New Zealand curriculum, International Baccalaureate’s PYP to name two that spring to mind )

Just as advances in technology enabled the growth of science, the extremely rapid growth of technology we’re experiencing today is impacting our perspectives, tools, and priorities now. But beyond some mild clamor for a focus on “STEM,” there have been only minor changes in how we think of content–this is spite of extraordinary changes in how students connect, access data, and function on a daily basis.

 

This article on te@chthought poses some interesting questions and  suggests a new framework for what students will learn in the future:

1. Literacy
Big Idea: Reading and writing in physical & digital spaces

2. Patterns
Big Idea: How and why patterns emerge everywhere under careful study

3. Systems
Big Idea: The universe—and every single thing in it–is made of systems, and systems are made of parts.

4. Design
Big Idea: Marrying creative and analytical thought

5. Citizenship
Big Idea: Responding to interdependence

6. Data
Big Idea: Recognizing & using information in traditional & non-traditional forms

7. Research
Big Idea: Identifying, evaluating, and synthesizing diverse ideas

8. Philosophy
Big Idea: The nuance of thought

 

 

 

TodaysMeet adds moderation facility

TodaysMeet adds a couple of new features to its service which look like a great addition for teachers!

Moderation is definitely the most welcome tool for teachers… but the ability to create secure meetings as well as embed QR codes on the webpage for users to grab and print-friendly transcripts are nice touches to a great classroom tool!

---

Thanks to Richard Byrne @rmbyrne for the heads-up! Follow him on twitter to get a whole pile of useful tech tips for teachers!

Four essential ideas for blended learning

Thinking of innovative ways to use technology to impact student achievement? Blended learning might be something to consider!

“Shifting some work online to complement traditional classrooms creates much needed time and space in the classroom.”

1. Every school needs a vision
2. One size does not fit all
3. Don’t let software dictate learning goals
4. Support teachers and involve them in the decision-making process

Read more about these four principles in this great article from the team at MindShift