Monday, July 18, 2016

A Mindset for Learning

As I was reading, A Mindset for Learning by Kristine Mraz and Christine Hertz I found myself wanting to take two actions before I was even half way through the book.  The first thing I wanted to do was to have W for another year.  He needs this book.  I needed this book to help him grow further.  We had a great year together, we worked a lot on persistence but I could of gone further with many of the suggestions offered in this book.  Another action I wanted to take and may still do before school starts, is to share this book with W's parents and his teacher next year.  I think this book should be in the hands of parents also.  It's not just a book for educators.  This is a book for anyone, young or old navigating life.




These are the nudges I found for the upcoming school year.

-Don't feel hurried to start school and miss getting to know my students.

-Write knowing tidbits about my new students down, I can't remember everything.

-Focus on the stances for learning early has a whole class and not just when needed for those in need.

-Value self-talk and listen more intently to self-talk.

-Make reminder charts/tools for individuals to foster independence.



These are some quotes that are sticking with me and might interest you in looking at this book more.

- Talking about getting to know your students.  "Rather, it must extend throughout the year and drive our planning, our teaching, and our very interaction with each child."

-"Resilience is important in our day-to-day lives, but it is essential to learning.  Resilience is what allows one to be persistent."

-"To help children build these stances, you may first want to ask them to apply them in areas of the day that are somewhat familiar to and "easy" for children in order to avoid draining their "willpower tank" too quickly."

-"When we harness the power of that voice, our life becomes more intentional and more under our own control."

-"Finding the positive spin does not mean that everything becomes the best ever; rather, it means we acknowledge negative feelings and help children move past them into productive actions."


5 comments:

  1. I haven't dug into any professional reading yet this summer. I need to get going or I'll run out of time!

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    1. I think some years are like that and we have to accept that's okay. After having a few maybe I decided this year to attack my TBR piles professionally and on my kindle. So my reading plan has a pattern - one fun kindle read and one professional book. I'm more than ever before!

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  2. This book has been sitting on my shelf -- unopened -- for several months. I'm planning to start doing more professional reading once I hit my 8th month of pregnancy. (Right now I'm still comfortable enough to sit at the computer to write.) This is going to be on the top of my pile thanks to your write-up!

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  3. I know to start the year slowly but it always helps me to be reminded. Thanks ;)

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  4. Looks like a great book! I'll have to get a copy. Thanks so much for sharing some of its strong messages.

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