When my students say "i was a good boy or good girI  i always reply... What 
does that mean being a " good" or " bad".. I dont know what you mead.. then i 
have student reflect on their explanation ...
As I read chapter 2.. I began wondering if this questioning and  thinking is 
still not enough to push our student and ourselves away from this fix mindset. 
As I self reflect ... This thought process and dialogue may be a beginning but 
I must open my mind to more thinking towards letting children know they have 
the Power to change ...their way ...They have the ability within them to take 
any task and move from where they are to another level, another level of 
great,good ,better.....all the words we  use so often without thinking about 
those  simple words have  limitations!,,,hope my message makes some sense

 Love the book and the book study!, thank all of  your thoughtfully  and honest 
responses.

Angela Black
kindergaren  teacher
Elmhurst ,NY

Sent from my iPad

On Feb 10, 2013, at 2:47 PM, "Palmer, Jennifer" <[email protected]> 
wrote:

> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> On Feb 9, 2013, at 6:06 PM, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> 
> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> First I want to say that I am not reading the book with you all, but I am 
>> reading your posts. 
>> Jennifer, what you have written makes me think.  Maybe responses to my 
>> questions are in the book, and I need to get a copy. 
>> I am working hard in my classroom not to promote a fixed mindset.  The 
>> teachers and admin in my building know about a fixed mindset, but boy! is 
>> that a hard habit to break.  People who know better -- me included at times 
>> -- still promote that fixed mindset.  We say things to students and each 
>> other about students being smart and capable. 
>> How do I remind my colleagues not to talk that way?  I think that until 
>> we're all on the same page, we're not going to make much progress. Jan
>> 
>> 
>> Quoting "Palmer, Jennifer" <[email protected]>:
>>> Let's do some talking about this idea of Johnston's that when we tell a 
>>> child he
>>> is a "good boy" ...or a "good reader"...it automatically sets up a fixed
>>> performance frame for students. If one can be "good", one can also be 
>>> "bad"...we
>>> confirm the idea that people have fixed and unchanging abilities. 
>>> Johnston shares some thought-provoking research that we need to consider. He
>>> writews on page 11:
>>> "When children holding fixed theories encounter difficulties, mistakes 
>>> become
>>> crippling. Worse, if they think a task might be difficult they choose to not
>>> even try so that they won't fail and look stupid. They choose not to try, 
>>> even
>>> if it means losing an opportunity to learn something important. They choose
>>> instead to look good, or at least not to look bad at whatever they are 
>>> doing."
>>> 
>>> I am thinking back to several students I had difficulty motivating and am
>>> considering now the damage I might have been doing when I encouraged 
>>> struggling
>>> students that they were indeed "good readers" instead of focusing them on 
>>> their
>>> process. 
>>> With Common Core coming up for many of us...where we will be asking 
>>> students to
>>> work in more complex texts...to persist in solving difficult problems in
>>> mathematics...to design their own inquiries in science...What implications 
>>> do
>>> our students' theories about being smart or becoming smart have for us in 
>>> this
>>> new and rapidly changing educational environment?
>>> 
>>> Do you agree with Johnston's points that our language can develop childrens'
>>> worlds and views about learning? What changes will you make in the language 
>>> you
>>> use with your kids TODAY, in your classroom?
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Jennifer L. Palmer, Ed. D.
>> 
>> 
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