I have a...gro...fixed mindset.

I don’t think I would be doing myself any justice by saying I have a growth mindset when I know that I do not. It’s embarrassing. It’s disappointing. BUT the upside is that it’s fixable. I wouldn’t say that I’m one to give up when things get hard, but my attitude about hard things is a different story. I don’t like hard things. If you’ve read my recent blog post though, you will remember me saying one of my mantra’s is, “I can do hard things.” I know what you’re thinking, “Wait, what?!”

I JUST said I didn’t like to do hard things, yet .0987 seconds later I said I can do them. I’ve learned this about myself, I have to feel the hurt, or in this case the hard, and then move on. My mindset needs an adjustment when it comes to the initial struggle of something. I know that is something I need to work on and, slowly, very slowly, I feel as if I’m getting better about it.

It isn’t the fact that something’s hard that makes me have a poor attitude. It’s the simple fact that why isn’t it easy?! I now have an answer for that...because I wouldn’t show any growth within myself. I know that I can do hard things, but if I took that stance and mindset from the get go, there’s no doubt that I would be able to accomplish far more than what I have.

I challenge myself to shift my focus from saying “I can do hard things” to “I enjoy doing hard things.” I think that one word will help me seek out the learning rather than the results.

As I was listening and watching the videos and reading over the articles, I truly was wondering how I was going to avoid a “false” growth mindset. Call me crazy, but I thought of creating a poster or multiple small posters with correct verbiage to use with my students. Speaking for myself, I don’t think I would intentionally foster a “false” growth mindset, but I do think it would happen to me. I get so wrapped up into everything else that I say the first thing that comes to mind and sometimes that’s not the best choice of words. I even thought of making small stickers and posting them on my desk for quick reference. I think as time goes on it’s going to be simple to say the “correct” thing and listen to see if others are using the appropriate growth mindset talk, but right now I need quick reminders.

I also thought this would be good for my students to see so they could become naturally inclined to listening and speaking with a growth mindset. I picture some of my students saying, “Ms. R, you used words from the fixed mindset side. You’re not supposed to do that, remember.” This will always be a teaching point because I will tell them, “You’re right! A growth mindset is something we are always working on. I know I didn’t choose my words correctly, but now that you have pointed it out, I know that YOU know what words I should have used.” I want my student’s to see that we, both them and myself, are always learning. I may be older than them, but I am always learning and always wanting to learn.