Format

Individual Presentation

First Presenter's Institution

Georgia Connections Academy

Second Presenter's Institution

NA

Third Presenter's Institution

NA

Fourth Presenter's Institution

NA

Fifth Presenter's Institution

NA

Location

Ballroom E

Strand #1

Social & Emotional Skills

Relevance

Heart Emotional Skills - Fostering social and emotional skills and the social climate for all children and youth.

Growth Mindset is a theory that revolves around motivation. When a learner and a teacher understand Growth Mindset, the mastery of difficult tasks becomes a welcomed challenge by everyone involved in the learning process. Developing a Growth Mindset can help students succeed academically as well as socially and emotially. Students living in high-risk settings can succeed while they overcome the difficult circumstances. Growth Mindset can become a key component of the supporting foundation that helps all students achieve academic and post-secondary goals successfully.

Brief Program Description

Students deserve a meaningful answer to the question “Why do I need to know this?” They are often given empty reasons like, “we must review the standards based curriculum” or “it is on the test”. These answers are not motivating to any students. We will discuss practical strategies to encourage Growth Mindset approach to difficult life experiences and academic challenges.

Summary

Motivating students is a challenge to most educators at some point or another. Students deserve to know why they are being asked to learn concepts or produce evidence that learning has occurred. They are often given empty reasons like, “we must review the standards based curriculum” or “it is on the test”. These answers are not motivating to a student. The answer to the question” Why do I need to know this?” is powerful when the answer provides relevant truth about skills students need to have in order to succeed after high school is over. Growth Mindset is a theory utilizing the scientific evidence that working through difficult tasks promote brain growth and strengthening. The session will briefly discuss the scientific evidence. The session will be used to discuss strategies to motivate students through the struggle that comes with difficult learning tasks. We will also discover the difference in how a high achieving student and a struggling student utilize the information from the Growth Mindset theory and how teachers can use this information to help improve student success. The presentation will include conversation about how Growth Mindset can transfer from the academic setting to the hard life circumstances some students are managing to overcome.

Evidence

Growth Mindset is a theory based on brain research completed by Carol Dweck and her research team. Her research shows that the brain grows and is strengthened by working through hard tasks. Angela Lee Duckworth has published research that shows the ability to developing perseverance and passion is more indicative that a student will succeed than IQ or high test scores. Susan Mackie conducted follow up research that finds interesting observations about what she terms “false Growth Mindset” highlighting the possibility of misconception and misinterpretation of developing Growth Mindset.

Biographical Sketch

Carmen Long has been an educator since 1994 and has taught in traditional school, online school, university model school, homeschooled her own children, and taught math courses for homeschooled students. In 2004 she started teaching as an adjunct teacher for Georgia Virtual School. She has taught for Georgia Cyber Academy for two years and is teaching at Georgia Connections Academy for the fifth year. She graduated from Georgia State University with a Bachelor of Science in Math and Computer Science December 1994 and from Kennesaw State University with a M.Ed. in instructional technology.

Keyword Descriptors

Perseverance, Growth Mindset, Success, passion, grit

Presentation Year

2017

Start Date

3-8-2017 9:45 AM

End Date

3-8-2017 11:00 AM

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Mar 8th, 9:45 AM Mar 8th, 11:00 AM

Growth Mindset –The answer to “Why do I need to know this?”

Ballroom E

Students deserve a meaningful answer to the question “Why do I need to know this?” They are often given empty reasons like, “we must review the standards based curriculum” or “it is on the test”. These answers are not motivating to any students. We will discuss practical strategies to encourage Growth Mindset approach to difficult life experiences and academic challenges.