Over the past couple weeks, I have mentioned how the research I have done for my inquiry question so far has led me to articles that explain why fostering a growth mindset in the classroom is important and how it is beneficial for students, but I was struggling a bit to find resources that could give some insight into how teachers could go about doing so. Today during our personal research time in our inquiry class, I did it!

I found some great articles that explained how teachers could go about creating a culture of risk taking in their classroom. The language teachers use in the classroom is important, and the praise and encouragement teachers provide to students can have an impact on their attitudes in tackling challenges. Teachers should portray challenging tasks as fun and exciting, and they should be praising the students’ process and thinking strategies, and the effort they have put into solving the problem. I’m really excited that I was able to find these articles and I can’t wait to see what else I can find. I might have to keep altering my search terms to make sure I pull up new results in these databases. I also don’t think I will end up altering my question yet. Fostering a growth mindset in the classroom involves in all kinds of aspects of classroom management, and I’m interested to see how learning about all these strategies and methods will (or will not) impact my question in the coming weeks.

We also had a really good group discussion today. Julie was explaining how her question began to change a bit, and she described how she’s thinking of focusing on self-reliance/self-confidence/self-regulation. It was then May’s turn, and she explained what she has been doing with her question, telling us all about what she has found with regards to communication in the classroom. This then led to our discussion about how we should be talking to our students. I have been told that teachers shouldn’t be saying things such as “I want you to…” or “I need you to…” as this would imply to the students that they are completing tasks for us, the teachers, and not for themselves. Instead, we should be saying things like “Your job is to…” which puts the responsibility onto the student so that they would be internally motivated to complete the task. But then we wondered, what is the balance between that? We want to be able to build students’ responsibility and “letting them go”, yet we also need to establish our leadership/authority in the classroom if needed. What is the best way to communicate in our classrooms?

Overall, today was a wonderfully thought-provoking day. Excited to see what else will come our way this term!

Today during our group discussion, we had a quick discussion about how we were feeling a bit flustered with our questions. After thinking about our inquiry questions over the last week, we talked about if we should be thinking about narrowing our question’s focus or if we should expand and make it even more broad than it is currently. This accurately describes how I’m currently feeling about my inquiry. There are so many pathways I think would be really interesting to try to explore but I know that I will have to eventually settle and focus on one aspect of my question.

May offered some great insight into some of the research she has been doing for her inquiry question, which is very similar to my own. She explained to us how she has found a lot of literature that looks at language, and the impact of how we talk to students in the classroom can have a big impact on their behaviour and attitudes towards learning. For example, addressing the students as “scientists” during a science lesson/activity can help the students become more engaged or excited about doing science. You’re letting the students know that you expect them to be thinking and behaving like mature scientists, and the students will want to be able to live up to these expectations. I thought this was really interesting to learn, and I wonder how the students in my practicum class would react to something like this.

This then led me to ask questions to the group about the importance of body language in the classroom, and how my actions in the classroom would have an impact on student motivation and self-confidence (and mindsets).

So my main question about my question is still focused on HOW can I achieve this in the classroom? A lot of the articles I’ve found talk about how important it is to increase students’ motivation, to keep them determined and persistent when facing problems, but I haven’t found anything that explains how we can do this… This should be my main focus for research over the next week, and hopefully my next journal entry will have more of a relieved tone since I will hopefully know where I will be going.

What’s the difference between listening to a story and actually taking part in the story?

This was the question that was posed to us at the end of our inquiry class today. During class, we had been completing a variety of engaging activities during a read aloud, with each activity connecting back to the story and the message that the story was conveying. I thought these activities were really fun to do and they kept me focused on the story and I was eager to find out what would happen next.

The difference between just listening to story compared to taking on an active role and actually engaging with the story is that you become so much more invested in the characters and the events that take place. Putting yourself in the shoes of the character, and trying to understand what could be going through their minds when they have to make a decision, makes them seem that much more real, which makes them easier to connect to. Making personal connections to the characters and their situation is really important for understanding and engagement.

These kinds of activities that put you in the story also make listening to a read aloud less dull, as students are able to get up out of their seats and think about situations in the story in a different way.

Overall, I thought class was lots of fun today! Going forward, I would like to see if I could incorporate these kinds of activities into my practicum class and observe my students’ reactions. I think it would be really fun to implement as well.

And some quick updates on my inquiry question:

• The question (as of today): How can teachers encourage students to develop a growth mindset in the classroom?
• I’ve looked up a bunch of different journal articles relating to the concept of growth mindsets, and I’m also thinking of looking into Carol Dweck’s TED talks or other videos/interviews of her.
• A lot of the articles have been about how hard work, determination, persistence and self-confidence are important when trying to cultivate growth mindsets in the classroom. My question right now is, how do we get there?? What if a student doesn’t have high self-confidence? How can I help them realize they do have the abilities they think they lack?
• Also, I have been wondering if there was any way I could squeeze music education into my inquiry question. With my CFE being with the VSO, and the fact that we have a music class this term (which I am thoroughly enjoying), my love for music has been reignited and I wonder if music education has any effect on a student’s perception of their skills and abilities. Something to look into as I keep researching, I think…

That’s all for now! 🙂