"Educators are knowledgeable about how children develop as learners and as social beings, and demonstrate an understanding of individual learning differences and special needs. This knowledge is used to assist educators in making decisions about curriculum, instruction, assessment and classroom management."
Evidence 1: Growth Mindset Webinar - Certificate of Completion (+Reflection)
The first piece of evidence that I have chosen for TRB Standard 3 is a certificate of completion I earned through a webinar training on How Teaching Growth Mindset Can Lead to Student Success. This was a one-hour session led by Cassie Tabrizi who is a member of the Create-abilities Teacher Community (CTC).
Through this webinar, I was able to learn an extensive amount of information on this topic. Cassie provided a definition of a growth mindset and compared it to one that is fixed. This allowed me to really see the difference between the two. With a fixed mindset, one “believes that our talents, intelligence, and abilities are pre-set and can’t be changed.” While a person with a growth mindset “believes our talents, intelligence, and abilities can be developed and changed through hard work, effort, grit, and perseverance.” Before this webinar, I don’t remember ever putting much thought into which mindset I possess; however, I now realize that I have always led the life of a person with a growth mindset. I have never been gifted with any special talents or specific intelligence, so I worked very hard and persevered through challenges to get where I am today. That is the type of mindset I’d like for all my students to have. This webinar made it clear to me that as a teacher we need to be teaching growth mindset in the classroom and utilizing growth mindset activities with our students so that they can also learn to persevere through challenges and build confidence within themselves through achievement.
As teachers, we have the opportunity to watch students continuously change and develop throughout their years of school. As our students continue to develop and learn, this means that we have the responsibility to introduce them to growth mindset and the benefits it will bring to their ability to learn. Personally, I want my students to leave my classroom at the end of the year full of confidence and with the feeing that they can pursue anything in life and find success – as long as they persevere and work hard enough.
Before this webinar, I never thought about teaching growth mindset to students. This webinar has altered my credo greatly as this is now a concept that I feel is incredibly important to bring into every aspect of my teaching. I plan to find time in each day or week’s schedule to incorporate a lesson or activity on growth mindset. Utilizing growth mindset in the classroom doesn’t just teach students that they can do anything outside of school, but it will also provide them with the positive mindset that they need in order to believe that they can do anything in school as well. This is evident in a passage from Carol Dweck:
"Children who understand that the brain can get smarter – who have a growth mindset – do better in school because they have an empowering perspective on learning. They focus on improvement and see effort as a way to build their abilities. They see failure as a natural part of the learning process. In contrast, students who have a fixed mindset – those who believe that intelligence is fixed – tend to focus on judgement. They’re more concerned with proving that they are smart or hiding that they’re not. And that means that they tend to avoid situations in which they might fail or might have to work hard."
Teaching growth mindset in the classroom can be done with a variety of learners. This mindset is a positive way of teaching and empowers students to follow dreams, set out to accomplish goals, and believe in their abilities. There will be students in the classroom that may already contain a fixed mindset; therefore, due to completing this training, it is now my responsibility as an educator to reach out to these students and help encourage them to live life with a growth mindset so that they can hopefully focus less on being judged and gain additional confidence in their abilities.
This webinar introduced ways to create the right environment in the class that will enable a growth mindset. It also provided activities involving growth mindset that the teacher can bring into the classroom. My favourite activity from this webinar was the Word Wall. A Word Wall is a poster that will be pinned to the wall which contains an extensive vocabulary that focuses on promotion of having a growth mindset. Throughout the school year, the teacher will put different words up on this poster each week that encourage using a growth mindset. Some examples that a teacher can use include: accomplish, effort, flexible, grit, strategies, and yet. The teacher will also define these words with the students so that they will understand their meaning. By doing this activity in the classroom, it provides students with the necessary vocabulary of a growth mindset. In my opinion, this is a terrific way to introduce students to this way of thinking.
My first piece of evidence for TRB Standard 3 demonstrates that I have successfully completed the training for How Teaching Growth Mindset Can Lead to Student Success. This certificate of completion proves that I have learned about this approach to teaching and learning and that I now have some tools and skills to bring into the classroom that relate to teaching growth mindset.
Other strengths from this webinar include some of the concepts of a growth mindset that Cassie introduced to her viewers. My personal favourite was the Power of Yet. This tool helps introduce perseverance to the students and encourages them to overcome failures and mistakes. When a student says, “I don’t get it", we must utilize the Power of Yet so that their language will change to a more positive way of thinking and eventually they will start saying, “I don’t get it…YET!” With this new found ability, the students will then be motivated to learn whichever concept is being taught to them so that they will succeed and excel in their learning.
As a new teacher, I now have a new, effective skillset to bring into my classroom thanks to this training session. It is important for any teacher to understand that students will continue to develop and change over time. In addition, I believe that it is vital for new teachers to attend as many workshops as possible so that we can be more informed as we enter our future classrooms. We need to be thoroughly educated so that we can deliver the curriculum effectively to our continuously developing students.
I am very proud of the information that I obtained from this webinar and I plan to continue to attend workshops, seminars, and other webinars in order to further develop my own mindset so that I can be continuously more informed as I progress through my teaching career. The more information I gain from future workshops will only provide me with a greater skillset as a teacher. This improved set of skills will allow me to make more informed decisions about curriculum, instruction, classroom management strategies, and different forms of assessment as a new educator.
Through this webinar, I was able to learn an extensive amount of information on this topic. Cassie provided a definition of a growth mindset and compared it to one that is fixed. This allowed me to really see the difference between the two. With a fixed mindset, one “believes that our talents, intelligence, and abilities are pre-set and can’t be changed.” While a person with a growth mindset “believes our talents, intelligence, and abilities can be developed and changed through hard work, effort, grit, and perseverance.” Before this webinar, I don’t remember ever putting much thought into which mindset I possess; however, I now realize that I have always led the life of a person with a growth mindset. I have never been gifted with any special talents or specific intelligence, so I worked very hard and persevered through challenges to get where I am today. That is the type of mindset I’d like for all my students to have. This webinar made it clear to me that as a teacher we need to be teaching growth mindset in the classroom and utilizing growth mindset activities with our students so that they can also learn to persevere through challenges and build confidence within themselves through achievement.
As teachers, we have the opportunity to watch students continuously change and develop throughout their years of school. As our students continue to develop and learn, this means that we have the responsibility to introduce them to growth mindset and the benefits it will bring to their ability to learn. Personally, I want my students to leave my classroom at the end of the year full of confidence and with the feeing that they can pursue anything in life and find success – as long as they persevere and work hard enough.
Before this webinar, I never thought about teaching growth mindset to students. This webinar has altered my credo greatly as this is now a concept that I feel is incredibly important to bring into every aspect of my teaching. I plan to find time in each day or week’s schedule to incorporate a lesson or activity on growth mindset. Utilizing growth mindset in the classroom doesn’t just teach students that they can do anything outside of school, but it will also provide them with the positive mindset that they need in order to believe that they can do anything in school as well. This is evident in a passage from Carol Dweck:
"Children who understand that the brain can get smarter – who have a growth mindset – do better in school because they have an empowering perspective on learning. They focus on improvement and see effort as a way to build their abilities. They see failure as a natural part of the learning process. In contrast, students who have a fixed mindset – those who believe that intelligence is fixed – tend to focus on judgement. They’re more concerned with proving that they are smart or hiding that they’re not. And that means that they tend to avoid situations in which they might fail or might have to work hard."
Teaching growth mindset in the classroom can be done with a variety of learners. This mindset is a positive way of teaching and empowers students to follow dreams, set out to accomplish goals, and believe in their abilities. There will be students in the classroom that may already contain a fixed mindset; therefore, due to completing this training, it is now my responsibility as an educator to reach out to these students and help encourage them to live life with a growth mindset so that they can hopefully focus less on being judged and gain additional confidence in their abilities.
This webinar introduced ways to create the right environment in the class that will enable a growth mindset. It also provided activities involving growth mindset that the teacher can bring into the classroom. My favourite activity from this webinar was the Word Wall. A Word Wall is a poster that will be pinned to the wall which contains an extensive vocabulary that focuses on promotion of having a growth mindset. Throughout the school year, the teacher will put different words up on this poster each week that encourage using a growth mindset. Some examples that a teacher can use include: accomplish, effort, flexible, grit, strategies, and yet. The teacher will also define these words with the students so that they will understand their meaning. By doing this activity in the classroom, it provides students with the necessary vocabulary of a growth mindset. In my opinion, this is a terrific way to introduce students to this way of thinking.
My first piece of evidence for TRB Standard 3 demonstrates that I have successfully completed the training for How Teaching Growth Mindset Can Lead to Student Success. This certificate of completion proves that I have learned about this approach to teaching and learning and that I now have some tools and skills to bring into the classroom that relate to teaching growth mindset.
Other strengths from this webinar include some of the concepts of a growth mindset that Cassie introduced to her viewers. My personal favourite was the Power of Yet. This tool helps introduce perseverance to the students and encourages them to overcome failures and mistakes. When a student says, “I don’t get it", we must utilize the Power of Yet so that their language will change to a more positive way of thinking and eventually they will start saying, “I don’t get it…YET!” With this new found ability, the students will then be motivated to learn whichever concept is being taught to them so that they will succeed and excel in their learning.
As a new teacher, I now have a new, effective skillset to bring into my classroom thanks to this training session. It is important for any teacher to understand that students will continue to develop and change over time. In addition, I believe that it is vital for new teachers to attend as many workshops as possible so that we can be more informed as we enter our future classrooms. We need to be thoroughly educated so that we can deliver the curriculum effectively to our continuously developing students.
I am very proud of the information that I obtained from this webinar and I plan to continue to attend workshops, seminars, and other webinars in order to further develop my own mindset so that I can be continuously more informed as I progress through my teaching career. The more information I gain from future workshops will only provide me with a greater skillset as a teacher. This improved set of skills will allow me to make more informed decisions about curriculum, instruction, classroom management strategies, and different forms of assessment as a new educator.
References
Dweck, C. (n.d.). Mindset Kit - Read about the research: How mindset affects learning, Growth Mindset for Parents. Retrieved from https://www.mindsetkit.org/growth-mindset-parents/learn-about-growth-mindset/research-how-mindset-affects-learning
Tabrizi, C. (n.d.). How Teaching Growth Mindset Can Lead to Student Success. Paper presented at Create-abilities.
Dweck, C. (n.d.). Mindset Kit - Read about the research: How mindset affects learning, Growth Mindset for Parents. Retrieved from https://www.mindsetkit.org/growth-mindset-parents/learn-about-growth-mindset/research-how-mindset-affects-learning
Tabrizi, C. (n.d.). How Teaching Growth Mindset Can Lead to Student Success. Paper presented at Create-abilities.
Evidence 2: POPFASD Seminar (+Reflection)
The second piece of evidence that I have chosen for TRB Standard 3, is a link to a video of a seminar in which I attended. This seminar was ran by Meredith Keery - a POPFASD Teacher Consultant. POPFASD stands for the Provincial Outreach Program for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Meredith came to Vancouver Island University on September 24th, 2018 to present her seminar on FASD-Informed Classrooms: Building Knowledge to Action to all three cohorts within the PB6 Education program. Her seminar on FASD came through one of our 'Speakers and Films' classes. Within the video, Meredith defines Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and goes on to provide us with strategies and resources on how to effectively teach our students with FASD. The posting of this video was approved by Meredith Keery, and the VIU Education faculty gave me their approval to use this video as an evidence piece for this TRB Standard.
Before this seminar, I was aware of FASD and had previous experiences of working with FASD students in the classroom over my practicums; however, I didn't necessarily have all of the information and knowledge that it takes to most effectively teach FASD students. Through this seminar, I have now learned an extensive amount of information on how to detect the signs and features of students who may have FASD, and how to provide the most optimal learning environment for those students. As stated in the description of this TRB Standard, "educators are knowledgeable about how children develop as learners and as social beings, and demonstrate an understanding of individual learning differences and special needs." This is a vital aspect to the role of an educator. It is our responsibility to be informed on how children develop and learn in diverse ways, and we need to have an understanding on how to create a learning environment that is desirable for these students in our class. Thanks to Meredith, and the information that she successfully relayed within this seminar, I have gained information on FASD and how to successfully work with those that have this disorder in my classroom. Through gaining a better understanding on FASD just from one seminar's training, I have learned firsthand how beneficial these learning opportunities can be, and how they can have a direct impact on your teaching practice.
The main strength derived from this evidence piece includes the information that I have learned and retained from Meredith's seminar. As I have previously stated within this reflection, I have gained knowledge on FASD and the impact this disorder has on students - in addition to this, I have also learned how I can better work with these individuals and provide an atmosphere that these students can learn best in. Due to this seminar, I am now able to better "demonstrate an understanding of individual learning differences and special needs" for those students with FASD. I have the ability to now make better and more informed decisions on teaching aspects such as, "curriculum, instruction, assessment and classroom management."
This seminar further affirmed my previous awareness of how there is and will be a large amount of diverse learners that will be in our classrooms throughout our career - and some of our learners will have special needs and individual learning differences that we will need to accommodate to in order to provide an inclusive learning experience for all of our students. FASD is only one case of special needs that we will come across throughout our teaching careers. I believe that it is my responsibility as an educator to be informed on all different kinds of individual learning differences, so that I can help create a positive learning environment for all students.
Another takeaway from this seminar that I am thankful for, includes the information that Meredith provided for us on how to build positive relationships with FASD students. When it comes to building relationships, Meredith recommended that we work hard on "being proactive [and] make students feel they belong." I strongly agree with Meredith's message on providing a sense of belonging for FASD students so that they feel like they have a place in my classroom. In addition to this, Meredith promoted the important aspect that as teachers, we need to "focus on earning their trust and respect." In order to earn their trust, Meredith recommended that we need to understand that "every day is a new day" for FASD students. In other words, we cannot dwell on what happened yesterday - whether the student had a great day, or struggled with his/her behaviour or work - we need to consistently move forward and treat every day as a new day. In addition to this, we also need to "celebrate successes." When our students are having an excellent day and demonstrating exemplary behaviour while getting their work completed, we need to celebrate these successes with our students and allow them to feel accomplished. As someone who takes pride in my ability to build relationships, I am still constantly trying to improve and add strategies to my relationship-building skillset. Thanks to what I have learned from Meredith's seminar, I feel more competent in using this newfound knowledge to further allow me to make more informed decisions on aspects such as different types of instruction and classroom management methods.
As a new, and developing teacher, I now have another teaching tool to add to my skillset. Meredith's seminar provided me with the necessary information that it takes to create a more inclusive and enhanced learning experience for FASD students. I believe that it is vital for educators to strive for constant growth and development throughout our careers, so that we are continuously aware of how to provide optimal learning experiences for all of our students. I cannot stress how important I believe it is that "educators [must be] knowledgeable about how children develop as learners and as social beings, and demonstrate an understanding of individual learning differences and special needs."
Throughout my career, I will remain committed to holding this standard true by continuing to attend workshops and seminars that will enhance my knowledge in areas such as classroom management, different styles of instruction, curriculum, and assessment methods. Through attending these workshops and seminars, my ability to teach and provide quality learning experiences for my students will continue to progress.
Before this seminar, I was aware of FASD and had previous experiences of working with FASD students in the classroom over my practicums; however, I didn't necessarily have all of the information and knowledge that it takes to most effectively teach FASD students. Through this seminar, I have now learned an extensive amount of information on how to detect the signs and features of students who may have FASD, and how to provide the most optimal learning environment for those students. As stated in the description of this TRB Standard, "educators are knowledgeable about how children develop as learners and as social beings, and demonstrate an understanding of individual learning differences and special needs." This is a vital aspect to the role of an educator. It is our responsibility to be informed on how children develop and learn in diverse ways, and we need to have an understanding on how to create a learning environment that is desirable for these students in our class. Thanks to Meredith, and the information that she successfully relayed within this seminar, I have gained information on FASD and how to successfully work with those that have this disorder in my classroom. Through gaining a better understanding on FASD just from one seminar's training, I have learned firsthand how beneficial these learning opportunities can be, and how they can have a direct impact on your teaching practice.
The main strength derived from this evidence piece includes the information that I have learned and retained from Meredith's seminar. As I have previously stated within this reflection, I have gained knowledge on FASD and the impact this disorder has on students - in addition to this, I have also learned how I can better work with these individuals and provide an atmosphere that these students can learn best in. Due to this seminar, I am now able to better "demonstrate an understanding of individual learning differences and special needs" for those students with FASD. I have the ability to now make better and more informed decisions on teaching aspects such as, "curriculum, instruction, assessment and classroom management."
This seminar further affirmed my previous awareness of how there is and will be a large amount of diverse learners that will be in our classrooms throughout our career - and some of our learners will have special needs and individual learning differences that we will need to accommodate to in order to provide an inclusive learning experience for all of our students. FASD is only one case of special needs that we will come across throughout our teaching careers. I believe that it is my responsibility as an educator to be informed on all different kinds of individual learning differences, so that I can help create a positive learning environment for all students.
Another takeaway from this seminar that I am thankful for, includes the information that Meredith provided for us on how to build positive relationships with FASD students. When it comes to building relationships, Meredith recommended that we work hard on "being proactive [and] make students feel they belong." I strongly agree with Meredith's message on providing a sense of belonging for FASD students so that they feel like they have a place in my classroom. In addition to this, Meredith promoted the important aspect that as teachers, we need to "focus on earning their trust and respect." In order to earn their trust, Meredith recommended that we need to understand that "every day is a new day" for FASD students. In other words, we cannot dwell on what happened yesterday - whether the student had a great day, or struggled with his/her behaviour or work - we need to consistently move forward and treat every day as a new day. In addition to this, we also need to "celebrate successes." When our students are having an excellent day and demonstrating exemplary behaviour while getting their work completed, we need to celebrate these successes with our students and allow them to feel accomplished. As someone who takes pride in my ability to build relationships, I am still constantly trying to improve and add strategies to my relationship-building skillset. Thanks to what I have learned from Meredith's seminar, I feel more competent in using this newfound knowledge to further allow me to make more informed decisions on aspects such as different types of instruction and classroom management methods.
As a new, and developing teacher, I now have another teaching tool to add to my skillset. Meredith's seminar provided me with the necessary information that it takes to create a more inclusive and enhanced learning experience for FASD students. I believe that it is vital for educators to strive for constant growth and development throughout our careers, so that we are continuously aware of how to provide optimal learning experiences for all of our students. I cannot stress how important I believe it is that "educators [must be] knowledgeable about how children develop as learners and as social beings, and demonstrate an understanding of individual learning differences and special needs."
Throughout my career, I will remain committed to holding this standard true by continuing to attend workshops and seminars that will enhance my knowledge in areas such as classroom management, different styles of instruction, curriculum, and assessment methods. Through attending these workshops and seminars, my ability to teach and provide quality learning experiences for my students will continue to progress.
References
Ministry of Education. (2012, January). Standards for Education, Competence and Professional Conduct of Educators in British Columbia. Retrieved from https://www.bcteacherregulation.ca/documents/AboutUs/Standards/edu_stds.pdf
POPFASD. (2015). FASD-Informed Classrooms: Building Knowledge to Action. Paper presented at the meeting of the POPFASD, Vancouver Island University.
Ministry of Education. (2012, January). Standards for Education, Competence and Professional Conduct of Educators in British Columbia. Retrieved from https://www.bcteacherregulation.ca/documents/AboutUs/Standards/edu_stds.pdf
POPFASD. (2015). FASD-Informed Classrooms: Building Knowledge to Action. Paper presented at the meeting of the POPFASD, Vancouver Island University.
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