Essential question: What is the link between “tinkering”, “hard play”, and the “growth mindset”?Let's start first with an overview of each:
So what do all of these have in common? To me they are all ways to engage students. Many students are unmotivated and maybe the reason has more to do with the way they are being taught than to the student themselves. They are being taught things that have little life value. Why bother learning something when you will have no use for it later? "When putting real-world play into the classroom, students are more motivated when the projects are expansive, big ideas" (Stavely, 2015). The problem lies in how educators think about what to teach next. Districts hand select what needs to be taught and the teacher has little freedom. "When you start with content, and then you think about play, you often think about a game like ‘Jeopardy’ and the facts that kids need to know. If you can really dig deeper into the understandings you want kids to have five or 10 years down the road, those are almost always real situations" (Stavely, 2015). These situations require you to tinker, play, and have a growth mindset. You have to believe that you can make a difference and everything else will fall into place. Sources
Hard at Play. (n.d.). Retrieved May 25, 2016, from https://www2.naz.edu/stories/hard-play Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G. (2013). Invent to learn: Making, tinkering, and engineering in the classroom [Kindle]. Popova, M. (2014). Fixed vs. Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets That Shape Our Lives. Retrieved May 25, 2016, from https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/01/29/carol-dweck-mindset/ Stavely, Z. (2015, July 24). How to Bring Playfulness to High School Students. Retrieved May 25, 2016, from http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/07/24/how-to-bring-playfulness-to-high-school-students/
8 Comments
Gen
5/27/2016 04:37:48 pm
I agree with you that what all three of these things have in common, "engaging students." I think that sums up this week pretty well. What we're doing to keep our students engaged: allowing more play time, tinkering and the growth mindset. Giving our students freedom to do what they want builds imagination.
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Sara Lucas
5/29/2016 09:39:12 am
Maybe we are just working too hard to engage students. I know this is always a topic of discussion. We keep working harder to come up with more engaging lessons. Maybe it is much easier. Just allow kids to be kids and let learning be a part of it.
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Jeff Clay
5/28/2016 07:36:10 am
Great post, Sara!
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Sara Lucas
5/29/2016 09:44:04 am
My first thought is always jeopardy or some other teacher generated game. I definitely learned that maybe I don't need to work so hard.
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Aleta May
5/28/2016 03:27:27 pm
Sara L.
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Sara Lucas
5/29/2016 09:48:05 am
I am definitely not familiar with this either. I like this type of stuff but never have time for it. Only when something breaks do I have to make time to tinker. I think it will be good to feel the frustration. Like our students. Help me to realize what they feel and being able to know how I might be able to encourage them.
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Gerald Scarzella
5/28/2016 08:09:59 pm
I wonder if there is truly any way to foster and teach growth mindset. I was excited to see the successes that Carol Dweck showcased in articles and videos concerning how to create a growth mindset. But in the back of my mind, I still think it might be genetic, part of a person's DNA. It's programmed into people, not necessarily taught. I don't recall being encouraged to try, overcome obstacles, persist, and embrace challenges. I am just that way. It's part of my character and personality. I now know what I have, but have never been taught to be this way. I would hope that we can foster such behavior in children and learners.
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Sara Lucas
5/29/2016 09:57:07 am
I truly think there is a lot to growth mindset and brain based learning. I remember reading last semester about IQ increasing 20 points in some cases with brain based learning. I don't remember the time interval, but that tells me that we can overcome our genes. I definitely think genes are a factor, but not the only factor. You have to deal with the cards you are dealt. It's better to have some gain than none.
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