Mo

[thegisellesr-blog]

One Fits ALL

The focus that Alfie Kohn presents in the article, “The perils of “Growth Mindset” education: why we’re trying to fix our kids when we should be fixing the system” published by SALON on Sunday, August 16th 2015, is based on the flaws of the “Growth Mindset” and how it should be implemented or questioned. Kohn explains how the issues with growth mindset is that students are still distracted by what grade there getting instead of what they are doing to either get the grade or do better. Although, Kohn believes that Growth Mindset is there only to help “fix the students” instead of changing the school systems curriculum, Carol Dweck the Author of “Carol Dweck Revisits Growth Mindset” researched how those who adopt a growth mindset, helps them [students] have better self-esteem when it comes to approaching challenging idea. It is said that the more you believe you can do it and surpass a bump in the road the more you are susceptible to the idea that appraisal through approval of effort works more than having a “fixed mindset” and praising intelligence. Kohn’s major issue with Dweck’s research is that too much importance on performance can drown out the learning prosses and learning can be also affected by social environments around and in school.

In Kohn’s article, he gives an example that explains how students whose self-worth and esteem is measured by their performance face the chance of failing and according to this study those who do adopt a growth mindset, give themselves more of an excuse for failing at something, than those with the “dreaded” fixed mindset. The study calls it “self-handicapping.”

What Kohn is trying to explain in his article is that, even though everyone seems to acclaim Carol Dweck’s research there is still some flaws. He believes that to truly achieve a better system in school, you should start with the curriculums instead of trying to change the students’ mindsets. His discussion about the perils of growth mindset are agreeable because, we do not live in a society in which the size “one fits all” is true. To comply with the masses, you must be able to understand the way people think, I believe that Dweck’s research is great but Kohn’s idea on fixing the system first then the students applies better with going against the “one fits all” idea.

[mo1819-blog]

A lot of people thought that Dweck’s study on the mindset was really good. Also a lot of people started to practice the growth mindset and raising their kids and students practicing the growth mind set. The people never saw it to have any flaws. What they didnt take into consideration were societal factors that may effect a child/students work. In the third paragraph you stated “I believe that Dweck’s research is great but Kohn’s idea on fixing the system first then the students applies better with going against the “one fits all” idea.” I completely agree with you because everyone including Dweck were so focused on changing children. Kohn brings in a whole new prospective and he critiques the system and enforces that the system needs to change not the students. All in all I agree with you that Kohn’s idea is better to fix the system instead of the students. 

[seanelliott39896]

Alfie Kohn in the article “The perils of ‘Growth Mindset’ education: Why we’re trying to fix our kids when we should be fixing the system” of Salon states that educators fall into the belief that the students are at fault other than the educators themselves or the actual school system itself. Teachers are pushing the students to believe that the issue in school is the students mindsets being fixed and not acknowledging the flaws our schooling system consists of. Kohn exposes the educators and researchers such as Dweck on their ideas that it is not the brain numbing curriculum that needs to be fixed but yet the children themselves are the ones who need the so called “fixing.” Dweck’s research claims that if praised for the right things the mindsets of students will change, yet this praise inevitably leads to a more negative effect on the child. Leaving them feeling dumb or stupid, destroying their confidence. The problem Kohn found, was that this still emphasizes performance, and not the improving of school systems. Also at first Kohn thought maybe Dweck’s research was not being used in the right context but then he realizes she never puts in mind the troubled or simply just poorly behaved children. Which is why she is too blame. Kohn is speaking out to the educators whom follow Dweck’s research and do not realize the harm it cause as well as that the schooling system is what is at fault instead of the students.  

    Kohn uses examples and statistics to try and push his point across, but uses very little. This evidence is uneffective towards his audience because its very limited and uses Carol Dweck’s research against her in order to make him seem credible. His evidence is weak and he exposes himself as being weak by targeting someone even though he has less credibility on the subject at hand. Kohn asserts, “A 2010 study found that when students whose self-worth hinges on their performance face the prospect of failure, it doesn’t help for them to adopt a growth mindset. In fact, those who did so were even more likely to give themselves an excuse for screwing up a strategy known as ‘self-handicapping’ as compared to those with the dreaded fixed mindset.” The problem with this piece of  evidence does not have a known author. This person who said this could be making it up and no one would know who claims this. Also is a very weak and broad piece to support his claim.

    Kohn asserts that the focus on “fixing” students mindsets diverts attention to other societal factors that influence learning such as sexism, poverty, economic, or political barriers. He is stating that there are other factors in students lives that can cause them to be labeled under the fixed mindset category. Yes, but poverty and economic stick out the most. Students all over the world are forced to miss class or sleep during classes because they are forced to work to help provide for their families. Which is not fair to them because they do not have opportunities the others do because their situations.  

[mo1819-blog]

According to your third paragraph you seem to agree that there are societal factors that effect students educational performances and they are at a disadvantage because of the societal factors. You stated “ Students all over the world are forced to miss class or sleep during classes because they are forced to work to help provide for their families. Which is not fair to them because they do not have opportunities the others do because their situations.” In other words you are saying that some people cant perform to their fullest potential because of work. That points out an economic disadvantage. I totally agree with you because in some cases people can fit classes in their schedules only after they work. That same day they might come to school and be half asleep in class and though they might have the right mindset they are to tired to focus but they have no choice because they need the money to survive. So that is a huge disadvantage verse the people who are economically stable.

[mo1819-blog]

A right Mindset doesn't mean you will succeed.

“Kohn says that the focus on “fixing” students mindsets takes attention away from other societal factors that influence learning such as sexism,poverty,economic, or political barriers.” In other words Kohn is saying that we focus so much on students mindsets in school we leave out things that may be happening in their personal lives which may affect their educational performances. I totally agree with Kohn because I come from a low income high school and my peers and I always had things going on in our personal lives that kept us from performing to our fullest potential. Sometimes students wouldn't be able to attend school because their parents didn't have enough gas for them to make it to school and eventually this affected their school performance. I had a friend who had amazing work ethic and a growth mindset but sometimes he would miss so much school that when he came back he wasn't prepared for the quizzes and test given on that day, so he would fail. Though my friend had the right mindset and great work ethic economic barriers kept him from performing highly. Students can have a growth mind set and still fail but how will the system adjust to help them?

In the article “The perils of “Growth Mindset” education: Why we’re trying to fix our kids when we should be fixing the system” by Alfie Kohn. Kohn asserts that researcher Carol Dweck is not completely correct when arguing that a growth mindset verse a set mindset is main aspect students need in order to be successful in school. “The growth mindset has approached the status of a cultural meme” in other words since researchers such as Carol Dweck claim that a growth mind set is the main characteristic students need to be successful parents and educators have taken that and tried to create growth mindset in students. Furthermore in this article Kohn goes on to dictate research and asks why performance is being researched rather than the education system. He wants to know why there is research on how students can get better and how they can adjust to the system rather than the system adjusting for the students and suiting their needs to have them perform at a high level.

Moreover Kohn introduces research evidence that shows how the growth mindset was damaging, “A 2010 study found that one student who self-worth hinges on their performance face the prospect of failure, it doesn't help for them to adopt a growth mindset. In fact, those who did so were even more likely to give themselves an excuse for screwing up - a strategy known as “self-handicapping”- as compared to those with dreaded fixed mindset.” In other words a growth mindset was an excuse for students to fail so you can say a growth mindset is just as bad as a fixed mindset in some situations. This piece of evidence is credible because it came from a scholarly research. This is a sufficient piece of evidence because the audience need to the see different perspectives on how the growth mindset can be harming or beneficial.

[mo1819-blog]

"What it takes to be great"

In the text “What it takes to be great” Geoffrey Colvin focus on greatness. The central focus of “What it takes to be great” by Geoffrey Colvin is that every human being has the ability to be great at something by working hard and practicing. In the text Colvin claims “You will achieve greatness only through an enormous amount of hard work over many years.”(Par. 2) he goes on to say “And not just any hard work, but work of a particular type that’s demanding and painful.”(Par. 2)  furthermore he is saying that in order for someone to be at the top for whatever they may be doing, they need to constantly try and be resilient. I agree with Colvin because this connects to athletics and when I played football I had to practice all week to be ready for Friday nights and sometimes practice was dreadful but I continued to work hard so our end results can be a win. Moreover it does take demanding and painful hard work to achieve greatness. Colvin includes examples of legendary athletes who have achieved greatness through “the brutal discipline of their practice routines” (Par. 20) such as: Basketball player Michael Jordan, Football player Jerry Rice and Golfer Tiger woods all of them worked hard to be great. Colvin also brings in the business aspect of being great. Things you can practice in business include presenting, negotiating, delivering evaluations, and deciphering financial statements. Colvin insists “instead of merely trying to get it done, you aim to get better at it.” in other words that connects to practicing hard because in order to try to get better at those things you may need to get out of your comfort zone which can be difficult for some people. The end result may be you being a great and successful businessman. All in all Geoffrey Colvin reveals examples of people who practiced/worked hard who became great, and claims anyone can be great.

Colvin presents research suggesting that anyone can achieve success with deliberate practice which means practicing hard and focused rather than just going through the motion. This research finding does apply to me because I recall the first time I started doing barbell squats I had terrible form. As time progressed and I spent more time at the gym trying to get better at the exercise. I now have great form. I might be able to improve more with little things maybe a exercise expect can show me but as of now I personally think my form is amazing especially looking back on how far I have come. For me this is a perfect example of “deliberate practice” because I did not just got to the gym and go through the motion. I started with light weight and focused on every rep to finally be able to do heavier weight with good form.  I agree that “nobody is great without work”(Par. 8) because my experience with weightlifting confirms it. My experience with weightlifting is an example of “deliberate practice” because I put in a lot of hard and focused hours to finally get my form down and to do the exercise correctly.

I plan to study after I am done with all of my homework during my school days. The days I have off I plan to study a little after I eat breakfast and also at the end of the day. I plan to study little by little so I don’t cram my head with information. I want to do little by little so the next time I study I can review what I studied the previous day and go on from there. This applies to what I have learned about learning and practice because in Psychology Dr.Pak said it was better for us to study in portions instead of cramming which is called: Distributed practice. My study plan applies to deliberate practice because I feel like I would understand the material more if I study it in portions instead of one big chunk because that way I can focus and understand a portion of the material deeply before moving on. Although she doesn’t say so directly,  Dweck would likely approve of my calendar because in the making of it, it was my first time actually planning out a time frame for myself to study. In “Carol Dweck Revisits the ‘Growth Mindset’”  Dweck states  “Students need to try new strategies and seek input from others when they’re stuck.”(Par. 5)  In other words students need to try different things to be successful if the method they been using has not worked for them. She would approve of my calendar because I am trying a new strategy by actually setting up a time for myself to study. This also connects to what Geoffrey Colvin claimed about deliberate practice because with my new study schedule I will be working hard and meaningfully to actually understand class material instead of just skimming through. With deliberate practice will come high test scores because I will understand the material I am being tested on. 

[juliaenglish110-blog]

Hi, I’m Julia!

    Hello English 110! My name is Julia Magana, I have lived in El Cajon my entire life, and this is my first semester of college. I just graduated from Valhalla High School this past June, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I ended up at Grossmont so my family could save some money for the first two years of my college career, but I plan on transferring to a four-year university as soon as possible.  

    For as long as I can remember, I have always enjoyed keeping myself busy with sports, which include swim, softball, soccer, track, and volleyball. Sadly however, the only sports I could continue in high school were volleyball and track, and out of all the sports I have participated in, volleyball has been my favorite by far. One of the fondest memories I have from my athletic career was in our last volleyball league game, I had to serve the game point, I got an ace, giving us the league championship title! I would’ve loved to play for the Grossmont team, but I’ve come to accept that my academics need to come first if I wish to transfer to a university by my junior year. Even my relaxation time includes sports. I remember when I was 6, I came into the living room to find my parents watching a Charger game, my father started to explain the basic fundamentals of the game to me, and I’ve been a football fanatic ever since. I enjoy watching ESPN 30/30 documentaries, and I am fully engaged to the television during football season. In fact, my love for football is so strong, I have even joined a fantasy football league, one where I am the only girl. Besides football, I also enjoy watching basketball and volleyball. Furthermore, I don’t plan on putting my love for sports to a stop just yet. My hope is to major in sports communications and transfer to Clemson University in South Carolina, but if that goal comes out of reach, I’d like to go to Pepperdine University in Malibu and major in public relations or sports administration, and all these majors lead a path for me to become a sports marketer in the future.

     After reading the article,” Brainology: Transforming Students’ Motivation to Learn” by Carol Dweck, I’ve learn that I possess a growth mindset. I have never been at the top of my class, but I most definitely have always maintained a positive mind and strived to do better, even when I know the outcome will most likely not be going in my favor. 

    An academic website I enjoy using is Spark Notes, because if there’s ever a book that I am reading in class and I don’t understand it’s content, I refer to Spark Notes to help me understand.     http://www.sparknotes.com

[mo1819-blog]

After reading this now I know where I have seen you at. I did track for El Cajon Valley and I recognized your face I think I saw you at the invitationals. You have a great mind set to the way you approach school I like that you said “I have never been at the top of my class, but I most definitely have always maintained a positive mind and strived to do better” In my opinion that places you at the top of your classes because of that mentality to strive for the better.  

[adrianau79-blog]

This is me

As some of you may know by now my name is Adrian Gabriel Maldonado, a freshman attending grossmont college. I decided to come here after some talks with counselors and family members. I like the campus and what i heard was grossmont is a good academic school. Before taking some summer courses here i wasa fresh high school graduate out of San Diego high schoo class of 2016. I really enjoy football, i love the game and everything it stands for. As you can see in my pictures i played for my high school and had a fun time even though we didn’t have the best seasons. I played all four years and i don’t regret any of it. I have a two brothers who sill go there and one who is currently on the team, i go and support him and the team every chance i get. No matter what oher people say, i will always be proud to be a caver. Football teaches a person alot, and alot of that learning comes from mistakes. I made tons of ,istakes on the field but i know that i always have an oportunity to become better and learn from what i did. No matter what i always had a next play, game, or practice to get better. Thats what motivated me, being able to learn from my mistales and change it immediatley. I try to take that mindset to my everyday life. If i fail a test then i will know to study more or change what i studied, but also i know taht it isn’t the end of the world. I know that i can work on my biceps or football skills but i can also work on my study skills and note taking skills. I can say football helped me develop that growth mindset more and it has benefited me and will benefit me in college and life.

[mo1819-blog]

I can relate to you because I come from El Cajon Valley and we also didn't have the best seasons throughout the four years I played. Our best seasons was my senior year 5-5 and just like you I will always be proud to be a Brave. Its crazy because people only see the records but the biggest thing about football is the relationships we make not only with our team but with other teams. Within the team the coaches always have so much great lessons that are essential to life itself not only football and like my coach always told us “football is the game of life”. Like you said and like any football player can say, you made mistakes on the field but you tried to fix them and that is the same thing in life we make mistakes and then we reflect and try to fix them. That can connect to having a growth mind set, football most defiantly teaches you to have a growth mindset. 

[mo1819-blog]

Introduction to English 110 - Mo

     Hello everyone my name is Muhamad Tahir and I go by Mo. This is my first year in college. Before I got to Grossmont College I was attending El Cajon Valley High school and I was not expecting to end up here, I was aiming to go straight to a 4-year. I was in Avid from seventh grade tell my senior year and of course the goal is to eventually transfer straight to a 4-year. My freshmen year was really a learning experience for me and the only reason I kept my grades up was to play football otherwise I didn't care about them. Starting my sophomore year my mind was set to go straight to a 4-year and I was working for it by taking a AP and Honors class. I kept an average GPA of 3.2-3.7 until my senior year. When senior year came around I applied for colleges and I had a 3.4 overall GPA and I had average SAT/ACT scores. When the time came to get results to see where you got accepted and declined I was devastated I was declined from all the schools I applied to (CSULA, CSUSM,CSLB,CSUN,SDSU, and La Verne) and I was even more heated when I saw peers in my Avid class who had 2.9-3.0′s get accepted to CSUSM because I knew the other schools would be hard to get into especially SDSU so CSUSM was my biggest hope. I talked to a college counselor on our campus and she called San Marcos to see what was going on and why I got declined and it came to be I was not A-G eligible. I failed a math class my freshmen year I didn't make up but the whole time I was told I’m good and everything is okay by my counselor so of course I took his word for it because its his job. I felt like he let me down and I felt like it was my fault for not looking into it my self but like I said I trusted he was doing his job right. I eventually got over it and now I’m happy that I am at Grossmont. I attended the Grossmont summer institute program this summer and It really opened my eyes to a lot of things and motivated me to be successful, I  would not have got the same experience at a 4-year. 

     Something I enjoy doing is working out. I first started for football my freshmen year. I went through a couple of ankle and shoulder injuries so my strength would come an go but the love for the feeling never left me. Working out to me is more then just to get fit for me its therapeutic. As weird as this sounds when I lift it just releases stress. Also its the time to reflect on things that are bothering me. Its a time where I could just relax, discipline my self from anger, and think things through. When I first started I was being taught by coaches and varsity players how to lift. Now I pretty much have it down and I have good form which also can prevent injuries. Getting better in lifting weights I would say its pretty simple but some people mess up by wanting to start off with heavy weight to try to impress other people. The strength comes over time with good form and going through sets. I always see people throwing around heavy weight with terrible form which will cause them injuries. For me I got good at it fast because my coaches always told me do not worry about the weight worry about the form and the strength will come and it was true good form brought strength. Its also safe because now when I lift heavier I have good form which will hold me back from injuries. 

     Lifting weights connects with the “sloppy mistake” which Eduardo Briceno says  “Sloppy mistakes happen when we’re doing something we already know how to do, but we do it incorrectly because we lose concentration” (Pat.10). As I mentioned above if you have bad form you can cause injuries and so for me this is big because this mistake is one that could happen to me. I can make injure my self by making a “sloppy mistake”. I am a experienced lifter now so If I lose concentration and mess up my form that would be a “sloppy mistake”.

     That was a brief introduction of myself, if you would like to know anything else feel free to ask. I am looking forward to reading your intros. 

Link to outside website:  http://www.internet-of-the-mind.com/types_of_motivation.html 

                                                     Picture