Growth Mindset: Feedback is your Friend

I really enjoyed the videos this week on Growth Mindset. While this was a topic I have heard about, I felt like the videos really put it in perspective. I liked that Dweck emphasized the idea of "not yet." When you fail at something or struggle with something it is easy to see yourself as a failure, but when you introduce the idea, "not yet," it is easier for you to see that while I don't understand it or know it now, I can learn.

Being in college and going to OU I think this is a tough idea to learn. With honor societies, parents and professor constantly telling you that grades are the most important thing. It put tremendous pressure on you, which can cause you to feel weighed down by others expectations. I really enjoy classes that have a blog/commenting aspect, because I feel like this fits into growth mindset. Instead of the professor telling you constantly that you either pass or fail, blog comments allow both the professor and student to challenge you, encourage you and help you. I feel like this form of feedback is also less threatening because at the end of the day, you can understand that they are just trying to help you get better.

A goal I have for this semester is to learn how to accept feedback. It is so easy to get defensive when someone challenges you or questions you, but I want to learn how to accept what they say, see where they are coming from and understand that they are just trying to make me better.

I think this is the biggest thing that college students need to know. While grades are important they aren't the end-all-be-all and the best chance to grow is to ask questions not only from your professors but from your fellow classmates. There will always be someone who can teach you something, you just need to listen!

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Week 8-Growth Mindset

For my growth mindset this week I wanted to touch on the idea of failure. As college students, failure often seems imminent and unavoidable. Whether it is a bad grade on a test or an internship rejection, failure is often hard to take and move on from. For this post I chose the video from Meet the Robinsons. I love this clip because its cute and shows the value that failure can have in our lives. I know what you are thinking "Failure? Value? Theres no way those two concepts go together."

While its often hard to see the value in failure there is some. Failure teaches you what not to do and what you can do better. It shows you different ways to get a result and helps propel you into succeeding. As students, there are many areas in our lives in which we can encounter failure. In those moments it is important to remember that the work we do is valuable even if we don't succeed. In this clip and in this class there are two main messages that stick out, "Keep Moving Forward" and "Focus on Your Progress." Failure is just progress in disguise, because for every time I fail I am that much closer to succeeding. I hope everyone remembers that as they go into midterms and into graduation. Be positive and focus on the great progress you are making!

"Keep Moving Forward" from Meet the Robinsons. Web Source 

Growth Mindset: Learning From Last Year

After taking this class last year, there were a lot of areas where I needed to have a better grasp on the growth mindset concept. In any class it is easy to feel defeated when you get a negative comment, a bad grade or a bad critique. In this class we are often asked to get critiqued and to critique other students. Some of those comments you receive will be glowing and others will have helpful points. Regardless of the type of comment you receive it is important to understand that the comments are there to make you better, not tear you apart. I think that one of the biggest aspects of growth mindset is accepting growth. It is easy to feel married to an idea or a piece of writing, but it is crucial for  growth to expand the idea and redo the writing.

For this semester I am going to keep in mind the concept "not yet." This was a concept that resonated with me from the growth mindset videos. As I am nearing the end of my undergraduate career I will no doubt be met with "no's" along the way. It is important when trying new things and applying for jobs to take every no as a not yet. If you are told no, it is not because you have failed, you just haven't been told yes yet. I think this is so important for students to remember! Everything is a process and takes time!

This is a great reminder that if at first you don't succeed, try again. Web Source