Willing to try…

What keeps most of us from trying new things in the classroom?  All the pre-work it would take researching, planning, and organizing? The mindset of, “What is wrong with what we have always done?” or “This is just another fad…”  There are so many excuses, but I think a lot of it comes down to one thing: fear. The “fear of failure” is probably the largest proponent of the status quo. It is also the largest inhibitor of innovation and growth.  

As a math teacher I am constantly fighting the battle of, “I’m just not a math person.”  In an effort to learn more about this mindset and how to counteract it, I have been reading The Mathematical Mindset by Jo Boaler and the insights are eye-opening.  If you ever felt like you “aren’t” a math person, I highly encourage you to read it!  And if it doesn’t change your mind, well then come talk to me and I will bake us cookies to enjoy while we discuss.

I wish I could just have all my 6th graders read the book, but I’m not sure that it would really sink in.  Some of them are very fixed in their mindset! I have been trying to find ways to get them to think about the fixed mindset vs. the growth mindset (which if you haven’t explored that yet, check out this great short video!) and then apply it to their mathematics education.  Some students have started to say they are working on a growth mindset, but I have not seen the impacts of it in the classroom or in their achievement yet, sadly.  

So now I think it is time I start leading by example, hence this blog.  The growth mindset is about understanding that challenges make us stronger/better, and that every bump is a chance to learn and grow.  Like the dominos in the picture, it is about getting back up after we have fallen over a hundred times.  

I have fallen, and fallen hard, while teaching middle school over the past 11 years.  But I have also learned a lot from those times. From classroom management (taking over an 8th grade classroom, in the city, at semester, with ZERO teaching experience was ROUGH!), to planning time management (hello shorter class periods when I moved school districts), and utilizing visual models to represent math (dividing fractions with pictures?!) I have learned quite a bit.  I am excited to share some of the newest things I am trying… and probably failing at! But I will learn from them. Then repeat the process. (Get it?!)

I hope you will come back to hear about some of the things I am trying this year.  As I mentioned, I am working to try to help my students gain a growth mindset in their mathematics education and would love some feedback from all of you about what you have tried and how it worked (or failed!).  Soon I will share with you a project my students are currently working on that was the child of some of the key components Jo Boaler talked about in her book, paired with the little that I know about “Genius Hour”.  I also just flipped my classroom this week and am super excited to see how it will change the dynamic in the classroom – and if it will help increase student engagement, understanding of concepts, and achievement.  

I look forward to sharing with you all my successes – but more importantly my failures!