“Growth vs. “Fixed” Minds – Stanford University Challenge

This video podcast “Growth” vs. “Fixed” Minds is a part of a Stanford University series. In this video podcast two different mindsets regarding learning were discussed. One was the “fixed” mindset and the other “growth” mindset. One group of students believed that their intelligence was based on a fixed trait and that no growth was involved in learning. These students worried about how smart they were and were they smart enough to complete a particular task. The other group of students believed that learning has to do with growth. They believed that learning is a process and were given the example of a baby. Babies must learn but in order to do that, they must grow also.

In the group of “fixed” mindset, students were given a set of study skills in order to complete certain learning tasks. However, the students’ grades ended up declining instead of improving because of the lack of motivation. The students that were in the “growth” mindset group excelled in their learning and their grades increased. They applied the concepts of learning comes through growth. When combined in class, teachers could actually tell which students came from which group. These learning concepts have not only been applied to students but also to race car drivers and people in the business world. People who have the mindset of learning comes through growth make better managers and race car drivers because they are not afraid to make mistakes and know how to overcome them.

I think that it is very important that teachers impress on their students that learning is a process. Students should not be afraid to make mistakes and teachers need to teach students how to overcome their mistakes when they are made. I want my students to be curious and motivated to learn new things. This comes through the “growth” mindset. I want them to always be yearning for more. This is also a good reminder for teachers also. Teachers need to realize that they also need to have a “growth” mindset. Learning never stops for anyone.

iTunes Video Podcast

I watched and listened to the video podcast Top 50 Things about SMARTboard with David Sladkey and Scott Miller. I really liked this video podcast because I am fascinated with SMARTboard. I cannot believe all the things this can do and how much it enhances teaching. In this podcast, there are slides with the list of the top 50 reasons SMARTboard is awesome. As the speakers are going through the list they are able to demonstrate all the capabilities of the SMARTboard. I loved being able to see what they were talking about rather than just hearing it.

Some of the great features that were discussed about SMARTboard were the magic pen that also can spotlight items, the fun pen that adds colors and graphics, a gallery that stores photos, and a virtual calculator. With almost any lesson, the teacher can also magnify things that need to be emphasized, clone items, and even add sound links from an MP3 player. Talk about keeping a students attention! The SMARTboard also includes a camera. This camera allows the teacher to be able to take a picture of anything on the internet and be able to use it in the lesson. Importing and exporting other documents from other places is so simple with SMARTboard. Color and different fonts are also great features to make a lesson eye-catching. My feature that I think is really valuable is being able to record a screencast. This is a great feature for substitute teachers. I would love to be able to record myself teaching the lesson when having to use a substitute teacher.

This video podcast was very informative and helped me understand SMARTboard even better. I feel that podcasts are very useful in the classroom and adding slides or video to these enhance student learning even more. There are so many new forms of technology for the classroom. It makes me very excited to think about all the different ways lessons can be presented to students. Today’s student seems to be so visual and hands on learning because of all the technology they are surrounded with in cell phones, mp3 players and video games. To be able to keep a students attention and focused, teachers have got to use the technology available to them. I know that I will be incorporating many of these ways in my class. I especially hope to be able to use a SMARTboard.

Previous Podcasts

The first podcasting I listened to was Useful Internet Websites for Elementary Teachers by Erica Sledge, Ashley Cleveland and Shyane Fant. I chose this one to listen to because my topic is similar only for high schools instead of elementary teachers. I wanted to hear how they had organized their topic. I think that these girls did a great job discussing their research. Each seemed well prepared. I feel that these girls did practice which makes a huge difference when recording. There were a few um’s and places where the speaker needed to speaker at a slower pace, but as a whole I thought it was well done.

The second podcast I listened to was another group whose topic was Useful Internet Websites for Elementary Teachers by Tomeka Washington, Rosilyn Harris, and Marlena Marsh. I feel that these girls also did a good job with their podcast. These girls did seem a little more nervous than some of the other podcast. This could be due to the fact that they did not practice before the actual recording. There seem to be background noise also. This could be the paper they were using for notes and just did not realize the noise was being picked up by the microphone.

I feel listening to the podcasts will help me be more conscience of what I did to be aware of when recording. Speak slowly and clearly. Try to not get in a hurry. Use a conversational tone of voice instead of reading notes. Be aware of background noise that may be picked up. Hopefully, mine and Kim’s podcast will be successful and next semester students will not pick it apart.