With the assistance of my collegues and my professor, I have narrowed down my driving question to be: What is the relationship between growth mindset and goal setting?
Educational Context for this study I am aware that in California, we have huge student achievement challenges in mathematics. On the State of California Department of Education website (cde.ca.gov) it shows that of all students in 3-11th grade in our state 63% of students are not meeting standards for mathematics achievement. In Napa Valley Unified School District, where I teach, the same website shares that 55% of students in our district are not meeting math standards. At my school site, Northwood Elementary, 39% of students are not meeting the standards. I can see from these results, that there is a lot of room for improvement, and I want to investigate the possibility of growth mindset and goal setting assisting our students in achieving higher mathematics skills. Personal Context for this study This summer, I attended the AVID Summer Institute and became educated about Carol Dweck’s research on growth mindset. Dweck says in her 2006 book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success: “People with a fixed mindset—those who believe that abilities are fixed—are less likely to flourish than those with a growth mindset—those who believe that abilities can be developed.” After that, I attended a math workshop led by Jo Boaler where I was able to connect what I learned at AVID with her research involving math. In Mathematical Mindsets, Boaler “translates Carol Dweck's concept of 'mindset' into math teaching and parenting strategies, showing how students can go from self-doubt to strong self-confidence, which is so important to math learning.” I am currently participating in a Math Cohort in my school district in collaboration with The Math Learning Center, so improving student goal setting in this subject area is of particular interest to me. My interest in student agency, goal setting and self assessment is something that I have developed over the last couple of years while working with students. I also relate this passion to John Hattie’s November 2008 study on “Self Reported Grades.” In Visible Learning, Hattie reported that student self reported grades had the largest effect size on students out of all the measures he studied that year. If something has that much of an effect on learning, possibly Importance of this study The importance or impact of this study is student confidence or mindset and achievement. I think that Carol Dweck, John Hattie, Jo Boaler and many others in their camps of thinking have discovered something that could transform education as we know it. Student achievement is something we struggle with in the United States, and it seems that these researchers have come up with ways of getting there. As I explore the relationship between growth mindset and student goal setting, I am hoping to discover that an implementation of these strategies simultaneously that could potentially have an amazing impact on student achievement. The importance of this study is that if there is a positive correlation between growth mindset and goal setting, many students could benefit from the combination of these strategies. Test scores in math could rise dramatically, students could find confidence in their math abilities, and they will be prepared to be lifelong learners. he context of this study is to see if mindset has an effect on goal setting, as this discovery could be monumental for student achievement across the United States.
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I searched for videos of teachers using student voice in the classroom, and here are my top 3:
1. Socratic Seminar 2. Oracy in the Classroom 3. Student Centered Learning For my case study I am going to focus on video number 1, the 2nd grade classroom that participated in a Socratic Seminar regarding a text they had read. Setting This class is discussing a story they had read together. It was not the first day they had read it, so they are digging deeper into the text. Evidence of Learning You can really tell that the students in this classroom are engaged in learning because they are citing evidence from the text in their conversations, they can recite the rules of socratic seminar, they know what sentence frames to use, they are actively listening to the teacher and their peers, thinking critically and responding using appropriate academic sentence frames. Teacher Actions The teacher is monitoring the student conversation and guiding it. She is not the one in control of the conversation, but she is prompting students to share ideas and stay on track with what their focus for reading that day was. Application I could definitely use this lesson in my classroom, and I have tried using very similar techniques. I actually adapted her rules for socratic seminar in my classroom as well. This method of conversation is new for me since this summer when I attended the AVID Summer Institute, and I am working to implement this and other AVID strategies into my daily routine to make my classroom more engaging and student led. I appreciate this video the most, because it is a similar grade level to my classroom and I feel it is easily applicable after watching how she implements the strategy so well. The video content for class this week was both inspiring and convicting to watch as a teacher. The videos all related to the flat world that Darling-Hammond refers to, and 21st Century learning skills.
Problems in the Modern Classroom The reality is that most classrooms today are traditional "factory" type environments where students are grouped by age rather than interests or strengths. Watching these videos made me think of times in my classroom (which I hate) where I have had to ask students to focus on the screen or listen to me because I am trying to engage them in lessons from a curriculum that is just not holding their attention. Steps Forward I am thankful for the advances in curriculum in our district over the last few years, as I find that less of the lessons have me fighting for student's attention and are based more around student discovery in learning- but it's still not perfect and I have definitely found myself using those phrases already in the first month of school this year. I appreciate where we are heading, but I am ready to see much more in the way of addressing student needs in the way of 21st century skills. My Ideal Classroom The times in my classroom that are the most fun, almost in a magical way, are when students are engaged in group work, or are discussing a topic that they have connected tot heir own lives. I love to see student's passionate about the learning or the work they are doing. I adore when they "argue" their point in a whole class discussion. The first couple of weeks in my classroom this year were amazing. I believe it's because I had just been trained in AVID, attended a Jo Boaler workshop and wasn't teaching from the curriculum yet, but had the time and freedom to explore new ideas and ways of having students collaborate and communicate. I also had the time to teach my students about growth mindset, and really encourage them as learners before the work really came along. Balance It becomes tricky to balance these valuable activities with the curriculum we are required to teach. My principal has told us that AVID is not the curriculum, rather it is the plate the curriculum is being served on. I am still learning to properly implement the usage of AVID strategies- but I do find them to address a lot of the issues surrounding 21st century learners in the classroom. They are engaging, largely collaborative, and prepare students for all kinds of different life experiences. My goal is to incorporate more of these kinds of activities that I enjoy so much, where the students are actively engaged and the learning is valuable, in my classroom on a daily basis. I think if every teacher takes steps, no matter how small, toward educating students for a 21st century work environment we know nothing about- we will start to see students who are more invested and involved in their education, who are going to be equipped make a difference in their future. As I'm reviewing the IRB proposal form, I am taking note of things that I will need to know or do before I am able to complete it. I need to first come up with a hypothesis, a specific question that I am going to answer by using my research.
Possible Driving Questions: Some ideas I currently have for my driving question are as follows. How does self-assessment increase motivation? How does student agency increase rigor in the classroom? How can student voice improve teaching and learning in the classroom? How can I improve student leadership and engagement in the classroom? Possible Issues: The problem I have with some of these questions, is that I'm not sure what data to use in comparison to the data I will be collecting this year, as I haven't collected data of this exact type before. Possible Steps to Success: I know that to accomplish my goals in student learning, agency and engagement in my classroom I will be using smart goal setting with the students and self assessment of goals weekly. I will be using AVID strategies, fostering a growth mindset, building positive community in the classroom, and using sentence framing, talking chips, hand signals, etc. during classroom discussions to encourage engagement of all students. Potential Risks: The risks as I see it now are that students could dishonestly self evaluate, or set goals that are too easy for themselves and miss pushing themselves and extending their learning. I am hoping that the students find freedom here, but also feel motivated intrinsically and by their peers to set achievable goals that are also rigorous. One more risk is that students who tend to not speak up or participate in class will feel uncomfortable with the way I am hoping to run the classroom (more student voice and less teacher talk). Possible Benefits: The benefits that I am hoping the students will reap from this study is a self awareness of what their personal goals are and what their best work is, the feeling of success in meeting a goal they have set for themselves, increasing their scores in reading and math due to adapting a growth mindset and working hard. I also hope students will develop leadership, and communication skills as I guide them into leading and participating in academic conversations with each other. I hope to address the risk of students feeling uncomfortable voicing their opinion or participating in conversation by creating a safe learning environment, building positive relationships between teacher and peers, and by allowing for lots of practice time with partner and group talks before asking for whole class participation. I am also willing to make any accommodations for participation (partner talk first, writing down answers, etc) if a student requires one. Data The data I'm hoping to collect will be a lot of observational data of participation and engagement, evaluating conversation between students, and hopefully tracking teacher talk time vs. student talk time. I am also hoping to evaluate student work and track progress and scores for the specific goals they are setting and self evaluating to see if this process is helping them to achieve at high levels or if it is average. Maybe I can compare my student's data with other classes at school who are not doing goal setting? |
AuthorKayla Bryant is an elementary school teacher in Napa, CA. This year she teaches a 2/3 combo class. She keeps a journal with funny quotes from her students, and enjoys learning and laughing alongside them. Some of her main educational interests are related to goal setting, growth mindset, and creativity. Archives
July 2018
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