“You Play the Cards You’re Dealt”

In the first week when playing the card trick at the beginning of class we were able to figure out the math trick within the first few attempts. It felt good that we did not have to try as hard and were successful when finding the trick in the card game.  This week however there was a different emotion I felt, “frustrated!” No matter how many times we tried we could not figure out the trick. There were moments, even when an explanation was provided, I still felt, “lost.” Reflecting back on the process I learned a few lessons from that experience. First there are going to be students who may have similar emotions, and as an educator, I must have ways to help students cope with such emotions ready in my teacher toolbox. Another thing I learned was in that moment, I myself was undergoing a ‘fixed-mindset’. I realized that I must change my own way of thinking first, so that students don’t catch me in my moments of frustration when I face a challenge. Practicing a growth mindset from now will mean that I can effectively model to students how they can be successful when overcoming a challenge.

As educators we know how important the growth mindset is and there are a great number of resources available to teachers in order to implement it in our own classrooms. When looking resources on growth mindset, I came across the following website:

https://www.mindsetkit.org/topics/teaching-growth-mindset/growth-mindset-lesson-plan

This resource made me aware of that fact that teachers should be sensitive to the phrases they use in their class such as simply telling a student to, “try harder,” can be a problem. Instead students should be taught why they need to continually put in the effort. Providing students with evidence about the plasticity of the brain can help them see the importance of continually putting in the effort. This website has embedded within it a lesson plan which highlights the following as it objectives for teaching students about the growth mindset:

•           “Intelligence can be developed”
•           “The brain is malleable”
•          “Doing challenging work is the best way to make the brain stronger and smarter”

Retrieved from Google Images: http://bit.ly/2xIVU8P 

We as teachers should be mindful of the phrases we use in class to ensure that our students practice a growth mindset. Not only teachers, but students should also be aware of the different phrases they can subconsciously go through in their mind when faced with a challenge that inhibits them trying to solve the problem. Here is an image that can be projected to teach your students the different phrases to use.

Retrieved from Google Images: http://bit.ly/2w26wew

Coming back to the card-trick, eventually through a lot of collaboration we succeeded in figuring out the card trick. It showed us that through persistence, encouragement and perseverance, we eventually succeeded. We need to teach students to make the most of the current situation and help them with using strategies that will help them find success.

Thanks for reading this week's blog post, and I look forward to reading your comments!
- Nuha