This week I am reflecting back on my action research and thinking of times when I experienced either a fixed or growth mindset. I will say that overall the experience has been very positive but there were certainly moments that didn't seem so positive.
Fixed Mindset
I think I experienced a fixed mindset when my survey given didn't quite hit all of the points I wanted it to. I was kind of going in blind to exactly how I wanted this guided math experience to play out in my classroom. After a few months of our routine I was ready to give the survey again and compare results. It was then that I realized that a lot of the things I had noticed (and wanted to know how kids felt) were not addressed on the initial survey. In order to have a good comparison of data I gave the same survey again. Now I wish I would have just done that but also added a few questions just to satisfy my curiosity about a few areas. [I still think I might to do that as I am working on my paper].
Growth Mindset
I think I experienced a growth mindset several times but one was definitely when I tried to go back to whole class math instruction on one of our goofy schedule weeks. My class struggled and were noticeably more scatter-brained. They were not grasping the lesson and more confused than I had seen them all year; the concept wasn't anything overly complicated. It was at that moment that I realized that maybe this guided math is really working like I had hoped it would. It made me to want to continue fine-tuning my method and looking for new ways to reach everyone in my small groups. That day gave me the oomph to continue growing in my teaching strategies in order to best meet the needs of my students.
I really enjoy how you can put your process into words. You have clearly taken the action research process to heart and are applying it to both the way you think and to your pedagogy. Kudos!
ReplyDeleteI too find it very hard to write just there right questions for surveys. I discovered the same thing (that my first survey lacked info/insight I was looking for). So, in my second survey I added questions. And even though I had nothing to compare the questions to, the responses were very helpful. So, I say go fit it in adding new questions. It is worth it and shows you are growing in our understanding of what comprises a good survey.