Growth mindset TIPR

This topic is one of the reasons I was so excited to work with the teacher that I chose.  Mr. Walker promotes a growth mindset and engages students in a way I have never experienced before. I find this particularly fascinating as he has not been formally educated to do this. He has come to teaching through alternate routes. One of the things that Mr. Walker (Dave) has done since the beginning of the year is to emphasis the Yet concept. I cannot do that YET, I am not good at that YET, etc. He is constantly praising and encouraging the students to push just a little further and to try something a little more difficult with each activity. At the beginning of the year he often used extrinsic motivation in the form of candy to encourage participation. As the kids get more comfortable and open he has transitioned to praise and encouragement. There is the grade component of course but his grading focuses on effort and participation over the perfect performance.

Mr. Walker has numerous games each day that incorporate the topic that the class is working on. The students now ask for certain games and I was surprised to notice the games they ask for are the more difficult and challenging games. In order to receive full points for the day students must be on time to class and participate in the games and activities.
Mr. Walker participates fully in the class and encourages all students to do the same. He leads by example. One of his favorite sayings is "the only thing that stands between you and being a great actor is your ego." Being too good for an activity or to too "shy to try", he often reminds them that acting is making yourself vulnerable but that doing so makes you strong. He is never too good to do what his students are doing.
 Mr. Walker is conscious of the challenges his students face and encourage the students to participate in ways that are comfortable for them. For instance, there is one student who carries a stuffed unicorn with him everywhere. Mr. Walker will respectfully listen when the student uses the unicorn to express what he himself is feeling. He also gives each student a few seconds to tell the class what they did the day before and encourages conversation between them during this time. This helps the students learn more about each other and is fostering friendships. He also has a list of random questions that he picks from each day and everyone answers these questions. This helps the students to see how much they have in common.

There are 14 students in this class and all but 2 have a pretty open mindset about their abilities at this point in the semester. Mr. Walker spent a little extra time this week with these 2 students explaining how participating in theater can change their life. He changed their perspective to encourage them to value the lessons and participate more. The student body of the school where I am doing my hours has an overabundance of students from state care and low income families. They are motivated by ways to improve their lives. They need to see paths to a better future than the past they have come from. Mr. Walker and the rest of the staff at this school excel at showing these students alternate paths to viable futures. Mr. Walker addresses the Maslov hierarchy of needs by having drinks and food available for those that do not have those needs met at home. He keeps all work in class to allow students to excel even if they do not have support at home. He follows the Self-determination theory. He provides opportunities to belong at the beginning of each class, fostering friendships. He gives the students autonomy in their assignments, they can pick any topic for their assignment, encourages them to pick things that they know well. He makes sure they feel competent. He excels at this and it is one of the reasons I chose to volunteer in his class. He has an ability to praise and correct students while making them feel like they are award winning actors already.
When I do my mini-lesson I will allow the students to choose from a variety of scenes thereby giving them a degree of autonomy. I will encourage them to work in groups, fostering belonging. I will also give praise for the things that they do well, ensuring that they feel competent.

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Metacognition TIPR

I have been observing in a junior high school drama class. One thing that I have loved about this class is that there is constant feedback and improvement. The class just finished a unit on Pantomime. The kids were asked to work individually or in small groups to plan, design, and execute a pantomimed scene. The teacher went through basic ideas and what makes a good pantomime. The students turned in their ideas and went over them with the teacher. They then had time to design and practice their pantomimes. At this point they then performed for a different group and got feedback on their strengths and what needed work. They then got more time to perfect their pantomimes before performing for me. I gave them additional feedback and they had more time to practice before performing for the teacher. This was an assignment that really gave the kids a chance to use and practice their meta-cognitive skills. They had autonomy to choose the topic and guidance with their plan. They knew how long they had to work on the assignment and what the grading rubric would be. They got feedback and check ins with themselves, peers, and teachers to help them evaluate how they were doing and how they could improve. I saw massive improvements in most of the pantomimes.

Between this class and helping with the after school drama competition team I have realized that the kids need more direction in self-regulating the evaluation and changing tactics portion of the meta-cognitive process. They would benefit from recording and watching their performances and then analyzing whether they are putting forth the effort and focus needed to reach the level/grade they would like to earn. They understand the planning process but do not always use their time wisely or evaluate themselves which is vital to being a good actor.

With the idea that I have for my mini-lesson is to do mad-lib scenes, this will lend itself nicely to the meta-cognitive process. I will include a section where they can record and watch and evaluate themselves. They can then decide if there is anything they would like to change or work on before performing for the class.

What is intelligence?

Intelligence means different thing to different people. After learning about the different theories on intelligence I have a greater grasp of what it means to me. Intelligence is the ability to gather knowledge from various sources and experiences and use that knowledge to improve your life and the lives of those around you. Intelligence is something that can be strengthened or grown. It can be decreased as well. If you gain knowledge and never use that knowledge that it is not intelligence. You must be able to use the knowledge to improve your life in some way.
 Intelligence is not just academic knowledge either. Some of the most intelligent people I know are not academics. They work in trades and have learned various skills and have knowledge that I do not have the desire to have. They never graduated from a 4 year university. They attended trade schools, community college, they received training in the military and through apprenticeships and they are the first people I call when I have a problem. 
You can gain knowledge through life experiences. This knowledge can be vital and life changing. I learned a great deal about compassion, empathy, and what I wanted out of life from living with a mother that was addicted to alcohol and drugs. Being homeless and never knowing what would come next taught me gratitude and what to avoid as I grew older. I learned the importance of boundaries and speaking up as a survivor of sexual abuse. All of these types of knowledge are important and must be recognized.
 By recognizing and validating these types of knowledge our students will feel a sense of acceptance and belonging that they will not have if only academic knowledge is validated. I hope to show my students how important the different kinds of knowledge are. That while math skills are important to understand or know, that it is more important to surround yourself with people that excel at the knowledge that you struggle with. That true intelligence lies in knowing how to ask for help and who the best person to ask for that help.