Saturday, December 23, 2017

The Growth Mindset

1. Acknowledge and embrace imperfections.

Hiding from your weaknesses means you’ll never overcome them.

2. View challenges as opportunities.

Having a growth mindset means relishing opportunities for self-improvement. Learn more about how to fail well.

3. Try different learning tactics.

There’s no one-size-fits-all model for learning. What works for one person may not work for you. Learn about learning strategies.

4. Follow the research on brain plasticity.

The brain isn’t fixed; the mind shouldn’t be either.

5. Replace the word “failing” with the word “learning.”

When you make a mistake or fall short of a goal, you haven’t failed; you’ve learned.

6. Stop seeking approval.

When you prioritise approval over learning, you sacrifice your own potential for growth.

7. Value the process over the end result.

Intelligent people enjoy the learning process, and don’t mind when it continues beyond an expected time frame.

8. Cultivate a sense of purpose.

Dweck’s research also showed that students with a growth mindset had a greater sense of purpose. Keep the big picture in mind.

9. Celebrate growth with others.

If you truly appreciate growth, you’ll want to share your progress with others.

10. Emphasise growth over speed.

Learning fast isn’t the same as learning well, and learning well sometimes requires allowing time for mistakes.

11. Reward actions, not traits.

Tell students when they’re doing something smart, not just being smart.

12. Redefine “genius.”

The myth’s been busted: genius requires hard work, not talent alone.

13. Portray criticism as positive.

You don’t have to used that hackneyed term, “constructive criticism,” but you do have to believe in the concept.

14. Dissassociate improvement from failure.

Stop assuming that “room for improvement” translates into failure.

15. Provide regular opportunities for reflection.

Let students reflect on their learning at least once a day.

16. Place effort before talent.

Hard work should always be rewarded before inherent skill.

17. Highlight the relationship between learning and “brain training.”

The brain is like a muscle that needs to be worked out, just like the body.

18. Cultivate grit.

Students with that extra bit of determination will be more likely to seek approval from themselves rather than others.

19. Abandon the image.

“Naturally smart” sounds just about as believable as “spontaneous generation.” You won’t achieve the image if you’re not ready for the work.

20. Use the word “yet.”

Dweck says “not yet” has become one of her favourite phrases. Whenever you see students struggling with a task, just tell them they haven’t mastered it yet.

21. Learn from other people’s mistakes.

It’s not always wise to compare yourself to others, but it is important to realise that humans share the same weaknesses.

22. Make a new goal for every goal accomplished.

You’ll never be done learning. Just because your midterm exam is over doesn’t mean you should stop being interested in a subject. Growth-minded people know how to constantly create new goals to keep themselves stimulated.

23. Take risks in the company of others.

Stop trying to save face all the time and just let yourself goof up now and then. It will make it easier to take risks in the future.

24. Think realistically about time and effort.

It takes time to learn. Don’t expect to master every topic under the sun in one sitting.

25. Take ownership over your attitude.

Once you develop a growth mindset, own it. Acknowledge yourself as someone who possesses a growth mentality and be proud to let it guide you throughout your educational career.
From: https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/develop-a-growth-mindset/

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

More ideas for History and Social Studies

1. Comic strip for History Case studies.

2. Games for Case Studies

3. Pause video questions

4. Ask and Learn - Open-ended questions. ( How will the answers be presented to the students?)

5. Use of Avatar to Mimic Stalin's rise and impact for instance.

6. Use information from Britannica School

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Departmental Purpose

To develop a Humanities curriculum that cultivates higher order thinking skills and mindfulness in our students to make them confident, self-directed learners who are future-ready. 

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Commission a History School Play

Stage a play on the events for one of the History Case studies:
Example: The Cuban Missile Crisis 
Example: The Impact of Stalin's Rule on the Soviet Union
Example: How Hitler came to power.
Example: How Stalin came to power.




Wednesday, May 27, 2015

In-house HI Upper Sec (Library Venue)


Having shared this idea with the History Unit, that we should explore the possibility of creating an in-house museum, the question remained as to exactly how it could be done. 

The best way is to Do, Learn, Adapt and Improve. But first we must act. So, with our RT Louis, 20 sources were picked. I decided that we should have a spread of data, pictorial and textual sources. The impact of Stalin's rule would be most appropriate for our Sec 3 Express Starting Semester 2. 

The sources (10 in the library) and another 10 linked to online resources or books in MJR library will allow for student groups to do their HI in a self-directed way. 

This current use of the boards and QR codes can be further improved to raise collaboration and self-directed learning. The team will need to think further as to how the in-house museum concept can help develop Higher Order Thinking in source analysis. 

Teachers are to configure different questions , exercises and projects with these 20 sources. 

Let's continue to get post-experience feedback from students and teachers. 

Let's Do Learn Adapt and Improve. 





Tuesday, May 26, 2015

HI Project Sources

Q: Did life improve under Stalin?

Source A: A poem published in ‘Pravda’ (a Soviet government-controlled newspaper), 1936.
O great Stalin, O leader of the people,
Thou who broughtest men to birth.
Thou who makes fruitful the earth,
Thou who restores the centuries,
Thou who makest bloom the spring,
Thou who makest vibrate the musical chords.
Thou splendour of my spring, oh thou
Sun reflected by millions of hearts.
https://makinghistoryatmacquarie.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/magnitogorsk12.jpg
Source B: This picture shows the booming impact of rapid industrialisation. Heavy industries like coal, steel, oil and electricity were built.


https://daliennation.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/holodomor.jpg
Source C: 6 Million perish in Soviet Famine partly due to collectivisation. This article is from Chicago, USA, a supporter of democratic leadership.






http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Smoke_of_chimneys_is_the_breath_of_Soviet_Russia.jpg
Source D: The Smoke of the Chimneys is the breath of the Soviet Union.
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/citi/images/standard/WebLarge/WebImg_000246/171340_2911218.jpg

Source E: Let Us Fulfill Stalin's New Five-Year Plan!






http://rlv.zcache.com/ussr_soviet_union_1934_collective_farming_posters-r593932884cfb40ee8482e01be143f3ea_v5kej_8byvr_1024.jpg
Source G: A Soviet poster portrays the harvest from collectivisation.






http://www.salem-news.com/stimg/july292009/no_gossip.jpg
Source H : A poster that says “Do not gossip”!






http://ncvpsapwh.pbworks.com/f/gulag.jpg
Source I : A camp in Siberia for political dissidents.





Source J : This poster shows that the farming discipline needs to be tightened.










Adopted from History of the Second World War, Vol.IV : The Hinge of Fate, Winston Churchill.
Source K : This is a conversation between Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin.
Book Titled : Working with Evidence 2, The Modern World – Peter and Mary Speed , book location MJR LIBRARY 904-909 Pg 71
“After he has talked it over with them he always answers that he does not want the Collective Farms and he would rather do without the tractors.’
“These were what you call Kulaks?”
“Yes” He said, but he did not repeat the word. After a pause, It was all very bad and difficult – but necessary.’
‘What happened?’ I asked.
‘Oh Well.’ He said. ‘Many of them agreed to come in with us. Some of them were given land of their own to cultivate in the province of Tomsk or the province of Irkutsk or farther North, but the great bulk were very unpopular and wiped out by their labourers.’






Source L: Adopted from the book “GCSE Modern World History, second edition – Ben Walsh”
MJR LIBRARY 904-909 Pg 131
“By the late 1930s many Soviet Workers had improved their conditions by acquiring well-paid skilled jobs and earning bonuses for meeting targets. Unemployment was almost non-existent. In 1940 the USSR had more doctors per head of population than Britain. Education became free and compulsory for all and Stalin invested huge sums in training schemes based in colleges and in the work place.
But, on the other hand, life was very harsh under Stalin. Factory discipline was strict and punishments were severe. Lateness or absences were punished by sacking, and that often meant losing your flat or house as well. To escape the hard work and hard discipline, some workers tried to move to other jobs, so the secret police introduced internal passports which prevented free movement of workers inside the USSR.”





Source M: Adopted from  Historan E Roberts, Stalin, Man of Steel, published in 1986.
Book : GCSE Modern world history Second edition, Ben Walsh Pg 133
“Stalin, ignoring the great cost in human life and misery, claimed that collectivisation was a success; for, after the great famines caused at the time… no more famines came to haunt the Russian people. The collective farms, despite their inefficiencies, did grow more food than the tiny, privately owned holdings had done. For example, 30 to 40 million tons of grain were produced every year. Collectivisation also meant the introduction of machines into the countryside. Now 2 million previously backward peasants learned how to drive a tractor. New methods of farming were taught by agricultural experts. The countryside was transformed.”


["In the midst of the new and visionary I found an inefficiency that could drive one to desperation. I suppose it's because they've had to be so hurriedly trained and have no experience, and centuries of apathy to overcome, and perhaps just because they can get jobs whether they're good or not. But it takes days to get anything done. They never make an appointment, they tell you to come and then they'll arrange when you must telephone again to ask for an appointment. Lifts are always out of order; a current anecdote has a 'lift factory' entirely devoted to manufacture of the notices LIFT OUT OF ORDER".]



[“I was going to be one of the many who cared not to own a second pair of shoes, but who built the blast furnaces which were their aim. I would wager that Russia’s battle of ferrous metallurgy alone involved more casualties than the battle of the Marne. All during the thirties the Russian people were at war. . . In Magnitogorsk I was precipitated into a battle. I was deployed on the iron and steel front. Tens of thousands of people were enduring the most intense hardships in order to build blast furnaces, and many of them did it willingly, with boundless enthusiasm, which infected me from the day of my arrival.”]


Source P: This statistics shows the GDP per head increase in USSR, compared to Latin America after the implementation of collectivisation and rapid industrialisation.

http://www.ljplus.ru/img4/h/i/himmelwerft/allen-b3.gif




Source Q: This picture shows the expectation and reality of Stalin’s 5-year plan from 1927-1937.
Adopted from the book “GCSE Modern World History, second edition – Ben Walsh”
MJR LIBRARY 904-909 Pg 129
C:\Users\t0003255c\Downloads\IMG_1089.JPG