The Might of Mindset
1/26/2019
At PNA, students and teachers are expected to exercise their growth mindset everyday. Carol Dweck, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, coined the term after studying the attitudes of thousands of children regarding failure. She found that “In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point.” While second graders practice their growth mindset every day in a multitude of ways, they are usually within the comfort of a classroom. Last week, students took their resiliency and grit to a different and quite literal stage for Brown Bag Performances. These weeklong gatherings of the whole school allow for a casual brown bag lunch while enjoying various performances of our amazing students. For some students, it is easy to hop up on stage and entertain the crowd and for others, they really had to exercise their growth mindset in order to be able to do that. Students also were given the opportunity to learn about another person who had a great growth mindset during our annual MLK Jr. assembly and day of service. They can see how having a growth mindset can provide results and spark a positive change in those around you!
Explorations in Matter
1/19/2019
As teachers, we know our students learn in many different ways: visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, and social. These are commonly known as learning styles. The term learning styles is widely used to describe how learners gather, sift through, interpret, organize, come to conclusions about, and “store” information for further use, according to Nancy Chick who wrote a paper for Vanderbuilt University's Center for Teaching entitled "Learning Styles". Coffield has identified over 70 different learning styles schemes (Coffield, 2014) which tells us that a student may have a strength or a preference in two or more learning styles. Multiple daily opportunities to practice these different learning styles is vital to students learning. Our recent investigations in to topic of matter included opportunities for all of the different learning styles. These hands-on experiences also allow students to experiment with trial and error, learn from their mistakes, give and gain feedback from their peers and process the new information in ways that made sense to them. PNA provides opportunities for students with various learning styles through hands on activities every day. They provide tactile or kinesthetic learners (those who need to to physically engage or move) to engage with and actually manipulate the information being presented. Auditory learners are also engaged as they are talking and listening about the learning that is happening. Visual learners are able to observe what is actually happening around them as they process new information. Social learners are given the opportunity for peer interaction as they process the information by means of communication. For all learners, the time spent in these learning situations strengthen their content knowledge, communication skills, and confidence, as well as allowing them to process and reflect on the information being presented in ways that make sense to each of them.
Tool Time
1/12/2019
It's Tool Time where each Friday brings a new opportunity for students to dream, create, and reflect on a different topic and learn about a new "tool". These educational adventures will revolve around a specific book that introduces the topic for that week and students will be given a challenge that they will then need to complete. These growth mindset challenges offer opportunity for critical thinking, reasoning, communication and problem solving skills with a healthy dose of creativity and personal choice thrown in. This week's Tool Time was centered around the book "Not a Box." After reviewing components of a growth mindset, students heard the story and were then given the challenge to create their own "Not a Box." They were also given a lesson on the tool of the week, the cardboard cutters including safety and proper useage. Once every student had their boxes, off they went to create. Every student was engaged in their project, and the time sped by quickly as students cut, drew, glued and engineered unique interpretations of their own "Not a Box." At the conclusion of the lesson, students were able to come together for a reflection time and you could just see the pride and joy on their faces as they shared their work with their classmates. Look for more Tool Time episodes coming up in the next few weeks!
Entrepreneurs!
1/1/2019
Students finished up the economics unit with the re-opening of the Second Grade Store. This store opens up once a year, just in time for holiday shopping. Second graders learn about goods vs. services, supply vs. demand and basic money management in the unit. They then brainstorm, design and create a good or service. In this process, they also were given the opportunity to learn and use new tools in their creations. They then learn about marketing their product, through advertisements in the form of signage and commercials. Once their prospective buyers view their commercials, they participate in an interest survey designed to give the second grade producers some insight as to how popular their product might be, enabling them to set their prices accordingly. As the store day approaches, students set up booths and anticipate their shoppers. They have to think not only about the efficiency and logistics of their booth, but also the aesthetics of it as well. The consumers (in the form of grades 1st, 3rd, Middle School as well as various assorted teachers and parents) come to shop, each given a $4 wallet in which to make their purchases from. They are welcome to spend the money as they wish, keeping any product that they purchase. The second grade shopkeepers must handle money transactions and persuade the buyers to purchase from them instead of their fellow shopkeepers. Shoppers fill out a satisfaction survey at the end of their shopping, commenting on things they liked as well as suggestions for improvement. These comments ranged from enthusiastic positivity "I loved every single thing about your store! Good work!" to constructive comments "Maybe next time think about why someone would want to buy your product and then persuade people while they are shopping." The second graders also work on a reflection piece that allow them to think about what went well for them and also to think what they might do differently. Some of their thoughts included: "I would definitely make more product because I ran out!" "I wouldn't give anything away for free." "I think I did a good job because people liked my product and I made a lot of money." Not only are student hitting several important grade level standards in this project, they are also strengthening valuable life skills as well. Creativity and student voice/choice go hand in hand with this project, as well as critical thinking and problem solving. And while it might seem counter-intuitive to collaborate with your competition, the second graders all helped each other throughout this process. They helped to create product, brainstormed solutions to challenges and helped to create commercials as well as other things that were needed.
They also left valuable advice to next years second graders who, after coming to experience the store as a consumer, are already brainstorming for their own booth at next year's store. |
Marcella HitchcockMs. Hitchcock teaches second grade, is a mom of two, an avid reader, lifelong learner, and a seeker of sunshine! Archives
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