Daily Unit Reflections

Growth Mindset Unit

Erin Koerselman
Westminster College
March 29, 2020
 How and why did you use funds of knowledge data in designing the unit?

The student I chose for my funds of knowledge interview has had a difficult childhood

where she was witness to her father’s physical abuse of her mother. She temporarily lived with

her aunt and cousin which brought her to Beacon Heights Elementary; at the time of my

student teaching, she and her mother were able to move to a place of their own, however

some distance away from the school. She routinely arrives to school late and sulks at her desk.

Her “I can’t do this, I’m no good” attitude prompted my unit plan on growth mindset.

In designing the unit, I took into consideration this student’s interests. During the

interview, I learned of her fascination with the “Harry Potter” books as well as her enjoyment

with reading and art. The unit supports her interests with the following: book club books, to

include Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone; researching famous peoples’ failures (she chose

the “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling); and an art lesson.

The unit includes much self-reflection and I hope this student will recognize her ability

and potential. It is easy for us all to fall into a fixed mindset now and then, but I hope this unit

will help all of the students realize their potential to grow.

 How and why did you use the research in context data you collected as you designed your

unit?

Before beginning my unit plan, it was imperative to research and gain background

knowledge on mindset. Carol Dweck’s book Mindset and her TED Talk provided me with much

information on the meaning of mindset in different contexts especially in regard to elementary-

age children. Dweck is the pioneer of this mindset phenomenon, specifically the terms “fixed

mindset” and “growth mindset.” Her research and studies have proven that students in a

growth mindset classroom improve academically despite previous hardships and/or socio-

economic stigmatisms.

My research also included ideas for lesson plans and classroom books that would

promote growth mindset; I wanted for this unit to be fun, positive, and engaging, and I believe

picture books are a wonderful way to capture the interest of students of all ages. Through my

cooperating teacher and other teachers, I have heard the increasing interest in implementing a

growth mindset culture in classrooms, so I wanted to use this teaching opportunity to learn

more about it myself.

Dweck emphasizes that how we as educators praise students can encourage a fixed or

growth mindset. I have tried hard to be conscientious in praising student effort rather than

smartness as Dweck stresses this encourages a growth mindset. I have also tried incorporating

lessons that involve self-reflection to help students begin realizing their potential for growth.

Designing this unit plan has taken much self-reflection on my part as well!
 How and why did you use the pre-assessment data of students’ knowledge, abilities, and

interests as you designed your curriculum and made instructional decisions?

The pre-assessment I administered to the students was a multiple-choice questionnaire

that determined if a student had a growth mindset, fixed mindset, or was categorized as

uncertain. Upon first analyzation of the results, I was pleasantly surprised to see that all but two

students had growth mindsets; the other two students were uncertain. However, upon closer

examination, I could see that there was much uncertainty around the idea that one can get

smarter despite genetics as well as if one could be successful despite hardships. I thought I

would challenge some of these concepts by beginning the unit with an article about the brain’s

ability to develop like a muscle; the more we use our brains, the stronger it becomes.

Furthermore, I knew I needed to insert self-reflection activities to help students realize their

potential to overcome hardships and ability to learn from challenges.

The student questionnaire on learning interests provided me with useful feedback in

determining grouping and projects. Whereas I thought the results would show students

favoring group projects, they instead were weighted toward individual and small groups. Many

students expressed interest in a variety of learning formats such as reading, art, and research;

therefore, I decided to include in the unit lessons that involved these formats. Moreover, for

the cumulative research project, I used the questionnaire as a guide, giving students a choice in

how to present their project- written report, poster, or PowerPoint/Sway presentation.

 How did you conduct formative assessment and make changes as you taught your lesson?

During a PowerPoint presentation, I explored with the class the concept of growth

mindset by breaking apart the terms “mindset” and “growth” and having students give meaning

to each. Midway through, I could see that only half the class was participating so I decided to

make it a small group activity where students brainstormed these terms in their table groups.

Next, we created a class concept map of these terms by having each table share a defining

word one at a time until all groups had shared out their thoughts.

By changing this lesson into a small group activity, I created more participation and

overall interest. Moreover, I was able to go around to each table while groups brainstormed to

listen to their ideas and ask questions to further their thinking. Reconvening as a class allowed

students to hear others’ ideas and together create a growth mindset concept map.
 What effective teaching strategies and technology did you use?

Based on the results of my student learning interest questionnaire and the student

funds of knowledge interview, I developed lessons that used a variety of teaching strategies.

For example, one lesson revolved around the picture book, “The Book of Mistakes,” in which

the artist creatively turns mistakes into art. In this interdisciplinary lesson, students created

pictures from ink blots. It was fun to see what developed from each of their blots!

In another lesson, students were required to use listening and inferring skills during a

read-aloud, then apply the lesson’s concept to their own personal experiences. Another lesson

required students to individually read an informational article and summarize the main idea of

each passage. In book clubs, where students were given a choice on their desired book,

students used listening and reading skills. The cumulative project requires students to research

a famous person of their choice who has overcome a big challenge. Using a graphic organizer as

a guideline, students are to research this person on the internet. The students were to use the

library as a resource as well, however, due to coronavirus restrictions, most will only be able to

use the internet.

In planning my unit, I realized how much more effective it is to use a variety of teaching

strategies as I am able to reach a variety of learners and make it more interesting.

 Behavior: What were your concerns; what worked; what did not; challenges?

I have been very fortunate to student teach in a classroom where for the most part

students work well together and are receptive to learning. Of course, there are still individual

behavior challenges that have needed addressing such as indifference toward learning and

instruction. I believed a unit on growth mindset would appeal to all students on an individual

level since it involves more introspective learning in a variety of formats. But, at the end of the

day, learning is learning.

I was very surprised when one of my ELD students did not take interest in the art lesson.

It is possible this was due to a lack of communication, but I felt she understood the project. She

often lacks any interest in lessons, but I thought an art lesson would be fun. I was slightly

discouraged by her lack of interest and involvement. I also regretted not giving her the ink blot

from the demonstration; perhaps this would have helped her along in the assignment.

I was pleased to see my funds of knowledge student engaged in most of the lessons.

Whereas she rarely exhibits interest, she participated in the group activities, read-alouds, and

book club readings. However, it has been difficult getting her to complete writing assignments

and, unfortunately, due to the coronavirus situation I will probably not get the chance to see

completed work from her. But I can hope!

 Academic: What were your concerns; what worked; what did not; challenges?

Growth mindset may be applied to all academic subjects, however, teaching growth

mindset seemed best within a language arts context. I felt that I was able to include a range of

language arts activities applicable to the 4th grade core such as determining main idea,

summarizing, and using text evidence to support claims, to name a few. I was also glad to have

found a way to incorporate art into the unit and I believe this particular lesson was effective in

showing how mistakes can be a part of learning in a very hands-on way.

A challenge I encountered was time. There were extensions I would have liked to

include in the lessons but found I barely had time to finish the main lesson. I would have liked

to have found more time during ELA’s Daily 5 to include these extensions along with more mini

lessons. Moreover, after having students write an opinion piece on a quote, I discovered the

need for more mini lessons on overall organization and providing reasons supported by details.

Next time I teach this unit, I will try to incorporate social studies. For this grade-4 unit, I

could have had students explore the challenges pioneers and immigrants faced and relate

certain characteristics to growth mindset. Along these lines, certain funds of knowledge could

be incorporated by including characteristics of current immigrants and their challenges.

How would you describe student learning during the unit, based on pre- and post-assessment

data?

According to pre-assessment data, the majority of students exhibited a growth mindset

before starting the unit. During unit lessons, this was evident with positive student engagement

and responses that supported a growth mindset. Before starting this unit, I was aware of a

school-wide effort to promote mindfulness and I learned from the ELP students that the ELP

teacher had also been teaching growth mindset. But my purpose for choosing a unit on growth

mindset was to reach students who struggle and are handling challenges at home such as my

funds of knowledge student, aware that it would benefit all students.

There were some questions on the pre-assessment that quite a few students seemed

uncertain about. Unfortunately, due to the Coronavirus situation, I am unable to administer a

post-assessment. There are also some student artifacts that I have not been able to see at the

time of this reflection. I am hoping if the situation clears, I will be able to collect some of these

student journal entries and reflections; I would greatly enjoy this for my own information.
 Take one lesson guide and discuss what would be the next steps for students who did not

meet your objectives.

For one of the unit lessons, students wrote an opinion piece whether they agreed or not

on Henry Ford’s quote, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” I really

enjoyed reading some of the responses, especially those who provided evidence with personal

experiences. But there were many responses that lacked organization and/or evidence in their

writing.

This assignment was homework in the form of their paragraph of the week; however,

my next steps would be as follows:

1. Set up student writing conferences;

2. Mini lessons on organization and supporting claims with evidence;

3. Peer editing;

4. Final draft of opinion piece.

 What will you do the same and/or differently in the future in terms of assessing student

learning and using assessments to design curriculum?

First, I thought asking students about their learning preferences was important in

designing the unit, especially when deciding how projects should look. I think this would be an

integral part of a student questionnaire at the beginning of the year. Next, using a pre-

assessment to inform curriculum design helps me focus on material needed most and limit time

wasted on material students already know. For this particular unit, in addition to the questions

that determined students’ mindsets, I feel I needed to ask questions directly on mindset. This

would have helped me gauge the students’ direct knowledge on fixed and growth mindsets.

As a teacher, I need to make sure I am doing more formative assessing. During my unit, I

felt some of the formative assessments went to the wayside due to time constraints. But I

believe they are critical in gauging student understanding and correcting misconceptions.