Carly Wright's Portfolio Page
Navigation links: ETAP 623 Fall 2023 | Carly's Mini-course title
Contents
- 1 About Me
- 2 My Topic and Purpose
- 3 Scope of Learning Outcomes and Content
- 4 Needs Assessment
- 5 Analysis of the Learner and Context
- 6 Performance-Based Objectives
- 7 Task and Content Analysis
- 8 Curriculum Map
- 9 References and Resources
About Me
My name is Carly Wright and I am currently a 3rd Grade Special Education teacher in an Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) classroom. I attended SUNY Cortland for Inclusive Childhood Education with a concentration in Humanities and graduated in May 2021. For the next two years I taught in North Carolina — one year I spent teaching 4th Grade ELA and my second year teaching 3rd Grade. I recently moved back to my hometown in New York and got the job that I currently have for the 2023-2024 school year. I am very excited to be in an ICT classroom because I believe that co-teaching is one of the best instructional methods for inclusion and one that is proven to produce considerable student success.
In my free time outside of school, I love to spend time with family and friends, watch and listen to true crime documentaries, and read memoirs. I also love to hang out with my puppy, Sully, who loves playing outside during snowstorms. This is my second semester in the CDIT Masters program and I am looking forward to creating a new course through ETAP 623!
My Topic and Purpose
A student's mindset towards school and their learning journey has the ability to be a positive driving force forward or a very detrimental roadblock. American psychologist Carol Dweck (2006) coined terms for two main categories referring to an individuals’ mindset about learning and intelligence: fixed and growth. When applied to our students, a fixed mindset can be seen when students view their abilities, traits, and intelligence as innate and largely unable to be changed. Those students with a fixed mindset often focus very closely on their failures (which they believe to be a reflection of their intelligence) and tend to avoid any academic risk-taking. In contrast, students who are taught to hold a growth mindset for themselves, have the understanding that those very qualities (abilities, traits, and intelligence) are very fluid and can be developed with effort and practice. If all teachers could directly teach and model for students how to have a growth mindset, students are far more likely to challenge themselves, be persistent, and learn how to use mistakes as motivation to improve. Mindset is an important part of student motivation and long-term success, so it should be embedded into pedagogy as much as possible.
Scope of Learning Outcomes and Content
This mini-course is intended to establish the differences between fixed and growth mindset, define the crucial parts of having growth mindset, and provide examples of how to teach those skills to students in the classroom. By the end of the course, the hope is that the learners in this course either develop or deepen their positive attitude towards the beliefs and skills that are fundamental to a growth mindset. Learners who complete this course will not only gain an understanding of the benefits of fostering growth mindsets in students, but will also receive resources that they can use to begin teaching the skills in their classroom.
Needs Assessment
Educational Opportunity
According to the American Psychological Association's (2015) Top Twenty Principles from Psychology for PreK-12 Teaching and Learning, students' beliefs and perceptions of intelligence have a significant impact on their learning. In particular, their view of their own intelligence and its malleability (or rigidity) has power to influence their capacity to learn, as well as their overall motivation. This mini-course is capitalizing on the opportunity to provide more teachers with the knowledge-base and specific strategies that will them to help foster growth mindsets within all of their students, which in turn, will create more overall success for their students.
Learners & Participants
Learners participating in this course will include in-service educators ranging from grades K-12. The age group and general characteristics of the learner's student population may impact the type of activities they choose to use/create, as well as the depth into which they delve into the concepts
Gap in Learning & Existing Efforts to Address It
Although having a growth-mindset is an evidence-based theory proven to help students "perform better on a variety of cognitive tasks and in problem-solving situations", in-service teachers aren't always taught explicit ways to promote that sort of mindset in their students (APA, 2015, p. 6). Often, educators know or have heard of the importance of fostering growth-mindsets and possibly have even been informed of some of the benefits. They are not always made aware, however, of the best ways to teach their students about it and the most effective strategies for supporting students in their journey into a growth-mindset. Many schools have begun to use Social Emotional Learning programs, but the types and quality of those programs impacts educators' ability to teach and integrate growth-mindset effectively. The ideal will be to have teachers know the benefits of growth-mindset, but also be skilled in the evidence-based practices to support it.
Intent Statement
This mini-course will help participants gain knowledge about what a growth-mindset is. Additionally, and more importantly, they will also learn about some of the most important concepts and practices behind fostering a growth mindset, such as "the power of yet" and intentional goal setting. Finally, they will be given a chance to create a growth-mindset activity that they could use in their classroom using one of the NYS Social Emotional Learning Benchmarks as a guide.
The Learner and Context
The learners in this course will be certified educators from grade K-12. They will have varying educational backgrounds with some holding Bachelor's, Master's, or Doctoral degrees. They will likely all have some degree of classroom experience and most will have prior knowledge regarding the general concept of Social Emotional Learning. Some participants may also have prior experience teaching SEL to their students directly, either with or without a set curricular program.
Performance-Based Objectives
After the mini-course, learners will be able to:
- Distinguish between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset
- Describe the qualities of and practices used by people with growth mindsets
- Give examples of what skills/practices they should teach students about growth mindset
- Design method for tracking students’ personal goal setting and progress
- Create an SEL lesson plan that teaches students about one or more aspects of growth mindset
Task and Content Analysis
Course Objectives:
After completing this mini-course, learners will be able to…
- Distinguish between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset
- Describe the qualities and practices held by people with growth mindsets
- Give examples of what they should teach students about growth mindset
- Design method for tracking students’ personal goal setting and progress
- Create an SEL lesson plan that will teach students about an aspect of growth mindset
Essential Prerequisites:
In order to accomplish the course objectives, learners must…
- Understand how to navigate and be successful in online learning environments
- Know a basic definition of Social Emotional Learning and understand the general benefits that it creates for students
- Be able to utilize different digital technologies during their learning process
- Know how to write a lesson plan, which includes clear objectives and engaging activities
- Be proficient in some form of word processing document (Word, Google Docs, etc)
Supportive Prerequisites:
In order to accomplish the course objectives, it will be helpful if learners…
- Have a desire to incorporate/improve SEL in their classroom
- Have an interest in how a growth mindset will support their students
- Are intrinsically motivated
- Are willing to think critically and be reflective about their current pedagogical practices
Curriculum Map
| Unit | Learner Objectives | Learner Activities | Readings and External Sources |
| Unit 1: Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset: What’s the Difference? | Distinguish between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset |
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| Unit 2: Mistakes as Learning Opportunities | Describe the qualities of and practices used by people with growth mindsets |
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| Unit 3: Productive Struggle & Perseverance (“The Power of Yet”) | Describe the qualities of and practices used by people with growth mindsets
Give examples of what skills/practices they should teach students about growth mindset |
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| Unit 4: Goal Setting & Tracking | Design a method for tracking students’ personal goal setting and progress |
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| Unit 5: Apply It! | Create an SEL lesson plan that teaches students about one or more aspects of growth mindset |
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References and Resources
- Carol Dweck's Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
- Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.
