A Growth Mindset - In preparation for Day 1 of AEE 412

I am so excited to have the opportunity to work with each of you to prepare you for the most impactful experience of your undergraduate education: your Student Teaching Internship.

This year brings us all so many opportunities to grow and learn. We are all being challenged to have high expectations for ourselves. As  your instructor, I expect you set goals for yourself and work hard to reach them, while I set very high goals for myself as well. My dream is deliver to you to best Agricultural Teaching Methods class in the world.

Reaching your goals can be scary and sometimes frustrating. It takes a very long time to become proficient at something you are not yet so good at. In fact, it has been evidenced by research that the only way to learn and get smarter is to attempt something new and work really, really hard art it.....even if you make a lot of mistakes.

YES! I SAID IT! I WANT YOU TO MAKE A LOT OF MISTAKES!!!

Do not be afraid to try something because you think you won't e good at it. Chances are, YOU WON'T! AND THAT IS GOOD! In order to be successful, you will need to make mistakes and learn from them. Easy is BORING. Effort is what makes us smart!

Please keep your "Mental Eraser" handy! Remind yourself to ACCEPT Challenges, to MAKE MISTAKES, and to LEARN from those mistakes. Most importantly, promise tot yourself you will KEEP TRYING. When it gets tough, as your instructor, I promise to help you along the way.

Remember: 

"The worst mistake anyone can every make is to be afraid to make one."

Course materials for AEE 412 (Syllabus, Assignment Handbook, and Lab Packet) have been uploaded to your private NAAE Communities of Practice (http://communities.naae.org/docs/DOC-11382)

Mindset book by Carol Dweck

Please take time to review the materials closely as time will be given on Monday for questions and clarifications. The entire semester plan is provided to you before hand so that as adult professionals you can plan your time accordingly.

One of the Concepts we discuss on the first day is having a growth mindset. This is a concept introduced by Carol Dweck (Stanford Psychologist) in her book MINDSET: The new psychology of success. [Learn more here: http://mindsetonline.com; Book available for $11 on Kindle]. In her own words, Professor Dweck describes a growth mindset as follows: Individuals with a fixed mindset believe that their intelligence is simply an inborn trait--they have a certain amount, and that's that. In contrast, individuals with a growth mindset believe that they can develop their intelligence over time.

Here is a video of Dr. Dweck Discussing Mindset (There are a lot out there if you want to search!):

I was really interested in how teachers use specific strategies to foster a Growth Mindset in their students. Here is  a blog of teachers providing their feedback: http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2012/10/response_classroom_strategies_to_foster_a_growth_mindset.html

One cool thing was this video of a 5th grader discussing the concept:

Again, WELCOME to the Journey! Welcome to your Methods Course and  your gateway to becoming a WORLD CLASS professional educator. Let's get to work!!

Daniel Foster

2013 Methods Instructor