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Reaction v. Response

Have you ever been in a tough spot and your first thought was "I can't do this"? For many of us that is a natural reaction and that is okay. However, it is important to realize this is simply a reaction and this does not need/have to be our response.

Reactions are one on impulse, without much thought or considering what the end result may be.
Response is a reply that is more thoughtful and done with reasoning.

The key is recognizing that the "I can't do this" (or similarly unhelpful self-talk) is just a reaction in the moment and that you have the power to shift your mindset when responding to the situation. You can do this be creating a new habit that allows you to create a small gap before your reaction. A gap in which you stop, consider, choose, and then only respond.

So next time you are in a tough spot (maybe you look at a quiz and reactively think "I don't know how to answer these questions") put your pencil down, take a deep breath, tell yourself you can do hard things, and now decide that your response will be to work confidently through the problems, doing the "easy" ones first to build up to going back to the more "challenging" questions.

Realizing that unhelpful self-talk in the moment is just a reaction and does not need to be your response is empowering and something that can be perfected with practice!

Conveying Emotions 

Conveying our emotions can be difficult and it is easy to resort to default responses such as "I'm good" or "It's fine" when someone asks you how you are feeling. When someone says to you "How are you feeling?" they want to know how you really feel! I love this infographic because it gives you some great conversation starters and it can help you move beyond "entry-level" words such a mad/happy/tired and expand your emotional vocabulary. Remember that your teachers are here to help you and if you let us in and let us know how you really feel we can be there for you in a much for effective and helpful way.

You can do hard things!

Being presented with a challenging topic or project can be uncomfortable. Sometimes really having to think and problem solve isn't easy and when you hit a road bump it is easy to feel discouraged. When you find yourself in this situation, I want you to change your mindset and consider the following:

Your teachers are here to show you what you are capable of. You are never asked to do or learn something we don't believe you can. A challenge is a complement! We are giving you something "hard" to do because we believe in you that much! If we only ever asked you to do easy and quick tasks, we wouldn't be helping you grow or showing you the greatness we know you are capable of and that would be a waste of your talents.

Mindset (Growth v. Fixed)

Mrs. Ashley's Growth Mindset Mantra: "I am a work in progress and a masterpiece at the same time"
Your mindset is a set of thoughts and beliefs that shape how you think about the world around you and yourself. Your mindset influences how you think about, feel, and behave in a situation. There are two main categories of mindsets: fixed and growth. Someone with a fixed mindset believes that effort has no effect on accomplishment (if you are smart you are smart, if not there is nothing you can do). Someone with a growth mindset believes that they can develop talents and abilities through effort and hard work.

Fixed Mindset

• Either I'm good at it or I'm not. 
  
• That's just who I am. I can't change it.
•  If you must work hard, you don't have the ability.
  
• If I don't try, then I won't fail. 
  

Growth Mindset

• I can learn to do anything I want.
• I'm a constantly evolving work in progress.
• The more you challenge yourself, the smarter you become.
• I only fail when I stop trying.

Why is the idea of mindset important? Your mindset plays a critical role in how you cope with life's challenges. Having a growth mindset means you are more likely to persevere in the face of setbacks, because you know your effort will pay off.
Students with a growth mindset rebound after failure, where students with a fixed mindset seem devastated by even the smallest setback.

Science Talk: It is never too late to develop your GROWTH mindset! Recent advances in neuroscience have shown that the brain is more malleable than previously thought. Inside the cortex of the brain are billions of tiny nerve cells called neurons. The nerve cells have branches connecting them to each other in a complicated network. Communication between these brain cells is what allows us to think and solve problems. When you learn new things, these tiny connections in the brain multiply and get stronger. If you continue to strengthen these connections things you once found difficult (ex: memorizing a formula in math) seem to become easy.

The Real Truth about "Smart" and "Dumb": No one thinks babies are stupid because they can't talk. They just haven't learned how to yet. But a person will say they are "dumb" if they can't solve math problems, or spell a word right, or read fast-even though all these things are learned with practice. At first, no one can read or solve equations. But with practice, they can learn to do it. And the more a person learns, the easier it gets to learn new things- because their brain "muscles" have gotten stronger!

What Can YOU Do to Get "Smarter"? Just like a weightlifter or a basketball player, you must exercise and practice to make your brain grow stronger. By practicing, you also learn skills that let you use your brain in a smarter way-just like a basketball player learns new moves!

What do I do if I find myself in a fixed mindset?