Learning to Grow

by Education Blog

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Posted on September 6, 2017

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In the eighteen years I have been in education, the expectation for our students has been for every student in a class to be on the same level each year, ready to move on to the concepts at the next grade level.  You either get it or you don’t.  But, is that really the case?  Have our students always mastered concepts, if mastery is 100%, or even 90%?  I’m pretty sure if I were to self reflect, I did not always prepare myself for the next grade level growing up.  Now rest assured, my readiness couldn’t have been determined on instruction only, but also my maturity, mood, whether there was a chance I was going to get to walk to Rialto and play pool right after school, and a million other things I was thinking about in school.  Over the past couple of years, however, I have been exposed to the “growth” mindset in education.  What I am proposing is changing the way we look at ourselves and our students educational process.  How do we change the mindset of our students to dig in, persevere, and accept the challenges when faced with a difficult school assignment or project?  An example of this change in mindset from one of “fixed” to one of “growth,” could have been applied to myself in math classes growing up.  Instead of always saying that “math was not one of my strenghts,” I should have added the word yet to the end of that sentence.  “Math is not one of my strengths yet.”  Hopefully, with our emphasis on the Measures of Academic Progress Test, our mindset as teachers, parents, and administrators will change to one of continued growth, and not one fixed on performance level on a particular day.     

An opportunity to transform our thinking towards this “growth” concept is presenting itself with our reading program for grades prekindergarten through eighth grade.  The principals met over the summer to begin to look at ways to provide consistency in our reading programs for students in prekindergarten through grade eight.   In the past this program has consisted of book lists and Accelerated Reader, and it has varied from building to building from our elementary schools to the middle school.  Mr. Feely, Mrs. Tucker, Mrs. Williams, and Mrs. Marteney, worked together discussing, challenging, and ultimately compromising on a reading program that would find a measure of consistency for our students, parents, and staff. The principals then received feedback from their building staffs on the proposal.  As we work through this “pilot” year, parents, teachers, and staff will be presented with opportunities to share their input on the program.  It is our hope through this collaborative effort we can help transform our thinking towards growth each day, and every year.  I can remember when I was younger waking up in the middle of the night, and my legs would ache.  My parents always told me that I was just growing, and these pains were just a part of it.  Certainly, any change results in some “pain”, but if we keep a mindset of educational growth, we will allow for our students the opportunity to persevere, dig in, and maintain a positive attitude.

 Please click on the link below to access a presentation on the new reading program

Alva Reading Program

 

 

Sincerely,

Tim Argo

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