Developmental Designs approach

Where We Are and Where We Want to Be

 

by Edna Attias

I stood there trying to tolerate the deafening silence. I finished a Mississippi countdown in my head, to make sure I was giving students enough call time, but there were no responses to my question. Were they paying attention? Did they understand the question? Was I an alien who just landed from space? I thought my lesson was engaging and fun, but my advisory group was not grabbing onto its hook.

Lately, I had noticed that during my teaching time and class discussions, students were very quiet, yet when it was time for partner or group work, the classroom buzzed with voices that were a few notches higher than what I would have wanted. There was also more giggling and off-topic conversations (such as who was dating who) than necessary. Our CPRs were no better. Side conversations and attention-seeking behaviors started to cloud and poison our meetings. I couldn’t help but feel discouraged. I’d tried to isolate each of these behaviors and address them with my students. I was sweating the small stuff, yet I was failing to make an impact on my social butterflies.

The Gift of Reflection

By Scott Tyink

For my March birthday, I asked my son to give me the gift of time—time doing something together. We both enjoy running, so he signed us up for an 8K race in his university town. I was happy for the gift.

We had been trying to do this race for the entire four years he attended, but something always seemed to get in the way. We ran side by side, weaving in and out of the mostly college runners. We hadn’t intended on it being a way to close out his college career, but we naturally fell into talking about his tenure. There was no arranged agenda and no assigned questions—just a dad and his son having a moment.

We talked about the good friends he made and how he might keep the relationships going even though they would now be hundreds of miles apart. We discussed his choice to attend that university and why it was a good one. We discussed what he learned from school, both socially and academically. And of course we talked about the fun he had: life in the dorms, going to football games, and weekend trips. 

How Teaching is Like Doing Laundry

by Erin
Klug

The other day I had a moment of satisfaction when the laundry was finished. It had taken my family an entire week to wash, dry, fold, and put away clothes in dressers. Yet just as the laundry was supposedly finished, I was reminded of more dirty clothes, bulging from the hamper, awaiting the washing machine.

Truly, I’ll never be done with laundry—like so many things in teaching.

Ending The Year with a Growth Mindset

 

by Anne Ericson

Every now and then, a word starts popping up everywhere. Mindset is that word for me these days. Mindset was the main topic of a lively discussion in my neighborhood book club. Mindset is the focus of my school book-study group, dinnertime conversations, and countless faculty lunchroom discussions, and readers of my previous blog indicated that the topic was on their minds. So why do mindsets resonate with so many people both in and out of schools right now? Maybe it’s because many of us struggle with maintaining a growth mindset, whether we’re parenting, teaching, or interacting with colleagues. Maybe it’s because as educators or parents we inherently want to believe in the space of possibility for the growth of our kids. Maybe it’s because the end of the school year can be exhausting, and we find that maintaining that space of possibility for growth is getting harder. How do we keep our minds focused on growth in our students and ourselves when we get tired or discouraged?

As I near the end of another school year, I find myself reflecting on the kids at my school. I think about students such as Aaron who blurts, Seth who shuts down, and Tasha who wanders and distracts. I find myself slipping into a fixed mindset with these students and thinking, “It’s May and that kid will never . . .” or “I can’t believe she’s still . . .” But then I think about the actual, if unsteady, growth they have had this year.
Aaron raises his hand more often. Seth grabs his lab materials and gets started on the latest experiment. Tasha stays focused and engaged for the whole class period. These things are happening, and that means my students are growing! Growth mindset doesn’t tell us that our students will be perfect. What growth mindset tells us is that they are learning and improving. It’s so important to remember growth when Aaron blurts again—he’s not perfect, but this time he caught himself and quickly raised his hand. A colleague shared a note a student gave her that said, “Even though we’ve had our ups and downs, you’re always there for me and never give up on me.” This boy felt the impact of his teacher believing in him and pushing him, an affirmation of a growth mindset and its positive consequences.

Just like our students, teachers aren’t perfect either. We can slip back into fixed mindsets, especially at the end of the year when we’re tired, our students’ standardized test scores aren’t what we had hoped, or we’re feeling overwhelmed. However, now is the time we need to dig deep and look at the good things happening in our schools.

We might think about some of the following: What changes have we seen that tell us our students are ready to move to the next grade? What classroom routines that we had to lead in September are now led by students? Let’s take a minute to talk with a colleague about changes we’ve seen in our students. Let’s jot down a few positive changes we’ve seen in our most challenging students this year. Let’s make sure our students know that we’ve noticed those changes and that we see their growth—it might encourage faith in their own growth mindsets.

And, as we investigate our students, let’s take a minute to look at our own growth this year. What are we better at now than we were in September? Let’s find a buddy teacher and share how we’ve seen each other grow this year. Take a minute to praise each other and ourselves for all our hard work and effort.

Please share some of your ideas on how you keep yourself focused on growth mindset in these final weeks of the school year. And for another time, let’s think about some of our most challenging students and how “our village” works for them as they struggle from one year to the next.

If you enjoyed this reading you should check out
"Wrap Activities Sprout Surprises" by Scott Tyink

 Additional Resource; Mindset Works

 

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About Ann Larson Ericson 
For more than nine years, I've been using the Developmental Designs approach in my school. I am currently the 7–12 Instructional Coach at Community of Peace Academy, a public charter school on the east side of St. Paul, Minnesota.  Before starting my new position, I taught high school chemistry and physical science at Community of Peace Academy. Since 2011 I've spent my summers as a Developmental Designs facilitator of professional development. Previously, I've taught science at urban and suburban schools, served as a director of gifted and talented education in a rural Wisconsin school district, and taught English in Shanghai, China. I hold a Bachelor of Arts from St. Olaf College and a Master of Arts from St. Catherine University. Contact me at [email protected]

Wrap-up Activities Sprout Surprises

By Scott Tyink

Spring is a conundrum. As gardeners and farmers prepare for a new growing season, teachers plan how to wrap up their growing season.