Yet…It’s one of my favorite words this school year. As the years go on with teaching, I have noticed a lot has changed in the students I now teach, from the students I used to teach. Being a swim teacher many students fear my class. It’s the fear of the unknown or too hard, I can’t succeed or I don’t know how to swim. So I have tried to adopt the growth mindset way of teaching this year. Some of my other coworkers have talked about it and so I have been giving it a try with certain students who seem to definitely have a fixed mindset.
I recently had a student get in the pool and he tried to argue with me that he couldn't do the stroke I was asking them to perform. He kept not listening to my instruction and then would get angry when he did it incorrectly or had to stop because he was so tired. Finally, he got to the wall and said “I can’t do this. This is so stupid!” His anger started to transfer to me, which made me angry. I told him I never wanted to hear him say that again. I took a deep breath (this being my last class that day and the end of the week) and we talked about how the way we think can help us succeed or stand in the way of our success. I told him I wanted him to try the stroke again but this time focus on one part of the stroke (the part he struggled with the most which was slapping the water with his hands) and let the rest just flow and whatever happens, happens. His stroke didn't change all that much on the next lap but he fixed his hands a little and he got across the pool. When he got to the wall he had shown clear effort throughout the entire lap so I jumped up and down and cheered him on and said: “that is all I was looking for, effort”. I told him I understood he couldn't do something right away. It’s like learning how to walk or do a math problem for the first time, it takes time and effort but if we break down the stroke and take it step by step he would feel more confident in his abilities by the end of the course. The next day he came in with a whole new attitude and I sometimes catch him talking to other students trying to help them out as well.
I believe we all have moments in our lives where we wish we could look at a situation with a growth mindset but for some reason our brain only allows us to look at it with a fixed mindset. I’m sure it stems from the way we grew up and how we were taught but it’s something we need to be more mindful of and improve upon. If we could look at day to day situations with a growth mindset, maybe we would have fewer kids with anxiety and fewer people in general with mental health issues. I think a lot of the stress and anxiety people have throughout a day comes from not being able to take feedback, being challenged and worrying about failing or even not being able to accept failures as fertilizer for success. I believe if we could change this mindset for people, starting with ourselves and then our students, it would not only change the way we learn but also allow ourselves to live a less anxious and stressful life.
Comentários