"Growth" vs. "Fixed" Mindset

During this week I watched the video podcast "Growth" vs. "Fixed" Minds by Stanford on iTunes U at Stanford University. This video discussed how many students believe their intelligence is a fixed amount. Other students believe that it can be developed and grow through learning and passion. Then there was a workshop developed to see the difference between teaching half the group study skills and the other half received both the study skills and the growth mindset lesson.

This workshop resulted in the students whom only received the study skills continued to decline. The students who received both the skills and the mindset lesson saw a significant rise in their grades. The growth mindset is very important because with out it, one cannot keep up with the world and how its changing. 

Another big reason one needs to have the growth mindset because without it one cannot possibly be a good mentor. I think it is important as educators to not only have this mindset, but also teach it to our students. This will aid in giving them a better education and a head start in life. Students need to be encouraged and know that if they work hard they will succeed. 

Video Podcasts

This week I watched video podcasts. First I watched two in the K-5 level. One was a science clip titled "Why doesn't the moon fall down?" and the next was also a science one titled "A Night in the Coral Reef". Both were very educational and were at the correct education level. I find these very helpful when teaching a subject. It used to be the teacher would find a video fast forward to the clip they wanted to show and then bring it to class. Now with much less hassle all one has to do is download the podcast.

The second two I watched were in the grades 9-12 category. They were also scientific and very informative and interesting.  Both "Galileo on the Moon" and "Frozen Frogs" caught my eye and I'm sure would do the same to a student in this age group. These podcasts are extremely useful and put things at the teachers fingertips allowing for more time for planning etc. I believe that podcasts will soon flourish in the educational community.

Educational Podcasts

The first podcast I listened to was the SmartBoard Lessons Podcast. In this podcast it has a man and a woman discussing a lesson used on the SmartBoard. By discussing the lesson they examine different utilities used by making this lesson. Another thing is they have listeners send in questions and comments to them. They answer the questions sent in and also discuss the different ways of doing things submitted by listeners.

The second podcast I listened to was Kidcast. This podcast helps teachers find new ideas to aid in using podcasts as a tool to learn. The teacher can use these ideas in the classroom as the students make their own podcasts about what they have learned. The podcast I listened to was about questions. Asking questions opens so many things up whether given by the teacher or by the student. Knowledge is found through asking questions so what better way to learn.

The third podcast I listened to was EdTechTalk. This one is great because it does not have a main topic, but rather a collective of multiple topics that pertain to the fields of education and technology. This podcast is enjoyable because it is a group of 4 people just having a conversation that happens to be all about education and technology tools in education. The Fourth podcast I listened to was MacBreak Weekly. This podcast was not as enjoyable as the others. It was slightly boring but did have a lot of information all about mac's and how to use them

The fifth podcast I found was This week in photography. It was actually a video podcast. They discuss the newest things in photography such as different lenses their new features and what they do as well as what they are used for. This podcast was very informational as well as entertaining by being a video. Lastly I listened to Spanishpod that can be accessed through itunes and Spanishpod.com It is a very effective and fun learning experience. They have different levels to meet anyones needs whether you're a newbie to Spanish or advanced and they even have video lessons. This was my favorite of all the podcasts. It kept my attention and taught in a fun non-boring way. I also found Chinesepod so I imagine if there is any language one would like to learn it is either out there or on its way!

EDM Podcasts

I listened to the "You Tube- For Education?" podcast by Joel Graham, Noelle Shipman, and Kimberly Kelly first. The first thing I noticed was a lot of um's used as airtime fillers. This makes me wanted to be very prepared with my notes for my podcast. Another thing that bothered me is when the voices sounded monotone and began to bore me.

I liked the second podcast I listened to was "My classes as South: How is technology used in them?" by Matthew Cline and Jill Revette. They had some pauses that seemed ill prepared not knowing where to go next. I think notes will be helpful in this area as well. The thing I liked about both podcasts was that they sounded like they were comfortable with each other, they did make it sound a little less scripted and a little conversational, thought at times it was easy to see they were struggling. I think practice and notes will be very helpful for me to do better on y podcast.

These podcasts can be accessed through itunes or by clicking here

Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

During Randy Pausch's Last Lecture he speaks a lot about achieving childhood dreams. He talks about the brick walls we run into and how they are to show us how much we really want something. They weed out the people who don't want it bad enough. I think this is important, it wouldn't be called an achievement if it was given away.

Another thing that he said in this video is to listen. Listen to your feedback and grow from it. Mentors are there to help guide you into the direction you want to travel. Feedback from others about how easy you are to work with is very important. If you are hard to work with no one is going to want to help you accomplish your goals. Having something to bring to the table is also very helpful thing on your path to your dreams.

One quote that I really enjoyed Pausch say was, "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted". I find this very encouraging. People are focused on the goals so much they for get about what happened to get them so far.

Throughout this video he talked about the "head fake" and how it is when people are learning something other than what they are thinking they are learning. This video itself was a head fake in that we weren't really learning how to achieve our childhood dreams but rather how to truly live your life to the fullest. This is an inspirational video that I think everyone should watch and grow from. Even when you're dream looks like the impossible, believe in it and push yourself to make it a reality.