In “The Perils of Growth Mindset Education”, Alfie Kohn is exploiting what he believes to be the errors in Carol Dweck’s research. He believes that Carol Dwecks research was too general, “The problem with sweeping, generic claims about the power of attitudes or beliefs isn’t just a risk of overstating the benefits but also a tendency to divert attention from the nature of the tasks themselves”. This also ties into his belief that the problem today does not live within the children, the problem is due to a flaw in what/how the children are being taught, “An awful lot of schooling still consists of making kids cram forgettable facts into short-term memory.” In “Teachers, Parents Often Misuse Growth Mindset Research”, Carol Dweck defends her theory against those who believe growth mindset fails but are actually using it the wrong way. "As the growth mindset has become more popular and taken hold, we are beginning to find that there are pitfalls," said Dweck. "Many educators misunderstand or misapply the concepts." She goes on to explain the concepts of a growth mindset further. Dweck denies generalizations such as praising effort alone, “Praising effort alone, she says, is useless when the child is getting everything wrong and not making progress.”, telling kids to try harder, “Effort, Dweck says, is only one route for a student to make learning improvements. If a student doesn't have strategies for solving a problem, or the necessarily skills, or the steps for completing an assignment at his fingertips, all the effort in the world might not help.”, and repeating mindset jargon, “Dweck cited a recent Stanford Ph.D. thesis by Kathy Liu Sun, now a professor at Santa Clara University, which found that students continued to have fixed-mindset thoughts in math class when their teachers mouthed growth mindset phrases but didn't change their teaching practices.”
After reading these articles, I understand the differences. One with a growth mindset believes they can become smarter and wants to learn. Students with fixed mindsets believe that if they don’t understand something, it is because they are not smart enough and they never will be. A student with a growth mindset sees a challenge as a goal to reach. A student with a fixed mindset will come upon the same challenge and see it as a monster. Students with fixed mindsets tend to run from challenges and accept failure. Accepting failure was never something I was good at. Failure was the devil on my back. Not feeling like you are good enough is one of the worst feelings in the world and I am not a stranger to this feeling. I love my parents and my parents love me. My parents are great people but they tend to put pressure on me and my brother. A lot is expected of me for someone my age. I go to school full time and I work two jobs. If I have free time, my parents think it’s because I don’t have enough to do to keep myself busy. When you strive to make people proud, I think you get confused on whether you are doing it for yourself or for someone else. I believe having a growth mindset means not only wanting to make those above you proud, but wanting to make yourself proud also. I consider myself to have a growth mindset 100%. I was not always like this and it took time to get to where I am today. In elementary school, I was top of my class. I excelled mainly in reading and was always two levels ahead of the rest of my class. Though I was an amazing reader, my skills in math were not where they should have been. I was praised for reading and I was told that I could do just as well in math if I just tried as hard as I did with reading. The flaw with this statement, that I had heard 1,000 times, was that reading came easy to me and math did not. I did not have to work hard to excel in reading so if I applied the same amount of effort to both areas, obviously I would not do well. I struggled all throughout middle school to the point where the area I had exceled in, reading and spelling, was also starting to deteriorate. I didn’t know why I couldn’t memorize my times tables and I didn’t know why I couldn’t finish long division problems in two minutes like everyone else. For the first time, I was faced with something that didn’t come easy to me. Because I had been raised thinking that I was smart because I could read well, I now thought I was dumb because I could not do math well. My grades suffered all throughout middle school and six months of the ninth grade. Six months of people telling me that I was just lazy and that I just wanted negative attention. At my physical, my doctor talked to me about my classroom experience and why I wasn’t doing well. I took a few screen tests, got notes from my teachers explaining my situation, and within a few months I was diagnosed with ADHD. All of the sudden, I wasn’t “lazy”. Now, to my teachers, I was just “different”. My doctor prescribed me with a medication called Vyvanse. When I started taking Vyvanse, my world changed. I was motivated and I was happy to do well. I attacked challenges head on and enjoyed creating goals for myself. Throughout high school and my college experience, ive stayed on Vyvanse and I still believe that I have a growth mindset. I have outgrown the corrupt belief, posed upon me by my middle school/high school teachers, that I cannot perform as well as others just because of my disorder. Halfway through my freshman year and I work two jobs, bought my own car, and have recently been invited to join DCCC’s honors society. I just have one question for my teachers who knew me when I was “lazy”: Still think I’m lazy?
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…I felt bad just a second later, realizing that what I said might have been harsh.
“I’m sorry” I said, “I know your trying and I know this isn’t easy.” “No you don’t.” He answered sharply. He rolled his eyes and slumped into his chair. He sighed. I knew at that point nothing could be the same. Nothing had been the same since I told my parents he needed help. Our relationship took a hit when he started taking money from me to buy alcohol and coming home drunk at 4pm. A part of me just feels bad and another part of me wants to tell him to man up and deal with it… SCENE 1 I scaled the multiple groups of college runners hoping to spot him as the announcer called for his event. I recognized his curly hair in the sea of competitors as he made his way to the starting point. The boys lined up next to one another as the red sea of college kids began to part, revealing the track. One by one they got in starting position, each of them taking one last glance at their supporters before attempting to reach their personal goal. I waved, hoping he would spot me. Eventually, his hazel eyes met mine. He had always been more of the suffer-in-silence type, but underneath his male genetics that forced him to bury anything that could come off as weak, I sensed his bubbling anxiety. Years of living with, arguing with, and relying on him allowed me to read him like a book. I noticed the same gloomy aura that plagued his being whenever my parents fought. I had spent years feeling as if there was a parachute tied to my back every time I tried to escape. He’d always helped me shake it off. He would always say “no matter what happens, everything will be okay”. He constantly found ways to keep me afloat, even when he was drowning. Today, his parachute was the fear of losing everything he had worked toward. I kept my eyes locked to his as the announcer raised the gun to the sky. Moments before he pulled the trigger signaling the boys to run, I mouthed “no matter what happens, everything will be ok”. The corners of his mouth lifted as he turned his head and stared straight. His face became tense and I could tell he was motivated to win. I held my ears as the announcer pulled the trigger. The outcomes of distance races are hard to forecast because there’s so much time for change. After about 10 minutes, I saw a uniform in the distance about to claim first. I squinted my eyes trying to make out who it was. Suddenly, I noticed the same hazel eyes that had been fearing loss just a few minutes before. He smiled as his stride picked up and he began to sprint to assure his victory. Oh no. I realized there was someone right behind him that he did not see. I screamed “RIGHT BEHIND YOU COLLIN! RUN!!!” His grin faded as he turned his head and saw the boy shortly behind him in pursuit of the same thing. He picked up his speed. I was amazed by how much his endurance had grown. He crossed the finish line a few seconds before the other boy. When his foot went over the line, I felt a wave of pride spill over me. The happiness I felt watching him succeed was unlike anything I had felt before. I watched as he walked away to converse with teammates and his coaches. It stung a little that he had overlooked my presence. If I had known this was only a preview of the future, I would have cherished the moment more. SCENE 2 “So how are you? How is it here?” I asked him. I leaned back against the uncomfortable chair in the lobby. The lights were low. The floor was covered with a brown rug. The secretary sat at the desk and looked over every few minutes. “It’s good. I’m fine” I saw his eyes which were always the window to his emotions. He looked down and avoided eye contact. He looked tired and his eyelids were hanging lower than usual. I rested my hand on his shoulder. He slowly looked into my eyes and for the first time, I wasn’t the one with the parachute holding me back. It was my turn to help him escape. “Don’t feel ashamed. Don’t feel embarrassed. It’s just me… I thought your ugly ass would be a little happier to see me.” I tried to poke fun with him but my attempts were clearly failing. He chuckled, obviously faking it. I saw his A.A. notebook peering out from behind his pocket. “Did you meet anyone new in here?” I asked with a hopeful tone. “Bunch of addicts.” He shrugged off my attempt to make positive conversation. “You aren’t allowed to judge them.” I told him. I felt bad just a second later, realizing that what I said might have been harsh. “I’m sorry” I said, “I know your trying and I know this isn’t easy.” “No you don’t.” He answered sharply. He rolled his eyes and slumped into his chair. He sighed. I knew at that point nothing could be the same. Nothing had been the same since I told my parents he needed help. Our relationship took a hit when he started taking money from me to buy alcohol and coming home drunk at 4pm. A part of me just feels bad and another part of me wants to tell him to man up and deal with it. “How’s the kids?” He asked me. I felt hopeful that our conversation would turn around. “Mia and Brady are good. They’re getting so big it’s crazy. Riley is good too. She’s taking the divorce well I think… every time I try to talk to her about it she tells me that she’s happy. She says they don’t fight now that they aren’t together.” He nodded slowly and thought for a second. “Mom?” I sighed. “Still having a midlife crisis. Riley has become my responsibility whenever I’m there. I think she’s lonely” He looked at me and agreed. “You gotta be there for her.” He told me. For a moment I thought he’d returned to his original role. The big brother role that gave me advice and let me vent to him. “I’m trying. I also have school and work.” He rolled his eyes. “Doesn’t matter. Family first. Always.” His hands fidgeted. He pulled his 1 week sober A.A. chip out of his pocket and began playing with it. I held out my hand hoping he’d let me see it. He looked at me and hesitantly placed it in my hand. I could tell he took pride in it and valued it greatly. “This is just the first step. You’ll have a lot more of these pretty soon.” He took it back and shoved it in his pocket. He doesn’t like receiving praise for things. He’s hated attention for as long as I remember. In middle school our principal, Mr. Tracy, used to announce all the birthdays over the loudspeaker. Every year on April 21st, Collin would go in early just so that he could remind Mr. Tracy to skip his name. “I gotta get back for a meeting in five.” He told me. I stood up and hugged him. He had been cold and distant all night but when he hugged me, I could tell he needed it. I watched him walk through the door into the meeting room. I walked over to the desk to sign out and peered in the room. I saw him sitting in a chair in a circle with other addicts. His parachute was dragging him back. It was my turn to help him run. Living in a world where it's considered a bad thing to fall in love, i'm not sure I even know what love is. I guess love is what we call it when you simply can not do without someone. I don't know if I have ever been in love. I think it's easier to love when you know the other person loves you back. I think we tend to settle as humans. I think we tend to do what is easy. I don't believe that every single person in the world has only one person in the world that they could end up with. I believe that every single person in the world could end up falling in love and marrying a million different people based off where, when, and who. I believe that I might have already met the man i'm going to marry in the future. I don't, however, believe it is only one person. I have probably met many people that, depending on circumstance and timing, I could end up marrying in the future. I think love has a lot to do with convenience. When you are a 19 year old college student with two jobs, it's kind of difficult to meet someone and think about having a relationship with them when you don't have time for a relationship with them. Think about it. Think about someone you met in the past or maybe even recently. This person must be someone that you had feelings for. Someone that you, at one point or another, needed in your life to be happy. Now think about how and why it ended. Did someone want more than the other person? Did someone mess up and kiss someone else? Did someone meet someone else and end up with that person? Those situations and the reason that relationship ended was all due to circumstance and timing. Now imagine meeting that same person at your workplace at the age of 25 with a career and your own apartment. Do you see things going differently?
19 is quite an age. We are all so eager to party and do the things we aren't supposed to. We laugh at our mistakes and regret the things we do when we drink and fuck up. But it's all part of college, right? Dating around and being free is the thing nowadays, right? But at 25, our desires may not be the same. We all won't find drinking as exciting after we turn 21 because the intriguing factor will be gone. The fact that we aren't allowed to drink makes it seem that much more fun. Partying and chatting up the people we find attractive are things we live for at this age. At 25 and 30 who knows what we will live for? I'm sure we won't be living for the same things we are now. Someone you've known your entire life might take an interest in you in ten years. Why? Timing and circumstance. I'm not sure if I believe in fate or destiny. I think I believe in coincidence. I believe in accidents and I believe that you create your own plan. I think we all have a time and place where we will grow up and realize we don't want to be immature anymore. I believe we all hit a point where we end up wanting to be with one person. I think it has nothing to do with that person though. It has everything to do with the timing. I experienced this firsthand with my recent ex-boyfriend. We dated for two years. When you lose someone you go through your head trying to pinpoint the exact moment you lost them. We both made mistakes but the mistakes we made had everything to do with the situations we were in. We were both in situations where we didn't have much time for each other. I think things would have gone very differently for us if we had met after we both graduated from college. I think things might have gone smoother if I had met him in the future. I believe that I could have married this man if I had only met him 10 years later when we are both mature and stable. Love isn't enough when it comes to terms with circumstance. Circumstance can be a cruel bitch when it comes to love. It's easier to love someone when it is convenient. Love doesn't have anything to do with love. Love has everything to do with doing what us humans do best and taking the easiest option Three things I can't leave the house without are my phone, my sunglasses, and my keys.
I can't leave the house without my phone. My phone is my life. I would feel lost if I left my phone at my house. I left my phone in my car during an 8am last semester and I felt naked. Not having something to look down at when your passing people in the hall that you don't want to talk to is more stressful than I had imagined. My phone keeps me connected to everyone I know and I honestly don't know how I would live without it. I always like to have my sunglasses on me. I think everyone looks better with sunglasses. Other than being a staple fashion accessory, I need my sunglasses when I drive and it's sunny. My sun visor doesn't do anything because i'm not tall enough to reach it. Holding your hand up right where the sun hits your face the entire time your driving is very frustrating. Well, the keys are kind of self explanatory. I always lock the door when I leave my house no matter what time it is or who is there. Not to mention I need my keys to drive my car. I also need my keys to get back in my house. No matter where i'm going or if i'm driving I always bring my keys. open your door
let me in im feeling unsure i dont know what it is i know your here i cant possibly avoid the innocent boy life has scarred and destroyed you arent the same and neither am i your breath says your okay but your eyes never lie disaster is coming it knocks on my door but so do you when your drunk and bored im overthinking and i know its true but who you really are is not how i see you i know you are selfish and i know im a fool i was just thinking i could be something that you might be scared to lose i cant find your fears they exist too deep within a part of you that i just can't reach the bottle wont hold me cant make me forget but his eyes look more like yours with every ounce i get i'll tell you the truth i've loved you since fall but i'll wake in the morning and blame alcohol i've heard the rumors i cant see her face she diminished my belief that i couldn't be replaced but still i'm here pathetic as can be offering you love you just want to be free so open your door let me in i'm feeling unsure i dont know what this is In this blog post I will be analyzing Francis Mallmann's Chef's Table for similarities it has in comparison to our assignments and themes.
Gillian Wainwright
ENG 100 Assignment #3: Film-Based Assignment Due: Draft #1 posted to blog by 11:59 pm on 3/23 A Nation Paralyzed by Fear The Sixth Sense is M. Night Shyamalan’s chilling story of a young boy named Cole Sear, his mother Lynn Sear, and his psychologist Dr. Malcom Crowe. Cole, realizing that Dr. Malcom is close to giving up on him, tells him his secret: he can see dead people. Cole tells Dr. Malcom that the ghosts come to him to scare and hurt him. Dr. Malcom helps Cole to take a closer look and confront his fear. Cole soon realizes that the ghosts do not want to hurt him, but they just want help. Cole’s paralyzing fear and misconception of the ghosts is a clear representation of global ignorance in today’s society. Cole represents the general fear and mistrust of the unknown that is so strong that it prevents us from taking a closer look. The only difference between Cole and all of us is that we are not afraid of dead people, we are afraid of the living. Since the beginning of time, our nation has overflowed with bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. There are many instances within our history where common ignorance has led us to make sweeping generalizations and take unnecessary actions. A more recent example of this is Trump’s executive order on immigration, more commonly known as the Muslim ban. The Muslim ban, put into action January 27th, 2017, called for a complete shutdown of all citizens from 7 countries in the middle east, with most of their population being Muslim, from entering the United States. I believe this instance holds a striking resemblance to the way Cole felt about the ghosts in the beginning of the movie. Cole refusing to take a closer look within the ghosts represents how our country refused to take a closer look due to their ignorance. Up until Cole started facing the ghosts and asking them what they wanted, he was taking the easy way out and letting himself believe that all the ghosts wanted was to hurt him. We, as individuals, have all made assumptions about people before we have even met them. We are taught not to judge a book by its cover, yet we are taught stereotypes from the day we are born. Disney movies, thought they have good intentions, showcase all ugly people as bad and all beautiful people as good. We are all constantly trying to identify who is “good” and who is “bad.” This stays with us our entire lives and even if we don’t realize it, we all judge people based off their appearance before we have spoken a word to them. Our country’s people have a common belief that, because there are some Muslims that have had villainous qualities, all Muslims are villains. Just as Cole generalized all of the ghosts based off the one ghost that attacked him in the closet, we have generalized and entire culture due to our fear and ignorance. Though Muslims and ghosts are very different things, the ways we tend to treat the two are shockingly alike. In a study done by Nielsen Entertainment, more than half of Americans said they’d seen a ghost in their life which is 50%. The population of U.S.A in 2015 (most recent count) was a little over 321 million. Worldwide, about 3,503 American have passed on due to terrorism. Keep in mind that this number is not specific to what religion the terrorist was, where they came from, or where the attack took place. I did the math and found that is 0.0010913% of all Americans. You are more likely to die from furniture falling from a window and crushing you than you are to be killed by a terrorist. Do we walk around with helmets on our heads constantly looking up to make sure no furniture is falling from the sky? No. Did President Trump pass a law that prevents moving companies from transporting things off the ground? No. So why does it make sense that we banned an entire group of people to prevent terrorism that rarely takes place? It is clear to me, and I hope it is clear to you, that our nation cannot move forward and coexist properly with the rest of the world. This will not happen until we abolish our ignorance and try to learn more about what we don’t know rather than be scared of it. Cole is one little boy that faced his fear. We are a nation of people that promotes strength, yet we have spent our entire existence running from what we do not know. The sooner we start facing our ghosts, as Cole faced his, the sooner we will live in a peaceful world. When this project fell at my feet, I was indifferent on what movie to choose. I typically enjoy horror movies. I’m not sure why but psychological thrillers have always interested me. I sat for a while and thought about the best scary movie I had ever seen but I couldn’t choose! Halloween is a classic (that piano track will scare the pants off me forever), Sinister is gut wrenching and the plot twist is incredible, and Silence of the Lambs will have me on the edge of my seat no matter how many times I watch it. Although all of these are great movies, I still could not pinpoint my favorite. It didn’t dawn on me until I had a conversation with a fellow scary movie buff at my dinner table. My dad, just like me, is obsessed with scary movies. My boyfriend wont watch them with me and his wife wont watch them with him so we watch them together. He was talking about all the movies that were around when I was a baby and then, it came to me. My favorite horror movie was definitely The Sixth Sense.
In this gripping thriller, Dr. Malcom (Bruce Willis) is a middle aged psychologist treating an 11 year old boy named Cole. Cole has been having hallucinative episodes ever since he was a young boy. As Dr. Malcom and Cole find new ways to cope with Cole’s “hallucinations”, Dr. Malcom learns a terrifying secret about Cole’s condition. Though this secret has to do with Cole, it exposes Dr. Malcom to something significant about his own life, or lack thereof. Possible writing assignment: Though The Sixth Sense has multiple scenes foreshadowing the plot twist, you might miss them the first time you watch it. Watch the movie a second time over and look for these clues that lead us to the plot twist. After watching the movie and seeing all the foreshadowing, reflect on it. Identify the three most important foreshadowing moments in the film leading up to the plot twist. Explain how you think each of these moments contribute to the plot twist and why. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG9AGf66tXM
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