Chapter 8 - Community Colaboration

Give us your thoughts on the discussion questions below.  Afterwards, add two comments that add additional insight to the responses of a colleague.

1. What are some core issues that may cause a student to be unavailable to learn?
2. After reading each of the three models for collaboration, explain why the models are effective.

Thank you for completing the fall book study!  I hope you were able to gain something from this book and the discussions generated that can help us to better serve our students and communities.  Have a great Christmas break!  :-)

Chapters 6 and 7 - Tracking Learning, Parent Relationships

Give us your thoughts on the discussion questions below.  Afterwards, add two comments that add additional insight to the responses of a colleague.

Chapter 6 - Tracking Learning

1. Review the Marzano chart on page 103. Identify which strategies you use frequently in class and which ones you should use more often.
2. Which of the six processes discussed in this chapter are being used most effectively in our building. What changes could help us to be more effective?

Chapter 7 - Parent Relationships

1. Why is it important to work closely with parents?
2. What is a strategy you would like to try this year to build stronger relationships with parents?

Chapter 5 - Teaching Behaviors

Give us your thoughts on the discussion questions below.  Afterwards, add two comments that add additional insight to the responses of a colleague.

1. Reflect on the voice you use most often in the classroom and your interactions with others.
2. Identify a situation in which you used the positive parent voice and a situation in which you used the negative parent voice. Describe the impact.
3. What are some ways to encourage appropriate responses to your interactions with students?

Chapter 3 and 4 - Formal Register, Abstract Concepts

Give us your thoughts on the discussion questions below.  Afterwards, add two comments that add additional insight to the responses of a colleague.

Chapter 3

1. Explain the importance of formal register and its impact on student achievement.

Chapter 4

1. Explain why mental models are imperative in helping students learn.
2. What are a couple of ways you can modify the way you teach to help students learn based on the information in this chapter.

Chapter 2 - Building Relationships

Give us your thoughts on the discussion questions below.  Afterwards, add two comments that add additional insight to the responses of a colleague.

1. Why are relationships so essential to learning?
2. What are some practical ways you work to build mutual respect with your students?
3. What are some ideas for how our school can strengthen relationships with students?

Chapter 1 - Assessing Resources

Chapter one discusses nine types of resources that impact our students.  Some students have all of these resources at their disposal while others are lacking in one or two of these.  Others may be lacking in several of these resources.  Give us your thoughts on the discussion questions below.  Afterwards, add two comments that add additional insight to the responses of a colleague.

1. Rank the nine resources based on which ones you feel are most important for success in school and work. Explain why.
2. Select one resource and describe the impact it has on school if it is missing; identify interventions that can be made to increase that resource.

Welcome to the 2017 Fall Book Study

Thank you for joining this year's fall book study and taking the time to invest in yourself -- and in the process investing in our students!  We will be discussing Ruby Payne's "Under-Resourced Learners."  In this book, she dives into how the socioeconomic status of our students impacts their learning at school.  Our awareness of this variable and how we work to address the needs of our students can have a huge impact on their success.

We will begin our book study the week of November 13th, completing one or two chapters each week and participating in an online discussion hosted on this website.  All discussions will take place by responding to the weekly prompt through the comments area at the bottom of that week's posting.  Each participant will respond to the prompt and add two unique and insightful comments to one of our peers responses.  All comments will be due at the end of each week on Sunday night.  Participants who complete all six weeks of discussion will receive a $125 book study stipend.

Thanks for your participation -- I hope you find some valuable takeaways from the book and the discussion it generates!

Week 8 - Changing Mindsets - March 27- April 2

A fixed mindset creates beliefs focused on judgment. A growth mindset creates beliefs focused on change. It is possible to help people/students replace the judging going on in their heads with a growth mindset in which they ask, “What can I learn from this? How can I improve?” Simply teaching about the mindsets helps people to shift their thinking about intelligence and talent. The brain does not have a fixed amount of intelligence. Instead, it is more like a muscle in that it changes and gets stronger when used. The more you challenge yourself, the more the brain grows. When students learn this they end up feeling empowered to know they can be in charge of the growth of their own brains.

Changing your mindset doesn’t occur by learning a few tricks, however. The goal is for students to change from a judge-and-be-judged framework to a learn-and-help-learn framework. Students benefit when adults model this mindset, make comments that reflect a growth mindset, and who reward student behavior that aligns with a growth mindset.

1. What steps can you take in your classroom to change the mindset of your students?

2. What are two important concepts or ideas you can take away from this book?

Week 7 - Parents, Teachers, Coaches - Mar 20-26

This chapter focuses on the people who impart, often inadvertently, a certain mindset to children and students. Every day teachers send messages to students about how to think of themselves. These can be growth-mindset messages: you are developing and I am interested in your growth. Or they can be fixed-mindset messages: your traits are permanent and I’m going to judge them. Of course no one sets out to do the latter. This is why it’s important to learn to distinguish between these two types of messages and purposefully help students develop growth mindsets. Praising ability or intelligence often harms motivation and performance because students become afraid of making mistakes or appearing less than smart. The best thing we can do is to teach students to love challenges, see mistakes as opportunities, and enjoy giving consistent effort.

1. Think of a specific instance where a student failed or was not successful learning what you were attempting to teach. What are 3 things you could have said to foster more of a growth mindset in that student to keep them from giving up. Use examples from the book to help.

2. Do you excuse your children’s failures so you won’t harm their self-esteem? Think of times you’ve done this, and then think about how you could use the occasion to teach them a growth mindset (and help them succeed!).

Week 6 - Mindsets in Love (or Not) - Mar 6-12

1. How do you handle criticism or perceived criticism? Are you able to hear it and be reflective or do you tend to become defensive and look for reasons why it’s not your fault?

2. What do you think criticism means? How could you handle it differently in the future?

3. What are some keys to working together with your colleagues and your students in a way that promotes growth and understanding for all?

Week 5 - Business and Leadership - Feb 27-Mar 5

Successful business leaders typically possess a growth mindset. Rather than trying to prove they are better than others, they focus on trying to improve. Leaders with a fixed mindset believe that some people are superior and others are inferior and their companies are a reflection of their own superiority.

1. Do you think leaders are born rather than made, as in “a born leader?” Why?

2. Break up business/educational leadership into its separate parts—knowledge of the organization, management skills, negotiation skills, planning for the future, and any others you can think of. Are each of these traits "learnable" or not? What does this tell you about becoming a better leader?

Week 4 - The Mindset of a Champion - Feb 20-26

1. How are teaching and coaching similar? How can mindsets of athletes and students affect their performance on the field and in the classroom?

2. Is there a sport or activity you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t because you believe you would not be successful? What is the activity and how could you start to learn it?

3. Does your joy in competition come from competing your hardest or from winning? Do you take losses really hard? Why? What do losses say about you, your ability, or your image of yourself?

Week 3 - The Truth about Ability and Accomplishment - Feb 13-19

1. Discuss people you know (names not needed) who are brilliant or talented but not necessarily successful. Compare this to people who are not so brilliant or talented but who are highly successful. What traits are the difference makers?

2. Have you ever trusted someone’s negative evaluation of your ability or talent? Think about it now. How did they judge your potential?

3. How can your mindset about your students affect how you teach?

*Join the discussion by providing your thoughts in the comments box below and adding feedback to the thoughts of two other participants.

Week 2 - Inside the Mindsets - Feb 6-12

1. Everyone is born a learner—that is, with a growth mindset. Babies push themselves to do incredibly challenging tasks like learning to walk and talk, and they don’t give up but plow ahead. So what changes when these same children later stop following their natural desire to learn?

2. How do schools sometimes encourage fixed mindsets? List school structures, practices, or labels that foster fixed mindsets then identify ways to shift thinking towards a growth mindset using those same structures or practices.

3. Pages 28-29 discussed a teacher’s reaction to having to judge a student based on one score. Consider the ways in which educators make decisions based on fixed thinking. How could we use the same information in a growth mindset?

*Join the discussion by providing your thoughts in the comments box below and adding feedback to the thoughts of two other participants.

Week 1 - "The Mindsets" - Jan. 30 - Feb. 5

1. As you read through Chapter 1 what -

a. Surprised you?
b. Made you feel uncomfortable?
c. Did you agree/disagree with?

2. Can you think of a time you faced an important opportunity or challenge with a fixed mindset? What were your thoughts and worries--about your abilities? about other people's judgments? about the possibility of failure? Describe them.

*Join the discussion by providing your thoughts in the comments box below and adding feedback to the thoughts of two other participants.

Welcome to the 2017 PHES Book Study!

Thank you for joining this year's book study and taking the time to invest in yourself -- and in the process investing in our students!  This year we are discussing Carol Dweck's book over the power of mindset. She dives into how a fixed or growth-mindset has a significant impact on a student's (or teacher's) ability to learn new skills and improve in various areas of our life.  Our awareness of this variable and how we cultivate our mindset can literally change the way we look at ourselves, our students, and the world.

We will begin our book study the week of January 30th, completing one chapter a week and participating in an online discussion hosted on this website.  All discussions will take place by responding to the weekly prompt through the comments area at the bottom of that week's posting.  Each participant will respond to the prompt and add two unique and insightful comments to one of our peers responses.  All comments will be due at the end of each week on Sunday night.

Below is a brief video with an overview of some of the ideas discussed in the book.