Impact of the Growth Mindset

Universal Design in Learning (UDL) and Personalized Learning

I am currently a Digital Art & Animation and Video Game Design teacher. So our entire class time is on the computer. I live 8 hours a day with technology. There are definitely different pieces of technology that we can integrate or even rotate through our class that we don’t use on a daily basis. One of those pieces is Sphero balls. It’s a small ball that you can code, with either a cell phone or a Chromebook, and the ball will move in the direction you tell it. It is also capable of playing sounds and lighting up different types of images. The students love it and I would like to bring it back this year and do it with this group. Their engagement was amazing. Last year I had a group of boys that made my year miserable. It was my worst year. I had seriously thought about giving up teaching. Their lack of respect, lack of focus on class work, and attitude made me go home and cry after every class period with them. On top of that my husband went through a midlife crisis mentally and I became the sole provider for a few months until he was able to find coping skills with his anxiety. I would dread going to work on the days I had these boys. One day I introduced them to the sphero balls and everything changed. Their respect and attitude changed when they were able to learn something different than our normal routine.

I would consider myself a growth mindset person. I try to view things optimistically and attainable. While it might not happen instantly, with perseverance and resilience I will tackle any task….. Including obtaining my masters degree. I am the first person in my family to obtain my bachelors and now have the opportunity to obtain my masters. 

I wouldn’t say there has been one mindset that has set me back from achieving my goal. Financials was the big part and secondly having a surprise covid baby two years ago. We were told we would have to do fertility (and did to have our first), however after getting my covid shot, I became pregnant with Henry. When I asked the doctor he confirmed that was the only way I got pregnant since we had been trying for 5 years and it wasn’t until the shot that I was able to have a second baby. So between the two it was a lot to take on and trying to go to school, while teaching.

The resources I plan to use are the ones provided in our class material, the books we read, peer support, group messages, and internet research. It’s been 10 years since I have been in school so I’m feeling very rusty in regards to writing papers and answering questions.

The steps I will take to ensure I will not downplay the growth mindset with the easier-to-do 'false' growth mindset, is to be honest with myself. If I feel that I am not gaining a good understanding of the topic, then I will continue to research it or ask for help from classmates. Being honest, open, and true to oneself will help me differentiate between actually growing in my mindset vs not.

For this questions, what is most important - the what, the how, or the why when it comes to learning and pursuing life goals, I think they all three go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other. You need to break down “what” you want to pursue. Then you need to figure out how you will get there. What steps will you need to take, and then why will define approach. To pursue life goals means to make great things happen. One of my husbands goals was to pay off our mortgage. His how was to not take any vacations for a few years, and use the Dave Ramsey method. We paid off one car, rolled that payment to the other, then rolled both of those payments to the house. His why was because he did not want anymore debt then he needed. He wanted that sense of security of owning his own home. No matter what happened in the future, or how the economy went, he wanted to have security.

As far as education and learning goes, I am the first person in my family to graduate with a bachelors. Neither my parents, husband or my husband's parents graduated college. So my what is that I want to graduate with my masters. I would love to get my PH.D. but that’s too much school and money for me. The how is that my grandfather gave me enough money to pursue this goal and the why is that he takes great pride in education and one pursuing further in their college career. My personal why is that I want to open more doors for my future. I want to be able to move up in my position and leave the classroom and be able to help more students, the faculty and staff from a better position than where I currently sit.

What do UDL and personalized learning mean for the learner? To me, UDL is a teaching approach that makes education and learning readily available for every student. It allows students multiple ways to receive information, show their understanding of the content, and build interest and developments of the content at hand. It will also allow them to identify barriers and work to overcome them. When we target our teaching to include all learning types, we are able to reach the students potential and bridge gaps of understanding while allowing the student to take risks and grow their mindset.