My Mind is like a Cactus.

Hello, it's me again. Today we are talking about minds and their mindsets and how my mind is kind of like a cactus.

Growth Mindset v. Fixed Mindset

A "Growth Mindset" is a way of thinking that promotes learning and trying new things. People with a growth mindset know that people's minds and capabilities are constantly changing, as well as their learning skills.

A "Fixed Mindset" is a way of thinking that does not change and does not promote learning. People with a fixed mindset believe that one's learning capabilities are set in stone and cannot develop or grow.

My Mindset is like a cactus. A cactus needs little water and still manages to grow throughout periods of drought. I love to learn, and even when I go through periods of creative block or have trouble with my studies, I still never lose my curiosity or willingness to learn. Sometimes I go through drought, periods of time lacking creativity, inspiration, and motivation, and often filled with self doubt. These droughts are a common occurrence in my math class. 

For example, in class when we had an arithmetic related puzzle to solve, I froze. I sat staring at 7 toothpicks filled with self doubt. My behaviour and self talk in that moment closely resembled that of somebody with a fixed mindset. However, I didn't believe that I could not solve the puzzle or that I could not learn to be successful at arithmetic problems in the future. Instead, I was eager to find out the answer and discover how the puzzle could be solved so that I could put that information to use when I am in similar situations in the future. With the linguistic puzzle, instead of freeze, I really started to think. I only solved one of the riddles, but I was eager to find out the rest of the answers and  fascinated by the puzzles. My mind is like a cactus because I maintained the mindset of wanting to grow my learning skills, instead of believing that my learning skills would never develop past what they are today.

Ways to promote healthy cactus growth:

Maintaining a growth mindset in the classroom is important, I would even argue necessary, for the development of the learning skills as well as social skills of students.

1. It's okay to forget to water your cactus. They don't need that much water anyway.
      -It's normal to make mistakes, you can learn a lot from them. Cherish the lesson you learned, it might be of a lot of help later down the road.

2. Don't throw your cactus away if you forget to water it.
      -Don't let a mistake stop you from pursuing your goal. Keep going, don't give up on yourself for not being perfect.

3. Droughts will come, don't let them stop you.
       -You will go through periods of time where it seems like all inspiration has dried up. Don't fret. Inspiration will come, wait this through and the rain will be here soon.

3. Just because your cactus looks the same does not mean it has stopped growing.
       -Try not to get discouraged when it takes you longer than expected to master a new skill or complete a project. Your learning skills are not fixed, they develop and grow every day. You will get there.