I make so many mistakes. For real. Sitting in a meeting, with nothing in front of me to write on or with. Why? Sometimes I can be ON IT, and other times, good luck getting anything intelligible to come out of my mouth. I forget copies for people, forget to send things to parents, fill in the wrong form, be late ANYWHERE. I hate making mistakes. I feel miserable like I've failed myself or someone else terribly. BUT I have to work on this in myself so I can teach my students that it's ok to make mistakes. It really is. I've learned positive self-talk, and what happens in my brain when I send it those positive messages. I try to keep a growth mindset in myself because how can I teach growth mindset if I don't have it. Today, I taught growth mindset. It's amazing to watch the kids open up about how they talk to themselves, and how they feel during the school day. I'm glad I can take that time with them. I showed them how the neurons and synapses in their brains
This school year I have been feeling a build up of ideas and thoughts on education. What used to be hesitant questioning is morphing into ideas that could actually benefit my students. Let's start with standards. Someone came up with these teaching standards, albeit well-intention, intelligent someones, and I see so many students fail to meet these standards. As a special education teacher working in inclusion I see the gaps in students that don't have an IEP. Some aren't even in RTI, and yet they are not grasping the information that is set before them. To be fair, there are a group of students that truly "get it". The difference between the groups- interest, and motivation. Another thing I've noticed is that students aren't intrinsically motivated to exceed in school. I believe this stems from a lack of that feeling of success that drives many of us. That feeling of accomplishment, knowing you work hard for something is addictive once achieved. Are we