Westcoast Teaching

"We like to think of our champions and idols as superheroes who were born different from us. We don't like to think of them as relatively ordinary people who made themselves extraordinary."  - Carol Dweck One of the many important lessons I start my year off with is providing students with the opportunity to learn about fixed and growth mindsets. The lesson introduces students to the research and ideas shared by psychologist Carol S. Dweck in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success . There are endless age appropriate resources and videos available online to help students understand how their brain learns.   My favourite resource to use to supplement our activities and discussions is created by Class Dojo. Students get to know a little monster named Mojo who struggles with learning challenging concepts in school. Mojo meets a friend, Katie, who encourages him to love challenges and remember that his brain is a muscle that is always getting stronger.

"In order for man to succeed in life, God provided him with two means, education and physical activity. Not separately, one for the soul and the other for the body, but for the two together. With these two means, man can attain perfection." - Plato A couple of years ago, I was creating a health project for my students and stumbled upon a TED talk and book by Dr. John J. Ratey. His TED talk, titled Run, Jump, Learn! How Exercise Can Transform Our Schools,  speaks about the importance of including physical activity in our classes not only for fitness, but also to "turn on our brains," as he puts it. As a teacher, I love anything that helps turn on the brains of students so that they are best able to learn.  After watching his TED talk and ordering and reading his book, I've now brought exercise to my classroom every day. My classes watch his TED talk and they are fully aware of why they are exercising and how it helps them. Below is a quotation from Dr. Ratey