EDUU 9870: Teaching Life’s Essentials-Growth Mindset

Course Introduction

Isn’t it true that great teachers are born not made? We say “not at all”. With the guidance of the courses in this series, you can take your teaching to a new level; one that brings the highest degree of satisfaction to yourself and your students. Great teachers are remembered not for the knowledge they impart but for the way they encourage and lift their students’ achievement, not just in a subject, but in the important skills of living a fulfilling life. These skills of happiness, of inspiration, compassion, curiosity and resilience are essential for both the learner and the teacher.

This course will bring research to inform along with techniques and activities to imbue your delivery of required curriculum with the essence of greatness-both yours and your students’.

Through website resources and course assignments the teacher will become aware of how a fixed mindset hinders the growth of many students and how a growth mindset can aid students in acquiring the skill of perseverance.

Course Objectives

In this course participants will have an opportunity to:

1. Read and study given website resources.
2. Understand how praise can be a step toward a fixed mindset.
3. Strive to develop a growth mindset classroom that will influence the student’s learning habits.
4. Become aware of the influence of Carol Dweck upon educational thinking.
5. Communicate with other class participants about the importance of compassion.

Course Relation to Professional Standards

This course aligns to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

1. TEACHERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MANAGING AND MONITORING STUDENT LEARNING.
   1. Teachers Call on Multiple Methods to Meet Their Instructional Goals
   2. Teachers Value Student Engagement
   3. Teachers Engage Students in the Learning Process
2. TEACHERS ARE MEMBERS OF LEARNING COMMUNITIES
   1. Teachers Use Feedback and Research to Improve Their Practice and Positively Impact Student Learning

This course aligns with National Student Standards
NL-Eng-K12.1 READING FOR PERSPECTIVE

• Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, themselves, and of the cultures of the US and the world…

NL-ENG-K12.2 UNDERSTANDING THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE

• Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g. philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of the human experience.