Educational Psychology Blog- Julia Bordelon

     Chapter 10 in The Growth Mindset Playbook is titled Moonshot and is all about how students should "reach for the Moon." This chapter talks all about Moonshot Thinking, which is essentially thinking of things that seem impossible with the technology accessible at the time but will not remain impossible. Many examples of Moonshot Thinking are given, such as John F. Kennedy's original proposal to get a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. The initial idea seemed impossible, but before the end of the decade, "In July of 1969, just six months before time ran out on President Kennedy's promise, Astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man who walked on the moon" (Page 141). Other examples given are the first flight by the Wright Brothers, the first time Mount Everest was climbed to the top, and Amazon's first delivery in the year 2000. All of these examples seemed to be impossible when initially thought of, but with great determination and technol...

     Chapter 9, "Increasing Engagement" in The Growth Mindset Playbook talks about how to, as the title says, increase engagement in the classroom. In order to increase classroom engagement amongst students, one must be passionate about what they are teaching, they must allow for individuality amongst the students and their work, and they have to have a good mixture of fun and foundation. In a classroom that just involves PowerPoints, notetaking, and class lectures, it often doesn't foster engagement within the students. A classroom that involves a variety of learning styles and where the teacher is passionate about what they are teaching, as well as one that encourages creativity, are the classrooms in which students are the most engaged in. Page 125 exclaims "The most effective teachers were not the ones who taught the most content, but rather the ones who helped students acquire the mindset of someone in the discipline." As this chapter explains, it isn'...