Making Space For a Growth Mindset

Written By Colēgia

Part of the academic journey involves knowing what elements to keep and which ones to tweak in order to help you. This can be difficult as change can be overwhelming at times. One way we can help with this is by changing our mindset. Today we want to talk about making space for a growth mindset.

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Recognize That We Can't Remember Everything

One common pitfall that students can fall into is that they may feel expected to remember everything that they encounter. This can set an unhealthy standard as we may find our minds overloaded from all the information we learn on the daily. This isn't to say that we should not put in the effort into our material, but rather we should prioritize the elements that are more practical to the task at hand. Subtle cues such as a teacher saying “this will be on the test” can let you know for those moments where we need to pay extra attention. This can also be relevant to key events as well such as assignment due dates. Using a scheduler can help condense information in an accessible manner. Part of promoting a growth mindset involves recognizing that there are limits to how much we can memorize and there are methods to help with that.

“One common pitfall that students can fall into is that they may feel expected to remember everything that they encounter.”

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Reach For Opportunity

There are many times in a student’s education that opportunity is available for different things. This can include opportunities for scholarships, school events, or even friendships. Being able to grow involves taking chances on new things as they can not only be fun, but they can contribute to personal development. It's important to try out new things while we can since we have room to find what we enjoy. A good example of this would be trying out a club for something that sounds interesting. This can give you the chance to meet others along with finding new hobbies for things outside of school. Opportunities based around scholarships are good as they can help for future academic endeavors. Friendship based opportunities are great as they can help you meet like-minded individuals and also fostering communication skills.

“Being able to grow involves taking chances on new things as they can not only be fun, but they can contribute to personal development.”

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A Growth Mindset And Learning Are Interconnected

School is a means for us to see what we truly care about and learning is a key part of this. A growth mindset and learning are both connected in ways we may not be aware of. One reason behind this is that being able to grow involves accepting that there are things that are beyond our current knowledge. This can apply to harder types of math or science or even crucial themes within literature that we may not know at the time. Having an open mind when it comes to learning is good in that it makes you more receptive to concepts both in and outside of the classroom.

A growth mindset doesn't require a drastic shift in thinking, rather it incentivizes being flexible while also being practical. What works for one person may be different for you but this type of thinking can help show you that there are more things out there that are worth your time and energy.

Colēgia

Colēgia

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