3/25/14

quick write

If someone were to oppose my essay claim I would listen to what they have to say and with their key comebacks I will shut them down with my facts.

3/20/14

 Why do you think selective schools for "smart" kids is an important topic?

It is an important topic because it about our children's public education.

Intro

This is the intro to my blog http://midnight-godess.blogspot.com/ and this blog is for my English 8 class. This intro is extremely late because I put it in the "about me" section and then found out it was suppose to be a post and I have finally decided to do it today. So enough about why this is late let me introduce my self in a few bullet points :

• My name is Sophia 
• 16 years old
• Libra
• student attending Crotona Academy High School 
• Future executive chef
• Loving big sister 

3/18/14

Quick write:
Smart kids should go to specialized schools that are meant to make them smarter. Those schools are set up to push them to learn more without the negative slacking off students you get at a regular school.

3/14/14

Am I better today than yesterday?

Yesterday I missed school to get my braces fixed but I could've came in for about 2hrs but I didn't, today I am here and I am ready to learn so yes I am better today than I was yesterday. These last 2 days I've missed are really affecting my grade and after looking on Engrade I can see that I need to make up work and finish completing other work.

3/13/14

In your opinion should smart kids have their own classrooms or schools like Stuyvesant or Bronx Science? Why or why not?

I believe they should. Why? Because those students that are in those specialized schools tried their hardest in school, they deserve to go to a school where they aren't being distracted by foolishness, they don't deserve to go to a school where there are fights every day or the subjects being taught are too easy for them and they're cant reach their full potential. If I had tried my hardest in middle school I would've gone to Bronx science, that school is beautiful and full of intelligent people. Smart kids deserve to go to a school that pushes them to be smarter and if you can pass their expectations then you deserve to go.  

 My claim - Students should be able to attend specialized schools
counterclaim - Students not meeting the schools criteria and getting rejected. 

3/11/14

 Be honest. Do you really think changing your mindset can change your grades for the better? Why or why not?


I believe it can because when your mind is not limited to one kind of mind state "passing or failing" you are able to go above and beyond more.

Final Reflection. 

After listing to Carol Dweck's article on her study of mindsets I believe the findings in the experiment are credible. The study was to find out if the mindset connects with grades and the hypothesis was that the 7th grade students with a growth mindset will obtain higher grades than the students with the fixed mindsets. In order to find out which student's in the 7th grade had a growth or fixed mindset they were given a test to determine if they believe that they are born with a certain amount of intelligence or if intelligence is gained throughout learning. During the experiment the students with the growth mindset received higher grades while the students with a fixed mindset grades decreased. Based on their findings they decided to create two workshops for the students. One was to teach the students how to study better and the second was to teach the students that they are in charge of their own intellectual growth. The fixed mindsets students with decreasing grades started to receive higher grades after taking the workshops and motivating themselves to work harder. Overall this study showed that having a growth mindset can improve your grades.

Common Core Standards 5/7/14

Common Core Standards

• Reading for Information: Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
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• 4 = Fully understand the concept/skill
• I am able to determine two or more central ideas of a text, I can analyze how they develop throughout the text and how they build on one another and how they interact with each other. At the end of the text I am able to type up a summary and explain in detail the events that had taken place.  
• 
  
• Reading for Information: Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.
•  
• 4 = Fully understand the concept/skill
• Here I would give my self a 4 because I can do this in every story/article/text.  
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• Speaking and Listening: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a     clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.
•  
•  4 = Fully understand the concept/skill
•  When presenting information and supporting evidence to my topic or the task I give a full, clear and relatable presentation that give a full understanding that I know whats going on in the text and I am able to discuss it to the class. However in order to participate in certain discussions I have to listen to others to pick up on their ideas and topics which is where I also give my self a 4 in because I am full able to do that. 
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• Writing: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
• 4 = Fully understand the concept/skill
• After reading a text I am able to fully explain the information I had read and picked up, I am able to write and type the information.
  
   

Mindset questions

what kind of influence does a growth mindset have on graduation rates?

what kind of struggles do teens face with a growth and fixed mindset?

Inside the MIndsets

After watching the video on mindsets I would say I would want to change the way I think about certain things. I feel like sometimes because of the financial issues at home I wont be able to get far, I know I can if I try my hardest but at the end of the day when I'm in college here in NYC and my family moves away to Florida I'm going to be struggling. I'm going to be in school in the morning and working at night just to get by and then after I graduate what happens if I cant find any employment? The thoughts of my future can get pretty negative because without the right financial aid I wont be able to get into college and it feels as if my future is based on money. It makes me uneasy and I need to stop worrying so much.

Read these statements and decide if you mostly agree or disagree with each. When you have finished share your answers with a partner. A- agree  D- Disagree.

1. Your intelligence is something very basic about you that you can't change very much.
D
2. You can learn new things, but you can't really change how intelligent you are.
D
3. No matter how much intelligence you have, you can always change it quite a bit.
A
4. You can always substantially change how intelligent you are.
A

Read these statements about personal qualities and character and, again, decide if you mostly agree or disagree with each one. Then, share your answers with a partner.

1. You are a certain kind of person, and there is not much that can be done to really change that.
D
2. No matter what kind of person you are, you can always change substantially.
A
3. You can do things differently, but the important parts of who you are can't really be changed.
A
4. You can always change basic things about the kind of person you are
A

Grit.

claims. 1-3

1. Grit is Passion/key to success.

2. Growth mindset is a great way to build grit.

3. Failure is a step to learning.

Grit is passion, passion to be successful and I have grit. My goal in life is to be successful and at peace with my self, to love life and everything around me. I have failed a lot in life, I have also learned from it and used those learning experiences to grow as a person. My grit isn't as strong as it should be but it is there and its growing as I grow. My grit is going to motivate me to succeed in high school, college, my career as a chef and live a beautiful life.

Based on today's Socratic Seminar on fixed mind sets the most interesting comment would be "but how come people with fixed mind sets feel threatened by others success? Is it envy?" This comment created a whole new direction in the conversation which really got us all thinking deeply. I think having more people attending and engaging in these kind of class discussion really brings our minds together, we start thinking from a different point of view and discussing moments from the past that crazily relate to our topic. The way everyone should be graded during Socratic Seminars should be based on your listening, participation and attendance. Students can't fully participate and engage in this kind of discussion if they're not listening, they'll be lost, especially if they arrive late. Its a domino affect.

A Failure.

I failed my sophomore year in HSES. I did it to my self, I decided not to go to school and I let my self fall behind while everyone else was excelling. Throughout the cutting and ditching it was a rush, it was exciting. However, as soon as I went back it was as if I had missed so much I just couldn't catch up in time. I failed my self but because of this failure I learned what I needed to change about my self and the decisions I was making.

born with a certain kind of mindset?

Suggested by Melanie Thompson. Do you think you were born with a fixed or a growth mindset? Why?

I believe we are all born with a growth mindset. As babies there is no such thing as failure because we just don't know anything, when learning how to crawl we fall repeatedly but because our young minds are not fixed on "I keep failing, I cant not do this, whats the point?" we get on all fours and try again, we keep trying until we learn how to walk and then learn how to run. We push ourselves through these difficult challenges, our mindsets wants us to grow instead of staying down on the ground but since we are so young and our brains are so vulnerable at being influenced by its surroundings, some children learn to think that having a fixed mindset is normal, its natural or don't even realize that they have one because they're surrounded by so many others with the same mindset.