I’m not really sure how my growth mindset has changed thus far this semester. It seems likely that I’ve regressed in a couple ways. This is a much lighter semester for me than the past two, so I’ve been using my time poorly (isn’t it frustrating how that happens?). Accordingly, even though perhaps I’ve had time to, I haven’t been going above and beyond. However, I think there are ways that this class can help with that. For example, through this class I can make the choice (and I hope that I will) to read a bunch of classics that I’ve been interested in for years but haven’t gotten around to. Because this class is so flexible, it provides me with the option to go above and beyond, and learn more that I’m interested in, if I want to.
I think another way this class may be useful is in learning to take feedback (and especially negative feedback) humbly, and with a heart that is willing to listen and change. I generally enjoy positive feedback and want things to be right the first time (as is natural), so it’s good to practice revision, or having different people express different tips on how they think I could improve.
One thing that this class makes easy is to not focus overly much on grades. Generally, I hope that in my major classes or other ones I’m interested in I care a lot more about learning than my grade. It’s easy to do that for this class too, because we’re given so many options about how and what we will learn, so that the grade just isn’t really a stressful thing.
Basically, I want to have a mindset of learning for learning's sake.
(Photo by Thomas Ulrich, found on flickr)
Ah, I know what you mean about getting less done when you have more time to work with! Every summer, I start out with all sorts of boxes to check off my to-do list, and I end up doing pretty much everything except what I need to. It’s terrible.
ReplyDeleteThat’s a great idea to use this class to catch up on the classics you’ve always wanted to read! I really enjoy the readings every week, so I might try to shift my schedule a little and pick up some extra readings I’ve always been interested in, like you’ve talked about here. I’m still trying to improve on the mindset of learning for learning’s sake, too, because sometimes that feels more like an indulgence than anything else. But this class is definitely helping me relax about the grades and focus on the learning itself, which is nice.