This is a must-view video for all of us.  Dweck’s research probes the perils of empty praise and reinforces much of what the AASL Standards tell us about building students’ dispositions and self-assessment skills.  Don’t miss this or Dweck’s book, Mindset.

One of her key ideas is that we have a responsibility to help students develop a growth mindset (in which students believe that they are on a continuum of growth and can continue to build skills and expertise) instead of a fixed mindset (in which students believe their intelligent is pre-determined and cannot change, as in, “I’m smart, so I should know how to do this, and I can’t, so I’m frustrated” or, “I’m dumb, so that’s why I don’t get this - I give up.”)

Her work is so, so powerful, especially for those of us who work in upper middle-class environments in which there is some pressure to demonstrate “good parenting” or “supportive teaching” by praising — or over-praising — our students.

View it here.

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Looking for a new way to spark student thinking for a writing piece? 

Or for kids to share what they’ve learned about animals? 

Or for kids to tinker around with making videos? 

Or for a new center that contributes to the NETS*S Creativity & Innovation strand?

You might like to take National Geographic Wildlife Filmmaker for a spin.  This Web-based tool is a collection of video clips of various animals.  Students choose the clips they want to put into their film, then add music and captions.  They can save the movie and share it later, too.  Plus, the screen includes access to National Geographic’s animal library.

It’s got a few buggy features (in one movie, I could only add two clips), but it could make a delightful center in your school library or classrooms.

 

Try it out here:

·         http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/filmmaker.html

 

Read more about it here on Joyce Valenza’s blog:

·         http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1340000334/post/1280040128.html?nid=3714

 

See a sample here:

·         http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/filmmaker.html?random_film_id=74915168

 

Bring out your students’ inner Spielberg … their secret Ken Burns … or live out your own fantasy to create a science documentary a la Jacques Cousteau …

PS – Not only is this a super-fun tool, but it can connect to the NETS*S #1 Creativity & Innovation & #2 Communication & Collaboration.  I’m just sayin’.

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Our district is spending a lot of time thinking about “21st-century learning” both with technology and without.  Science Daily is reporting that technology use can reduce critical thining skills, whereas reading and doing less multi-tasking continues to yield better benefits:

 As technology has played a bigger role in our lives, our skills in critical thinking and analysis have declined, while our visual skills have improved, according to research by Patricia Greenfield, UCLA distinguished professor of psychology and director of the Children’s Digital Media Center, Los Angeles.

 

Learners have changed as a result of their exposure to technology, says Greenfield, who analyzed more than 50 studies on learning and technology, including research on multi-tasking and the use of computers, the Internet and video games. Her research was published this month in the journal Science.

 

Reading for pleasure, which has declined among young people in recent decades, enhances thinking and engages the imagination in a way that visual media such as video games and television do not, Greenfield said.

 

How much should schools use new media, versus older techniques such as reading and classroom discussion?

 

“No one medium is good for everything,” Greenfield said. “If we want to develop a variety of skills, we need a balanced media diet. Each medium has costs and benefits in terms of what skills each develops.”

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