Most people believe that getting good grades defines your intelligence, but in most cases it doesn’t. Wu Mengyuan, author of A Growth Mindset, points out, “That’s when I understood that if I focused on what I learned rather than what I scored, I felt less stressed and could thus perform better” (5). I would get good grades, not the highest grade, but if someone were to ask me what I learned I wouldn’t be able to tell them because I would only do the assignments to get good grades I wouldn’t actually learn anything. When I would fail, I wouldn’t try to learn from my mistake I would simply move on because I believed that I wasn’t talented enough. I soon started to realize that I could expand my intelligence and that my talents weren’t fixed and that I didn’t know my true potential.
Some students have grit, which means one is determined to face challenges and overcome them to be able to reach a goal. Aaron Hochanadel and Dora Finamore point out, “Grit in education is how one can achieve long-term goals by overcoming obstacles and challenges” (49). All students have grit, it’s not
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Teachers should be able to help the students and be able to help those are struggling. When I had a fixed mindset I would see students go and ask the teachers for help, but I was always too scared to ask for help because, to me, I felt as though it was seen as weakness. The teachers also have to have in mind that even by saying something so little it can have an impact on students who don’t really believe in themselves and don’t know their true potential. Thierry Karsenti, et al., one of the editors of ICT and Changing Mindsets in Education, claims, “Learning can become more dynamic as teachers and students become partners in accessing information, constructing relevant knowledge, and representing self and others” (1). In other words, it’s best for students and their teachers to work as one so the student can get the best out of their
In “The Downside of ‘Grit’: What Really Happens When Kids Are Pushed to Be More Persistent?”, Alfie Kohn; an author and lecturer, claims that not everything is worthwhile especially when going at a task for an extensive amount of time. He asserts that ‘grit’ (the passion and determination when pursuing long term goals) is becoming less persuasive and credible. Kohn states that grit can cause serious issues that have real consequences. Important goals about life have changed significantly suggests Kohn. With goals comes the ability to be persistent, the author mentions. He describes that persistence is one characteristic among many that could become valuable when wanting to reach a goal,
A famous quote by Martin Luther King states “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.” The two articles “Hidden Intellectualism” and “Blue Collar Brilliance” both emphasis the author's opinion on the qualifications and measurements of someone's intelligence. “Hidden Intellectualism” focuses on students or younger people who have trouble with academic work because, they are not interested in the topic. Today, in schools students are taught academic skills that are not very interesting, the author mentions this is why children are not motivated in schools. The main viewpoint of this article is that schools need to encourage students
Success in life is related to the achievement of individual goals, short and long term. Success has historically been related to the measurable cognitive functions such as IQ and talent. However in more modern time’s there has been a shift towards the idea that developmental non-cognitive factors, such as grit and self-control, may have an impact on the level of success that an individual achieves. Non-cognitive factors such as grit and self-control are somewhat related but also distinct from one another, they may have an important connection to levels of success throughout the stages of life from childhood to adulthood.
Results of students who received praise for intelligence: The students in this category had negative results after receiving praising. When asked afterwards if they wanted to do the same level of problems or try more challenging ones, they chose the task that would allow them to look smart and do well on. Consequently, while telling a child how smart he or she is, we are sending a message to not take risks and just look the part. Afterwards, these children were given a hard task, which they performed poorly on, and they know longer liked the problems and did not want to practice them at home. Children also felt “dumb” and when given the initial task (in which they did well), they performed significantly worse. Lastly, their opinions of intelligence reflected that it was an innate capacity as though you cannot improve.
There are many crucial elements college students must have in order to obtain success. The most valuable aspect of self-improvement for a college student to have starts with grit. Grit can be obtained through keeping one’s goals in mind, sticking to a schedule, and staying resilient to animosity. Grit is defined as using perseverance and passion for the goals one has. Someone with grit has courage, resolve and a strong character. Try to picture a person clenching their teeth while faced with a difficult tack, yet they conquer it anyway.
Yes, grit can be taught, but ultimately, the real question to be answered is should it be taught? Critics assume that the effect of this instruction, if successfully taught, will have a negative outcome. Their first complaint is that grading children on their character traits can be inhumane and disturbing. This report card was founded by the revolutionary movement, KIPP. It is based on seven “strengths” which are graded just like a common core subject. Larry Ferlazzo, an author and high school teacher, comments that grading character traits this way would be, “corrupt [because of the] assigning [of] numerical values to elements of character.” Here Ferlazzo conveys his belief that this new form of grading would not have psychological benefits, but would instead end up limiting creativity
Is raw intelligence actually important? Or is what you do with said intelligence what actually matters? In “The truth about grit” by Jonah Lehrer, the author writes an analysis of the personality trait commonly referred to as “Grit”. The essay equates grit with perseverance and single-minded focus on a set goal. I agree with this analysis of grit. The first reason that I agree is because grit means to work hard. The second reason is that in order to have grit a person must know how to adapt to adversity. The final reason is that having grit means to have single-minded in one’s attitude.
When people often think of geniuses, people like Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Wolfgang Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven are often cited. Yet what in particular makes these people geniuses? Were they born with high intelligence, or were they given better opportunities? The answer is neither. People who are thought of as possessing high intelligence are the result of years of hard work and dedication, not just pure skill. A great deal of effort was put into their work, and because of their effort their work was successful. In Carol Dweck’s article, The Secret to Raising Smart Kids, she argues that focusing on developing a “growth mind-set” helps students become high achievers. By students restructuring their mind-set, they could have the same mind-set and work ethic as a genius such as Einstein.
My Sociology teacher shared with students an empowering quote that said, “We don’t grow when things are easy; we grow when we face challenges.” To me this quote means that challenge is the only way to figure out who we are, what we are capable of overcoming, and how we react to setbacks. In “Brainology: Transforming Students’ Motivation to Learn” Carol S. Dweck says: a growth mindset learns from challenges with effort while fixed mindsets feel threatened by challenge. There are many factors that contribute into the mindset of a student. In “I Just Wanna Be Average” by Mike Rose there were incompetent teachers who expressed how unprepared they were by causing their students distraction issues, wanting to give up or not caring in their classes.
It has been proven that students who have grit are more likely to succeed in academics. One of the studies that Angela Lee Duckworth had done was at West Point Military Academy. Getting into West Point depends on SAT scores, class rank, demonstrated leadership ability, and physical aptitude. it was shown that about 1 in 20 cadets drops during training before their first academic year. One question they had was; how well can grit predict who would stay? In order to get the answer to the question Duckworth had cadets take a short questionnaire in the first two or three days of the summer with other psychological tests West Point gives. It turns out that grit was the best predictor of which cadets would stay through the first difficult summer. It
In dealing with a generation that has become increasingly motivated by instant gratification, grit has been brought to the forefront of desirable character traits. Duckworth mentions, “grit is the single trait in our complex and wavering nature which accounts for success; grit is the strong current of will that flows through genetic inheritance and the existential muddle of temperament, choice, contingency-everything that makes life, life”. As Duckworth previously stated, grit is different for each child and relies on the traits they are given. Your temperament, willingness, and motivation are chosen for you, but can be practiced upon. If the concept of grit was taught in schools, it would show tremendous academic progress and help develop a strong mindset for all students. Students who are dedicated to the long-term goals they have set are great examples of the application grit has in schools today. As Angela Duckworth put it, “Grittier spellers practiced more than less gritty spellers.” She is telling us that students who persevere and thrive can achieve their goals. Even so, the effects of grit have lessened due to the increase of poverty and the decreasing in moral standards because of the negativity in today’s
When I began kindergarten , at the age of four, I didn’t know to speak or write the English language. I wanted be one of the few Hispanic student who had the ability to communicate with American children. In “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie, Alexie was an Native American that wanted to develop his education unlike other Indian children. He taught himself to read by reading many books like his father did. Alexie overcame his fears of being differ than the other Native Americans. Learning to read in English has improved the opportunities to a successful education.
Teachers help us expand and open our mind by giving us skills throughout students’ early life to help students when they are older. By learning information from teachers, students become better people, in a couple of ways. Besides inquiring knowledge from their teachers, students learn to work with one another, open their mind to other peoples’ thoughts and ideas, respect one another, and learn different techniques for life’s issues.
Academic excellence is thought to be a very high-prioritized achievement in today’s society, and in order to reach many goals of success knowledge is the key. Although knowledge is very helpful, without grit you will never achieve great things.
“What makes a child gifted and talented may not always be good grades in school, but a different way of looking at the world and learning.” That’s what the senior United States Senator from Iowa Chuck Grassley once said. When students get a “F” on their exam, that does not necessary means they are stupid, or they do not know the material. It could only mean they have a different way of learning, or a different way of explaining the material which the teacher is not aware of. There are different ways of learning that students have, and there are different ways they apply their knowledge into real life. Therefore, grades are not the best way to judge the students’ standing in their classes, nor is it the best way to judge their learning process. In addition,