I’m just not a math person! How many times have you heard this statement as an excuse for students’ low performance in math? But it conveys more than just an excuse...it also belies an underlying mindset about the nature of one’s math abilities. And as research has shown, how students think about themselves as learners...their mindsets...have important implications for their motivation, learning, engagement and performance. In this session, you will learn about a variety of mindsets that shape students’ identities as learners. These include their beliefs about the nature of math intelligence and whether they feel like valued members of the mathematics community of learners. You will also learn how your own mindsets can impact your teaching practices. Finally, you will learn specific teaching strategies that convey a growth, rather than a fixed, mindset and that create room for many more students to feel like valued members of your classroom.
Workshop runs from 8:15am-2:30pm.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will be able to:
• Explain what a growth mindset is and what it is not
• Describe how a growth mindset impacts student motivation, engagement, learning, and performance in math
• Recognize the importance of belonging mindsets for students’ math outcomes
• Understand how their own mindsets impact their teaching practices
• Implement pedagogical practices and classroom discourse that creates a growth mindset learning culture
• Discover techniques that foster feelings of belonging in your mathematics classroom
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
This seminar is applicable for K-12 mathematics teachers and instructional leaders at the school and district level.
WORKSHOP LEADER
Catherine Good, PhD, is Associate Professor of Psychology at Baruch College and The Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She has a master's degree in mathematics and an Ad Hoc Interdisciplinary PhD in mathematics education and social psychology. Dr. Good’s research focuses on the social psychological factors that impact students’ academic achievement, learning, and motivation in STEM fields.
