Monday, May 30, 2016

Can't be done? That's your limitation, not mine!


Can't be done?
That's your limitation, not mine!


(image from cheezburger)

I was inspired by this graphic that I found a Twitter:

When someone tells you it can't be done, it's more a reflection of their limitations, not yours.






Friday, May 27, 2016

When you enter a mindset, you enter a new world.

The quote is from Carol Dweck's Mindset. You can see more quotes from Carol Dweck here: Carol Dweck Collection.

When you enter a mindset,
you enter a new world.


(image is from cheezburger)

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Don't compare yourself to others.



Don't compare yourself to others.


(images from Cheezburger)

John Spencer has a lot of good advice in this article; I've listed the seven main points below, and you can read the article for details about each one: Seven Ways to Crush Self-Doubt.

1. Don’t Compare Yourself to Others
2. Abandon Perfectionism
3. Be Vulnerable to a Trusted Community
4. Embrace a Growth Mindset
5. Set Goals that are within your control
6. Treat Your Work Like an Experiment.
7. Trust Yourself

And here's one of the drawings John includes:

quote.png

Friday, May 20, 2016

Effort is the path to mastery.

This is another one of the cats inspired by Emily Magruder's slideshow presentation: From Mindset: The Psychology of Learning and Achievement. Here are more cats inspired by that slideshow: Emily Magruder Collection.


Effort is the path to mastery.


(image is from cheezburger)

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Like wildflowers...

Like wildflowers, you must allow yourself to grow in all the places people thought you never would.



I saw this first quote at Twitter! The source is cited as "E.V." ... but who is this? I do not know!




Delight in meandering!


Delight in meandering!



Today's cat is inspired by this wonderful review in Maria Popova's Brain Pickings of Janna Malamud Smith, An Absorbing Errand: How Artists and Craftsmen Make Their Way to Mastery. Here is the quote in context:
The work grows as our minds (conscious and unconscious) and our bodies would have it grow. Technique may require discipline and set the order of things, apprenticeships may demand periods of subordination, but the imaginative acts that propel the effort are themselves serendipitous. In your garden you may set out to clip the roses, but you notice a weed you want to pull from among the coreopsis, except that first there is a rogue branch to be snipped from the holly shrub—and on and on until dark finally settles, ending your day. An occasional task has to be done just now and just so. But mostly, you delight in meandering, allowing the work to command your attention variously — with its method inscribed by the way you encounter your plants.
And if you are curious about that wonderful word "meander," check out Wikipedia: Meander (Rivers).




Monday, May 16, 2016

English. Beyond the comfort zone.


The magic happens
beyond your comfort zone.



I was inspired by this graphic



And here's a similar one:


Saturday, May 14, 2016

English. Wake up: make your dreams come true.


Wake up: make your dreams come true.





This pair of growth cats was inspired by a graphic I saw on Twitter:

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.

Found at Twitter.



Friday, May 13, 2016

English. Examine what makes you anxious.


Examine what makes you anxious.



This cat is inspired by remarks I read in Carol Dweck Says Theory of Educational Mind-Set Is Often Misunderstood by Goldie Blumenstyk, an interview in the Chronicle of Higher Education. See more at the Chronicle site  (subscription required) or at the Soundcloud podcast. For more cats inspired by Carol Dweck's writings and talks, see the Dweck Collection.

In this discussion of triggers that make you start operating with a fixed mindset, Carol Dweck proposes the idea that you can "personify" your fixed-mindset tendencies, giving them a name so you can interact with that aspect of yourself:
A colleague of mine in Australia named Susan Mackie identifies this idea of finding your mind-set triggers. First of all, to say we’re all a mixture. Anyway, who says, "I’ve always had a growth mind-set. I have a total growth mind-set. I have a growth mind-set all the time."? False. We’re all a mixture. We all have triggers, things that put us into more of fixed mind-set and make us anxious about our abilities or worried about struggling. It could be a certain area, but it could be whenever we have setbacks. Many people have episodes. Identify those triggers. Start noticing how you feel, and think when your fixed mind-set is triggered. 
Then Susan Mackie said -- and I saw her working with banking executives doing this -- "give your fixed mind-set persona a name." I heard a banking executive say, "Yeah, when I’m in a crunch. I have a deadline. Dwayne shows up." This is what Dwayne does, and how Dwayne makes me feel. This is how Dwayne effects people around me. Then the final step is talk to Dwayne. Get Dwayne on board with your growth-mind-set goals. Don’t try to get rid of Dwayne. Don’t disrespect him, but whatever you name your fixed-mind-set persona, say, "Thank you for your input." Or, "I appreciate your contribution, but why don’t we try it this way? Why don’t we take on that challenge?" There’s a setback, Dwayne comes rushing back, laughing at you. You say, "OK, that’s one way to look at it, but I think I learned something from that setback. What if we try this other strategy? Dwayne, you think you can bear with me on that?"
Help your "inner Dwayne" to grow! I think I will call my fixed-mindset self by the name of... Alice. Inspired by Alice in Wonderland. Alice learns how to confront her fears and grow (literally grow, in fact!) during her adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, but sometimes she gets stuck in her thinking too. I will talk to myself as Alice when I get stuck in my own fixed mindset!





Thursday, May 12, 2016

I have control.

The quote comes from this slideshow: From Mindset: The Psychology of Learning and Achievement by Emily Magruder. See the specific slide below.

quote:  Intrinsic motivation becomes strong when... We have control. We have a sense we can get better or master something. We feel something is relevant to our lives.

I have control.


(Toshihiro Gamo at Flickr)


Here is the specific slide that inspired this item:



Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Find an example online.

At Pinterest, I found a link to a nifty poster: I Don't Know What to Do Next; you can see the poster below. That's what inspired this cat: use the Internet... to find an example!

Not sure what to do next?
Find an example online.


The image is from cheezburger.



Don't know what to do next?
Dig deep and stick with it.
Look in a book or use the Internet.
Can you find an example?
Keep calm and read it again.
Remind yourself not knowing is okay. 
Work together and ask a friend.
Pause a moment and just think.
Still not sure? Then ask your teacher.








Monday, May 9, 2016

Go beyond your safe zone.

Some cats are scared... but you can learn to go beyond your safe zone.

Go beyond your safe zone.


(image from Cheezburger)

This cat was inspired by Tibby who sees circles of fear all around; find out more about Tibby here: The Rumpus Interview with Caroline Paul and Wendy Macnaughton, creators of Lost Cat: A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology.


(by Wendy MacNaughton and featured in Lost Cat: A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology)

Friday, May 6, 2016

English: Practice, training, and method

From Carol Dweck's Mindset: "With practice, training, and above all, method, we manage to increase our attention, our memory, our judgment and literally to become more intelligent than we were before."

With practice, training, and method
we can become more intelligent
than we were before.