Blair: Teaching that Changes Lives: 12 Mindset Tools for Igniting the Love of Learning

Summary

            I read the book "Teaching that Changes Lives: 12 Mindset tools for Igniting the Love of Learning" by Marilee Adams, PhD. The book starts with a introduction to the narrator Emma Shepherd who explains that her favorite teacher Dr. Bill Friedman taught her with the perfect combination of challenging activities as well as activities to make her feel successful. The book focuses on Emma teaching her sixth grade class and all of the experiences and emotions she feels while doing so. When we are first introduced to Emma in the book, Emma is stressed out, feeling like she is out of resources and is ready to quit her teaching job. Emma thinks about how Bill taught her and why she remembers him in such a positive light. The book carries on explaining that Emma needs to change her mind set to become a successful teacher. Once Emma is in contact with Bill and her old grade six teacher Sophie, who becomes Emma's role model, she decides that her mindset, her way of thinking and the questions she asks needs to change. Once we get acquainted with Emma's story, the novel goes on to explain the resources she used and the changes she made to become content with herself and become a great teacher.

            The first main point made by the book is that teachers need to realize that our classroom is constantly changing and that we as the teacher need to think about "thoughts, feelings and circumstances" (Adams, 2013, p. 22-23). Once we recognize that things are changing the teacher needs to decide if they are going to choose to think in the learner mindset or react and think in the judger mindset. The learner mindset is when you ask yourself necessary questions such as "What assumptions am I making?" or "What are my choices and what is best to do now?" to come to the conclusion that is solution forces, thoughtfully made and a win-win scenario for both the teacher and the students. The judger mindset is when the teacher reacts to the situation and becomes very negative thinking that they are a failure and looks around the room to see who they can blame. The end result of thinking in a judger mindset is automatic reaction, blame focused and ends in a win-lose relationship. The book states that it is very important for a teacher to recognize when they are in the judger mindset and "switch lanes by asking learner questions to avoid the judger pit" (Adams, 2013, p. 23). To help the teacher become aware of their mindset and how to stay on a positive path towards success the book points out twelve steps to help. For summative purposes I will list the twelve points and they main focus for that specific point.

1)      Reflection scenario for learning from mistakes- Think about the following question and finds answers to them to move on to tool 2. What is the situation? What were the original plans? What assumptions were made about the goals in mind and what lead to this mistake?

2)      Mindfulness: Empowering your observer- Be calm and aware of self, be responsive rather than reactive and practice to become good at being mindful.

3)      Cultivate curiosity- Curiosity and question mode is a good sign that students are engaged and that you are talking about a subject that they can somehow relate to themselves. You as a person learn about yourself first, then formal learning is introduced so anything that we can relate to ourselves may be easier to comprehend and be curious about.

4)      Grow your inquiring mindset- To increase quantity and quality of the questions you ask as well as being mindful when in the questioning zone.

5)      Question assumption- Discover and challenge assumptions that could cause problems or limitations and cultivate your mindset to stay curious and asking many questions.

6)      Build a resilient learner mindset- Reliably bounce back from judger mindset when your thoughts are negative.

7)      Listen with learner ears- Increase ability to listen and never take the fact that you can hear and listen for granted. It is important to listen to every word a student says to get the whole picture instead of allowing your mind to make assumptions to what you are "hearing."

8)      Use the choice map as a guide- The choice map is a visual in the book that talks about choosing to take the learner path or react and take the judger path. A link to the choice map is as follows: www.LearnerMindsetOnline.com

9)      Benefit from switching questions- Develop natural and intentional ways to facilitate course connections when in judger mindset and ways to get back on the learner path.  
 To ask questions, following the ABCD method is suggested in the book:
   A) Aware- am I in judger or is this working
   B) Breathe- do I need to step back or pause?
   C) Curiosity- What is best?
   D) Decide-Now what do I choose to do? (Adams, 2013, p.98)

10)  Ask the five questions- Bringing together many of the essential lessons of the book:
What do I want? Am I in learner or judger mindset? Am I listening with learner or judger ears? What assumptions am I making? Who do I choose to be in this moment (learner or judger)?

11)  Create breakthroughs with Q-storming- Generate new questions and thinking that will lead to the new possibilities and results. If you want a change or new answer from a child, stop asking the same questions over and over. Focus on what mindset you are in to see if you are thinking clearly without judgement.

12)  Collaborate with professionals – Create a learning community with other perfessionals in your school and area. Use all resources possible to help you and your students. Fostering collaborative relationships or professional learning communities (PLC) will allow for you as the teacher to not feel alone and create an easier way for you to think in a learner mindset versus judger mindset.

The books main point is to be aware of how you as the teacher are thinking and if that is one of the reasons you are not being successful with your students. Using the twelve steps will allow you to know what type of mindset you are in, what questions to ask yourself and lead you to a conclusion on how to fix the problem. 

Resources

            This book lists the learner mindset webpage which is listed about as well as being part of a series of book from Adams that are titled: “Change your Questions, Change your Life” and “The Art of the Question: A Guide to Short-term Question-Centered Therapy.”

Critique

            I found this book to be overall useful. It is very easy to blame others or students for why a lesson is not working and overlook the assumptions and actions we have made to get us to the spot we are in. The book takes awhile to make the main points and the twelve tools are not fully discussed until the end of the book which makes it a bit hard to get into the book at the start. The background information about Emma is interesting but a bit too long in my opinion. The book does follow our course theories because it talks about being mindful and states that teachers should be patient when students are thinking of responses to questions. The twelve tools can be used throughout the day when teaching and help keep the teacher be mindful of the path they are on (learner or judger) and whether the experiences and outcomes of the day were positive and useful or not. In class we discussed and read about the importance of taking care of yourself so you can be a positive role model in the student's lives. The book teaches you to never stop asking yourself questions to help improve the way you look at your student's, classroom and lessons. The book also relates to our class because it tells us to tailor our lessons plans towards students who may learn from a certain teaching style or who may have difficulties in some areas. The book also reminds us as teachers to reflect on our practice and journal to have written proof of what we have attempted and if it was successful or not. Overall I think the twelve tools can help you be aware of the mindset you are in and how to come away from having a negative mindset. The book does not really talk about connecting to nature or sustainability towards the environment but it does speak about sustaining a good mental and physical health to be a good teacher. If rating this book on a 10 scale I would give it a 7.5-8.