Carol Dweck's Brainology

There’s a Chinese Proverb that says, “Failure is not falling down, but refusing to get back up again.” I really wish I heard that quote when I thought I was a failure, but really was just being lazy. In Carol Dweck’s article “Brainology” a study is conducted on seventh grade students and their mindsets. Their mindsets were measured and studied for two years. Dweck studied the difference between the fixed mindset and the growth mindset students and how they did in school. According to Dweck, “research is showing there is one thing that sets the great successes apart from their equally talented peers- how hard they’ve worked.” (Dweck 5) Students with a fixed mindset tend to step back when things become difficult. According to them, effort is …show more content…
It never has been an easy subject for me. I started to become frustrated with myself for not understanding. I was failing tests and my grades were dropping fast. I felt stupid because I couldn’t keep up with my teacher like all my friends could. Eventually, I gave up because I felt I would never amount to my peers. I thought, since it was not easy for me, I was never going to understand it. I was too embarrassed to see a tutor, so I had convinced myself that Algebra was a waste of time. I focused on other subjects. I did what I considered good enough. Meaning, I passed with a C. Somehow, I managed to trick my parents into believing I was good in math. I never wanted them to know I couldn’t even solve a basic subtraction problem, so I kept lying about my grades. It was extremely hard for me to keep up the act, but I was totally convinced there was nothing I could do. I wasn’t good at math when I was younger, how could I be good at it now? Overtime, I had forgotten most of my multiplication facts, and subtraction gave me a headache. I was so embarrassed that my 5th grade cousins were doing better than I was. Having a fixed mindset and keeping myself from learning has cost me. I scored 9 on the math placement test and I am currently taking LERN49. However, I do not see this as a setback. Looking back on my Jr High self, I realized it wasn’t that I could not understand algebra, I just did not want to. I wanted the …show more content…
She is always clear, and I feel comfortable asking her questions if I don’t understand something. Which has happened almost every class. I have gone to tutoring and it has been my favorite thing all semester. I am very proud of myself for getting a B- on my homework. Now, a B- isn’t the best grade, but it’s a huge improvement from what I used to get. I admit, it has not been easy at all! There is a lot of work involved, and I have had to put some fun activities aside so I can focus. However, Jim Watkins said, “A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence.” I am very persistent to do better than before, because I know I can. As long as I am focused and willing to try, I believe I will accomplish my goal and prove to myself that I really can learn