March 7th, 2014-Quick Write

Based on the common core standards, I rate myself a 3. I feel as if I have understood the majority of the topic, however I believe that a person can never stop learning and that there is more substantial information in the depths of mindsets that I have yet to discover. I feel that if I put enough effort and study time into it, that I can find out so much more than about the different types of mindsets that I do not already know.



Final Reflection:

                      There was a time that my theater company and I had to do a show that consisted primarily of ballet dancing. Although I have ballet training, it is not my specialty nor my favorite type of dance style so I struggled throughout all of our rehearsals. I always believed that I had a growth mindset, so I never gave up when it came down to things that became difficult for me. In the beginning, I was truly enjoying it. I knew all of the basic techniques and all of the standard fundamentals of dance, so I loved to waltz around the rehearsal room and "strut" my stuff in front of all the other girls who were richer and more spoiled than I was. I didn't realize that my stubborn and ethnocentric attitude was about to fail me soon thereafter.

                        After about 2 more days of rehearsals, the dance routine erupted into something more complex. I taught hip-hop dance; all of that ballet choreography was like Latin to me. The director added steps into the routine that was beyond the fundamentals, and everyone else there had way more professional ballet training than I did. Majority of the training I received was usually by volunteer teachers. Not to say that volunteers are not just as experienced professional ballet teachers, just not necessarily as credited. You don't necessarily perform the same when you have been taught without the same tools and resources as everyone else.

                    Once I began to notice that I was behind all of the other girls, I gave up. What I thought was my growth mindset has completely disappeared at that point and I never wanted to see ballet again. I spent so much energy flaunting a talent that never really was to feel better about myself however in the end it backfired on me and I hated that. I dropped out of the show and didn't get involved with any theater companies for a while.

Grow Your Mindset: If I would have continued to keep a growth mindset all the way through the end of the show things would have been different. I probably would have pushed myself harder and probably taken some extra ballet classes on the side to improve both my skills for the show and for my personal knowledge. I would have admitted my flaws and the things that I didn't know and would have asked for help. I wouldn't have let my pride get the best of me. I would have practiced harder and harder until I got it right- or at least close enough that I can improvise if necessary. Do I regret my decision back then? No. I found a new theater company that I can apply my new-found growth mindset to. However, do I realize that what I thought was growth mindset back then really a fixed one? Yes I do. And thankfully I realized it early on.