How Growth Mindset Will Help During Lock Down!

Picture Credit: 7 Mindsets

“Love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort and keep on learning.”-Carol Dweck

When you are thinking positively the results will automatically be positive. The people who have positive thoughts seem to have a good control over their thinking processes. Hence if they are faced with a problem they try to look for a solution. They do not react with negative emotions like anger, frustration or violence. They are happy, keep putting in efforts and keep thinking about a way to ease out of the given scenario.

Growth Mindset is a term coined for people who love challenges. You can see progress taking place in their lives. They keep climbing up the stairs of life and success.

They do not measure success with financial wealth and prosperity. They measure success with their ability to deal with the given circumstances.

There are two main mindsets we can navigate life with: growth and fixed. Having a growth mindset is essential for success.-Dr Carol Dweck

I know that during the lock down period no one is thinking of success. Everyone is just managing to survive these tough and never seen before conditions that they are faced with. But moving through the daily routine with a growth mindset would really be beneficial for the entire people of the household.

What is a growth mindset?

As Dr Carol Dweck says-

Individuals who believe their talents can be developed (through hard work, good strategies, and input from others) have a growth mindset. They tend to achieve more than those with a more fixed mindset (those who believe their talents are innate gifts).

What she wants to emphasise is that one should aim to make himself smarter by learning the necessary skills required rather than putting in mere wasteful efforts in just looking smarter than the rest of the lot.

The initial cover definitely weans off and the real turf will be exposed. Let the real turf be full of strong mettle which can be acquired with a growth mindset.

Leave the –I have-it-all attitude-

Life will move on different terms after the lock down. Certain rules and conditions will certainly change. Hence we all need to be ready to face the life after the lock down period is over. So just by assuming that things will be absolutely normal and life will get back on track is not a very productive gesture.

Introspect and see whether you require to gain certain skills. This is the right time to utilise it. Get enrolled in some certification courses and upgrade your current technical or soft skills if required. There are many webinars happening and people are willing to share their knowledge. Almost every website has a note about what they are offering for free or at discounted rates.

Face Criticism, Challenges and Low performance-

This is happening with most people these days. Just to avoid wasting time, they try to delve into some productive activity. At times they get a good response at other times they are faced with criticism about their work.

Because they have worked but the result is awaited. There is no guarantee of success right now. Everything is on hold. The results are not visible. The future seems bleak. The challenges seem big and unattainable.

Halt! It is alright. Do not worry.

If you have taken up something to do and are working towards it, do not expect the results right now. Have patience. Work can never go unnoticed.

I strongly believe in actions. Right actions will bring in the results. There may be a delay but the fruits will be enjoyed by the person who puts in efforts.

“It is hard to beat a person that never gives up.”-Babe Ruth

Efforts require thinking and planning an implementation. And all these actions act in a sequence. They are a proved scientific approach which is know to give you the results that you have sought of so far.

Keeping a growth mindset will make you face these challenges and much more. Do not give up. Keep putting in the efforts that you wish to.

“I like criticism. It makes me strong.”-Lebron James

If you are feeling the insecurity you have lost the growth mindset-

Overcome the feeling of insecurity that is gripping you. It will not let you work. It will be a hindrance in your growth. Overcome these feelings as soon as you can.

Meditate, pray, write down positive affirmations, read blogs written by motivational speakers, etc.

Use the indicators which your mind is giving you. Follow the instinct. If you are trying to do something, those pangs of insecurity will threaten to choke you until you decide to lower your guard down and finally end up on the couch without the potato chips.

Some indicators which will tell you that you have adopted a growth mindset-

1.  You are happy and cheerful every day.

2.  Anger and resentment has not crept up your sleeve.

3.  You are watching the daily news only once a day to update yourself.

4.  You are reading articles or blogs related to your industry to keep yourself updated.

5.  You are discussing things with people if faced with a problem.

6.  You have revived one of your hobbies and are giving time to it.

7.  You are lending a helping hand to the people who need it.

8.  You are connected to friends and relatives and providing them the mental support required.

9.  Your day is scheduled properly.

10.              You are sleeping only for the limited period of time.

“You are capable of so much more than you can even imagine.”

Mind has limitless thoughts. Growth mindset can help you achieve the unlimited potential that you possess. This positive mindset challenges to keep growing in your life. You will never stagnate or decay with this wonderful mindset that you decide to adopt.

People will survive the challenges thrown by COVID-19 with the help of the powers of their mind, with collaboration and coordination wherever and however possible.

Let us beat this pandemic with super positivity and unlimited growth to give a different dimension to the world when it is ready to reopen.

Kesar Patel is a National Award winner. She is a blogger who details the life of an educator through the colours of her own experience in the field of education. Follow her at kesarpatel1234@gmail.com.

 

How to avoid Complacency during COVID-19

Picture Credit: Order of Man

With COVID-19, everyone is on the go on what to do and how to spend the time. Earlier on time was a constraint. Whenever extra work landed in our laps the first excuse that came out was that there was no time.

Some years ago I had my new year’s goal as adjusting the 25^th hour in my daily routine. Sounds funny, doesn’t it?

But this philosophy somehow gave me the idea that I had that extra hour where I would do something like write or embroider or paint or anything else. I just had that satisfactory feeling that somehow I had that extra hour in a 24 hours schedule and so I have achieved something more.

Now after all these years I have 24 hours where I can do what I like. They are laid out like a nice and tempting buffet with a delicacy that could be eaten every hour and relished. We have an overload of the time. We can choose to work on our hobbies or anything else that we wish to. I had thought I would write continuously and unstoppingly which is one of my goals.

But what happened? COMPLACENCY!

This is a killer when you have time on your hands. It creeps in so slowly you will not realise until days have passed and you did not do anything about it. It will create a cloud over your eyes and not let you see your true worth. It will rain excuses over you and make you sit in a corner with the umbrella of guilt and I-just-cannot-do-anything attitude. It will cripple your mind into thinking that the entire world is relaxing. It will make you eat the idea that this is the long lost vacation that you wanted so you should enjoy it.

Well the choice s entirely yours my friend. I also chose it for the first one week of the Lock down period. My mind came up with excuses that it is alright to sleep for an extra hour, or perfectly fine if you do not exercise or writing needs peace and patience, etc. etc.

But then when I calculated the time of the day and tried to divide it into working hours and other things reality slapped me in my face. I had been less productive than I have ever been in almost a decade.

“You kill Procrastination by taking the first step. There is no Rocket Science in it.”

So I framed a schedule, re-defined my goals, set priorities again and then I finally relaxed.

So here are a few things which educators should follow –

Define a Time Table-

“The price of discipline is always less than the pain of regret.”

One should understand this at the earliest.

It is very important to plan out a day’s schedule on paper. The rules of time management will come in handy here. Plan a schedule hour wise and abide by your plan.

Right from your wake up time to the time you sleep write down the tasks that you wish to perform.

Writing is reinforcement for the brain hence I strongly advise to go in for the written format. If you write it down in your journal or diary, you can make changes, fair it out, stick it somewhere and ensure that you implement.

Many problems get erased with this one solution. You will have a sense of satisfaction and achievement. Everything cannot be gauged on monetary lines. Self satisfaction is highly required. Make it CONTAGIOUS!

Plan out goals for lockdown-

“No great life was ever built on the foundation of excuses. So stop making them”

The normal schedule has the normal goals. Think and rethink until you have some new goals for the lock down period. It will give you the motivation required to pass days and nights.

Your thoughts are your motivation. So utilise them. Plan out new goals like watching a new movie everyday for five days, or you will cook three or four course meals everyday, or reach out to help an elderly person by reading or managing some household work for them, exercising and a healthy diet are all time favourites.

You can choose any goals which are simplistic and achievable without too much of a hussle involved.

Beginning the day with meditation and prayer keeps you a gentle and kind person throughout the day.

Leave your comfort zone-

The comfort zone resides in your mind. Something should be done everyday which you have not done in many years. Moving out of the comfort zone is adventurous. It also boosts adrenalin in your veins hence leaving you mentally happy and satisfied.

Do something Good

Everyone needs goodness right now. You can lend a smile or a helping hand. Everyone needs it. So please think of spreading goodness in every way that you can.

Call and inform people that you are ready to help in any manner possible. Apart from monetary help, people are feeling depressed and are unable to sustain the pandemic only because they are alone.

Call up or video call and provide company, share a joke, read out some good text, cook something delicious for someone who is very happy, etc.

Just make someone or the other see the light at the other end of the tunnel

Stop watching the hourly news-

This ritual has to be stopped. There is a lot of fear and uncertainty spread by the virus and the next thing responsible is the media. So do not watch all the new updates 24 x 7.

Switch it on once a day and gather all the information required. Then spend the day with a feeling of happiness and gratitude that you and everyone is safe.

Catch up on lots of entertainment-

This is one of the times to catch up on the entertainment that you have lost. Watch all the serials or the web series, movies or play online games. One can relax very well with these ways of entertainment.

Final Word-

Just start doing something and everything else will fall into place.  The day is scheduled into hours, a month into days and a year into months so obviously, there is a lot of value attached to a schedule to deliver the necessary output.

Kesar Patel is a National Award winner. She is a blogger who details the life of an educator through the colours of her own experience in the field of education. Follow her at kesarpatel1234@gmail.com.

How To Manage a Virtual Classroom Like a PRO!

  Picture Credit: Cegos UK

I have been writing on a teacher child relationship. This relationship is always under scanner because time and again it has been proved that teaching and learning cannot take place properly unless and until there is a good relationship between a teacher and child.

There are many researches being done on the performance of the children and the influence of the teacher on a child’s mind has been a very dominant one. Various strategies and techniques are suggested and adopted by the teachers to have a good and comfortable environment in the classroom.

The pandemic and the sudden lock down of the schools have taken the children away from the teachers. Social Distancing has changed the norms of behaviour and approach. The gentle touch or a pat by the teacher on a child’s back nullified many violent situations, calmed down a disturbed child, spread praise and positivity, etc.

But these scenarios will be totally reversed even after the lockdown is over. The society will take up some new norms and they will remain intact in the world. Probably social distancing will go on for a long time and so maintaining the distance will be the first rule. So all the hi-fives and hugs will disappear and warmth and kindness will be passed through the eyes and a smile.

So when the teachers and children are shut away in their homes one question is arising in everyone’s minds.

How do we maintain a teacher-child relationship in a virtual classroom?

During this pandemic, the teachers are not getting to speak to the children even once a week. Earlier there was a daily interaction.

Most of the teachers have not spoken to their students even over a phone call. A better percentage of the teachers have spoken to the parents regarding the sending of the homework or online learning. But there has been a nominal or negative interaction between the educators and their students.

So how to have a teacher-child relationship?

Here are the few points-

Make a personalised image:

Creating images is pretty easy with different digital tools available online for free. Make a personalised image with your name and a small message and post it at least twice or thrice a week if not everyday for the children. The image should give out a message to the children.

The child gets super happy if he/ she receives these kinds of messages from their teachers. If the time is tough on adults who are managing their finances and other chores it is also difficult on children.

They are not getting their free play time, mostly they are under supervision, their movements are restricted and their actions are continuously being monitored.

So stress level is high on their part also. They might not be able to express it. Hence if they receive something for themselves they would be really happy.

Call up one child once a week:

I know given the numbers in the Indian schools there are many students in a class. But try to call at least one child or two children per day and talk to them.

The major conversation with digital tools is happening with the parents. The children are not involved in it. At least the younger lot that is until Grade V.

So calling up and talking with a child once a day will really help to build an online relationship. The child will feel happy and much more secured after talking to you.

Be Proactive:

The teacher should be very proactive with the receiving and sending of the messages.

Text is misunderstood easily. People have difficulty in comprehending the text which is written by the educator. There might be typo errors which may lead to further misunderstanding and can create confusion among the parents and the child.

Sometimes the child interprets the message differently than the parent and their might be trouble and confusion among them. In such cases, the parent might hesitate to contact the teacher and would simply message.

Hence it would really pay well, if the teacher responds to the message immediately. If further required, calling up the parent and clearing the doubt would be even better.

Converse and Clear:

This point is similar to the above one. Written text and messages are often not very clear in stating their objectives.

Having a conversation with the child or the parent to clear the concerns is always advisable.

Respect the Virtual Distance:

Most parents are working from home and they have a lot of workload to cope up with. They have to deal with the children at the same time.

So do understand that they might not be able to get the work done.

Patience on your part will really help the child. If the work is not being done by the parents ask for the reason. Help them out or suggest ways which they can adopt to get help the child complete the work.

Give them some extra time to work out a solution.

The underlying meaning is RESPECT WHAT THEY ARE DOING OR ARE UNABLE TO DO!

Appreciate and Praise:

In these stressful times, appreciation and applaud boost morale and spread positivity. They actually bring a smile on the faces of everyone. So definitely children will be happy.

One sticker, one poster, one word or one star goes a long way in delighting the child.

In these sad and dull days the parents as well as the child will have a mood lift after receiving an applause from the teacher. It might spread happiness in the entire household where anger and frustration might be having an upper hand.

Understand the nuances of the fragile circumstances which are existing in the world. Every person who can be a support to anyone else would be the biggest help to humanity.

Humility and empathy are required to fulfill the needs of the WORLD which is craving for LOVE and UNDERSTANDING

Final thought-

Virtual Emotions and feelings are absolutely a new context for the children in India. They are used to having people around everywhere that they go. It can be their home or a party or a school or a classroom.

Suddenly all the people have vanished behind the screens. The only people left indoors are the family members.

In such a scenario if the child gets the feeling of his own physical classroom he or she would love the idea.