June 1

June and July- the last two months

June: I Can’t Take Care of Others if I Don’t Take Care of Myself

June’s message is all about taking care of yourself. As I read more and more about Growth Mindset and working with Trauma-impacted students, I have come to realize how important it is to take care of me. This is something that I am not very good at and something I am working very hard to achieve. I need to learn to say no, to sit back and relax and enjoy the little things in life.

I can tell you that I am getting better at this-I have been exercising regularly (at least I can say that about last week!), and my house is not as clean as I would like it to be as I was too busy playing with my kids and fishing with my family. I have also been engaging in more “girls nights”- which I love! Going out for dinner with my close friends and taking up some art classes at the local makerspace have been wonderful! I have also been learning a new craft- I am teaching myself to crochet! This was my goal in May-to learn to crochet or knit- and I have started on my journey. I bought a beginner crochet kit and have been using the book to learn the different stitches. At this time, I have crocheted two hot plates in order to practice the different stitches. I hope to meet up with some “experts” at the makerspace to learn some more-I am definitely having some troubles reading the patterns!

In this chapter, you will also find a guided reflection journal. I can honestly say that I have not yet done this, but it is definitely something I plan to do once work settles down a little bit more.

What are some things you would like to do in order to take care of yourself?

 

July: A New Day is a New Opportunity to Grow

This final chapter helps us to try to drive out that fixed mindset by changing how you look at the different situations in which you may find yourself. Using self-talk to help you through these situations will keep you on a growth mindset path.

This chapter also includes some ideas for personal professional development in the growth mindset. The authors encourage us to seek out professional learning communities online (Twitter and Facebook are great places to start) and to check out some of the great mindset resources available.

It is never too late to change your mindset! It takes practice and determination to make this switch and we are never perfect in every situation but learning from our mistakes is the key!

 

I wish you all a wonderful summer, full of self-care and continued growth! I hope you have enjoyed this book as much as I did! Just a quick note to let you allĀ  know that Annie Brock and Heather Hundley have written another book called the Growth Mindset Playbook, which is another great professional book geared toward further development of a growth mindset. I am thoroughly enjoying it as well! I look forward to the next book study and once again learning alongside you all!