Belle O’Hara

Mr. Henry

AP Calculus AB

August 30, 2019

Growth Mindset Reflection Paper

There are two different types of growth mindsets identified by Carol Dweck, fixed mind-

set and growth mind-set. After doing a study with over 1,000 students, she was able to obseve

that students who believe they can get smarter, put in more effort to make themselves stronger

students. Students in a fixed mindset are the opposite, they believe they cannot get smarter, and

therefore do not put any extra effort into their work. These studies prompted the question, “Can

we change mindsets? And if so, how?”. They found that students with more encouragement and

feedback from their teachers and administration resulted in more students having a growth

mindset and choosing to challenge themselves in their studies.

I took the, ‘What’s My Mindset?’ quiz on the Mindset Works website and found that I

am moving towards a growth mindset, but I am not quite there yet. The biggest thing that holds

me back from truly having a growth mindset is my fear of failure and not living up to the

expectations I put on myself. Though I want to get better and stronger in my studies, I tend to

doubt myself, which puts me in a fixed mindset at times. Mindset Works says the best way to

change your mindset is to not risk yourself of conforming to a negative stereotype of yourself,

but rather push yourself, and surround yourself in a growing environment. For AP Calculus, I

need to stop telling myself that I am not good at math, but rather trust my abilities and never

doubt myself in class. The more I doubt myself, the less I will learn, which will keep me in a

fixed mindset. I can start by always keeping good notes and listening in class and doing whatever
I need to do in order to make myself feel comfortable with the material, and convince myself that

I can always learn more, and I am always capable of learning more. By doing this every day in

AP Calculus and my other classes, I believe that I will grow into a growth mindset.