W03 Application Activity: Mindset

Name: Flora Venice M. Pati-on

Overview
This week, a large part of your Life Skill Lesson focused on how you can become a more capable
learner. You learned that one of the main ways you can do this is by adopting a growth
mindset. For this week’s Application Activity, you will explore the differences between a fixed
and growth mindset and then evaluate them within the context of your own life experience.

Instructions
To complete this activity, please answer the following questions:

Part 1: Definitions and Outcomes

Imagine that you have a friend or family member that has never heard of a growth or fixed
mindset before and would like to know more.

1. Describe the differences between a growth and fixed mindset.

A growth mindset means that you believe your intelligence and talents can be
developed over time by practice and application of everything you learned. A fixed
mindset means that you believe intelligence is fixed and that you can never be good at
something you have never done.

2. What are the usual outcomes of each mindset?

A person with growth mindset usually works hard to learn something new. They tend to
try new things and explore what they can do for themselves while a person with a fixed
mindset tend to stay at their comfort zones and scared to take risks.

Part 2: Describe A Failure

Think back on your own life and challenges and pick one instance where you failed at
something. Next, answer each of the following questions.

3. What were you trying to accomplish?

When I was younger, I tried to learn how to ride a bicycle on my own. I never knew how
to ride one because after that I got into an accident that left a big scar on my knees. I
never tried to ride a bicycle again.

4. How did you feel when you failed?

 I was so frustrated because all of my siblings and friends knew how to ride a bicycle. I
was the only riding a tricycle. It felt like my childhood is not complete. But I didn’t want
to try it again because I don’t want to get another scar.

5. How did you respond to those feelings?

I stopped trying to learn and just focused on other childhood activities I can do with my
siblings like playing games and swimming. I didn’t want to feel like I have missed
something in my life.

Part 3: Reflect on the Failure

6. Drawing on what you know about what you know about growth and fixed mindsets,
would you say that your response was more of a fixed mindset or a growth mindset?
Explain your answer.

I had a fixed mindset. I thought that maybe I was not really meant to be good at riding
bicycles or any two-wheeled transportation, so I just I moved to do other things.

7. If you feel you responded with a growth mindset, what strategies did you apply to avoid
having a fixed mindset? If you feel you responded with a fixed mindset, what strategies
do you feel you could have applied (and could apply to future situations) to have a
growth mindset about failure instead?

At that time, I didn’t want to ask for help because I wanted to look and feel like I’m
already a big girl and I’m independent. As I responded with a fixed mindset, I could have
tried it all over again and asked help from my parents or my younger siblings. I could
have also been more patient with myself and not be too hard.