Mary-Kaylin Linch's Blog

The purpose of the final reflection is to inform my audience of an overview of all I have completed in this my Composition II class. I address all four projects geared to displaying how they could be applied to the six learning outcomes. I also give an example of the challenges and strengths that this class revealed. I end the essay off with the overall benefit of the class.  Final Reflection                Over this past semester in Mrs. Atkin-Gordeeva’s Composition 1 class we completed three main projects along with a sub-project that included creatively integrating an image to further enforce the ideas of project three. There were six learning outcomes expected for the students to achieve and I believe that I conquered all six of the outcomes. The first learning outcome, rhetorical knowledge, is to be able to “respond appropriately to various rhetorical situations, purposes, and audiences”. Critical thinking, reading, and composi...

This invention work is a drawing of what ideas I wanted my meme to clearly portray. I based it off the end claim that I expressed in my exploratory essay. My end claim was that "kids who have struggled in terms of economy, culture, and family dynamics, a mindset is simply a band-aid on a gunshot wound" ("Mind over Bias" Linch).  Explanation            My natural train of though was to somehow incorporate a teaching figure telling her student to have a "mind over matter" type of mindset. But as you can see the child is having trouble overcoming the fact that her parents are getting a divorce with a simple mindset change. The child is having trouble overcoming the fact that nowadays being an immigrant is being used as a cultural slur rather than a triumph. Although I didn't use this exact template for the final product, my polished meme communicates the same message in a much more minimalistic, yet more powerful way.  ...

This meme represents the main downside of implementing a growth mindset. Without awareness and acknowledgment of a kid's home life, culture, and race, the growth mindset will not be the most effective tactic in educational success. The reason a mindset change is not effective on kids experiencing these struggles is that it is simply a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound. In simpler terms, administrators must take into account of how the kids are living outside of the classroom. A consciousness of how a child is outside of their academic pursuit is what I believe classrooms should address before fully implementing the growth mindset in schools.  Mind over Bias: Meme Explanation The fire represents the ignorance of cultural, racial and social class bias. The dog represents the student and he is at home in this toxic environment and he remembers that the teacher told him that growth mindsets are the key to success and growth. But meanwhile, he has much bigg...

This is a reflection of Project 3 that goes over just a few of the important choices I made while exploring the topic of a growth mindset. It also demonstrates how I came upon a more specific topic and my stance on it.  Project 3 Reflection, Mind over Bias   The first decision I made was on the general idea I wanted to write about. I knew I had experience with a growth-mindset and how effective it was in my educational pursuit. As I continued to expand on the topic of the effectiveness of a growth mindset is, I ran into some “theory-holes” (holes in the theory of the growth mindset, that is). So, I decided to explore the defects of implementing the power of mindsets in the classroom. Once I realized there was a gap in the power of the mindset, I discovered the specific topic of my essay and my stance on the subject matter. My rough draft was just my article summaries patched together in a somewhat cohesive way with an introduction and conclusion. What I decided it ...

My essay explored the different points of view pertaining to the growth mindset, and it's points of successes and failures. As I got deeper into the subject, I began to notice gaps in the effectiveness of the mindset. This led me to question how educators should properly enforce mindsets in a harmless way.  Mind over Bias I was four years old and my little hands were trying to zip up my jean pants. After what seemed like forever to my mom, I finally did it: I zipped up my own pants. I was so proud, and my mom said with excitement, “You did that all by yourself!” I responded with my hands on my hips, “Well, I am a luhnu [learner].”  My mom aimed at raising my brother and me on encouragement, not praise. Rarely did she ever say the words, “Good job!”, “You’re so smart!”, “You’re so talented!”. Instead, we heard, “You’re such a learner!”, “You worked hard for that grade! You should be so proud of yourself; I know I am!” Later, in high school, I remember sitting next to ...