by Venie Gaki

How Can Self-Reflection Help Students Develop A Growth Mindset?

by Venie Gaki, ESL/EFL Faculty

The first year of the pandemic was a challenging year; both teachers and students had to switch to virtual school overnight! And we did it and we pulled through! The second year was more difficult, though...despite the fact that we ALL knew what to do and how to deal with it or what to expect, it proved to be an exhausting year, mainly for students. At some point they had lost their orientation….

When we first came to class in September, I gave each of my students two pebbles; one pebble represented their personal goal, and the other one their academic goal. They wrote their goals down on paper and kept them with those two pebbles somewhere safe. They were advised to try and reach for those two pebbles when they felt they were digressing from their goals...

It was at the beginning of February when many of my students started to feel disoriented, distracted and tired; it seemed as if they had lost hope and purpose. They were there, for every online class, but not fully present….from the other end of the screen, I could sense a feeling of emptiness. Some of my students were feeling desolate; they could not retain simple instructions or information mentioned in the previous lesson. They were doing things in a transactional manner, with no purpose, lifelessly….But how could I ask a Social Studies class to deeply contemplate and change their mindset implicitly and seamlessly, without forcing them to reflect, without making them feel guilty for NOT meeting expectations?

Since we were discussing the end of the Mycenaean civilization and the Trojan War, the answer came from the Classics…..it was Homer and Ulysses who would give me the solution! I asked students to write an essay about their Ithaca, their destination...They were provided with the following prompt:

Ulysses had a goal; to return to Ithaca. On the journey back to Ithaca, there were a lot of temptations; there were times when he succumbed (he gave in) to those temptations, and other times when he resisted, but in the end he reached his goal.

What is your goal / are your goals for the end of the year? (Where are your pebbles and your note? Find them ….)

Are there any temptations that you feel might drift you away from your goal(s)? Which are these temptations? What can you do to remain faithful to your goals?

Write about 200 words. Start with the following topic sentence:

“Ulysses had a goal; to return to Ithaca. My goal, my Ithaca is to.....by the end of this year….” (continue)

I received 17 essays and they were all so honestly, so frankly written….Most of the students’ academic goal was to excel as students or try and do the best they could to improve their skills in English. Their personal goal was to make more friends, as this was a group of students who were new to ACS and had not had the time to become close to their classmates.

The most interesting finding was that all of the students admitted that it was very difficult for them to stay focused during class because they felt distracted from all the tabs they had on. Games, Instagram, Youtube videos, Tik-Tok, a pot-pouri of social media tools and applications were their “Sirens”, their “Laestrygonians” and their “Cyclops”.... Gaming and funny videos were very tempting to abstain from, singing a song that was so alluring, that they would not care about what the teacher was saying regarding the end of the Bronze Age, the cells in science or mathematical equations …. The pile of work they had to do since they had not met many of the deadlines was their Cyclops and the guilt they had for failing to be consistent was their Laestygonians. And then, it was the “angry Poseidon” they had to confront, the frustrated parent and the disappointed teacher…..Paying attention to class, staying productive and motivated, keeping up with assignments were the biggest challenges students had to deal with.

However, they all knew what they had to do; they all suggested a daily plan that would help them with time management and everyday obligations.

“...But now, I know better what my priorities are, and I always try to finish what I have to do first before I enjoy other things. That way, I can enjoy my life 100% without feeling guilty.”

What is worth mentioning, is the change of mindset that the majority of the students demonstrated; they became more active participants in online learning, asking questions, contributing to constructive discussions carried out in class, meeting deadlines, but most importantly demonstrating effort and interest in their learning. The majority of the students became more resilient and showed immense grit; they did not feel it was vain to do 2nd and 3rd drafts of written tasks; they did not wince, they did not complain….It was a pleasure teaching this group of students this year!

EFL 2 Social Studies Class, you guys, rock! Keep it up! Spread your wings and fly to your Ithaca….

These are two of the students’ essays :

My Ithaca- My Goals, by Aramaki Shun

Ulysses had a goal; to return to Ithaca. My goal, my Ithaca is to get all As (better than A-) in the gradebook for this year.

The reason why I set this as a goal of the year is because I noticed in the 1st quarter that if I work hard, I can get better grades. I got As for all the classes in the 2nd quarter, so I will keep going. I’m not saying I want all As just to be proud. I just regard grades as the result of my effort. Still, I feel happy when I get good grades because they are proof that I learned a lot of new things. And I believe I can achieve that if I do my best.

There are too many temptations that I feel might drift me away from my goal. Of course, I love playing video games, communicating with my friends on social media and watching YouTube, so I could spend all day doing these things. I have experienced those temptations like 10,000 times.

Actually I got bad scores when I did those things although my parents told me to do my tasks first. But now, I know better what my priorities are, and I always try to finish what I have to do first before I enjoy other things. That way, I can enjoy 100% without feeling guilty.

For these reasons, I will keep going, keep doing my best. This is my Ithaca for this year.

Ithaca, by C.P. Cavafy Translated by Edmund Keeley

As you set out for Ithaka hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery. Laistrygonians, Cyclops, angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them: you’ll never find things like that on your way as long as you keep your thoughts raised high, as long as a rare excitement stirs your spirit and your body. Laistrygonians, Cyclops, wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them unless you bring them along inside your soul, unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one. May there be many summer mornings when, with what pleasure, what joy, you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time; may you stop at Phoenician trading stations to buy fine things, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, sensual perfume of every kind— as many sensual perfumes as you can; and may you visit many Egyptian cities to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you’re destined for. But don’t hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years, so you’re old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way, not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you wouldn't have set out. She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you. Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

My Ithaca, by Amit Pinto

My goal,my Ithaca for this year is to break my record at a 60- meter run; my record right now is 8.70 seconds and I want to make it 8.50 seconds , but also to get good grades by the end of this year.

The temptation I will most likely come across is playing games because I like to play games and I’m a little lazy but the world is also trying to sabotage my goal, because what is going on right now in the world is crazy! I can’t go outside and practice running.

What I plan to do in order to stay on track with my goal is that I will probably have my own limited time playing on the computer and I will join a running club to practice more on my running. As soon as we can go outside I will practice more. What I will do to get good grades by the end of the year is to listen carefully in class and understand the material that we are learning and I will try my best to give homework on time, because last year I didn’t submit ALL homework on time.

So I have decided to remain faithful to my goals because I want to be a good student and I am very good at running so I want to develop my skill to become even better.