Running Head: EVEN GENIUSES WORK HARD

Even Geniuses Work Hard

Tori Mielke
Cornerstone University

Running Head: EVEN GENIUSES WORK HARD

Summary
In the article, Even Geniuses Work Hard by author Carol Dweck, she talks about how
students and teachers can work together to help in the learning process. Dweck firmly believes
that every student has the potential to learn and grow. Not every student is the same, so their
learning styles will be different, but with the help of the teacher and the students classmates,
each student can make it through. There are two different mindsets that students can have. One
mindset is the growth mindset, which is when students are eager to learn. These students take
challenges head on and strive to get better. On the other hand there are students with fixed
mindsets. These students get intimidated with challenges and look for different excuses to give
up. There are many different strategies that teachers can use to help the students who are either
not being challenged or the students who find it difficult to achieve hard tasks. One of these
strategies includes having students write a letter to a peer letting them know that it is ok that they
dont understand something yet and that they will get it eventually. In the letter as well they
should include what they have struggled with in the past but now that they get it. In both classes
teachers need to be aware of what is going on so that they will be better equipped to help.
Critical Response
Thinking about what my future classroom will be like is very exciting. I realize that I will
have students who will struggle and find learning hard and wont want to do their work, but I can
connect to these students. Growing up and going to school I never considered myself as one of
the smart kids. I got intimidated by work that challenged me too much. To this day while in
college I still get frustrated and nervous when it comes to subjects that I dont understand. With
my background I feel that I can be more sensitive to those students who need a push in the right
direction and know that nothing is impossible and that just because they dont get it now doesnt

Running Head: EVEN GENIUSES WORK HARD

mean that they wont eventually get it. In this article, I agree with several of the points that the
author made about the different types of strategies that teachers can make. I think that it is a great
idea to get students and their peers involved with one another so that each student knows that
their peers have their backs. A strategy that I found when reading this that I could see myself
using in my future class is to have a list of tasks that students get to choose from to complete.
They have to choose a task that they are struggling in and make a goal for that. This gives a little
freedom to the students to choose what they need to work on to achieve a certain goal that they
have set for themselves. I think that it is very important to all new teachers to have the mindset
that not all students are going to be capable of learning the same way and that they will have
struggles. If every teacher is willing to work with these students and be patient with them then
the success rate for schools and students would increase. There is a huge advantage to knowing
how students are capable of learning so that they are less likely to get discouraged. To me, one
thing that may be difficult that I read in the article would be to have students look at something
in a different way. I am not a huge math person so being able to know the correct steps of how to
do a problem is big. Im not confident at this point if I would be able to help that student look at
the problems at different angles to see what will work best for them. As I continue my schooling
I know that I will get more confident and be able to help students however I can. My number one
goal as a teacher is to make sure that my students know that they are capable of big things and
they are able to learn.

Running Head: EVEN GENIUSES WORK HARD

Reference
Dweck, C. S. (2010, September). Even geniuses work hard. Educational Leadership, 68 (1), 1620.