Resolution re-vision...

How do you spell intelligence?

I've never been one for New Year's resolutions but it was obvious that this year required that rule to be broken....just this once: "I resolve to keep my blog up to date; make at least two entries per term." 

So: "Dear Diary..." yeah, nah...that's just not gonna cut it!

Having had a decent "stay-cation" (never went anywhere but got a decent Southland tan anyway - albeit singlet shaped): work beckoned. So, today we kicked off two days of professional development with the teaching staff.

The troops followed up their compulsory professional reading programme by comparing the facets of a "fixed mind set" with those of a "growth mindset". 

The flow-on activity involved the staff being divided into teams to sort and sift their discoveries before going head to head in a little problem-solving action.  

A good team looking sharp: with Justine, Pauline, Cynthia, Carolyn (praying for victory - at this stage, the rest of us didn't even know there was a contest!);
and Dale (wondering whether or not she's had breakfast).

The growth mindset is one we want to cultivate in our kids (and in our staff too); we'll provide more links and information on this a the year progresses.

Mean time: how much does 'effort' count? Way more than you might think. A very good example of the growth impact of an 'effort' mindset, makes this five-minute clip well worth watching.