Kazu Kibuishi Visiting Queen Anne Elementary
This past Thursday, we had the wonderful opportunity of hosting Kazu Kibuishi, the author of the Amulet series, here at Queen Anne Elementary. He captured our attention through personal stories and sharing his journey to becoming a well known graphic novel author. He had many golden nuggets to take away from his presentation and experience such as the importance of following through and finishing your work and being inspired as a writer and illustrator by events in your own life. In the end, he even drew a unique picture right in front of us of him riding a cat!
I told my class beforehand to listen to his presentation with our Writer's lens on, looking for words of wisdom and opportunities to learn from his personal story, and I could tell that he had rekindled a new love of doodling, reading, and writing in so many of them.
I told my class beforehand to listen to his presentation with our Writer's lens on, looking for words of wisdom and opportunities to learn from his personal story, and I could tell that he had rekindled a new love of doodling, reading, and writing in so many of them.
This past week during our Classroom Meetings we have discussed the difference between having a Fixed Mindset and a Growth Mindset. Stemming from Carol Dweck's book, Mindset, I wanted an early shift in both language and attitude to having a Growth Mindset. A Growth Mindset acknowledges the effort and work behind skill and success and views mistakes and failures as necessary stepping stones to improvement. I want both myself and my students to break free from the mental limitations they impose on themselves and see the possibility found within dedication, perseverance and hard work. Even after just two Classroom Meetings on the topic, I am pleasantly surprised at the thoughtful brainstorming of alternative thinking as shown on the left-hand side of the anchor chart.