You can grow your intelligence

The most important thing I learned about the growth mindset is that you can get smarter by practicing. You're not born with a certain level of intelligence that will limit you for the rest of your life, instead, you can train yourself to become better at anything. To get better, you have to try challenging new things. Your brain isn made up of neurons, nerve cells that communicate with each other allowing you to think. When you learn new things, your neurons connect and get stronger. For example, when you first learn to ride a bike, it might be hard at first, but when you've finally learned how to do it you make new connections in your brain, and riding a bike becomes something easy. Knowing that you can always get better is important in order to stay motivated when trying to learn new things.

If you are taking on a new challenge and you begin feeling like it's too difficult and you can't do it, there are a few things you can do. You should stay motivated and keep trying. To do this, you can tell yourself that you can't do it yet. That will help you keep the focus on making progress instead of thinking that you're too dumb to do it. Then what? Then, you should start trying again. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, because mistakes can actually help you. If you stop to reflect on your mistakes, you can learn a lot of things. Examine why you made that mistake and you won't have to do it again. Then you will keep getting better until you reach your goal. You can call this situation "the dip". That is, when you get and start feeling down because you can't do it. In order to climb out of the dip you need to stay motivated, keep trying and reflect on your mistakes until you can finally finish your project.

A day with Michael Jackson

Gunnesboskolan News Post

Issue #4 year 1982

A day with Michael Jackson

It was a foggy morning in New York. I had lined up to make a regular old interview with Mr. Michael Jackson about the huge success of his recent album, ”Thriller”, a fact which can not have escaped anyone’s notice at the time of writing. But what i got was far from a regular old interview. 

I was unlucky to have booked the last shift for the interview… or so i thought. After what felt like days waiting in line I finally met with Mr. Jackson. He was very pleased about how well received his new album was, but because of what happened next, that’s all i remember of the actual interview. 

I was just about to pack up and leave when Mr. Jackson told me he had scheduled a music video recording within a few hours and he was wondering if i wanted to come with him. And so, i was on a private jet to hollywood. On board the plane, we were served huge luxurious meals and we discussed recent events and what he had planned for the future. In the studio i got to see the whole recording process first-hand. I even learned some of Michael’s new moves that he planned to use for a later music video. There was one in particular that caught my eye. I told him it looked kind of like when an astronaut walks on the moon, and he seemed quite amused with the idea. So  after that, i got a flight and a limousine ride bach to my hotel and last thing he agreed to sign the article, which i will be sending back to Sweden.

Blog post about music

• What is your favorite song? Why?

I don't listen actively to music. I might hear something on the radio or something that someone else plays with their phone, but I don't listen to music in my free time. Therefore, I don't have any favorite song that I listen to over and over. 

• Who is your favorite artist? Why?

Since i don't look up the music I hear myself, I often don't know who is the artist behind the song. I also don't listen to music through albums and I don't keep up with the latest releases from famous artists. Therefore, I can't say that i have a favorite artist. 

• Has your taste in music changed since you were in the seventh grade? If so, in what way and why?

Again, I don't really listen to my own sort of music. The music I hear the most is of course the currently popular, mainstream music, so that has changed slightly over time. There are good and bad songs in all sorts of music, and I wouldn't limit myself to just one or a few genres. What i can tell you though, is that the music that is popular right now among the people that i spend most of my time with, like at school, is mostly not to my liking.

• Do you listen to the lyrics (låttexter)? Are they important? Why/Why not?

The lyrics are an important part of music, so yes, i do try to listen to them sometimes. If i'm busy with something else while listening, though, it might be harder to focus on the lyrics. The lyrics are important because they deliver most of the message that the artist wants to convey with the music, and they often work together with the melody to make up the whole impression of the music. However if the lyris are cryptic and make little sense to me, or are just dumb, they may not be as interesting. 

Just sixteen: an interview with my mom

Growth Mindset - Season Two

Clip no. 1

1. The dip is when you're stuck on a challenge. You may feel like you can't do it or that you should just quit. The dip is something normal that happens to most people.

2. You could encounter a dip in any situation where you're taking on a new challenge, for example when you're working on a hard school project.

3. The dip can make you feel down and want to give up. To stay positive you can remind yourself that it happens to everyone and start finding a way to exit the dip.

Clip no. 2

1. You should stop for a moment and reflect on why you made the mistake and try to learn as much as possible from it. This way you won't have to repeat the mistake and you may get a better understanding of what you're doing.

2. If you always stop to reflect, you will start getting better and better. you will learn from every mistake, which will make your neurons connect and make you better at it.

3. You can escape the dip if you keep trying and stop to reflect on your mistakes.

Clip no. 3

1. Escaping the dip feels good. Working becomes fun again, and you feel like you're starting to make progress on your project again. Of course you can have more than one dip on one project.

2. Instead of comparing yourself to others, you can focus on improving yourself and setting up your own goals.

3. He means that when you fail, you have an opportunity to learn from your mistake and to get better at whatever you are trying to do.

Growth mindset reading comprehension

1. The brain is similar to a muscle, it gets stronger if you train it.
2. The nerve cells (neurons) in the brain are connected to other nerve cells in a complicated network. When you learn new things, these connections multiply and get stronger.
3. The more you challenge your brain to learn, the more your brain cells grow.
4. The key to growing your brain is practice.
5. The more a person learns, the easier it gets to learn more things, because the brain gets stronger.

Growth Mindset

Clip no. 1

1. He wants to leave school because he doesn't think he is smart enough. I don't remember feeling like i can't get better at something if i try.

2. She tells him that he can get smarter by training his brain, like a muscle.

3. Yes. According to Katie, he can train himself and become smarter by doing more challenging tasks.

4. I don't recognize coming to a complete halt in any subject, but i'm sure i can get better at those that i'm not so good at.

Clip no. 2

1. It means that you can learn from your mistakes. If you're doing something wrong, realizing what mistakes you made can help you do it better next time.

2. If you make a mistake when doing school work, for example writing a text, your teacher can tell you what you did wrong and you won't have to repeat it next time.

3. I would try to figure out what i was doing wrong and try to correct it.

Clip no. 3
1. You should think to yourself that you cant do it yet, and if you work har enough, sooner or later you'll be able to do it.

2. I can't think of a time i've been afraid to ask for help, but i think some people are because it would seem like they couldn't do it themselves.

3. Thinking "i can't do it yet" is useful because it helps you not to give up as you work towards your goal. Whenever i try to learn something new, i have to think that i can't do it yet and focus on getting there, step by step.

Clip no. 4
1. Neurons are the cells that make up our brains. New connections are made when we learn something new.

2. Perhaps when i first learned to ride a bike i made some new connections in my brain.

3. In oder to make some new connections, i could for example learn a new, more challenging piece for the saxophone.

Clip no. 5
1. If something is too challenging, you might feel like you can't do it. You shouldn't think this way, instead, you should start thinking about how you could do it.

2. When faced with a new challenge, we should not get discouraged if it seems hard and we make mistakes, and instead keep trying until we succeed. Feeling like you can't do it won't get you anywhere.

3. No. If you ask for help, you might learn new things or new ways to think about the problem. Reflecting on your mistakes is also a good way to learn and an important step in solving your problem.

Advice To Joe

Word list - Adventures Of A Backpacker

Word list - Rabbit Proof Fence

Dreamtime - word list

Settle - Slå sig ner
Disease - Sjukdom
Simply - Enkelt, simpelt
Gathering - Samla
Tribe - Stam
Ancestors - Förfäder
Spirits - Andar
Creation - Skapelse
Wake - Vakna, väcka
Should - Borde, skall/skulle
Descriptions - Beskrivningar
Strength - Styrka
Crater - Krater
Valleys - Dalar
Alongside - Tilsammans, vid sidan av
Serpent - Orm
Gap - Klyfta, gap
Split - Klyva
Carving - Täljning
Pattern - Mönster

Freedom Park

Fakebook - No Friends or Free Time

In the little village where I live there is no free time for anyone. Everyone has to work in the corn fields to feed the village, and everyone who isn't doing that is doing something else they don't want to do like carrying water and taking care of sick people. It's a pain to work all the time and I haven't had a day off nor a friend to talk to since I was 7.

However, I once met a boy called Jamie when I was out working. We started talking about how bad life is and we became friends. Jamie was a really good friend. I mean he'd beat me every now and then, but that's just what friends do. He used to have a lot of friends, but the all stepped on land mines, just like all of mine, so I was really sad when he left me. He abandoned me and went off to a country far away to get rich and live in luxury. And that's the end of all my friendships and free time so far.

Fakebook - My Painful Childhood

My name is Jamal, I live in Africa in a tiny clay hut with my seven sick siblings. My parents have moved to a country far away but left me behind. They were tobacco and alcohol addicts used to beat us and call us useless until they left. Now I have to work nearly alone in the corn fields until long past midnight, or the whole village will starve to death. I also have to walk the five kilometers to the nearest water source five times a day.

Nearly all of my village is sick with a deadly disease, but nobody helps us so we don't even know what it is, and everyone's dying like flies. We can't move away because of the dictatorship and those who try to escape are captured and never seen again. There are terrorists and insurgents killing and kidnapping people, so we can't even leave our house. All nearby cities are abandoned because of the war and the ground is full of land mines. 

Please help me get an education and a better life. Also my greatest dream is to own a Lamborghini. Donate $500 now to help a suffering child in need.
 --> www.donate-all-of-your-money.com/donate/fake.html <--

Log Book w17 #1

I have listened to a podcast at the site Podcasts In English. It was about anonymity on the internet. They were talking about both the positive aspects of it, such as commenting more and being more active if you don't have to say things in your own name, as well as the negative aspects, for example many people don't behave on the web if they don't have to stand for what they say. They Also discussed the negative effects that unfriendly comments can have on people.

Word list:
Malicious - skadlig, illvillig
Trolls - Troll (eller folk som beter sig illa på nätet)
Off-topic - irrelevant
Accountable - kan stå till svars för något
Appropriate - lämplig

Log Book w16 #2

Today I have played an English quiz called Big Words. It was in six steps and had trivia questions about english speaking countries, expressions from Britain/America, difficult words with antonyms, scrambled letters and a word quiz on different themes and professions.

Word List

Absent - inte närvarande

Cabinet - skåp

Carpentry - snickeri

Spirit level - vattenpass

Excess - övarbliven

Log Book w16 #1

I have played a game about furniture and decorating a room.

Word List

Chandelier - ljuskrona, takkrona

Curtain - gardin

Floral - blommig

Striped - randig

Armchair - fåtölj

Log Book w15 #3

I have read a news article about the conflicts that the Swedish foreign minister Margot Wallström has created with Russia and Saudi Arabia and retold to another person.

Word List

Foreign - utlands/utrikes-,  utländsk

Middle East - Mellanöstern

Medieval - medeltida

Blame - skylla på

Infiltration - infiltrering, intrång

Log Book w15 #2

Today I have read a News In Levels-article about train safety and people risking their lives around railway crossings and retold to a classmate.

Word List
Pedestrian - fotgängare
Launch - starta, avfyra
Footage - video eller bilder
Awareness - medvetenhet om något
Campaign - kampanj

Log Book w15 #1

Tuesday 7 April

Today I made a personality test. It told me that I was the kind of person who hangs out with a small group of closest friends (which is true) and that I am wherever the potato chips are at a party (which is not true...).

Word List

Reliable - pålitlig

Cranked up - uppvriden (musik)
Confident - självsäker
Inherit - ärva
Subject - ämne