The train has left the station with new knowledge onboard – now comes a critical juncture: the Integration Station . This is where we connect fresh ideas to the world students already know. At the Integration Station, learning truly becomes theirs . It’s the difference between memorizing a fact and saying, “Oh! This is just like when….” Integration is where association  flourishes and knowledge begins to stick. In practice, reaching the Integration Station means pausing after

Every learning journey needs a beginning. In the JVDT train metaphor, that beginning is the Information Station, the point where students board with fresh content and fresh curiosity. The word information  itself hints at what happens here. It comes from the Latin informare , which means to shape  or to form.  Before a lesson can grow in understanding, it first takes shape in the learner’s mind. At this station, we help give that shape. We open the doors and say, “Come on in,

“I can’t do this… yet .” In that single word lies the heart of a Growth Mindset . It’s the belief that ability isn’t fixed like a statue; it’s fluid like a river, shaped by effort, strategy, and time. In our classroom, cultivating a growth mindset is second nature. Every challenge is an opportunity, every mistake a teacher, every effort a step forward. We replace the finite language of “I’m just bad at this”  with the hopeful “I’m not good at it yet.” How do we do this daily?