Likely you've heard about growth
mindset, but may not know what it actually is, or just don't know how to
instill it in your students. Last year I encountered the concept of growth mindset,
and let me tell you…it is life changing.
Growth mindset is
the idea that people should want to improve for the sake of improving. Just
because you are getting hundreds doesn't mean that you are a great student, and
just because you are getting C's doesn't mean that you aren't. A truly
impressive person is one who keeps trying in the face of adversity.
Last year,
when I spent the first two weeks of school focusing on growth mindset, there
was a noticeable difference in the way my class ran from previous years.
Students were more likely to push themselves to do better and go further, as
well as to encourage their peers to do the same. So how to implement a growth
mindset focus in your own classroom?
Discuss growth mindset and give examples
I like to start with this activity as a hook. I don't give any directions, beyond telling my groups that they must sort their students from best to worst student, and be able to give a justification for their sort.
After students have completed
their sort, tell them your answers. Explain to your students that your
classroom is not about achievement, but about effort. If someone got an A with
no effort, then you are less impressed than you would be by someone who worked
hard for a C (and then make sure you walk the walk, too! Reward growth and
effort, not achievement).
There are many famous examples of
growth mindset in great people throughout history. You can get some from this great Ted Talk by Carol Dweck.
Practice Identifying Examples and Non-Examples of Growth Mindset
I use the following this activity (also available as task cards here!) to give my kids an opportunity to think about what
growth mindset looks like, how to cultivate it, and what those with growth
mindsets might think. This is a fun higher-order thinking activity that
students can participate in during the first week of school (and a great chance
to practice academic discussion skills!) Give each group
a different situation and allow them to use their academic discussion skills to
decide how to improve the outcomes and behaviors in each situation. I like to
allow my kids to make posters to go with their ideas and present to the class.
Then the posters can become part of our classroom decoration!
Reinforce the power of growth mindset all year long!
I use a modified version of Paul
Solarz's "Thank You Points" from his excellent book Learn Like a Pirate: Empowering Students to Become Collaborative Leaders. Because I only have a
60-minute block, I do not have 20 minutes to give to having a daily, student-run
meeting to determine our day's thank you points. What I do instead is divide my
board into 5 sections:
Positive Actions
|
Thank You Points
|
Showed growth mindset
|
|
Stayed on-task
|
|
Showed politeness,
respect, and compassion for peers
|
|
Showed politeness,
respect, and compassion for adults
|
|
Showed politeness,
respect, and compassion for the
environment
|
Once students reach 75 points
(with at least 10 in each category), I give a small "thank you gift"
to everyone in the class, to thank them for their time, their effort, and for
making my days rewarding and enjoyable (Thank you gifts could be anything from
lunch in the classroom to special pencils for everyone). This is one way to
consistently remind the class of the importance of growth mindset.
Another way is to call out those
students who are working hard and improving. Showcase their work on your
student work board, move up their clips on your behavior chart, or do whatever
it is that you do to make exceptional students feel special in your classroom.
Happy learning!
Cheers,
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