Encouraging a Growth Mindset
"We like to think of our champions and idols as superheroes who were born different from us. We don't like to think of them as relatively ordinary people who made themselves extraordinary."
- Carol Dweck
One of the many important lessons I start my year off with is providing students with the opportunity to learn about fixed and growth mindsets. The lesson introduces students to the research and ideas shared by psychologist Carol S. Dweck in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. There are endless age appropriate resources and videos available online to help students understand how their brain learns.
My favourite resource to use to supplement our activities and discussions is created by Class Dojo. Students get to know a little monster named Mojo who struggles with learning challenging concepts in school. Mojo meets a friend, Katie, who encourages him to love challenges and remember that his brain is a muscle that is always getting stronger. Katie also teaches Mojo to tell himself not to worry about making mistakes because he just doesn't know what he needs to YET. The videos are super cute and have peppy music. Students love watching Mojo and bob their heads along as they follow his journey from having a fixed mindset to being aware that all learning is a chance for growth. Below is the link to the videos and activities.
Once we have completed our activities, discussions, video watching, and set some goals, students create a small encouragement postcard with a phrase or quotation that they loved from the videos. They decorate it, we laminate them, and then hang them up around the room or in lockers to remind ourselves of the power of yet and the importance of remembering that every learning opportunity helps us grow our brain muscle.
Starting the year with learning how we learn is important. Students need to know how their brain works and how they learn to be successful. Talking about fixed and growth mindset comes up nearly every day in my classroom because there is always someone who needs to be encouraged in growing their brain muscle. I am currently working on updating my learning and mindset lesson and will post it on my teachers pay teachers store soon in case you are interested in trying what I do in my class!
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