05 November 2016

Growth Mindset: Teach Your Students to Get Gritty!

Growth Mindset

It's education's newest buzzword (or words?) What is it exactly? My definition of it is a person's way of thinking of their abilities, the perseverance to continue working at hard things, and to always be willing to give something a try, even if it's "scary" because you feel like you might fail. 

The idea was invented by Stanford University Carol Dweck. Click here to check out more about her and her book about growth mindset.

I found a research study that was done regarding all of this very interesting. I highly recommend watching the following video. 



Now, as an educator, how should we use this information in our classrooms?



To start explaining it to students, I think this video would be a great introductory video to get a discussion going. I'd ask students to explain the difference between the two girls' thinking. How many times have they felt this way in class? 


I've shown this video. It's a great thing to do when you notice students are struggling with confidence. All of my students are struggling learners so this is a great lesson.

Before doing watching it, I polled the class. I had them vote whether they believed that people are BORN SMART or BECOME SMART. Then we watched it and discussed. Some of the things we discussed were: What are their reactions when things get hard? Do they give up or push forward with more effort and grit? Why do a lot of people quit? What can they do the next time things get hard?

Another great idea for older students might be to give them this quote and discuss:




Some great growth mindset resources on TPT follow...

Growth Mindset Posters by To the Square Inch

Growth Mindset Unit by Teaching with Hope

Interactive Notebook for Growth Mindset by The Write Stuff

Growth Mindset Craftivity by Runde's Room

Resources for Parents, Teachers, and Students on Growth Mindset by Schoolhouse Diva

Ready to receive some awesome tips, tricks, and freebies in your mailbox?!

* indicates required
Email Format

1 comment: