How you can connect with families about teaching Growth Mindset

Connecting with your students and sharing your positive mindset is one thing. But the truth is, their families need to understand your philosophy of mindset and be able to promote the same growth mindset at home.

Parents today weren’t raised with this philosophy of fixed or growth mindset. I know this because I too, am a parent. I can be honest in sharing that parenting with a growth mindset has been an ongoing learning experience for me. This is because our own mindsets are created by our past experiences which can be vastly different from person to person.

The teacher in me is driven to learn more and more and to become just a little bit better each day. This goes for learning about implementing growth mindset in students, however, it first, starts with us. It starts with me. It starts with you!

When it comes to growth mindset are we just talking the talk or are we also walking the walk?

Dr. Carol Dweck is writing a book about just that and she is calling it “False Growth Mindset” Check it out in this video…

Talking the Talk vs. Walking the Walk vs. Talking & Walking

We can talk the talk all we want. This means that we can know the right way to do something, but not live it out.

For example…I know how to eat healthy, but does that mean that I am a healthy eater? No.

We must live out having a growth mindset. We must shift from the old habits or ways of thinking and doing. With growth mindset, we need to focus on the process of learning or the strategies used as well as the outcomes.

When we start talking and walking in a growth mindset way, our students and their families will be able to understand and learn it from us. This is how we connect with the families of our students. We talk about it and we live it out.

In my own teaching experience, I’ve learned several ways to do this that work. Some of these strategies were learned from colleagues, some from my own childrens’ teachers (from parents perspective), and others from just trying to be a little better at it myself.

3 Practical Ways to Share Growth Mindset with Families

• Connecting with Families (Becoming a united Team)
• Sharing your Teaching Style or Philosophy
• Walk the Walk

1. Connecting with Families

Set the Tone on the Phone

If you are a parent, you probably know the feeling that you get when your phone rings and you see your school number show up on your screen! Right? You start to think: What’s wrong? Who’s sick? What did they do?

Am I right?

I think every parent has experienced that. But not every parent has experienced what I’m about to share with you.

I also know that as a teacher, making phone calls home isn’t my favorite part of the job. In fact, it’s most likely not at the top your daily To Do List…

This idea of “setting the tone on the phone” is one of the best ways of connecting with families.

It starts the very first week of school. You intentionally call every student’s family during the first week of school!

Each day (during the first week) plan to stay after school and call 5 families. By the end of the week you should have reached every student’s family in your class.

The reason for this call is to connect and give them a taste of who you are. Give them a taste of what it means to have a growth mindset. Here is how the phone call goes…

“Hello, This is ____________________’s teacher, Mrs. _____________________. I just want to call to share with you _____________________________________ (this is where you say something positive about their child). I also wanted to share with you that one of my big goals for the year is to help your student develop a growth mindset. This means that we are constantly learning and growing. We are shaping our brains for positivity and growth. In our class we will be focusing on the process or the strategy used to get to our outcome. So when you are working with your child at home, you can support that philosophy by praising their effort or reviewing their process for arriving at their answer. You can be sure to see more about this coming home. I just wanted to call to say how much I’ve enjoyed getting to know ______________ this week and that __________________________________________________ (repeat the positive thing you called to share).”

There you go…quick and easy. I cannot tell you how great you will feel after you make those positive phone calls. It sets a positive tone for the year.

It shows the families that you are already finding good in their child and that you are ready to find even more good!

Set the TONE on the PHONE!

Parent Questionnaire

Let the parents share! You need to know what they know. Sending home a questionnaire to learn more about each student will benefit you and send the message that you want the parents involved and that you care about what is best for their child.

You are welcome to print this Parent Questionnaire that I have used for 18 years…yes, that’s a long time and it’s still good! I valued these and kept them right next to my desk so that I could revisit them if needed. Click here to print your own FREE Download.

2. Share your Process of Teaching

Send them videos, articles, etc. to share with them how you teach. This empowers parents to support their child in a consistent way. I have a couple ideas that you can share with your families:

• The power of Yet – share ideas for goal setting and for celebrating the process of progress!
• The Joy Jar – Let your student write down on a piece of paper the progress they’ve made that has brought them joy. They will drop that piece of paper into a jar and close the lid. Later (end of quarter, mid-year, end of year, etc.) You dump out the joy jar and read aloud your accomplishment that brought you joy! You can read more about my Joy Jar at home here...and you are welcome to share this post with your classroom families!
• My favorite NO! – This is a strategy that you can use in class. It can be used in any grade level. Watch the video here to see how it works.

• www.biglifejournal.com – Share this site with your families! I cannot explain the amount of education and support that is on this website. The blog is filled with information about growth mindset! If you get on their email list, you will have access to weekly freebies and parenting advice in regard to teaching your kids about mindset. And their products speak for themself. My own kids have enjoyed their journals over and over again! A great resource to provide to your classroom families.

3. Sharing your Teaching Style and Philosophy

When you are truly running your classroom with a growth mindset, the materials and projects that get sent home will do the work for you! What your parents see coming home in your child’s folders will give them insight to who you are how you teach. But even more importantly, it will show them how you believe in their child, how their peers encourage them, and how they perceive themselves as learners.

Let me give you some examples…some from my own students and others from my own children at home.

• Student of the Week Books – This is a writing tool that I used as a center each week when I was teaching 3rd grade. You can adjust it in anyway for any grade level! Click here to get your own printable Student of the Week Packet.

• Peer Messages for your students – My sons 4th grade teacher had her class make posters with kind things about each student. My sons poster has been hanging on his bedroom door for almost a full year. He really took to heart what his peers had to say about him. This teaches students to look for the good in people. It gives them an understanding of the good others see in them. However, as a parent…oh my heart!!! To see what others say about the good in your child, is such an amazing feeling. The fact that his teacher took the time out of her VERY busy day, to do this activity, speaks volumes about her! Shout out to you Mrs. Sarah Doughty!!!!

• Notes from the Teacher – this is easy…just write a little note and put it on their desk. My son’s teacher wrote him a little note (a sticky note) and he brought it home and stuck it to his mirror! It meant so much to him. It was a reminder for him to see his own potential!

Talking & Walking

Our students and our students families need us!

They need you! And you need them! As a team you can help your students learn that it’s all about growth, progress, and just being a little better each and every day.

The little things you say and do will make more of an impact than any academic content you teach. When you put a positive mindset to work in your classroom by talking the talk and by walking the walk, you will get positive results.

Talk to your students, talk to your students’ families, and walk the walk each and everyday!

Talk the Talk & Walk the Walk to BE THEIR DIFFERENCE!

Enjoy Being Their Difference!