So…which mindset are you? Growth? Fixed?
We’ve been applauded for success, achievements, and grades! Society stresses the importance of making something of yourself, being the smartest, being the best…
But what does it really mean to be THE BEST?
If we have a growth mindset, then we can forget about the pressure of being THE BEST and focus on working toward being YOUR BEST!
What is Growth Mindset
Growth Mindset is a way of thinking and understanding that our brains are constantly growing as we learn. It’s how we understand our own abilities and use those abilities throughout the learning process.
A growth mindset teaches students to understand how they learn and how the effort they put forth will determine the success they find.
Developing this kind of mindset plays a key role in student motivation, confidence, and academic achievement. It will actually boost their ability to achieve! Who doesn’t want that! Let’s get down to it. There are two important things to consider:
- Students can learn to control their attitudes about learning.
- Students can learn to control the amount of effort they put forth.
Attitude and Effort are not skills that come naturally to most students. Attitude and effort need to be taught, modeled, encouraged, and celebrated over and over again. This can be fostered at school, but also at home, given the proper tools. Educators have the power to do this and really make a difference in the lives of our students.
It is our job as educators to foster learning. We can do this by teaching our students that they can control both their attitude and effort for learning through developing a growth mindset.
Then we celebrate with them along the way. We celebrate the tiny achievements and the big achievements. We celebrate when we learn from mistakes to move on to be better. We celebrate the good attitude and effort! In order to teach this we must practice it and model it ourselves!
Why teach Growth Mindset?
Because it can be learned!
Did you know there is a phenomenon called neuroplasticity?
NEURO-WHAT-ICITY?????
It’s true! Neuroplasticity explains that it’s possible to rewire the brain. That is right…YOUR BRAIN IS A MUSCLE that will work better when it’s used over and over and over again!!!
Just like the rest of our body. If we want strong muscles, then we practice using our muscles and move our body (lift weights). The same can work for turning negative situations into something positive, and our brain “muscle” will begin to memorize that practice. For this reason, we can change how we respond to challenges throughout our day, especially in regards to learning.
We can actually turn a fixed mindset into a growth mindset!
How to turn a fixed mindset into a growth mindset!
1. We can control our attitudes!
The best way to change our attitude is to keep a DAILY GRATITUDE JOURNAL! You don’t have to buy something fancy…You can simply open a $1 spiral notebook. Date the top of the page and list 5-10 things that you are grateful for.
This can be silly little things like movie nights, warm summer breeze, the first sight of a hummingbird, or your morning cup of coffee…I mean is there really anything better than that first sip of coffee??? Or it can be something huge, like your health, you income, your job, your marriage.
The point is, when you start each day with A DOSE OF DAILY GRATITUDE, you will see your attitude change!
You have to be consistent. DO IT EVERY DAY!!!
You will find yourself noticing the little things throughout your day that make you smile. Then you can write it down the next day in your journal!
Another thing that I do, is meditate or pray over that list! Giving thanks to all that I’m grateful for! I mean, I’m smiling just thinking about this…you see how that works!
2. We can control our effort!
Breaking down big tasks and celebrating the small accomplishments along the way is one amazing way to really be intentional about the amount of effort you place on your goals.
If you are writing a book, you might break down your goal into smaller goals by focusing on one chapter at a time. Celebrating each time you complete a chapter!
If your goal is to run a 5k. Then you break it down into mile markers. You celebrate each time you make it a little closer to your goal. If you ran 1 mile today, celebrate that mile! The next day you go out, reach for 1.5 miles. Then celebrate again.
You see, when you break down your task you can see the effort that you are putting into accomplishing the big goal!
When we can do this for ourselves we can better teach our students to do the same!
So I ask you…
Are you ready to teach your kids how to have a growth mindset?
Are you a good role model for them?
Let me share a story about a student of mine from many years ago!
Ricky (3rd grader) was not passing his multiplication fact tests. He couldn’t move on to x4 until he passed the x3 timed test. We all remember those tests right! Some of us loved them and some of us hated them. I noticed that Ricky was crying as I collected his multiplication fact test. I stopped and asked him what was wrong and he said, “I’m no good at multiplication! I am no good at math! My dad says nobody in our family is good at math. I will never pass the x3 test.”
Phew…if that doesn’t break your heart! This is a perfect example of a fixed mindset. Ricky believed that it was a family trait to be bad at math, and that was that! This fixed mindset or belief was holding him back.
After a good hug and some reassurance, I told Ricky that I understood how he was feeling. Our students need to know that they are not the only people that have to face challenging times. I told him that ANYONE can pass these tests if they work for it. He didn’t quite believe me… I gave him a strategy: I told him that I didn’t want him to pass the x3 tomorrow (we did this 1 min. Timed test every day). I explained that when we have a BIG task, we need to work toward smaller goals. Ricky could do the x0, x1, and x2. I was happy he recognized that because I was going to point out to him that he already passed those sets of tests! This reminded him that he is able to pass a multiplication test. So I told him that when we take the test tomorrow, I only want him to focus on getting the facts that he already knows correct, plus x3. We repeated over and over 3×3=9, 3×3=9, 3×3=9. (I had a very wise teacher in high school that told me when we practice something an odd number of times, our brains are more likely to remember it. I think she just wanted us to practice more than twice, but there is truth to repetition creating memory!) Throughout the day, everytime I would go over to Ricky, I would have him repeat 3×3=9. Before I hugged him goodbye at the end of the day, I asked him to repeat it again. I also challenged him to ask his dad what 3×3=. The next morning, as I greeted my students at the door, Ricky walked up to me and said, “good morning, 3×3=9, I’m ready for the test today!”
Ah ha!!!! Ricky was ready for his day, because he was ready for his x3 timed test! He had a completely different attitude about it because he felt confident, positive, and the big achievement of passing wasn’t his main goal!
Tackling the process was where Ricky was going to find his success on that day.
We did this everyday until he moved on to the next level. We did it every day until this process became a habit. Until neuroplasticity went to work! You see, Ricky’s dad seemed to think that their whole family wasn’t good at math so neither was Ricky. But what Ricky’s dad didn’t understand is that Ricky had a different mindset than he did. Ricky was developing a growth mindset.
We can do this exact thing for all of our students. Before you know it…they will look at daily challenges with a new perspective a positive attitude ready to apply the effort needed!
This, my friends, should be our goal in education. Not the end goal, but applying effort for the little goals along the way with a positive attitude.
WE CAN TRAIN OUR KIDS BRAINS BEFORE THEY CREATE BAD HABITS
WE CAN REWIRE THEIR BRAINS TO CHANGE THE BAD HABITS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN CREATED!
EITHER WAY IT’S A GAME CHANGER IN THE SUCCESS THAT THEY WILL FIND IN SCHOOL AND IN THEIR LIVES.
Enjoy Being Their Difference!
