Mindset: Teaching it to our students

Effort and hard work: 

moving from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset

     So I think it's really important to teach kids that their effort is what will help them succeed in school and in life.  I have a wall filled with effort quotes in an attempt to inspire students to always try their best.  I started this after reading Robert Marzano's research on his Nine Instructional Strategies for Effective Teaching and Learning.  I particularly connected with his thoughts on effort.

    This summer, I started reading about moving students from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. It's an idea discovered by world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck.  It's the thought that a fixed mindset- things are the way they are and we can't change them- stands in our way of success.  A growth mindset is the belief that we can develop our brains and our talent through hard work and effort.  That's what I was trying to teach my kids with the effort quotes but I didn't have a name for it.  So my first step was to create posters on moving from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.  They're on TeachersPayTeachers for $1.50.  Adults (district visitors) really liked them but I wasn't sure I was getting through to the kids.

    Then I discovered The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires! And I found this blog by Two Writing Teachers.  They had a convo with the author and really went into depth examining this book.  Read the blog.  It's amazing.  I created a read aloud lesson plan on inferring that I'm going to use as a springboard for delving further into the idea of a growth mindset.  It's $1.00 on TPT.  Wish me luck!

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