Fostering a Growth Mindset
Loren Pessolano
Brook Glenn Elementary
@LorenPessolano
This will be challenging, but I will not give up!
Contrary to popular belief,
High achievement isn’t merely a product of talent and ability.
Our internal beliefs about our own
actually fuel behavioral patterns and predict success.
(Carol Dweck)
The brain can grow and change, and students DO NOT enter school with a set of unchangeable strengths and weaknesses.
(edweek.org)
Turn to an elbow partner and tell them the first word that comes to mind when I say
Fixed Mindset
Growth Mindset
I’m not good at this.
What am I missing?
I give up!
I’ll use a different strategy!
I made a mistake.
Mistakes help
me learn.
A person with a fixed mindset believes that his intelligence is static.
Growth Mindset
Growth Mindset
A person with a growth mindset believes that his intelligence can be developed.
This type of person is more likely to...
Embrace challenges,
Persist in the face
of setbacks,
“
See effort as a natural path to mastery.
“
Do you want students who are...
Then let’s look at how to foster a growth mindset within your classroom setting.
The good news is that a growth mindset can be taught!
Dweck found that when students undertook an intervention to move them from a fixed to a growth mindset, they immediately began performing at higher levels and achieved greater academic success.
What you focus on,
will IMPROVE.
#1
Think about setting achievable micro-goals to encourage students’ consistent, incremental progress.
Small wins repeated over time can lead to a growth mindset, and increased self-confidence.
(edsurge.com)
Sight Words
AR
Test Grades
Fluency
The Reading Hill
You’ve taken 4 steps!
The best riders have been practicing the longest.
How could you set micro-goals in your specific setting?
Introduce students to famous
#2
ALBERT EINSTEIN
He wasn’t able to speak until he was almost 4-years old, and his teachers said he would “never amount to much.”
MICHAEL JORDAN
After being cut from his high school basketball team, he went home, locked himself in his room, and cried.
WALT DISNEY
Fired from a newspaper for “lacking imagination” and “having no original ideas.”
STEVE JOBS
At 30-years old, he was left devastated and depressed after being unceremoniously removed from the company he started.
OPRAH WINFREY
Was demoted from her job as a news anchor because she “wasn’t fit for television.”
THE BEATLES
Rejected by Decca Recording Studios, who said “we don’t like their sound- they have no future in show business.”
Perhaps you want to read a book and have a discussion.
#3
Picture books that promote a growth mindset.
When students succeed, praise their efforts and strategies as opposed to their intelligence.
#4
#5
Teach students how to think.
Instead of... | Try thinking... |
I’m not good at this. | What am I missing? |
I’m awesome at this. | I’m on the right track. |
I give up. | I’ll use some of the strategies we’ve learned. |
This is too hard. | |
I can’t make this any better. | |
What can I say to myself?
Do not judge me by my SUCCESSES, judge me by how many times I FELL DOWN and got back up again.
-Nelson Mandela
Student Checklist
My Favorite NO
#5
RESOURCES