I have been very taken with the idea of a student's mindset and how a positive attitude and effort can help a child have a successful school year. It was great to discover Scholastic's Growth Mindset: Bulletin Board in the Teacher Store that exactly addresses this. It features motivational phrases to help kids stay positive during the year when school challenges can seem overwhelming.
Once a week in my class I highlight a picture book that deals with perseverance and a growth mindset connection. After the read-aloud, we discuss the character in the story, the challenges they faced, and how they used a growth mindset to persevere and grow. Some stories that work very well for this purpose are The Little Engine That Could, The Tortoise and the Hare, and Stuck.
I wanted to take the focus off of the characters that we read about, and move it to my students and how these lessons apply to them in their daily lives. I asked students to think about the growth mindset and all that we have learned about it so far. Responses included:
“Growth mindset is when you keep trying even when something is hard.”
“It’s when you want to keep learning even when you know a lot already.”
I then asked them to talk to a partner about the following questions: “Can you think of a time where you used growth mindset? How did your changed mindset help you grow?”
After these partner discussions, students shared their stories with the class. I asked students why it is important to share and learn from each other’s mindset moments. We discussed how we can go to each other for help. I also talked about how important it is to celebrate the success of others and learn from their experiences.
To keep the mindset moment energy flowing through our room, I created a poster using chart paper. I asked students to write down their moments on a sticky note. They could then post growth mindset moments whenever they experienced one and we could share and celebrate as a class.
If a student got stuck for something to share, I encouraged them to take a sticky note and write about goals they had.
After a few minutes of reflection, students shared their moments with the class and then stuck them on our poster. It was empowering for them to voice their growth and exciting for us to see a peer face a challenge and succeed.
The mindset poster will be hanging in our room indefinitely. I plan to expand the poster when our first one runs out of room. There is so much power behind seeing other students' accomplishments in a strong visual representation. In our first attempts to share, it started as only a few voices willing to speak. By the end of our time, however, students were leaving to go home with a pack of sticky notes thinking about their growth mindset moments that they wanted to share!
It would be great to have students type up their mindset moments and create a book that documents how much they have grown throughout the year.
What might you do with your students growth mindset moments? I’d love to hear more ideas!
Thank you for reading!
Smiles,
Kriscia
I have been very taken with the idea of a student's mindset and how a positive attitude and effort can help a child have a successful school year. It was great to discover Scholastic's Growth Mindset: Bulletin Board in the Teacher Store that exactly addresses this. It features motivational phrases to help kids stay positive during the year when school challenges can seem overwhelming.
Once a week in my class I highlight a picture book that deals with perseverance and a growth mindset connection. After the read-aloud, we discuss the character in the story, the challenges they faced, and how they used a growth mindset to persevere and grow. Some stories that work very well for this purpose are The Little Engine That Could, The Tortoise and the Hare, and Stuck.
I wanted to take the focus off of the characters that we read about, and move it to my students and how these lessons apply to them in their daily lives. I asked students to think about the growth mindset and all that we have learned about it so far. Responses included:
“Growth mindset is when you keep trying even when something is hard.”
“It’s when you want to keep learning even when you know a lot already.”
I then asked them to talk to a partner about the following questions: “Can you think of a time where you used growth mindset? How did your changed mindset help you grow?”
After these partner discussions, students shared their stories with the class. I asked students why it is important to share and learn from each other’s mindset moments. We discussed how we can go to each other for help. I also talked about how important it is to celebrate the success of others and learn from their experiences.
To keep the mindset moment energy flowing through our room, I created a poster using chart paper. I asked students to write down their moments on a sticky note. They could then post growth mindset moments whenever they experienced one and we could share and celebrate as a class.
If a student got stuck for something to share, I encouraged them to take a sticky note and write about goals they had.
After a few minutes of reflection, students shared their moments with the class and then stuck them on our poster. It was empowering for them to voice their growth and exciting for us to see a peer face a challenge and succeed.
The mindset poster will be hanging in our room indefinitely. I plan to expand the poster when our first one runs out of room. There is so much power behind seeing other students' accomplishments in a strong visual representation. In our first attempts to share, it started as only a few voices willing to speak. By the end of our time, however, students were leaving to go home with a pack of sticky notes thinking about their growth mindset moments that they wanted to share!
It would be great to have students type up their mindset moments and create a book that documents how much they have grown throughout the year.
What might you do with your students growth mindset moments? I’d love to hear more ideas!
Thank you for reading!
Smiles,
Kriscia
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