This year, our campus is focusing on Growth Mindset, an idea proposed by Carol Dweck, Stanford professor. In her book Mindsets, she puts forth the idea that the way we approach life can be based on how we view intelligence and learning. People with a fixed mindset generally believe that intelligence and ability are inherent and can't really be developed. Those with a growth mindset believe that hard work, determination, and repeated attempts at learning actually contribute to one's success. This brief video sums it up...
At our school, we have started Growth Mindset Mondays. We show a quick video clip in each classroom, the teachers pose a few discussion questions, and everyone reflects on how our mindsets affect our work. This Monday focus sets the tone for the week, and teachers can refer back to ideas, videos, and discussions as they work with students each day.
Our campus is working on a book study of Mindsets in the Classroom by Mary Cay Ricci. This book explores the idea of mindsets specifically in the education setting. We hope that continuing to explore these ideas will cultivate a culture of endurance and perseverance that we want for our students and ourselves.
As we continue to work toward guiding children to have a growth mindset, we hope to have more discussions in various arenas: in classrooms, with families, and with teachers. The goal is not to just simply talk about a growth mindset, but to collectively embrace the ideas of persistence, problem solving, and resolution, and to model those ideas in our own behaviors.
3 comments:
Hey Mandy!
I'm assuming you've seen the Growth Mindset videos for kids that Class Dojo has put out. Have your teachers used those? Liked them? I sent them out and a few have shown them and absolutely loved them. I always think it's funny (in an awesome way) when we focus on something as teachers, like Growth Mindset, and then it dawns on someone that we should be teaching that to kids as well. Love your blog! Another blog to model mine after! :)
Mandy, this has been my focus for the last year. Have you see Jo Boaler's latest book? Mathematical Mindsets: Unleashing Students' Potential through Creative Math, Inspiring Messages and Innovative Teaching https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470894520/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_O0hBxbQN4HW2Y
Patti, I have! I'm nervous about getting ANOTHER book, but yes!
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