Discussing Growth Mindset Early in the Year

A few years ago, I read Mindset by Carol Dweck and it completely lifted the level of my thinking as an educator and learner.  I immediately wanted to teach the concept to my students that year and make them aware of their mindsets as learners.  To read all of my posts I wrote about mindset and teaching students about the difference between a growth mindset and fixed mindset, click here.  To read my post that describes the difference between the two mindsets and my first introduction to students about the concept, click here. 

Ever since I read Mindset by Carol Dweck and read additional books about the concept, I always introduce the concept to students during the first week of school through read alouds.  We read picture books with characters who demonstrate perseverance, along with characters who may want to give up at the beginning, but then realize they CAN do it in the end. I always read The Dot on the first day of school to begin these important conversations by talking about Vashti and noticing how she didn't think she could draw at the beginning, had little confidence in herself, and became very frustrated.  Then we discuss how Vashti changed at the end and began to work harder and built up confidence in herself as an artist.  This discussion leads us to the power of the word YET and how when we can't do something, we should say, "I can't do this YET" instead of "I can't do this."  See our class chart below for The Dot by Peter Reynolds.  

                                          

In addition to The Dot, I also read aloud a new book, The Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires, that I came across this past summer.  This is a perfect picture book to read aloud to discuss perseverance - what it looks like and sounds like.  It also reinforces that making mistakes and failing is part of the learning process and that you should keep trying and put in 100% effort into your goals and dreams.  In this book, the character has an idea that she wants to make something magnificent, but each time she tries it doesn't come out the way she pictures it in her mind.  Even though she continues to fail multiple times, she keeps on trying.  Even though she still gets frustrated and thinks for a second that she should just give up, she doesn't. This is a powerful read aloud to discuss perseverance and growth mindset.  

                                               

Once we read aloud a few picture books that have characters who don't give up, I begin to go back to those charts to discuss growth mindset - what it looks like and sounds like.  The students realize that the characters in those books have a growth mindset and begin to think about other characters in books they have read who also have a growth mindset.  I teach students that having a fixed mindset is the opposite of having a growth mindset. Then I have students work together as table groups to create t-charts to jot down what they think a growth mindset and fixed mindset looks like and sounds like. Below are two examples of charts groups made: 

  

                                        

After groups have time to discuss the differences between the two mindsets and jot down their thinking, we share ideas as a whole class.  Below are two charts we created to compile the students' thinking about the two mindsets. The first chart is our draft that I jotted quickly as students shared out, and the second is the one we have hanging up above our smartboard in the front of the class as a reminder to strive to have a growth mindset as learners.  

During the second week of school, once students have discussed the concept of the mindsets and have an understanding between the two, I have students write a personal reflection about their own mindset.  We talk about how it is possible to have a growth mindset in one area and a fixed mindset in another.  For example, you may have a growth mindset in reading and writing, but a fixed mindset in math.  Or you may have a growth mindset while playing sports, but a fixed mindset when it comes to school. 

Below are two examples of personal reflections that students wrote about their mindsets as learners. Students will continue to write personal reflections about their mindset throughout the school year and at the end of the school year they will compare their reflections to see how their mindset has changed throughout the course of the year.  

 

In addition to conversations and reflections, we also consistently talk about mindset during our read alouds throughout the year.  For example, this week we are finishing our first chapter book read aloud, Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, and students have shared their thinking about the characters' mindsets and noticed the word "Grit" that Mr. Daniels used and how it is connected to growth mindset and perseverance.  Below is one of our 5 charts we created during our read aloud for Fish in a Tree that  shows some students' thinking about mindset.  

If you have not read Mindset by Carol Dweck yet, I highly recommend that you add it to the top of your stack to read.  Ever since I read it a few years ago and began teaching and discussing the concept of mindset with my students, I have noticed the positive impact it has on my students as learners and individuals.  

Stay tuned to hear more about how we are discussing mindset and striving to have a growth mindset in our classroom! :)

Revisiting Class Expectations for the New Year

Last week, I was inspired by Pernille Ripp's blog post titled, "Back to School - January Edition." 
In this post, Pernille lists multiple ideas teachers can try out in their classrooms after getting back to school from the winter break.  I loved the first idea to reassess classroom rules.  I always had the intention in September to revisit the class expectations that we create, but each year the time slips away and I never end up doing it. After reading her post, I decided to write it into my plans for the first day back to school after the New Year and I am so glad that I did! It was a powerful lesson and the students showed me how much they have grown as part of our classroom community and as learners.

I began the discussion, by taking down the chart created in September that listed the two expectations students thought were most important for our classroom community: Be Kind; Be Responsible.  I reminded them that these were chosen in September and now that we have been together for about 4 months and know each other as individuals, we may want to revise them.  I first gave them thinking time to reflect on the two expectations and if they felt they needed to be reworded, replaced, or added to.  After giving them a few minutes to think independently, I had them discuss with their table groups to share their thinking.  Then each table shared their thinking and I wrote their opinions on a chart for all to see during this decision making process.  Once we had some ideas listed, I repeated the process with thinking time and group discussion.  The class decided that we should have a class motto: Always try your best! Then listed below the motto, they wanted a list of examples of what we should always try our best to do in class and out of class.

So far, this is what they came up with:

Always try your best!

• Be responsible.
• Be kind
• Put in 100% effort into all work
• Have a growth mindset

This is a work in progress and it was disrupted by a snow day the following day so we will return to this reflective process on Monday.  I was so excited to see that the concept of growth mindset was brought up by the students and they felt it was important enough to add to our expectations chart! I also love that they value the power of effort and the importance to always try your personal best! This process was not only beneficial for the students but was powerful for me to watch and see how they have grown as learners and individuals so far this year.  

If you have revisited your classroom expectations or decide to try this out, please share!

Stay tuned to hear how we also set new goals for the New Year in our classroom. :)

Happy New Year! 

First Few Days of School

This week was our first three days of school, so I've been away from blogging for a few days.  The first week of school is one of my favorite times of the year - full of energy, excitement, and a new beginning.  I love introducing all areas of the classroom, watching kids explore the library, and getting to know all of my new students as learners and as individuals.  I love hearing about the sports they play, which subjects they love or hate, and what interests them.  In the first weeks of school, I work hard to build a strong sense of community, create a safe environment where students feel safe to take risks as learners, and create a buzz of excitement for learning, reading and writing.

Here are a few highlights from our classroom this week: 

Creating our class expectations: 

On the first day, students had time to identify their individual hopes and dreams for this new school year.  Then students gathered in groups to share their hopes and dreams as learners and identify what our whole class needs to do to help them achieve their hopes and dreams (rule/expectation).  After five minutes, all groups gathered together to share the expectations they identified as being the most important for our class.  

As a class, we discussed the patterns they noticed in the group expectations and students discovered that respect, work together, and listen were shared expectations among all groups.  The class decided to have three expectations: Listen when someone is speaking, Be respectful, and Work together.  Below is "Our Classroom Expectations" chart that students signed, agreeing to follow the three expectations they wrote as a class.

Building Community: 

During the first three days, we did various team building activities such as the "Silent Birthday Line- Up" where students have to get in line in order of the birthdays from January to December without talking at all.  Students really have to be creative and work as a whole team to succeed at this challenge in the three minutes they are given. We did this as one of our morning meeting activities this week and the students loved it! At the end of the challenge,  I asked students to reflect on what worked and what they would change if they did the challenge again.  

Another activity that students loved was Save Fred!  I read about this team building activity, that also teaches the Scientific Method, on The Fearless 5th Grade Teacher Blog.   We did this activity during Science this week and I will definitely be doing this activity again next year!  For this activity, each group has to work together to save Fred, the gummy worm, from drowning.  Fred doesn't know how to swim and his boat (a plastic cup) capsized and his life preserver (gummy lifesaver) is underneath the boat.  The group has to try to get the life preserver from under the boat and onto Fred without touching the boat, life preserver, or Fred with their hands. The can only use the four paperclips they are given.  The life preserver is a little small for Fred so all students have to work together to try to get it on him and have to try over and over again before succeeding.  I love this activity because it teaches students how to work together, take risks, learn from failure, and keep trying.  It also teaches the steps of the scientific method which we will be using all year in Science.  

Before giving students the materials, I showed them a Prezi to introduce the experiment and had groups write out their plan and hypothesis for the experiment on a chart I created for each table group. 

Once their plan was ready,  they received their materials and the fun began!  Here are some photos of them working together to save Fred: 

Welcome Back to School!