Mindsets In the Classroom - Chapter 2: What Are Some Ways To Begin Building a Growth Mindset School Culture?

"The first stop...is to begin to build a school culture that values intellectual growth with a staff who has internalized the belief that intelligence can be cultivated."

I feel that one of our greatest accomplishments as a school this year was identifying the deficiency we have with students' intrinsic motivation.  

"Professional development for all school personnel is the initial step toward this goal."

Book studies excite me about the possibilities that can become realities in the classroom.  So when we found this book, "Mindsets In the Classroom",  I immediately started reading it the minute I got my hands on one to see what it had to offer.

"Step 1: Write down what you believe about intelligence using the worksheet on pg. 15."

I think this would be a great way to show our growth as professionals to see where we started in our beliefs about intelligence.  

"After these individual reflections are complete, ask staff members if they agree or disagree with the following statements (on growth or fixed mindsets)."

I conducted the same survey that we plan to give to the students next year to our teaching staff.  100% of our staff has  growth mindset.  To me, this wasn't a huge surprise.  We are all teachers whose job it is to stimulate growth on a daily basis.

"Using Dweck's terms of "fixed" and "growth" is entirely up to the individual school system.  You can also refer to the concepts as malleable, developed, or flexible intelligence (growth) or static, stationary, or stagnant intelligence (fixed).

This will be interesting to see what our staff decides to do.  For me, in my classroom, I will probably continue to use my philosophy and classroom theme of "Move Your Thinking" as my growth reference with the students.  

To help demonstrate this way of thinking, I should have the students write about a time where they learned something knew.  Included in their writing, they should talk about the new skill they learned, how successful they were at it at the beginning and end, and how persistence and motivation played a part in learning this new skill.

"...practice can also help a person become happier."

Practicing emotions, such as positive attitudes and empathy, can help develop these emotional skills.  I can think of several/many times where emotional growth was addressed in my classroom, but I lacked the specific strategies to help develop these skills.

"One component of this curriculum is developing optimism is our students. We can train our brain to have an optimistic perspective, thanks to neuroplasticity."

This fits right along with my FISH! philosophy of Choosing Your Attitude.  Again, we talk about it, but we need to practice this.  How can I do this without making it too hokey for 8th graders?

"Suggest teaching students to use 'self-talk' to practice positive thinking and to share with students the benefits of practicing optimism."

I have already seen these alternative "self talk" suggestions on a bulletin board in the hallway.  We will need to expand on this concept as an entire school.

"Value of praising effort rather than outcome."
"Modifying or adding effort praise is all it takes to send a growth mindset message."

I started doing this more this last year after reading a section about mindsets in the book, "Mathematical Mindsets" by Jo Boaler.  And the results were amazing!  A student that I had never really connected with seemed to be really engaged in the problem we were solving.  After watching her attempt it and attempt it and attempt it again to finally get an entry into the problem, I praised her efforts and all of her diligent attempts.  She continued to work for the rest of the class period and for the rest of the semester at a level she had not shown previously!  Praising effort really does work! 

"In a nutshell: Neurons make new connections when you learn something new.  These connections become stronger with practice and effort." The more connections, the denser your brain is. The more density, the smarter you are."

This a great picture!  How can I make that an actual piece of artwork?????