The new year often brings with it all sorts of goal-setting, resolutions, and promises to “be better.” I’m offering a simplification of this with a focus on GROWTH MINDSET.

Growth Mindset is the belief that a person’s abilities can improve through learning, effort, and dedication. It is often presented as the opposite of a Fixed Mindset (the belief that one is born with a specific ability and/or intelligence level).

Growth Mindset laughs in the face of sayings like, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks!” or “A tiger doesn’t change its stripes.” In its simplest form, it is the act of adding YET to the end of a phrase.

I can’t do this…YET.

I don’t understand…YET.

I’m not good at this…YET.

Research has shown that

When students understand how their brains can grow, they may be more willing to try new experiences. A student with a growth mindset will work toward goals, even when that work is challenging. They will perhaps even pursue topics that are challenging because of the learning that comes from them.

Why is Growth Mindset Important in the Classroom? Dr. Marjaneh Gilpatrick, Tracy Vasquez, and Emily Pottinger

When experiencing failure, students with a growth mindset are more likely to see this as PART OF THE PROCESS and to build off of this experience as they continue to more forward toward their goals.

So how do we build a growth mindset in our students?

Show Growth Mindset; Don’t Tell

Find ways to show the RESEARCH and SCIENCE behind growth mindset.

We explain that learning happens in the brain, that the brain grows new connections when it learns new challenging concepts. And furthermore, that changes in our knowledge and in our brain are possible under the right conditions and with the right support.

American Psychological Association

Don’t simply do this in lecture form though!

1. Make the research fun! Find fun videos. Gamify the learning. Get them moving with station work to learn this concept.
2. Provide real-life examples of people who have benefited from using a growth mindset. Find colleagues, older students, or community leaders who are willing to share their experiences.
3. Help students share their own stories. Provide journaling prompts, whole-group analysis of shared experiences, etc. to aid students in recognizing their OWN EXPERIENCES of growth mindset.
4. Be an example of Growth Mindset. LISTEN to yourself. Notice the words you use and the actions you take in your space. Really analyze if YOU are demonstrating what growth mindset looks like. Find more ways to SHOW growth mindset on a daily basis within your classroom space.
5. Display Growth Mindset. Provide visuals of Growth Mindset LANGUAGE.

Practice Makes Progress

Like any skill, developing a Growth Mindset takes TIME and PRACTICE. What are the ways that you can provide students with space to develop this Growth Mindset?

1. Give students opportunities to fail! Challenge your students. Identify skills, activities, and learning that will push them OUT of their comfort zone.
2. Celebrate student work. Give students a platform to SHARE the work they’ve put in. Showcase student work on walls, during parent-teacher conferences or even with another peer in the classroom.
3. Accept and embrace imperfection. Draw student attention toward their PROGRESS, not to how they may have fallen short of expectations.
4. Incorporate feedback and teach students what to do with it. Go beyond a simple number or A, B, C, D score. Provide DETAILED feedback about their work. Show them how to use this feedback to apply changes on future learning.
5. Build a safe and supportive classroom community. Teach students how to be supportive LISTENERS. Talk about VULNERABILITY and the significance of mental health.

Use Growth Mindset Resources

If you want to read more about growth mindset (or listen), I suggest checking out the American Psychological Association’s Episode 41. It provides great detail about some of the research that has been done with Growth Mindset and the outcomes they’ve found.

If you are looking for Growth Mindset resources to use in your classroom, I have developed an entire JOURNALING bundle that will aid you in this process.

As you can see by reading the titles of each of these journaling sets, Growth Mindset is at the center of all of them.

While Journal Set #11 introduces Growth Mindset, sets 12-15 give students opportunities to analyze and develop their own Growth Mindset.

You can click on the image to find this resource in my TPT storefront.