Growth Mindset: Chapter 8- Changing Mindsets


Hey everyone!  How has summer treated you?  I know lots of you are getting ready to go back to school, some as early as next week! YIKES!  Some of you have probably seen your class list and saw the name of that one kid that you've heard so much about.  You know, that kid. I only mention because it happened to me.  I saw that name on my roster.  Thankfully though, because of Dr. Carol S. Dweck's book Mindset, I am taking a completely different approach to this new school year.  

Today I will be discussing the final chapter titled: Changing Mindsets.


CHANGE.
We all want to do it.  We all try to do it.  But change is HARD!  We, as humans and most especially teachers, are creatures of habit! It's especially hard to try to get others to change, but we as teachers have to try and get our students to shake their own bad habits that block them from being successful in the classroom and try to get them to change.  It's a challenge, I know, and it won't be easy.  BUT, any improvements on your part will lead to improvements on their part.


This chapter discussed how teachers noticed a difference in their students attitudes and mindsets when it came to personal improvement.  Instead of students beating themselves up for not getting high grades all the time, they started to appreciated and see their own personal improvement and growth, even it was small.  These small improvements made them more consistent with their work ethics, and lead to their own personal success. As a kindergarten teacher, improvements are improvements, no matter how small!  


The rest of this chapter discusses how to change your "fixed" mindset to a "growth" mindset.  It's a lot easier said than done. It's difficult to see your challenges, struggles, criticism, and setbacks as positives.  When you face these, it's important to remember this...

and PATIENCE! 

I want to discuss a part in this chapter that hit close to home to me as a teacher: Changing Your Child's Mindset (pg. 234).  We have many different learners in our classroom. Instead of labeling them like we are trained to do (below-level, on-level, above-level), we need to start structuring our instruction to a more growth mindset.  In the book, it suggests we ask these questions to not only our students, but to our own children daily:
  1. What did you learn today?
  2. What mistake did you make that taught you something?
  3. What did you try hard at today?
These simple questions will help for a more "growth" mindset in those young minds, and push out the "fixed" mindset of having to be perfect at everything and to take every mistake or challenge as a learning experience rather than a defeat or failure. And remember:


I have this quote hanging up in my room, in hopes of helping change the mindset of my young learners in the classroom.  You can find it for free here.

If you want to read Mindsets by Dr. Carol S. Dweck, here is my Amazon affiliate link for the book. 


Thanks for joining me today!  As always, I love reading your feedback, so leave some in the comments!  

Best wishes,
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