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This blog was published on the MIND Research Institute Blog.
"Growth mindset" is everywhere in education these days, to the point of oversaturation. As in any trend that becomes big in education, it comes with the potential to be overused and misapplied. That being said, as a math instructional coach and psychology undergraduate major, the growth mindset theory spoke to me and I wanted to be a part of it. I suggested our math department invest some time in reading Mindset by Carol Dweck to see what the hype was about and discuss the implications for our own practice.

Often in organizations there is a lot of talk, but little action and follow-through. With this in mind, as I reflected on my own reading, I organized my thoughts by how we can actually put these ideas into action.

Rethink Grades

"It's no wonder that many adolescents mobilize their resources, not for learning, but to protect their egos. And one of the main ways they do this...is by not trying."

- Carol Dweck, Mindset

We see, very often, students in the middle school that put forth little to no effort. Teachers are often frustrated by the fact that these students don't seem to care that they are failing class.

But when you take this problem and look at it from a mindset perspective, certain details can be seen in a new light. It could be that we have students with fixed mindsets that believe they are not smart (or not good at math, or not a good writer, etc.) and therefore believe there is no point in putting forth any effort.

When you add the social components of middle school, these students (especially boys) would much rather look defiant in not doing the work than look stupid in getting it wrong. And by giving them failing grades, teachers just confirm what these students already believed about themselves - that they are stupid. In fact, by emphasizing grades as a motivational strategy, we are unknowingly reinforcing the problem that we find so exasperating!
Actionable Steps:

Reflect and discuss on our grading policies as a team (what we grade, how we grade, when we grade work)

Move away from graded, summative assessments to using more formative assessments

Focus on Tasks that Require Perseverance

"Lowering standards just lead to poorly educated students who feel entitled to easy work and lavish praise."

However, to change students' mindset isn't easy. It doesn't mean that all we have to do is put in our classroom a cute poster about growth mindset vs. fixed mindset and we're done. For math teachers, the growth mindset lives in the Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice 1, "Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them."

Perseverance lives in other subjects as well, whether it's the scientific process or the constant revision of essay drafts. This quality has been shown as one of the strongest indicators of students success, which Dweck and Paul Tough outline in their books nicely.
Actionable Steps:

Use our team planning time to design lessons that promote perseverance

Find time to explicitly teach students about how their brain works and how they can use this information to help them grow as learners

Reflect on Our Own Biases

"'I think it's too easy for a teacher to say, 'Oh this child wasn't born with it, so I won't waste my time.' Too many teachers hide their own lack of ability behind that statement."

That can be a tough statement to read, especially if you've been that teacher or you know that teacher. Maybe the statement isn't that blatant. Maybe it's a commentary made about their family situation, or their older brother who wasn't any good either, or the friends that student hangs out with. Either way, it's a statement that suggests that the child isn't going to learn or be successful, so as a teacher it's not my fault that they don't do well in class.

I know the realities are that we can't reach every student in our classroom. Someone said once that while we know we can't reach every student, we don't know which students we are going to reach and which ones will slip by, so we have to treat every student like we are changing their life.
Actionable Steps:

Have honest reflection with ourselves, and ideally with each other, about our own biases

Try to eliminate the phrases, "These kids", "These parents" and the like from our meetings and conversations

Model Growth Mindset

"When you think about it, this makes sense. If, like those with growth mindset, you believe you can develop yourself, then you're open to accurate information about your current abilities, even if it's unflattering. What's more, if you're oriented toward learning, as they are, you need accurate information about your current abilities in order to learn effectively."

Good teaching is learning. If teachers don't exemplify the growth mindset, students never will. As the teacher, you are the model for students of lifelong learning.

No matter what stage we are in our career, or what position we have, we can always be improving. We need to seek out accurate feedback from others we trust, and use that feedback to set goals in areas that we want to improve. We should be transparent with our students about our own growth, so they can see that learning is a life long process.

As a coach, I have teachers who are beautifully honest with their student about my role in the classroom, and the students love finding out that their teacher is learning and growing at the same time they are.
Actionable Steps:

Embrace growth mindset by setting your own improvement goal or working with a coach (this includes coaches and administrators)

Share stories with students about our own mistakes and failures and what we've learned from them

In the end, after reading the book, I am on the growth mindset bandwagon. If you've incorporated growth mindset into how you work with students or with colleagues, I'd love to hear how you've done it and how it is going!
Pauline Zdonek, M.Ed., is an Instructional Math Coach at School District 89 in Melrose Park, Illinois. Follow her on Twitter: .

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Actionable Steps to Bring Growth Mindset into the Classroom

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This blog was published on the MIND Research Institute Blog. "Growth mindset" is everywhere in education these days, to the point of oversaturation. As in any trend that becomes big in education, it comes with the potential to be overused and misapplied.

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Ten "What" Questions to develop growth mindset

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Ten "What" Questions to develop growth mindset

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Larry Ferlazzo's List of Best Growth Mindset Resources

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Larry Ferlazzo's List of Best Growth Mindset Resources

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Photo Credit: Antoine Gady via Compfight
'Growth Mindset Starts With Us, Not With Them' is the first post in a two-part series at my Education Week Teacher column. Also check out Here Are The Movie Scenes That Readers Have Said Demonstrate A Growth Mindset - & I'm Still Looking For More My Growth Mindset Lesson s Usually Go Well, But What I Did Today Was The Best Yet (Student Hand-Outs Included)
The "question of the week" at my Education Week Teacher column this week is " How Can We Help Our Students Develop a Growth Mindset?" (NOTE: You can now read Carol Dweck's guest response to that question here). As part of the response, which will be published on Tuesday, I thought a "The Best..." list would be useful.

Carol Dweck, who identified the concept, will be one of the guests responding to that question, and several readers have already shared their ideas. There's still time to contribute yours....

You can find a specific lesson in my book, Helping Students Motivate Themselves, on how I incorporate the idea of a growth mindset in my classroom, and some of my other related ideas in my article in this month's edition of ASCD Educational Leadership, Eight Things Skilled Teachers Think, Say, and Do.

Here are my choices for The Best Resources On Helping Our Students Develop A "Growth Mindset":

I've got to start with Professor Dweck's own website, Mindset Online. Other resources by her are included in all "The Best..." lists in this post.

Here are a few previous related "The Best..." lists:
The Best Posts, Articles & Videos About Learning From Mistakes & Failures The Best Resources For Showing Students That They Make Their Brain Stronger By Learning The Best Resources For Learning How To Best Give Feedback To Students The Best Resources For Learning About The Importance Of "Grit"
Here is a fabulous infographic on the concept.

The Pajaro Valley School District has an excellent collection of resources, Carol Dweck's Important Work on Mindsets.

Montgomery Schools also have a useful online packet.

Eduardo Briceño is the Co-Founder, with Dr. Carol Dweck, of Mindset Works:
Here's The "Growth Mindset" Article & Prompt We're Using As Part Of Our Semester Final Useful "Fixed" vs. "Growth" Mindset Worksheet For Students
read two excellent posts today on giving effective feedback, and I'm adding both of them to The Best Resources For Learning How To Best Give Feedback To Students:

How To Give Good Feedback is by Annie Murphy Paul.

Here's an excellent interview with Carol Dweck. I learn from all of her work, but I found this one particularly interesting because she shared some thoughts I hadn't heard her say before. Here's one particularly useful excerpt:
Our Students Are Not Supermen & Superwomen
Changing Teens' Mindsets on Social Aggression is a useful Ed Week article.

Promoting Equity Through Teaching For A Growth Mindset

Quote Of The Day AND Video: "We'll Score Goals When We Grow Old"
Interesting New Study By Carol Dweck

Quote Of The Day: "Your Thoughts Can Release Abilities Beyond Normal Limits"

'Growth Mindset' Gaining Traction as School Improvement Strategy is from Education Week.

Daniel Coyle shared this video on Twitter. Even though it has a sports focus, it can very easily be applied to any area of learning:

Studies Offer Practical Ways to Bring 'Growth Mindset' Research to Schools is an Ed Week post about some recent studies. One of them featured having students read about the struggles experienced by famous scientists, as opposed by focusing solely on their achievements, and resulted in higher student motivation and academic achievement. Here's an earlier study done by the same researchers with Taiwanese students (the most recent research was with classes in New York) that reached similar conclusions and has a lot of interesting background information.

Teachers told: use 'not yet' in place of 'fail' when marking is from The Telegraph. It's about a new guide for UK teachers on how to help students develop a growth mindset.
Two Good Videos On How We Learn & How I Plan To Use Them In Class
New Research: Students Benefit from Learning That Intelligence Is Not Fixed is from MindShift.
Two New Sesame Street Videos On Social Emotional Learning Researchers See What A Growth Mindset Does To The Brain

Growth mindset and the educator. pic.twitter.com/6cn6JA3VmZ #Satchat #sunchat #edchat #edtech

- Teacher (@Primary_Ed) November 9, 2014

Video: New TEDx Talk By Carol Dweck Study Finds That Bilingualism Supports A Growth Mindset Quote Of The Day: I Think This Is The Best Article Carol Dweck Has Written Good Videos On A Growth Mindset, The Importance Of Learning From Mistakes & A Lot More Khan Develops Decent Lesson On Growth Mindset But, Come On, Can't They Create An Engaging Video? New Study Shows That Teaching About "Growth Mindset" Works At Large Scale - Or Does It? Three Useful Growth Mindset Resources The Limits To The Power Of A Growth Mindset (& The Dangers When We Don't Recognize Them)
The Educator and the Growth Mindset is from Jackie Gerstein and Metacognition Curriculum is an older post from Frank Noschese.

Test Your Mindset is an online interactive from Carol Dweck that I think would be useful to offer to students.

Helping Students Reach Their Full Potential with the Growth Mindset is by Dan Winkler and provides a pretty good, and short, definition of a growth mindset.

Here's a TED-Ed lesson using the above video.

Growth Mindset - More Evidence is from Alex Quigley.

There was a recent conference in the UK which featured Carol Dweck. It sounds like she made some interesting points, particularly around what she called a "False Growth Mindset." Here are some reports on that talk, along with other resources:

Praise the taking on of challenge, perseverance, new strategies, recovery from setbacks, says Dweck. Also praise improvement and learning.

- David Weston (@informed_edu) June 19, 2015

Why the 'false growth mindset' explains so much is from The Learning Spy. The Mindset Journey is from Drowning in the Shallow.

Very useful for anyone interested in Growth Mindsets https://t.co/h0YJpu8WcY

- Carl Hendrick (@C_Hendrick) June 14, 2015

Math educators! @joboaler has developed a week of math lessons and #growthmindset videos: https://t.co/3mrdndn0pB https://t.co/S5HaESKAZ6 - PERTS (@pertslab) June 1, 2015

- David Dockterman (@dockterman) May 11, 2015

Quote Of The Day: Carol Dweck On "Nagging"

5 tips for instilling a growth mindset culture in your classroom. #growthmindset pic.twitter.com/lL1OrhmaKT #edchat #edtech #EYTalking #SLTchat - Teacher (@Primary_Ed) June 23, 2015

Guest Post: Growth Mindset Memes
Shaun Allison has written an exceptional post and created a great slideshow about the growth mindset. He graciously gave me permission to share his slideshow here:

Carol Dweck and Growth Mindset is a well-done and interesting thirty minute BBC interview with Carol Dweck and her associates

Why a 'Growth Mindset' Won't Work is a very good column by Peter DeWitt.

Growth Mindset and Testing/The Hunger Games. http://t.co/eVcabNJYjG #hungergames #mindsets #PBIS #charactered #SEL #schoolclimate #climate

- Learning Solutions (@CollabLearnSol) July 22, 2015

Quote Of The Day: "What Does This Experience Make Possible?" Growth Mindset - Don't Throw The Baby Out With The Bathwater Research Study On Humility Perfect For Students (& Useful For All Of Us)
When Pupils Talk in Absolutes: Understanding Mindset though Self-Narrative is by Sarah Donarski.

Four questions that encourage growth mindset among students https://t.co/5yABKYoEIG < well worth a read

- Guardian Education (@GuardianEdu) November 15, 2015

Carol Dweck: "Keep trying, you can do it" is nagging, Instead ask "What have you tried, what strategy shall we try next?" #ewaMotivation - Stanford Education (@StanfordEd) November 11, 2015

The Golden State Warriors & Social Emotional Learning
Be a Mirror: Give Readers Feedback That Fosters a Growth Mindset is from The International Literacy Association.

Positive Mindset May Prime Students' Brains for Math is from Ed Week.

Why Growth Mindsets Are Necessary to Save Math Class is from The Atlantic.

Carol Dweck has recently written several pieces on the dangers of a "false growth mindset." Here are a few:

Recognizing and Overcoming False Growth Mindset is from Edutopia.

What Having a "Growth Mindset" Actually Means appeared in the Harvard Business Review.

The Stanford professor who pioneered praising kids for effort says we've totally missed the point is from Quartz.

I Did My Best Job Teaching A "Growth Mindset" Today - Here's The Lesson Plan

Here's What My Students Think Of A Growth Mindset
Study: Learning About Failures Of Famous Scientists Improves Student Achievement
Amazon, Ed. Organizations Launch Blitz for "Growth Mindset" in Math is from Ed Week.

What I Learned About Growth Mindset When Students Taught Me is from Ed Week.

Grow Your Mindset! is an accessible article with audio support.

- Brainology (@Brainology) February 13, 2016

New Study Finds A New Twist On Growth Mindset - Overconfident People Don't Have It Carol Dweck Makes Strongest Statement Yet On Growth Mindset Misuse
Nurturing Growth Mindsets: Six Tips From Carol Dweck is from Ed Week.
Quote Of The Day: "Effort Is Not The Only Thing" - Carol Dweck On A Growth Mindset Mindset Scholars Network Website Is Key New Resource For Social Emotional Learning Does Your Principal Support Teachers Developing A Growth Mindset?
Carol Dweck talks about a growth mindset. You can read her contribution to my Ed Week column at Classroom Strategies to Foster a Growth Mindset
Quote Of The Day: LeBron James On A Growth Mindset We Did A Great 'Growth Mindset' Lesson With Our ELLs This Week - Here's The Lesson Plan Study: "you want to speak to the brilliance, but you also need to speak to the struggle"
3 Myths of Mindset is by Dan Haesler.
Opportunities & Dangers Of Big New Growth Mindset Study
Mindset Works has a great list of feedback examples that promote a growth mindset.

Teaching kids to struggle #GrowthMindset is an excellent and simple lesson from Class Creator.

Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset: An Introduction is a useful TED-Ed lesson.

Mindset Works has unveiled a redesigned website and lots of free resources.

I love this! We talked about using the word "yet" at our teacher in service last week too! pic.twitter.com/OgTUv0CTqN

- Stacy Sedory (@SedoryAP) September 4, 2016

Seven Common Growth Mindset Scenarios and Responses is from The Mindset Kit.

Ed Week has published a special report on a growth mindset:
Mindset in the Classroom: A National Study of K-12 Teachers Teachers Seize On 'Growth Mindset,' But Crave More Training Quiz Yourself: Does This Classroom Feedback Promote a Growth Mindset?
Introducing Growth Mindset in Math is from Runde's Room.

How Microsoft Uses a Growth Mindset to Develop Leaders is by Carol Dweck.

How to Integrate Growth Mindset Messages Into Every Part of Math Class is from MindShift.
New Carol Dweck Interview On Having A "False Growth Mindset"
Growth mindset: practical tips you may not have tried yet is from The Guardian.
New Study Connects Growth Mindset & "Bouncing Back" From Mistakes
PERTS from Stanford is offering a free two-hour online program to promote a growth mindset to all ninth-graders. It's definitely worth a look.

Growth mindset is on a firm foundation, but we're still building the house is by Carol Dweck.

Is Mindset Theory Really In Trouble? is from New York Magazine.

Young Adult Novels That Teach a Growth Mindset is by Robert Ward.

Four Teaching Moves That Promote A Growth Mindset In All Readers is from MindShift.

Growth mindset, performance avoidance, and academic behaviors in Clark County School District is a long report worth a quick review.

Growth mindset: teaching panacea or classroom pitfall? is from TES.

I Want to get Better at... Growth Mindset Next Year is from The Teaching Channel.

Are You Getting Growth Mindset Wrong? is from The HuffPost.

I love this poster on developing a growth mindset community from @joboaler, @FeldsteinShelah, and @mathschristine.
https://t.co/9BuR6JURF9 pic.twitter.com/GA3nO8PKLG

- Robert Kaplinsky (@robertkaplinsky) June 17, 2017

Misinterpreting the Growth Mindset: Why We're Doing Students a Disservice is by John Hattie.

An Introduction to Growth Mindset from Character Lab on Vimeo.

What If Students Have More Confidence in Growth Mindsets Than Their Teachers? is from Ed Surge.
New Study Suggests That Motivation & Growth Mindset Are Most Important Factors For Student Success
Reduce Bullying by Cultivating Growth Mindsets is from Mindset Works.

Research every teacher should know: growth mindset is from The Guardian.

Praise the effort, not the outcome? Think again is by Carol Dweck.

Bruce Lee is a cult hero to many students, so the article Bruce Lee Used This Ancient Philosophy to Break Through His Limits (and Find Remarkable Success) could be a hit. It appears in Inc., and focuses his having a growth mindset.
Elmo Teaches The Power Of "Yet"
What Do Schools Fostering A Teacher "Growth Mindset" Look Like? is from The Shanker Institute.

New Stanford Study: A Positive Attitude Literally Makes Your Brain Work Better is from Inc.
Results Just Unveiled Of Big New Growth Mindset Study Co-Authored By A Ton Of Well-Known SEL Researchers
How to Integrate Growth Mindset Messages Into Every Part of Math Class is from MindShift.
Important Reminder That We Need To Praise Process To Support A Growth Mindset Carol Dweck's New Response To Critiques Of Growth Mindset New Study Shows Learning About Growth Mindset At Start Of Ninth-Grade Increases Resilience New Study Finds A Growth Mindset Intervention Effective When It Highlights Impact On Brain
Got Growth Mindset? 5 Pinterest-worthy Ways to Make It Visible in Your Classroom is from Teach Learn Grow.

Study: Promoting growth mindset in teachers may pay dividends for students is from Education Dive.

Growth Mindset In Learning Neglects "Fixed" Mindset In K-12 Math Curriculum Design is from Sunil Singh.

A growth mindset will help you handle setbacks - of any size is from The Seattle Times.

Is Growth Mindset the Missing Piece in the Equity Discussion? is from Ed Surge.

#Teachers, are you looking for #growthmindset videos to share with your #students? Check out @MindsetWorks video library at https://t.co/f4eHYISGY1 #BackToSchool2018 #educators #learn #edchat #edchatie pic.twitter.com/9GRujK5fyL

- Mindset Works (@MindsetWorks) August 29, 2018

Having a Growth Mindset Makes It Easier to Develop New Interests is from The Harvard Business Review.

But as the authors themselves point out, small effects may be educationally important if they cost little to achieve. Moreover, the meta-analysis did not consider important moderators of effect such as age, and the sensitivity of outcome measures to the effects of instruction...

- Dylan Wiliam (@dylanwiliam) November 8, 2018

STUDENT-WRITTEN GROWTH MINDSET STORIES HERE ARE EXAMPLES OF WHAT STUDENTS WROTE ABOUT A GROWTH MINDSET GROWTH MINDSET IN ACTION
STEM faculty who believe ability is fixed have larger racial achievement gaps and inspire less student motivation in their classes is from Science Magazine.
THIS QUOTE IS A GREAT ONE FOR SHOWING THE IMPORTANCE OF A GROWTH MINDSET

When we praise children for their intelligence, we tell them that this is the name of the game: Look smart, don't risk making mistakes.

- willunfollowforfood (@iunfollowanyway) April 2, 2019

Nurturing a Culture of Growth is from Psychology Today.

Building Growth Mindset in the Classroom: Assignments From Carol Dweck is from Ed Week.
TWO FREE ONLINE PROGRAMS FOR TEACHERS & STUDENTS - ONE ON STUDENT ENGAGEMENT & THE OTHER ON GROWTH MINDSET
If you've found this list helpful, you might want to consider subscribing to this blog for free.

Great way to show the differences in a short and sweet display! Thanks for contributing to the growth mindset community! https://t.co/luTSUru1sc

- Mindset Works (@MindsetWorks) July 11, 2019

RESULTS OF BIGGEST MINDSET STUDY FINDS POSITIVE IMPACT

IN DEFENSE OF CAROL DWECK (a thread):

Given the current discussion about Carol Dweck and growth mindsets, I'd like to add my two cents. Of course, I'm COMPLETELY unbiased, since she has been my mentor and friend for almost 15 years. (1/12) pic.twitter.com/8UVpEytDZk

- Dr. Allison Master (@AllisonMaster) August 9, 2019

A Proof Point for the Value of Growth Mindsets is from FutureEd.
VERY INTERESTING VIDEO: "HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED - THE LOCUS RULE" THIS IS PROBABLY THE BEST & MOST ACCESSIBLE REVIEW OF GROWTH MINDSET RESEARCH THAT YOU'RE GOING TO FIND
Growth Mindset for Mentors is from Mindset Kit.

MindsetWorks offers a number of useful free resources.

Psychologist Carol Dweck: 'Everyone is a work in progress' is from The Financial Times.

Here's how a new study titled "False growth mindsets" is described:
This research snapshot summarizes a project led by Nicholas Buttrick as part of the National Study of Learning Mindsets Early Career Fellowship. In a sample of 9th grade mathematics teachers, the project explores the concept of false growth mindset - a belief that effort alone can lead to improvement regardless of other factors like effective learning strategies and help-seeking. NOT ONLY CAN IT BE MOTIVATING TO HAVE A GROWTH MINDSET, BUT NEW STUDIES FIND LEARNING ABOUT OTHERS WHO HAVE IT CAN BE MOTIVATING, TOO
Growth Mindset vs. Fixed + Key Takeaways From Dweck's Book is from Positive Psychology.
HIGHLIGHTING SCIENTISTS WHO SUCCEEDED MORE THROUGH EFFORT THAN BRILLIANCE ENHANCES STUDENT MOTIVATION IN SCIENCE YOU WON'T FIND A BETTER GROWTH MINDSET QUOTE THAN THIS ONE FROM A RUGBY STAR
6 Ways a Crisis Can Help You Cultivate a Growth Mindset is from the Harvard Business Review.

You might want to also view the over nine hundred other "The Best..." lists.

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The Best Resources On Helping Our Students Develop A "Growth Mindset"

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Photo Credit: Antoine Gady via Compfight 'Growth Mindset Starts With Us, Not With Them' is the first post in a two-part series at my Education Week Teacher column.

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Carol Dweck's TED on the Power to Improve

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Carol Dweck's TED on the Power to Improve

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The power of yet....

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The power of believing that you can improve

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Carol Dweck researches “growth mindset” — the idea that we can grow our brain’s capacity to learn and to solve problems. In this talk, she describes two ways to think about a problem that’s slightly too hard for you to solve. Are you not smart enough to solve it … or have you just not solved it yet? A great introduction to this influential field.

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The list below includes rich picture books that could be read aloud to teens as well as graphic novels, short biographies and collections of biographical sketches that teachers could draw on for excerpts. Brennan, Maggie Knapp (head middle and upper school librarian at Trinity Valley School) and Brooke Williams (a former children's librarian at New Haven Free Public Library) contributed titles to this list.

Ada Byron Lovelace was the world's first computer programmer, creating a coding algorithm years before the modern computer was invented. This picture book biography describes how measles left her temporarily blind and paralyzed and how she overcame society's negative attitudes towards women in the sciences.

Rachel Carson and Her Book That Changed the World, by Laurie Lawler and Laura Beingessner

Rachel Carson's writing and research helped launch the modern environmental movement. This picture book shares her struggles growing up in poverty during the Great Depression, the sacrifices her family made to send her to college, and the challenges she faced entering a male-dominated field.

On a Beam of Light, by Jennifer Berne and Vladimir Radunsky

Through simple text and stunning illustrations, this book explores Albert Einstein's early struggles with learning and school - and how they propelled his later accomplishments. The New York Times described this book as ""something of an It Gets Better Project for mathematically precocious children."

Snowflake Bentley, by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and Mary Azarian

Wilson Bentley was a nature photographer who showed the world that "no two snowflakes are alike." This picture book describes his unstoppable grit in pursuit of his dream and includes sidebars with more information about the methods and science behind his work.

The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever by H. Joseph Hopkins and Jill McElmurry

Botanist Kate Sessions, the first woman to graduate from the University of California with a science degree, is best known for transforming San Diego from a desert town to a green paradise. The picture book describes obstacles and social taboos that she faced and overcame, utilizing the refrain: "but she did."

Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian by Margarita Engle and Julie Paschkis

In the seventeenth century Europe -- when many thought butterflies were evil creatures that generated spontaneously from mud --entomolygist Maria Merian made her mission to study them. After years of study, she wrote and illustrated a groundbreaking book about the life-cycle of a butterfly. This picture book describes how she conducted much of her work in secret because of the negative perceptions around this insect.
Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle by Claire A. Nivola
As her biography at National Geographic notes, " called 'Her Deepness' by the and the New York Times , 'Living Legend' by the Library of Congress, and first 'Hero for the Planet' by magazine, [Sylvia Earle] is an oceanographer, explorer, author, and lecturer." This beautifully illustrated picture book describes how a difficult move to a new state during her childhood awakened a life-long passion. The author's note would also make a good read-aloud for teens, describing her scientific work in more depth and how she "defied conventional expectations at every stage of her life."

At 144 pages, this brief memoir is broken into several small chapters in which theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking writes about his childhood, his research and - of course - his life with ALS, which gradually paralyzed him over the course of decades and required him to develop compensatory methods for engaging in his research. Teachers could use or read aloud excerpts of this compelling autobiography.

Written for teens, this graphic novel vividly portrays the life of the vivacious physicist Richard Feynman. It captures his tenacity in the face of trying circumstances -- from working on the Manhattan project to uncovering the cause of the Challenger explosion to caring for his ailing wife.

This is another graphic novel for teens, tracing the lives of three primatologists who were students of Richard Leakey and who lived among the primates. As the Booklist review notes, "For all the playful mugging and gratifying discoveries, though, Ottaviani doesn't shy away from the struggles of living and working in the bush."

Breakthrough! How Three People Saved "Blue Babies" and Changed Medicine Forever, by Jim Murphy

Knapp describes this short nonfiction narrative as a "wonderfully written story of a black man, a white man and a woman, who all struggled in different ways (personally and professionally) to pioneer a surgery that saved the lives of 'blue babies.'"

This collection features several short life-sketches of African-American inventors - from Henry Sampson (who created the gamma-electric cell) to Percy Julian (who synthesized cortisone from soy). The stories emphasize the perseverance of these inventors in the face of racism and other life challenges.

These short biographical sketches average four pages in length - an easy read aloud - and highlight female scientists in the following fields: medicine, biology and the environment, genetics and development, physics, earth and stars, math and technology, and invention. Several stories note obstacles they faced, including gender bias, illness, and family disapproval.

Brilliant Blunders: From Darwin to Einstein - Colossal Mistakes by Great Scientists That Changed Our Understanding of Life and the Universe, by Mario Livio

In this 300+ page book, astrophysicist Mario Livio draws on the lives of five scientists (Charles Darwin, Lord Kelvin, Linus Pauling, Fred Hoyle, and Albert Einstein) to show how great progress often comes in the wake of "colossal mistakes." This is a great resource book for high school science teachers who want to infuse their classes with stories about how can setbacks set the stage for progress -- if we let them.

Bonus Resource: The PBS/NOVA web-series, The Secret Life of Scientist "provides a humanizing snapshot of scientists who are shaping our world." Each episode profiles a contemporary scientists in three or four discrete, one-to-three minute video clips. The site is searchable by topic and includes blog posts and a teacher's guide.

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14 Books That Connect Students With Valuable Scientists' Struggles

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The list below includes rich picture books that could be read aloud to teens as well as graphic novels, short biographies and collections of biographical sketches that teachers could draw on for excerpts. Brennan, Maggie Knapp (head middle and upper school librarian at Trinity Valley School) and Brooke Williams (a former children's librarian at New Haven Free Public Library) contributed titles to this list.

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"The scope of this study goes beyond just these videos. We really are going to try to understand what teachers are doing on a day to day basis," Paunesku said. He's excited to find out from teachers what kind of growth mindset messages they are already giving students both explicitly and implicitly through their teaching practices. Understanding how teachers are currently working and determining which strategies already work, as well as those that don't, is big goal of this collaboration.

"We'll learn both what they're already doing and how what they're doing changes as a result of using the videos," Paunesku said. And, because ClassDojo can track engagement with their videos and tools, the PERTS researchers can gather new insights into how the growth mindset message changes student engagement levels. Conversely, Paunesku also wants to know if the videos don't work.

"To the extent the videos fall short on some things, that's really important information for making more resources in the future," Paunesku said. ClassDojo has made five 2-to-3-minute videos that will be released over five weeks and are available for free to the public. They've also put together discussion guides to help teachers jumpstart classroom discussion. The five videos build upon one another in a sequence:
Video 1: A secret about the brain
Video 2: The magic of mistakes
Video 3: The power of "yet"
Video 4: The mysterious world of neurons
Video 5: Little by little
"We have this belief that teachers and parents and students are this bottom up force in education," said Liam Don, co-founder and chief product officer of ClassDojo. "So to actually bring real evidence-based research is a real opportunity."

Don is proud that his company has always solicited teacher input and incorporated that feedback into the company's tools. ClassDojo's initial focus on behavior management through positive reinforcement came from teachers. And the expansion to become a closed circuit communication tool - basically a window into the classroom for parents - also came from educators.

"I use it to recognize and acknowledge positive behavior in the classroom," said Jennifer Ellison, who teaches computer classes to all grades at Phillips Elementary in Napa, California. "But I also use it for community building." Her students often recognize one another for demonstrating mastery over new skills or for behavior that helps another student. That in turn helps foster a positive classroom culture.

The teachers at Ellison's school have read " Mindset," by Carol Dweck, and have already been trying to incorporate growth mindset messages into their teaching. But Ellison is excited about the ClassDojo videos after seeing the pilot. "We've already been talking to our students about it, but the video is really cute and they love the little monster on Dojo," she said.

Ellison often uses her own experiences as a learner when she talks about growth mindset with students. She remembers that her older sister always learned new math problems on the first try, whereas she had to struggle to understand new concepts. Growing up, she tells students, she believed that meant her sister was smart and she was not.

That feeling of inadequacy resonates with many students. But then she explains that everybody's brains are capable of growing and changing when they are confronted with new ideas. Her struggles to understand math didn't mean she was any less smart, she just had to try more strategies and work harder to understand, growing her brain in the process. She intends to continue that personal approach, but thinks an engaging, short video is a great way to kick off the conversation.

"I think the videos head in the right direction," Ellison said. "Certainly the idea that intelligence is not fixed is important for kids to hear over and over again." She is also excited at the potential for the growth mindset conversation to travel back to students' homes and become a larger part of the school community.

Ellison says ClassDojo has increased parent engagement with her classes. The tool offers translations in 40 languages -- a huge help in her school where many students come from homes where English is not the first language -- and because much of what teachers post is visual, parents can finally see what goes on during school hours. ClassDojo only has anecdotal evidence of this increased engagement from teachers' stories and social media, but they do know that 8,000 messages are exchanged every minute between teachers and parents on the platform.

ClassDojo executives have already released a pilot video to teachers and got good feedback, so they believe the video series will be well received. "I think there's a lot of pent up enthusiasm for this idea," Don said. Many teachers have heard of growth mindset, but aren't quite sure how to work it into their lessons. Don believes the partnership between ClassDojo and PERTS will reach a huge number of teachers and help them begin these conversations.

"Teachers are willing to put in work to make a good idea work in their classroom," Don said. "We've seen that over and over when we've released things in the past."

PERTS hopes to have some preliminary data on how the messaging affects engagement and student attitudes about learning by March.

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What ClassDojo Monsters Can Teach Kids About Growth Mindset

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"The scope of this study goes beyond just these videos. We really are going to try to understand what teachers are doing on a day to day basis," Paunesku said. He's excited to find out from teachers what kind of growth mindset messages they are already giving students both explicitly and implicitly through their teaching practices.

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The Mindset Kit is a free set of online lessons and practices designed to help you teach and foster adaptive beliefs about learning.

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Mindset Kit - Resources for growth and learning mindsets

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A free resource for educators and parents who want to foster learning mindsets such as growth mindset. Follow lessons and practices from experts and members of our community.

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Resources for Teaching the Stances via Leka DeGro

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Resources for Teaching the Stances via Leka DeGro

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My family moved during the summer between my fifth and sixth grade year.

That meant different surroundings. New friends. A new, traditional school that was WAY different than the Montessori-style school I had attended.

Going to a new school is bad enough, but being the new kid in sixth grade stinks. Trying to figure out your identity in sixth grade is hard enough. It's that gray area between being a little kid and being a teenager, and you're never quite sure which you are on a given day.

I struggled to figure out who my real friends were. As is common in middle school, some were my friends one day and felt like enemies the next day. I endured some bullying (name-calling, books knocked out of my hands, etc.). I didn't really realize there was a "popular group" of kids until I moved to that school. (Maybe because there wasn't one at my previous school? Maybe there was and I just didn't notice it.)

It all ended just fine. I graduated in the top 10 of my class with great friends, my self-esteem intact and a direction for my future. It just wasn't easy getting there.

As a teacher now, I don't consciously think about it. On a subconscious level, though, I think those uncomfortable middle school years linger pretty much every day. They serve a purpose, though.

I want my students to feel comfortable, to feel appreciated, to feel noticed in my classroom.

It's the passion that drives everything I do and the essence of who I am as a teacher.

I teach Spanish, and learning a foreign language can be challenging and uncomfortable. Learning new content in any class is a struggle, but it's challenging when you can't even say that new content using the standards of pronunciation you're used to. Throw in trying to speak in Spanish in front of peers and there's a reason so many people say, "I just can't do foreign languages."

It's my goal to defeat that "Spanish isn't my thing" mentality.

To do that, I study my students. I try my best to remember important happenings in their lives. More importantly, I try to bring those happenings up in conversation later in the year to prove that I really remembered them. (That's tough, because my memory is really, really bad. Just ask my poor wife, who is VERY patient with me.)

I try to mitigate the mistakes that they make so they don't get frustrated and shut down. I'm constantly trying to re-frame what they see as "the wrong answer" (or maybe "another example of why I'm wrong all the time"). I try to help them see it as "here's how I know you're making progress" or "this is why it was on the right track."

I smile. I pat kids on the back. I tell them how impressed I am when they use a fancy vocabulary word or a tricky grammar concept.

Notice in most of those examples that I say, "I try." I fail at helping my students feel comfortable, appreciated and noticed on a regular basis. I used to let that failure cripple me by getting that "another example of why I'm wrong all the time" mentality my students adopt at times. Now, I try to notice, embrace and learn from those failures and try to do better in the future. I'm constantly telling myself that I can only do the best that I can do in the hours I'm given to do it.

People think of me as a techie teacher, but I don't do it for technology's sake. (Although I do love a new, shiny gadget as much as the next guy!) I try to use those tools to draw out my students' creativity and abilities. But I also use it to help them feel comfortable. Students who wouldn't dare raise their hand to participate in a discussion will share in a backchannel conversation on TodaysMeet. Some express themselves best when they can sit down and compose their thoughts in a post on KidBlog.

Comfort isn't everything. Some would argue that if you get too comfortable, you get stagnant or complacent. There's some truth to that, but those high school years my students face can shape their identities as adults.

Their lives tend to be messy, complicated and stressful. I want my classroom to be a sanctuary where they feel they can be themselves.

I want my classroom to be the refuge I wish I had as the new kid in middle school.

For notifications of new Ditch That Textbook content and helpful links:
Interested in having Matt present at your event or school? Contact him by e-mail!

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My family moved during the summer between my fifth and sixth grade year. That meant different surroundings. New friends. A new, traditional school that was WAY different than the Montessori-style school I had attended. Going to a new school is bad enough, but being the new kid in sixth grade stinks.

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My wife and I sat in the office of an educational psychologist as she explained the results of the IQ test she administered to our 9-year-old twin boys-they were each assessed across 10 subdomains. The twins' score profiles were completely different, which, as fraternal twins, makes sense since they just happened to share a womb. Each child performed incredibly well in some areas and struggled in others. Their results were uneven, jagged so to speak.

At the end of the conversation, the psychologist shared that their average IQ scores were basically the same. "Wait, what?" I said. "How is that even possible? Their subdomain scores couldn't have been more different."

"You picked up on that, huh?" she said. "Averages aren't always that helpful."

In his new book The End Of Average, Todd Rose, director of the Mind, Brain, and Education program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, argues that averages are not useful when it comes to making decisions about individuals. Averages mask our uniqueness, as we saw with my twins.

And averages can create a false reference point when we use them to define "normal." Because virtually no one resembles the average. Virtually no one is normal.

Rose believes that society's focus on averages comes with a cost: employers miss talented employees, large swaths of students fail to reach their potential, and patients can be misdiagnosed.

The End of Average explores how "averagarianism" impacts a range of industries and scientific disciplines, but, in particular, it raises lots of questions about how we organize education. Just as we buy skis, boots and poles that fit our bodies, what would it look like for schools to fit our children?

Here are four reflections on what the "End of Average" might mean for K12.

1. Our kids are "jagged," and that's a good thing. Because of the primacy of grade point averages and college entrance exam scores in college admissions, high school students are in an arms race to be "most" above average. Averages have two negative effects here: 1) they obscure the unique strengths and weaknesses students have across multiple dimensions in favor of a single composite score; and 2) students are motivated to hide the "jaggedness" - as Rose calls it - of their profile and put forth a persona that is master of all subjects, activities and achievements.

In an "end of average" world, schools would unearth the jagged profiles of our students so educators can make better diagnoses in class and match students to "good fit" programs, pathways and schools. We'd celebrate our jaggedness and use it as the basis to provide a better education.

But to end average, we need a deeper understanding of our students, which requires better assessments and more nuanced student profiles. And once he have a fuller picture of our students, we need to accurately diagnose and make sophisticated clinical judgments based on individual needs. Better assessments, more nuanced student profiles and sophisticated clinical judgments are more aspiration than reality in K12 today, but are focal areas for innovation.

2. There are multiple paths to excellence. One of Rose's most provocative conclusions is that "there is not a single, normal pathway for any type of human development-biological, mental, moral or professional" (p. 129) He uses the example of babies learning to crawl; there is no one developmental path, and some babies skip crawling altogether.

Putting an end to average means knowing that there is no average or "normal" path. Rose argues that there are multiple paths to excellence, as well as faulty paths that need diagnosis and treatment. We need to study the different pathways individual students take to learn. Deepening our understanding of these pathways has the potential to make us better educators.

The study of individuals is labor-intensive, which is what makes using averages in science so appealing. But advances in technology make researching the "science of the individual" more feasible now than ever before.

3. Know thyself and thy students... in each unique context. There is an abundance of research showing behavior is situational, but Rose suggests even morals are contextual. For example, a person may consistently exhibit honest behavior in one setting and dishonest behavior in another.

Rose posits that individuals each have a predictable set of "if-then" patterns in their behavior (if context x, then behavior y), and that students can be placed in educational settings that are a better fit for those patterns.

To end "average," educators would think about how the school context impacts student behavior, instead of assuming that poor behavior is simply due to some deficiency in the student or problems at home.

4. Schools should fit our students. The implications of Rose's work can be overwhelming: how does a school customize individual pathways for each child based on their jagged talents and context-dependent behaviors? Each child is their own snowflake-but is it fair to assume that every teacher "will know what to do" and everything will work itself out?

To put an end to average, schools would become much more flexible in how they serve students - Roses suggest self-paced, mastery-based learning - and/or public school systems would provide a diversity of programs to choose from.

Can Better Fit Lead to More Equitable Schools?

Rose is a talented researcher and education appears ripe to benefit from the science of the individual. The End of Average shines a light on education to highlight the opportunities to create better fit in our schools. But getting to better fit in education is complicated, so complicated it may not be worth the effort.

On the other hand, we see more affluent families seek better fit (dare I say personalize?) through some combination of school choice, school-based advocacy, tutoring, afterschool and summer enrichment, third-party assessments and online learning.

There is a black market for personalized education in America. The question is how do we make educational fit available to every child in our public schools-not just those who can pay for it.

Rose sees "equal fit" as the new foundation for an education equity agenda. Is fit a more compelling, less controversial rallying cry than family choice? Or just another means to sort children into schools or classrooms based on affluence?

Alex Hernandez (@thinkschools) is a partner at Charter School Growth Fund, a nonprofit that supports the growth of the nation's best public charter schools and an an EdSurge columnist.

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What the "End of Average" Means for K-12 - EdSurge News

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My wife and I sat in the office of an educational psychologist as she explained the results of the IQ test she administered to our 9-year-old twin boys-they were each assessed across 10 subdomains. The twins' score profiles were completely different, which, as fraternal twins, makes sense since they just happened to share a womb.

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Emely glances absentmindedly at the busy classmates at her table before returning to her own work. On her board, she has written "10+20=30" and "4+8=12." She begins a third number sentence, carefully printing the number 20. Dissatisfied, however, she erases it. Then, bringing her face very close to the whiteboard, so close that she has to brush aside a strand of hair in order to write, she tries again: "30+12=42." She pushes the hair behind her ear as she reviews her work, and then, with a sudden rush of confidence, starts the next step of the problem with fresh momentum: "42+10=52."

As a visitor to Emely's classroom that day, I saw several children tackling the same problem in different ways. Emely's strategy, breaking the two-digit numbers apart and adding tens and ones separately, then recombining them in a series of addition sentences, was valid, efficient, and logical. It made sense to her. Other students in the room used methods that made sense to them:

Brandon drew visual representations of base 10 blocks for each addend.

Felix applied the traditional algorithm for finding sums of two-digit numbers.

Jamina counted up on an open number line.

Their teacher, Mrs. Tambor, gave them a few minutes after independent work to share their methods in pairs before they gathered at the carpet to discuss the problem as a whole group and evaluate some of the different methods they'd used to solve it.

The Productive Struggle

The format of Mrs. Tambor's math lesson reflected her desire to build productive struggle into her students' daily educational experience. To ensure plenty of time for puzzling and reasoning, she started her lesson with independent work time, moving into the teacher-centered portion of the lesson only after students had been studying the problem, first independently and then in pairs, for more than half of their math block.

Why would a teacher decide to structure a math lesson this way? Here are a few reasons that teachers have shared with me:

1. It prioritizes the student-centered portion of lesson.

If time runs out, the students' time to explore isn't cut short or eliminated.

2. It builds authentic engagement.

As each student confronts the problem and attempts to solve it, there is a feeling of mounting suspense. What is the question that I need to answer? How will I go about solving this problem? Will my strategy work? Will my classmates solve the problem in different ways? By the time the students gather in a group, they have a rich context for the problem at hand, and are genuinely curious about its solution.

3. It emphasizes that math makes sense.

Students are encouraged to seek solutions that are grounded in logic and prior knowledge and that make sense to them, instead of imitating methods used by their teacher or peers.

4. It creates ample opportunity for assessment, intervention, and feedback.

During independent time, teachers can work with struggling learners or circulate, making observations about student strengths and weaknesses. By the time students come together to discuss the problem, the teacher is well informed about the successful and unsuccessful strategies they have attempted, and can provide sturdy feedback about their work.

5. It builds perseverance.

Faced with a challenge, students experience the discomfort of not knowing. However, especially with practice, they become more comfortable with enduring this tension and working through it. Eventually, they will also experience the incredible personal satisfaction of solving a challenging problem.

When Challenge Gives Way to Frustration

After her first attempt at incorporating productive struggle, Mrs. Pierce, a fourth-grade teacher, reported, "We weren't even two minutes in when one of my students burst into tears. He had no idea where to start."

Instead of over-scaffolding or giving "hints," many teachers try to provide alternate points of entry when they spot an unproductive struggle. In one third-grade classroom, for example, students were asked to find ways to make 36 cents. When one student was confounded, her teacher suggested quietly, "Start by writing down the values of each coin. Remember, we discussed them in morning meeting yesterday." (She could also have suggested that the student start with only pennies or with three dimes.) Another teacher, discovering that she had overestimated her students' readiness, quickly replaced the original problem with a simpler one. Later, she wrote alternate problems on slips of paper ahead of time for students who got stuck.

It's also important to demystify the process so that students will understand how their initial uncertainty is a natural part of the learning cycle. One teacher encourages his students to talk about their strategies for breaking into a problem. Not only can they learn from one another, but also hearing that others experience the same tension can relieve students who internalize the discomfort.

As for Mrs. Pierce, when a colleague asked how she planned to rescue her student in distress, she replied, firmly and cheerfully, "We go again tomorrow!"

How do you build math positivity in your classroom or school?

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Harnessing the Power of the Productive Struggle | Edutopia

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Emely glances absentmindedly at the busy classmates at her table before returning to her own work. On her board, she has written "10+20=30" and "4+8=12." She begins a third number sentence, carefully printing the number 20. Dissatisfied, however, she erases it.

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RSA ANIMATE: How To Help Every Child Fulfil Their Potential

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Our 15-year-old son loves to flip.

The challenge is, when you flip, there is a good chance you'll flop. It's part of the deal.

I bet most of us have experienced-or at least have seen-a pretty nasty belly flop (or "smack" as real divers call it). When I asked college diving coach Gabe Kortuem how he teaches his divers to handle them, his response was quick and convicted.

"We celebrate them. Then they don't hurt so much."

The underlying message is pretty obvious. Mistakes are part of the learning process. When we treat them as such, they give us reason to celebrate.

Schools across the country are placing a great deal of emphasis on social emotional learning (SEL), success skills, mindsets, social skills, habits of success and more (call them what you will). Framing learning opportunities with a phrase like "celebrating the flops" can be a great springboard (pun intended) to reinforce SEL habits.

According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning ( CASEL), one of the goals of social emotional learning (SEL) programs is improving student attitudes about self, others and school. Cognitive science research shows it can be done.

What if it became second nature for our responses to have such a positive forward-looking tone. Instead of "fail," how about "not yet?" Instead of "You'd better not do that again," what if we said "What did you learn from that one?"

Here are 7 practical SEL tips for teachers and parents to reinforce such mindsets in young people:

1. Emphasize bravery over perfection. In a great NPR TED Radio Hour podcast called Nudge, Reshma Saujani (founder of Girls Who Code) speaks to our historical educational emphasis on perfection (especially with girls) rather than on bravery (more often reinforced in boys, yet key for learning from mistakes!).

When we socialize for perfection, students are less likely to take risks, which stifles the learning process. However, when we "nudge" kids toward risk-taking and model learning from failures, we make it part of the process and something to be celebrated.

This whole concept of "nudge" applies across the board regarding learning from mistakes.

2. Remember that growth mindset isn't just about effort. It's what we DO with the effort. Carol Dweck's mindset research is widely understood, yet that there has been so much emphasis on the effort component that too many stop there. Revisiting growth mindset, Dweck highlights that effort is a means to an end-the overall goal is learning and improving.

In order to turn what can be frustrating effort into a breakthrough of learning, we need to learn to respond positively to "errors." Dweck's TED talk was also featured in the Nudge podcast.

3. Know personal triggers and accept mistakes. As Carol Dweck revisits growth mindset in this EdWeek article, she cautions, "Watch to see what your natural tendency is-what happens when you make mistakes? Do you become defensive, angry or crushed instead of interested in learning from the feedback?" Her main tip: "Accept those thoughts and feelings and work with and through them. And keep working with and through them." What if we heeded Dweck's advice and go beyond accepting them and actually celebrated them?

4. Connect to positive mindsets. One of the habits of success identified by Next Gen Learning Challenges, which builds upon David Conley's work ( EPIC) is positive mindset, perseverance and learning strategies. A positive response to failure certainly is evidence of this.

5. Start a project (Practice PBL). Project-based learning provides built-in opportunities to make mistakes. Getting Smart is leading a year-long campaign, It's a Project-Based World, to encourage project-based learning as an engagement lever leading to deeper learning outcomes. Projects are a great way to bring in authentic, hands-on and real world learning (and combat boredom!).

6. Be open to what is next. Celebrate flops with anticipation. In Saujani's case, she had the courage to run for office. After losing a campaign, she admitted she wasn't celebrating. Realizing that celebration isn't always appropriate immediately, there's room for an openness to what would be next. Without Saujani's openness, we wouldn't have Girls Who Code.

7. Recognize that we miss 100% of the shots (or dives) we don't take. A little Wayne Gretkzy (I know, some of you think Michael Scott from The Office was the first one to say this.) So, if nothing else, we can celebrate the fact that we tried something.

In this year of the Summer Olympics we will get to watch lots of great dives (go !) and celebrate the learning along the way.

Sometimes, it just takes a little "nudge" to get off the diving board.

For more, see:
Thanks to coaches Jake Dunn (St Catherine's), Jeremiah Jackson (St. Mary's), Kristoffer Jorgensen (U of South Dakota) Gabe Korteum (St Olaf), and Andy Scott (Kenyon College) for modeling risk taking by doing an impromptu diving exhibition after being challenged by your students. Stay in-the-know with all things EdTech and innovations in learning by signing up to receive the weekly Smart Update

Mary is a Director at Getting Smart, where she leads the team's strategic advisory practice. She helps learning organizations grow and extend impact. She is known for her work in strategy and design; personalized and competency-based learning; readiness; and SEL. You can connect with Mary on Twitter @maryryerse.

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Celebrate Flops Then They Don't Hurt So Much 7 SEL Mindset Tips

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Our 15-year-old son loves to flip. The challenge is, when you flip, there is a good chance you'll flop. It's part of the deal. I bet most of us have experienced-or at least have seen-a pretty nasty belly flop (or "smack" as real divers call it).

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Commentary

For many years, I secretly worked on my research. I say "secretly" because, once upon a time, researchers simply published their research in professional journals-and there it stayed.

However, my colleagues and I learned things we thought people needed to know. We found that students' mindsets-how they perceive their abilities-played a key role in their motivation and achievement, and we found that if we changed students' mindsets, we could boost their achievement. More precisely, students who believed their intelligence could be developed (a growth mindset) outperformed those who believed their intelligence was fixed (a fixed mindset). And when students learned through a structured program that they could "grow their brains" and increase their intellectual abilities, they did better. Finally, we found that having children focus on the process that leads to learning (like hard work or trying new strategies) could foster a growth mindset and its benefits.

So a few years back, I published my book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success to share these discoveries with educators. And many educators have applied the mindset principles in spectacular ways with tremendously gratifying results.

This is wonderful, and the good word continues to spread. But as we've watched the growth mindset become more popular, we've become much wiser about how to implement it. This learning-the common pitfalls, the misunderstandings, and what to do about them-is what I'd like to share with you, so that we can maximize the benefits for our students.

A growth mindset isn't just about effort. Perhaps the most common misconception is simply equating the growth mindset with effort. Certainly, effort is key for students' achievement, but it's not the only thing. Students need to try new strategies and seek input from others when they're stuck. They need this repertoire of approaches-not just sheer effort-to learn and improve.

We also need to remember that effort is a means to an end to the goal of learning and improving. Too often nowadays, praise is given to students who are putting forth effort, but not learning, in order to make them feel good in the moment: "Great effort! You tried your best!" It's good that the students tried, but it's not good that they're not learning. The growth-mindset approach helps children feel good in the short and long terms, by helping them thrive on challenges and setbacks on their way to learning. When they're stuck, teachers can appreciate their work so far, but add: "Let's talk about what you've tried, and what you can try next."

Recently, someone asked what keeps me up at night. It's the fear that the mindset concepts, which grew up to counter the failed self-esteem movement, will be used to perpetuate that movement. In other words, if you want to make students feel good, even if they're not learning, just praise their effort! Want to hide learning gaps from them? Just tell them, "Everyone is smart!" The growth mindset was intended to help close achievement gaps, not hide them. It is about telling the truth about a student's current achievement and then, together, doing something about it, helping him or her become smarter.

I also fear that the mindset work is sometimes used to justify why some students aren't learning: "Oh, he has a fixed mindset." We used to blame the child's environment or ability.

Must it always come back to finding a reason why some children just can't learn, as opposed to finding a way to help them learn? Teachers who understand the growth mindset do everything in their power to unlock that learning.

A few years ago, my colleague in Australia, Susan Mackie, detected an outbreak of what she called "false growth mindset." She was seeing educators who claimed to have a growth mindset, but whose words and actions didn't reflect it. At first, I was skeptical. But before long, I saw it, too, and I understood why.

In many quarters, a growth mindset had become the right thing to have, the right way to think. It was as though educators were faced with a choice: Are you an enlightened person who fosters students' well-being? Or are you an unenlightened person, with a fixed mindset, who undermines them? So, of course, many claimed the growth-mindset identity. But the path to a growth mindset is a journey, not a proclamation.

Let's look at what happens when teachers, or parents, claim a growth mindset, but don't follow through. In recent research, Kathy Liu Sun found that there were many math teachers who endorsed a growth mindset and even said the words "growth mindset" in their middle school math classes, but did not follow through in their classroom practices. In these cases, their students tended to endorse more of a fixed mindset about their math ability. My advisee and research collaborator Kyla Haimovitz and I are finding many parents who endorse a growth mindset, but react to their children's mistakes as though they are problematic or harmful, rather than helpful. In these cases, their children develop more of a fixed mindset about their intelligence.

How can we help educators adopt a deeper, true growth mindset, one that will show in their classroom practices? You may be surprised by my answer: Let's legitimize the fixed mindset. Let's acknowledge that (1) we're all a mixture of fixed and growth mindsets, (2) we will probably always be, and (3) if we want to move closer to a growth mindset in our thoughts and practices, we need to stay in touch with our fixed-mindset thoughts and deeds.

If we "ban" the fixed mindset, we will surely create false growth-mindsets. (By the way, I also fear that if we use mindset measures for accountability, we will create false growth mindsets on an unprecedented scale.) But if we watch carefully for our fixed-mindset triggers, we can begin the true journey to a growth mindset.

What are your triggers?
Watch for a fixed-mindset reaction when you face challenges. Do you feel overly anxious, or does a voice in your head warn you away? Watch for it when you face a setback in your teaching, or when students aren't listening or learning. Do you feel incompetent or defeated? Do you look for an excuse? Watch to see whether criticism brings out your fixed mindset. Do you become defensive, angry, or crushed instead of interested in learning from the feedback? Watch what happens when you see an educator who's better than you at something you value. Do you feel envious and threatened, or do you feel eager to learn? Accept those thoughts and feelings and work with and through them. And keep working with and through them.

My colleagues and I are taking a growth-mindset stance toward our message to educators. Maybe we originally put too much emphasis on sheer effort. Maybe we made the development of a growth mindset sound too easy. Maybe we talked too much about people having one mindset or the other, rather than portraying people as mixtures. We are on a growth-mindset journey, too.

Published in Print: September 23, 2015, as Growth Mindset, Revisited

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Carol Dweck Revisits the 'Growth Mindset'

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Commentary For many years, I secretly worked on my research. I say "secretly" because, once upon a time, researchers simply published their research in professional journals-and there it stayed. However, my colleagues and I learned things we thought people needed to know.