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Most educators can easily answer, "Why is a growth mindset important?" Even if you are still in the process of earning your education degree, you can identify when students are flexible in how they respond to difficulties. You know they will be creative in their search for new approaches. A growth mindset is revealed in the optimism and perseverance students exhibit when tackling a challenge.

You can also spot when a student is displaying a fixed mindset. Their thinking is more rigid around their capabilities. They believe they are unequivocally bad or good at tasks. This difference highlights the real importance of a growth mindset - that students can embody growth mindset attitudes even when they once had fixed beliefs about themselves.
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Fixed Mindset Versus Growth Mindset

Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck coined the idea of a growth mindset. ¹ She studied the idea that our beliefs about ourselves and, especially, our ability to rethink those beliefs can have a profound impact on our lives. A major part of this growth mindset research was related to what we consider personality.

A fixed mindset about our personality assumes that things like our creativity, intelligence and moral character are static and cannot be changed. This belief structure assumes that any success we have is due to our inherent intelligence or ability. People with a fixed mindset strive for success to prove this sense of being smart or capable. They avoid failure at all costs to look good in front of others.

A growth mindset assumes that our personalities can change and grow. People with a growth mindset see failure as an opportunity to learn and try something new. Challenges can be a way to learn more about the world around us or to stretch our capabilities. A person with a growth mindset believes they can learn what they do not already know rather than assuming that they will never be good at something or that they are not smart enough to do something.

Both a fixed mindset and a growth mindset can manifest at an early age. When they do, these mindsets can control many of our future behaviors. They also strongly affect how we deal with both success and failure in personal and professional situations.

The type of mindset a person has can affect their level of happiness. A person with a growth mindset will reveal a passion for learning, whereas a person with a fixed mindset hungers for the approval of others. People with a growth mindset believe that intelligence and creativity, as well as things like love and friendship, can be grown and cultivated with practice and time. They are less likely to be discouraged by failure because they reframe challenges as learning opportunities. This allows them to feel happy and content.

The Importance of a Growth Mindset for Students

Since a growth mindset is developed in young children, students need to understand how to develop a growth mindset. When children believe that their abilities can be developed, they can then understand that their natural intelligence and talent are just the beginning. They can work toward whatever goals they have and develop the skills and qualities that they aspire to possess.

Some students with a fixed mindset may believe that the high achievers in their classes are naturally gifted, but as an educator, you know that this is usually not the case. High-achieving students put in the work, too. Helping students understand that hard work, effort, time, patience and thoughtful determination can make a difference in achievement can show them how to develop their persistence. They need to understand that they are capable of whatever they set their mind to, as long as they are willing to continue striving.

Teachers do not need to simply stress the importance of a growth mindset. They can also help to develop it by sharing information about brain plasticity. Researchers have shown that the connections between neurons in our brain can change as we grow and gain experience. These new connections not only add to the neural networks but also speed up the transmission of electrical signals in the brain. Strategies such as asking questions and challenging ourselves can also build neural pathways.

When students understand how their brains can grow, they may be more willing to try new experiences. Teach students that any time they experience something unique or ask questions about topics they might not already know about, they are physically growing their brains. This means they are building their intelligence and establishing a growth mindset. Research has shown that when seventh graders were taught about brain plasticity and that intelligence is something they can grow, their math grades improved. ²

It is usually easy to determine which students in a classroom demonstrate a growth mindset. Teachers may see these growth mindset characteristics in some students:

Asking questions when they don't know about a topic

Eagerly diving into challenging projects

Persevering when they come across a roadblock

Putting in effort or trying things multiple times

Listening to feedback and applying it

Getting inspired by the achievements of others

Helping Students Develop a Growth Mindset

A student with a growth mindset will work toward their goals, even when that work is challenging. They will perhaps even purposefully pursue topics that are challenging because of the learning that results. Students with a growth mindset persist despite failure and are more likely to see failure as a stepping stone in the learning process. A growth mindset can result in reaching higher levels of achievement than peers with fixed mindsets who often plateau early and achieve less than their full potential.

The good news is that when teachers recognize that a student is operating with a fixed mindset, there are things they can do to help change these thought patterns.

1. Share the Research

Students who are taught about how memory works and how the brain can grow show increased effort and motivation compared with students who do not receive the same training.

2. Watch What You Say

Teachers can influence mindset by giving specific types of feedback. General praise about intelligence, such as saying, "You are so smart!" can negatively affect motivation and achievement. Instead, give praise for effort, rather than innate intelligence, to encourage students to progress and show more challenge-seeking behaviors.

3. Honor Student Abilities

Educators often see a fixed mindset in mathematics. Traditionally, math algorithms are taught as the only way to solve a problem, which ignores the problem-solving techniques students often start with. Teachers can begin math lessons by sharing open-ended problems and asking students to share their strategies rather than teaching only one way to solve the problem.

4. Create Opportunities to Fail

A growth mindset develops when students have to respond to challenges. By presenting challenging activities, teachers can allow students to struggle and fail in a safe, supportive environment. Some classroom activities that support a growth mindset in this way might be projects such as building bridges or towers out of unique materials like noodles or toothpicks. These challenges permit students to think critically about a problem and develop new strategies if they fail. Make sure to offer students multiple attempts at these activities, so they can build on each opportunity to learn and change their methodology.

5. Model Your Own Growth Mindset

When you talk about yourself to students, make sure you are modeling a growth mindset. Tell them about times you struggled with a task, kept trying and eventually succeeded. Be sure to highlight failures in your life and explain to students how you grow and learn from them.

6. Embrace Imperfection

Teachers who want to help their students develop a growth mindset should include feedback around imperfections in student evaluation. Instead of dismissing imperfection as undesirable, a teacher can celebrate the challenges that students have gone through and help them reflect on the growth that they have made.

7. Build a Supportive Community

One reason a fixed mindset persists is that people are afraid of looking foolish in front of others. When a teacher builds a supportive classroom community, students are willing to be brave in the face of new challenges. This can help them develop a growth mindset because they care more about learning than about looking good in front of their peers.

8. Teach Students What to Do With Feedback

Developing a growth mindset is rooted in the ability to learn from mistakes, failures and challenges. However, if a student does not know how to receive feedback, they may have difficulty moving forward and implementing change. Be explicit about how to handle feedback to promote a growth mindset.

9. Embrace the Process

Teachers who include more process-oriented activities can help build a growth mindset in students. By valuing the process rather than the result, teachers show students that they can learn and make changes at any point along the way.

The Importance of a Growth Mindset for Educators

Like students, teachers also need to develop a growth mindset. To do so, you may need help from your school administrators or mentors in your education degree program. Some strategies that you might ask your school administrator to consider include:

1. Professional Development

The growth mindset is a popular concept in education and many professional development courses teach educators how to model a growth mindset with their students. You may even be able to take growth mindset coursework when earning your education degree. Studying this topic can help you become aware of your mindset and learn more about how to bring a growth mindset to work and your students. Teachers can improve their pedagogical practice by developing a growth mindset and believing they can overcome the challenges that they face in the classroom.

2. Participation in Leadership

Teachers who never try, never fail. If a teacher continues with the same practices they have used for their entire career, they are not demonstrating a growth mindset. A school administrator can encourage teachers to step out of their comfort zones by asking for their feedback about campus-related issues. By asking teachers to think creatively about how to solve problems that affect the campus, administrators are asking teachers to try new approaches. When teachers come to problem-solving and decision-making with a growth mindset, they can help make the school a better place whether their ideas are implemented or not.

3. Self-Reflection

School administrators can ask teachers to reflect on their teaching experiences. A growth mindset is often developed upon reflection. When a teacher considers something that went well, they may want to keep doing it. Conversely, when they reflect on something that did not go well, they can think about what needs to change. You can include self-reflection as part of your daily or weekly lesson planning process to determine the parts of your teaching practice that need to change. When administrators implement this practice school-wide, they are demonstrating the importance of a growth mindset.

4. Formative Reviews

Many teachers dread the end-of-year performance review. These summative reviews give them information about their teaching practice when it is too late to implement changes with the current class of students. The teacher does not have enough time to change their practice based on feedback. Instead of relying only on reviews at the end of the year, school leadership could provide many formative evaluations throughout the year so that teachers can reflect on their practice and make the changes that they need to feel more successful.

When you earn your teaching degree at Grand Canyon University, you will learn many techniques to help develop a growth mindset in your students and develop classrooms full of confident, adventurous students who are ready to learn from every opportunity. Learn more about Grand Canyon University's College of Education and our degree programs and join our efforts to elevate the education profession.

Retrieved from:

1 Stanford News, New study yields instructive results on how mindset affects learning, in July 2021.

2 Youcubed, Ability and Mathematics: the mindset revolution that is reshaping education, in July 2021.

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Most educators can easily answer, "Why is a growth mindset important?" Even if you are still in the process of earning your education degree, you c

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She explains students' mindsets -- the way they perceive their abilities -- fall somewhere between two opposites:

Fixed Mindset -- Students believe their skills, talents and overall intelligence are fixed traits. They may resist learning and trying to improve, typically feeling embarrassed when not understanding something.

Growth Mindset -- Students know they can develop their skills and talents through effort and persistence, as well as being receptive to lessons and feedback. They generally believe they can improve through hard work and trying new learning methods.

If you can shift students towards the latter, Dr. Dweck writes, you can improve the level and frequency of their achievements. This is because mindset plays a prominent role in self-motivation.

The question now becomes: "How can I build or instill a growth mindset in my students?"

10 Ways teachers can foster a growth mindset in students

1. Avoid praising intelligence and sheer effort

You risk discouraging growth by primarily praising intelligence and sheer effort, instead of acknowledging the importance of planning and trying new approaches.

Complimenting intelligence can reinforce it as a fixed trait, says Dr. Dweck.

And although effort is aligned with growth mindset, explicitly praising it can backfire. For example, if you tell students to "just keep trying" when their hard work doesn't pay off, they may feel incompetent.
Instead, give feedback that highlights the values of planning and trying different learning strategies:
Because praise and feedback can change the ways students view learning processes, your approach can push them toward or further away from establishing a growth mindset.

2. Use diverse teaching strategies

Exposing students to different instructional methods and strategies will help build a repertoire of learning skills to handle diverse challenges, according to Dr. Dweck.

You can use differentiated instruction tactics and principles to vary the content you present and how students process it, as well as how they demonstrate knowledge:

Content -- When applicable, use videos, audio clips, presentations and physical manipulatives such as blocks in your lessons. Learning stations can help you deliver this content in a single class.

Processes -- Give students chances to not only work individually, but in pairs, small groups and big groups.

Products -- Let students demonstrate understanding of content in a variety of ways on tests, projects and assignments. For example, you can create an open project that students can complete as an essay, presentation or artistic production.

By expanding your teaching tactics, students should sharpen a range of skills to help them approach different learning obstacles.

Many math teachers, for example, use a variety of math games to diversify their usual pedagogical toolkit. Keep in mind it can be challenging to use diverse teaching strategies in a traditional classroom seating arrangement. Consider a flexible seating classroom plan to sidestep some of the environmental constraints you might have in your learning space.

3. Introduce simple gamification elements

Certain aspects of gamification - the practice of applying video game elements to your class - can highlight student progress instead of emphasizing mistakes.

This can be accomplished by leveraging digital game-based learning tools, such as Prodigy Math or Prodigy English. In a 2021 survey of 5th - 8th grade students by Prodigy Education, Prodigy Math users who were classified as having a growth mindset had stronger performance in math and were more engaged in the math content than users who were classified as having a growth mindset.

Alternatively, you can easily modify how you present marks on tests and assignments.

For example, if a student earns 85% on a quiz, give him or her 8,500 XP too. You can also award XP for completing assignments, participating in class or anything that demonstrates effort to learn. Students many even actively take on extra-curricular work, similar to how they complete quests and missions in video games.

You can give XP for separate skills and topics, keeping track of the points students have accumulated like so:

Doing this gives them a clear reference point to see how much they'd learned and accomplished.
And instead of going downhill from 100%, they're going uphill from zero XP.
This illustrates the type of steady improvement that's at the heart of building a growth mindset.

4. Teach the values of challenges

Explaining the inherent benefits of overcoming obstacles can help students develop a growth mindset, according to Dr. Dweck.

She specifically recommends teaching about the effect on the brain when people push through their comfort zones to grasp difficult concepts. The neurons form stronger connections, leading to improved intelligence over time. Therefore, effort and difficulty are paths, not roadblocks, to becoming smarter.

Middle school students in a control group that learned this lesson earned a clear increase in math scores over two years, according to a study by Dr. Dweck and her colleagues.

But those in a group that thought intelligence was fixed saw a decrease.

As these results show, simply teaching the broad benefits of building a growth mindset can have a positive effect on students.

5. Encourage students to expand their answers

Asking students to elaborate on their thoughts during discussion reveals what they do and don't understand, encouraging them to process content at a deeper level as they reflect on their responses.

This demonstrates a core aspect of growth mindset-- subject matter expertise isn't inherent, but developed.
Give students opportunities to share and expand on their thoughts by running:

Problem-based learning (PBL) activities -- Whether in a small or large group, problem-based learning allows students to collaborate and share thoughts with each other.

Question and answer sessions after presentations -- Encourage students to ask questions to the presenter, allowing him or her to delve into important points.

As you encourage students to elaborate on their thoughts and responses, they should improve understanding of subject matter and clearly see the values of effort and critical thinking.

6. Explain the purposes of abstract skills and concepts

Teaching a unit or subject filled with abstract skills and concepts? Instilling a growth mindset in students may take more work.

This is because if the bulk of your students struggle with determining a concept's real-world applications, they may not see the purpose in improving their knowledge of that concept.
Should you feel this is the case with a given skill or topic, explore and explain:

Why it is significant

What its uses are outside of class

How it will help students in the future

By doing so, most students should grow interested in the once-abstract concept and want to understand it at a deeper level.

Instilling a growth mindset in students should be easier as a result.

Experiential learning activities and active learning strategies help bridge this gap with an approach that puts students at the center of the learning process, allowing them to build a more meaningful understanding of the abstract skills and concepts you are teaching.

7. Allow time for goal-based journaling

Journaling serves different purposes, including encouraging students to build a growth mindset through goal setting. As an exit ticket, ask students to:

Set learning goals for themselves

Discuss progression toward meeting these goals

For example, a student may set a goal to earn a certain grade on an upcoming quiz. To accomplish this goal, the student must write the steps he or she is taking. These could include completing a specific number of extra homework questions each night.

No matter the goal, students should follow the SMART method, ensuring it isn't too lofty.
The goal should be:
This kind of goal setting is, in a sense, the embodiment of building a growth mindset. Students are working to improve, dissuading themselves from thinking their traits and skills are fixed.

What will happen when they meet their goals? They'll know growth is always possible.

8. Say "yet" more often

The word "yet" can change disparaging sentences into positive ones, promoting growth, according to Dr. Dweck.

This linguistic trick works especially well with sentences that include "can't" or "don't," because it reverses the negative connotation.
See for yourself by adding "yet" to the end of these sentences:

I can't do long division

I don't have the skills to answer this question

I don't understand dependent and independent clauses

When you catch yourself using similar sentences, keep this trick in mind and share it with students.

You'll demonstrate that mastering skills and understanding concepts is always possible -- it's just dependent on time, persistence and trying different learning techniques.

9. Help students change their language

As you shift your phrasing, you can help students change their language to push their mindsets from growth-averse to development-oriented.

Fixed-mindset students see poor performance as a rebuke of their abilities, writes Dr. Dweck. Instead, you can help them view struggle as a chance to improve skills and understanding.

Language - written, spoken and thought - is a tool to accomplish this goal and it has been shown to be effective!

In 2019, a large-scale research study on growth mindset with 25 researchers led by Dr. David S. Yeager (and including Dr. Dweck!) found that a growth mindset intervention led to higher grades for students who were low-achieving and also led more students to enroll in more rigorous math courses.
Consider creating a table, similar to the one below, to post in your classroom:
This will give students a clear reference point to build a vocabulary that reflects growth mindset.

10. Use success folders

Through the semester or year, students can struggle to remember their progress and achievements. Success folders address this problem, providing first-hand evidence of growth.

What are success folders? That becomes clear when learning how they cultivate growth mindset. You must:

Create the Folders -- Give each student a folder -- yes, the kind made of cardboard or stiff paper. On the cover, ask them to draw a picture or write a short story that depicts their personal concepts of success.

Personalize the Folders -- Every day or week, allot time for students to add personal examples of successful learning to the folder. These can be summaries of tasks they completed, explanations of new concepts they learned or tests and assignments they aced.

Reflect on the Folders -- To begin each week on a high note, have students look through their success folders. This encourages them to reflect on their achievements, providing first-hand evidence of growth.

Try it yourself to see the power a simple folder can have for growth mindset in education settings.

Growth mindset infographic

Created by Educational Technology and Mobile Learning- an online resource for teaching tools and ideas - below is an infographic based on this article, helping you foster a growth mindset culture in your class:

Final thoughts about growth mindset in education

Research on a growth mindset continues to evolve. In 2016, Dr. Dweck wrote an article for Harvard Business Review where she outlined some common misconceptions about growth mindset research.

Now that you have a solid understanding of growth mindset research, you can use these 10 tactics to foster a growth mindset in your students, helping them cultivate their talents and abilities in and out of the classroom.

You should see a positive attitude shift as they actively build new skills, learn about unfamiliar topics and take on different challenges.

Dedicated students. Happy teacher. What's not to love?

Create or log into your free teacher account on Prodigy - an adaptive math game that adjusts content to accommodate player trouble spots and learning speeds. The curriculum-aligned platform is used by millions of students and teachers around the world.

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10 Ways Teachers Can Instill a Growth Mindset in Students

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She explains students' mindsets -- the way they perceive their abilities -- fall somewhere between two opposites: Fixed Mindset -- Students believe their skills, talents and overall intelligence are fixed traits. They may resist learning and trying to improve, typically feeling embarrassed when not understanding something.

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As an educator, you're constantly on the lookout for strategies you can implement with your class to help foster positive outcomes for your students. You're genuinely dedicated to helping students discover their true potential. That means you're willing to try everything from assigning readings that can introduce them to new experiences to including activities that really get them out of their comfort zones.

One increasingly popular teaching strategy has less to do with lesson plans and curriculum and more to do with a teacher's overall approach to student interaction and instruction. It's something Stanford University psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck has spent much of her career studying - what she calls the "growth mindset." The education field has been listening intently.

To explore how modeling a growth mindset can be beneficial, we consulted the insight of Sasha Crowley, host of a webinar on the topic and instructional designer for University of Massachusetts Global. With insight from both Dweck and Crowley, we uncovered the true impact a growth mindset can have on students of all ages and abilities. Read what they have to say and find out if this widely supported teaching strategy could lead you to greater success in your own classroom, whether virtual or in person.

Growth mindset vs. fixed mindset: Pinpointing the differences

Early in her career, Dweck observed that some children face challenges differently than others. While some have the tendency to shy away from obstacles, others become more engaged, welcoming challenges as opportunities. She has since spent decades unpacking this concept. Dweck also discusses it in great depth in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

A growth mindset, as Dweck defines it , is best understood when contrasted with a fixed mindset. People with a fixed mindset believe everyone's abilities are unchanging - they view a person's talents and skills as things that are essentially predetermined at birth and set in stone. Alternatively, people with a growth mindset believe that skills and qualities are things that can be cultivated through effort and perseverance.

A growth mindset, Dweck asserts, empowers people to believe they can develop their abilities - brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that are essential for accomplishment in just about any sphere.

"This is such a powerful concept when we think about our students," Crowley says. She adds that it's easy for students to assume high-achievers got to where they are through talent alone, but that's rarely the case. "What successful people know is that the path to success is going to be really challenging. You'll have to dig in. You'll have to develop grit and persistence. And you'll need to believe that you're capable, not letting anything hold you back."

The true impact of a growth mindset for teachers

Dweck's research has shown that it's possible to teach students how to develop a growth mindset - as a result, student engagement and performance can markedly improve. To dig further into why a growth mindset can impact students' performance, it's important to consider the related aspects of how our brains actually work.

Recent advances in neuroscience have determined that our brains are much more malleable than was once believed. Research on brain plasticity , for example, has demonstrated that connectivity between neurons can change as we amass experiences. Neural networks can grow new connections, strengthen existing ones and even speed up the transmission of impulses. Such findings suggest that through strategies like asking questions and practicing difficult tasks, we can increase our neural growth.

that if a person simply believes their brain can grow, they can experience new and different outcomes. For example, it was found that seventh graders who were taught that intelligence is malleable showed a clear increase in math grades.

How to spot fixed and growth mindsets

Teachers who hope to implement a growth mindset must first identify the learning mindsets currently at play among their students. Consider the following observations from Dweck as you think about the kids you teach:

When students have more of a fixed mindset, they see challenges as risky. With this way of thinking, encountering obstacles or criticism becomes "proof" that they don't have the abilities needed to succeed.

When students adopt a growth mindset, they view challenges as ways of progressing toward their desired outcomes. Students who believe they can develop their talents and abilities see roadblocks and critical feedback as methods to gather information they could use to help themselves learn.

"A person who has a fixed mindset really views themselves as more of a finished product, believing they're not really capable of more," Crowley explains. "With a fixed mindset, a person can get stuck in a cycle of trying to prove themselves."

In contrast, Crowley points out that students with growth mindsets see themselves as works in progress. "They know they don't have to have all the answers," she adds. "As a result, they're very open to feedback. Instead of giving up in the face of challenges, they keep going because they believe they're capable of achieving the goal."

Need a few more ideas on how you can distinguish between the two? Crowley offers the following distinctions between students with a fixed mindset and students with a growth mindset:

Learn how to implement a growth mindset

"What I love about the concept of a growth mindset is that it's something you can implement into your teaching without making huge curricular changes," Crowley says. She notes that you can simply blend it into the language you use to talk to your students. But there are also some approaches that can help you design your lessons in ways that leverage the tenets of a growth mindset.

Crowley highlights the following four strategies:

Praise the process, not just the result.

Communicate realistic expectations of outcomes.

Establish a culture that promotes effort, learning and resilience.

Crowley maintains that implementing a growth mindset can transform the ways your students view themselves and their abilities for the rest of their lives. Once they're open to the philosophy, their potential becomes limitless.

Revolutionize your teaching

If you're intrigued by the prospect of helping foster a growth mindset for students in your classroom, or virtual classroom, you can now use the insight from Dweck and Crowley to make this a reality. Simply observing the different mindsets in your students is a good place to start.

If you're hungry for some more actionable information on this topic, check out some professional development opportunities. Learn more about University of Massachusetts Global's Growth Mindset courseFor more of Sasha Crowley's thoughts on the topic, you can listen to the entirety of her webinar, " Growth mindset: The key to unlocking student success."

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the importance of adopting a growth mindset in your classroom

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why is it important for teachers to have a growth mindset

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The importance of adopting a growth mindset in your teaching

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As an educator, you're constantly on the lookout for strategies you can implement with your class to help foster positive outcomes for your students. You're genuinely dedicated to helping students discover their true potential. That means you're willing to try everything from assigning readings that can introduce them to new experiences to including activities that really get them out of their comfort zones.

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Song to go with The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds

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Song to go with The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds

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I play this song with the students are:
K-1 ~ Coloring a coffee filter entirely with crayola markers. Then spray the coffee filter with water to create a beautiful unique "dot," of their own.
2-3~ Making a their picture creation using dots.

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The Dot Song Motions Guide - Emily Arrow & Peter H. Reynolds

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How to Estblish a Safe Classroom Community

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How to Estblish a Safe Classroom Community

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When kids feel respected and safe... the are apt to take risks.

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As an educator, you have the supreme responsibility of shaping young minds. Part of that responsibility is setting a daily tone for your students that makes them feel safe and comfortable so they can focus on learning. A safe learning environment goes beyond the classroom; it's the intangible space that supports your students in the pursuit of knowledge, that inspires curiosity, and that makes them feel empowered to participate in class discussions. Creating this kind of safe learning environment in the classroom is essential for serving the vast spectrum of student learning styles.
There are three major factors that impact your students' learning environment:

Physical: Deciding how the educational environment is physically laid out and designed to support students' safety and learning.

Psychological: Creating a trusting educational environment that allows students to participate, ask questions, take risks, and receive constructive feedback.

Emotional: Celebrating diversity, self-expression, and students' achievements.

1. Hold a Regular Morning Meeting
The morning meeting model is a classroom practice where teachers begin each day with a class-wide gathering designed to address the emotional needs of learners. Adding a morning meeting to your class schedule helps set the tone for yourself and your students, creates feelings of trust, helps students feel important, inspires empathy and collaboration between students, and supports emotional and academic learning.
2. Provide a Safe Space for Students
The classroom should be a 100% safe space for all students. Some of your students might come from tumultuous home environments and school is one of their few escapes, which is why it's important that you make it the haven those students need. One way to do this is by diligently monitoring for bullying and extinguishing every instance. That way, all students can feel comfortable and empowered to learn and express themselves.
3. Adapt to Each Class: One Size Doesn't Fit All
It's no secret that the school system favors some learning styles over others. In a world of vast learning experiences, you have the responsibility and privilege to meet your students' needs. An effective way to approach this is simply by asking your students how they would prefer to learn. Offering a choice rather than providing a one-size-fits-all method is important to catering to different learning styles.
4. Develop a Culture of Representation
Students come in all colors, shapes, and sizes-and they all deserve to feel a sense of belonging in the classroom. Historically, marginalized groups of students have been underrepresented and underserved in academic spaces, which has resulted in lower graduation rates. If you create a culture of diversity, inclusion, and belonging in your classroom, you can set each and every one of your students up for success.
5. Celebrate Achievements and Work on an Asset Model
The asset model values students for what they bring to the classroom rather than characterizing them based on what they're missing or need to work on. Implementing this approach in your classroom means celebrating your students' big and small wins alike. Positive reinforcement is also a big component of this classroom approach. By praising your students' strengths, you help build their confidence over time.
6. Build Trusting Relationships
It's very important to create trusting relationships with your students. A study by the American Psychological Association found that teachers who forge positive relationships with their students create a classroom atmosphere that encourages learning and better meets students' developmental, emotional, and academic needs. Providing positive reinforcement and celebrating your students' unique qualities through the asset model helps build these trusting relationships.
7. Read and Write with Your Students
The more you read and write with your students, the more vocabulary they'll learn and the better they'll be at communicating. Studies show that students with advanced reading and writing skills are better at critical thinking and have access to more opportunities. Prioritizing these things in your curriculum will give your students the ability to solve interpersonal problems and express themselves for a lifetime.
8. Create a Judgment-Free Zone
It's important to shape your classroom into a judgment-free zone so that students can focus on learning instead of worrying about being accepted by their classmates. You should carve out time every week for ice breakers and open discussions for students to get to know each other.

9. Incorporate Music
The benefits of incorporating music in your lesson plan are numerous. When used in the classroom, it's been shown to reduce anxiety and stress, help students regulate their emotions, improve focus, and help children process language.
10. Smile Often
As the teacher, you'll have students look to you for reassurance and guidance. When you make a point to smile, it can give students a sense of ease and make them feel safe. Smiling also makes you more likable, which can assist in building trusting, positive relationships with your students.
11. Create Supportive Classroom Environments
Creating supportive educational environments provides the foundation for emotional, physical, and academic wellness. You should collaborate with students to brainstorm parameters for creating a supportive, active learning environment. When students can rely on you to uphold this kind of environment, they can focus on learning and freely expressing themselves.
12. Stay Calm
There are many instances where the classroom environment can get hectic or stressful. One common example is when two students get into a heated argument. It's important that you help resolve the conflict between students calmly so that the two students can de-escalate and other students don't get upset by the situation. As with all other moments in the classroom, your demeanor will set the tone.
13. Respect Differences
You can respect the differences of your students by treating each of them fairly and acknowledging their unique needs. If you must reprimand a student, do it in private so as not to embarrass or humiliate the student in front of their classmates. Also be aware of the spectrum of cultures represented in your classroom, so you can respect your students accordingly. As the leader of the classroom, you can provide cues to your students by modeling respectful language when speaking to and of students.
14. Respect Their Space
Everyone has a different personal bubble. To err on the side of caution, be sure to keep a safe physical distance from each of your students and allow them to define their personal space. You should also practice respecting their privacy. Some students will feel more comfortable sharing their personal details than others.
15. Make Mistakes a Learning Opportunity
As the teacher you have the power to frame your students' mistakes as learning opportunities. By painting mistakes in a positive light, you remove the shame from making errors, which empowers your students to learn. When a student makes a mistake, you should go over what went wrong and provide the student with resources, knowledge, and tools to improve.

By creating a positive and trusting classroom environment, teachers can provide their students the safety and support they need for academic, personal, and professional development.

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15 Tips for Creating a Safe Learning Environment

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As an educator, you have the supreme responsibility of shaping young minds. Part of that responsibility is setting a daily tone for your students that makes them feel safe and comfortable so they can focus on learning.

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FAIL ~ First Attemp In Learning
MISTAKES are...expected, inspected, corrected, respected

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For Educators

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I asked my other son the same question and got an equally troubling answer. He never had to take a risk because his classes were too easy. That raised a new question: Do I make my classes challenging enough so students have to take risks?

I strongly believe that you have to fail in order to grow, and you need to do that through difficult situations. How rigorous are my classes? Do I create a safe space for everyone to speak freely? Are my students respectful to one another, and do they support each other to take risks and fail?

With so many questions, I decided to turn to a group of 2016 state teachers of the year and ask them what they do to encourage students to feel safe taking risks and pushing the boundaries of what they know or think they know.

Celebrate Perseverance

Jean Russell, an elementary school teacher from Indiana, said her class puts a marble in a jar when students persevere. That includes trying different strategies to read a new work, solve a math problem, rewrite a sentence, or work out a difference with a friend. The marbles mean that when each student sticks with learning, the whole class benefits. "When the jar gets full, we have a perseverance party!" Russell said.

Share Your Mistakes

Several teachers lead by example. Arizona's Christine Porter Marsh admits her own mistakes and talks about them. "I'll say, 'You were right. I was wrong.'" She also tells her classes that it's OK to be wrong during discussions: "I'd rather have you contribute and be wrong than not contribute." Topher Kandic of Washington, DC, demystifies the role of the teacher as an all-knowing sage by reading new texts with students and predicting how stories will turn out-often getting it wrong, but showing students that it's OK to make mistakes.

Allow Retakes

To encourage thinking and exploring ideas, Ernie Lee of Georgia says he allows retakes of assignments and tests. "The grade is important, but the main goal is for them to be able to think and to know the material." And he makes sure that whether students agree or disagree with him, they back up their comments with well-thought-out ideas to support their answers.

Discover 'the Power of Yet'

Teachers can model desired behaviors in all aspects of teaching, including how to handle a mistake and move forward, says Natalie DiFusco-Funk of Virginia. Most important, teachers can communicate how to learn from mistakes and do things differently next time. As a teacher, she says, "I use the phrase 'the power of yet.'" It means-for her personally and for her students-that just because they can't do something yet doesn't mean they can't do it.

Failure Fridays

That's right. Failure Fridays. This idea comes from Diane McKee of Florida. Each Friday, McKee shows movie clips of famous people like J.K. Rowling, Michael Jordan, or Oprah Winfrey sharing stories about how they experienced failure before going on to succeed. It's one of her students' favorite activities.

These ideas remind us that we must be deliberate about creating environments that maximize learning for all students. As a member of the Aspen Institute's National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development, I see similar ideas becoming a priority for schools across the country. The Commission's new case study, " Putting It All Together " shows how important integrating social and emotional learning into school curriculum is to that goal of maximizing learning. One teacher cited in the report works to develop life skills-"definitely independence; definitely the ability to work collaboratively; definitely perseverance"-that are equally valuable in fostering risk taking.

As a new school year begins, I'm working to set a new tone in my classroom.

A few years ago, I started my class by demonstrating something I was bad at: hacky sack. The kids laughed when I started missing the hacky sack and they saw how bad I was. I brought one of the students that I knew was good to the front of the class and had him demonstrate. I asked him how he got so good. Was it easy at first? Could I become as good as he was? Would he help me? We then had a group discussion about how failure and practice can help us grow.

That's how I'll set the tone for this year. I want my students to believe risks are valuable. I want to have a class where risks are celebrated. I want my students to feel free to make mistakes in front of friends and peers and collaborate to figure out answers. I want them to try not just when they're sure they'll succeed-I want a class of risk takers.

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I asked my other son the same question and got an equally troubling answer. He never had to take a risk because his classes were too easy. That raised a new question: Do I make my classes challenging enough so students have to take risks?

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Some students come into school believing that they're either smart or not. That kind of thinking is a fixed mindset. They see failure as the end of the road rather than recognizing its learning value. To "fail" does not mean being unsuccessful. FAIL is simply our "First Attempt In Learning."

Three years ago, I was introduced to Carol Dweck and her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. That book altered my outlook on both my teaching and parenting. It helped me change my own mindset on things that I thought were difficult or talents I thought I didn't have, like drawing, painting, and even writing. By tackling these challenging activities myself and changing the words I use with my students, I now model a growth mindset. And even more exciting is seeing my students take more risks, excel on assignments, and really take their education to the next level.

Try these strategies to move students (and yourself) from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset:

1. Remind kids that to FAIL is just their First Attempt In Learning.

2. Take a risk as a teacher and let your students teach you something new.

3. Acknowledge students' hard work. Remind them of the hard work that led to their successes rather than telling them how smart they are.

4. Use words like "innovation," "creativity," and "growth."

5. Create opportunities for students to practice growth mindset activities like Genius Hour, Passion Projects, and creative centers.

6. Comment on assignments and work rather than assigning grades or scores.

7. Create a bulletin board that helps students change the phrases they use to build a growth mindset using phrases like these:

Instead of "This is too hard," say "I can work hard to get this, but it may take time."

Instead of "I'm not good at this," ask "What am I missing?"

Instead of "I made a mistake," say "Mistakes make me better and help me improve."

Instead of "This is finished because it's due," say "I can always make every assignment better and take it to the next level."

Instead of "I give up," say "I can use these tools and strategies to try another way."

Instead of "It's good enough," ask "Is this really my best work?"

By changing how you talk about and think about your students' (and your own) skills and abilities, you'll likely find the learning process becomes a more fun, more rewarding experience for everyone.

Photo "FAIL" by Moodwall. Used under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.

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7 Tips for Moving Students to a Growth Mindset | Common Sense Education

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Try these strategies to promote risk-taking and perseverance.

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My daughter looks up from her cereal and says, "You know what day I can't wait for?"

"Um, your birthday?"

She shakes her head.

"Next Christmas?"

She shakes her head again and then says, "The first day back to school. I can't wait to see my friends and my teacher. I don't know what projects we're going to do but I know it's going to be awesome."

She's right. It will be awesome because her teacher is always trying new projects. She is always taking creative risks and my daughter is excited to be there as a result.

It has me thinking of a brilliant blog post that A.J. Juliani wrote last year, imploring teachers to use the new year as a reboot to take new creative risks. So, with that in mind, I'm going to share a few of my own thoughts on creative risks teachers can take with the start of a new year.

If you enjoy this blog but you'd like to listen to it on the go, just click on the audio below or subscribe via iTunes/Apple Podcasts (ideal for iOS users) or Google Play and Stitcher (ideal for Android users)

https://johnspencer.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Creative-Risks.mp3

In less than a week, I will get to work with a new cohort of pre-service teachers. They will have wild ideas they want to try out. Crazy concepts of epic projects that put students in the driver's seat. But, over time, many of them will learn to push those ideas aside. They'll be in placements where they have scripted curriculum and the pressure to get students passing the standardized tests. They'll worry that their ideas won't work. What about classroom management? What about parents? What will administrators think?

They will say things like, "Once I'm established, I can innovate but for now, I need to work on classroom management" or "I'll think about transforming practice after I've had a few years under my belt." Years will go by and they'll wait for the permission that never comes until eventually, those ideas seem like a distant memory - a relic of an idealistic new teacher.

But there will be other new teachers who aren't afraid to play the new teacher card. They'll take those wild ideas and turn them into reality. True, there will be bumps and bruises and skinned knees along the way - but they'll get back up and try again, pushing through iterations until they have something awesome.

But the fear won't go away. Not completely. Because, truth be told, innovation is scary. And yet, when I observe classrooms where students are becoming problem-solvers and creative thinkers, there is always a common element with the teachers. They take risks. They experiment. They realize that fail-ure is permanent, but fail-ing is a part of the learning process. They know that creative risk-taking is exactly that: a risk. It might work. It might fail.

But they also know that the greatest risk occurs when they teach out of fear and fail to innovate in their own practice. So, with that in mind, I want to explore some ways that we, as educators, can take with students. Many of these are ideas that I attempted with my students. However, I have also interviewed some of the best teachers I know and asked them to contribute some ideas.

The following are ten different creative risks you can take with your students this year. Note that many of these ideas connect to a free download that you can check out as well.

#1: Get Started with Student Blogging

Thematic blogs are blogs based on a student's interests, passions, and ideas. It could be a foodie blog, a sports blog, a fashion blog, a science blog, or a history blog. They choose the topic and the audience. It's a great way for students to practice writing in different genres (persuasive, functional, informational/expository, narrative) with specific blog topics they choose. They can also add multimedia components, like slideshows, pictures, videos, and audio.

Think of all the blogs out there that people actually make outside of school. That's what you want students to create. It's their chance to participate in the global blogging community by tapping into their own expertise and interests. If you're interested in getting started, I have included things like sentence stems and other student handouts that might be helpful as you begin the process. You can check it out in the free student blogging toolkit.

If you don't have the best technology in your classroom, but you do have a projector or interactive whiteboard, consider doing visual writing prompts with a picture or a video. The idea here is to choose high-interest ideas that get students excited about writing. Here's an example of a writing prompt you could do to get students excited about writing. You can download a whole set of them here.

[arve url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBAQLofU1ag" /]
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#2: Do a Wonder Day or Wonder Week Project

This is a fun, easy way to get students engaged in non-fiction reading. I use it as a high-interest way to help students learn the research process. Students begin with the sentence stem, "I'm wondering why/what would/how/if __________" and from there they ask tons of questions. This ultimately leads to research and finally a place where they share what they learned.

For more ideas on how to bring wonder back into the classroom, check out this post.

If you're interested in doing a Wonder Day project, I have the entire unit plan, complete with handouts, lessons, and slideshows available as a free download. There's actually a short version (Wonder Day) and a longer version (Wonder Week).

#3: Give Sketch-Noting a Chance

I find it sad that so many kids start out loving to draw but as they get older, they grow insecure. Suddenly, sketching is something that only "real" artists do. This is part of why I love sketch-noting. It doesn't have to be pretty. You can use stick figures and doodles as long as you are getting your ideas out in a visual method. If you're interested in learning more, there's a great guide created by Kathy Shrock.

#4: Launch a Design Thinking Project

Design thinking is a flexible process for getting the most out of the creative process. It is used in the arts, in engineering, in the corporate world, at universities, and in social and civic spaces. You can use it in every subject with every age group. It works when creating digital content or when building things with duct tape and cardboard. It can even be used in planning events or in designing services. So, the idea here is that you are providing a meaningful structure to help students design a product that they will launch to an authentic audience. The following video helps explain the process:

[arve url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhQWrHQwYTk" title="LAUNCH Cycle: Design Thinking" description="The LAUNCH Cycle, a K-12 Design Thinking Framework" /]
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your students can engage in inquiry, research, ideating, and prototyping. They will do something creative - and they'll remember it forever. If you're interested in trying design thinking, I have included the Create a Sport Challenge and the Tiny House Project (math-related) in the free Design Thinking Toolkit.

[arve url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLKa2weeajI" title="Create a Sport Using These Items" description="Maker Challenge: Create a Sport Using These Items, John Spencer, Education" /]
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#5: Carve Out Time for a Genius Hour

Genius Hour (also called 20% Time) is a chance for students to engage in an inquiry-driven, independent project. They own the entire learning process, from the concept to the questions, to the research, to the project management to the ultimate final product. Here's a quick video description of what Genius Hour looks like:

[arve url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n7EelMbzG0″ title="What is Genius Hour?" description="A Description of Genius Hour by John Spencer, Educator" /] Subscribe to YouTube Channel

Here's a video you can use with your students. Note that you can get a free copy of both videos (in case YouTube is blocked at your school) in the Genius Hour resources.

[arve url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COF-bqZuE-I" title="Genius Hour for Students" description="A Genius Hour prompt to use with students, by John Spencer" /]
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#6: Try Out a Divergent Thinking Mini-Project

Another option is a divergent thinking mini-project. This is built around the idea of creative constraint, where students have to design a product that fits into the specific items that you have given them to use. You can download the full project here.

[arve url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeX1ClTtaps" title="Divergent Thinking Challenge" description="A divergent thinking challenge video prompt by John Spencer" /]
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#7: Have Students Create Sketch Videos

I love the idea of making ideas visual and sketchnoting is one of the strategies you can use to help students take complex ideas and convey them in a way that is visual and concrete. But I also love taking it to the next level by having students craft short sketchnote videos that convey an idea, concept, or process. So, it might be something like life cycles or how a bill becomes a law. There are four layers of sketchnote videos that work well, ranging from easiest to hardest.
Level One: Flipbook Style (Very Easy)
Here, students create multiple pages with a sketch and a core idea. Afterward, one student flips the pages as another student videotapes the pages and a third student reads the script. This is essentially a picture book on video. But if you want to get more complicated and show any kind of movement, check out level two.
Level Two: Stop Motion (Fairly Easy)
This is the stop animation approach. Students sketch out their ideas and then cut them out. They can then maneuver these ideas with their hands in a video. When they go to film it, one student uses a smartphone while a second student moves the items around. A third student reads a script. Afterward, they can post it online or share it with their teacher.
Level Three: Whiteboard Videos (Moderately Difficult)
Students start out by storyboarding a concept they've learned throughout the quarter. They then record one member of their group sketching out the ideas in an RSA Animate style with the whiteboard. Next, they speed up the whiteboard drawing, edit out any mistakes, and add an audio layer that they record in iMovie or Movie Maker. It doesn't require a ton of technology, but it does require some creative risk-taking. What I love about this is that you can have multiple students making the videos in small groups and then rotate who edits it on the computer. So, if you have limited student computers, it can still work.
Level Four: Animated Videos (Very Difficult)
These are the types of videos I enjoy making. They can take hours to make and they require Photoshop. If you're interested in the process, here's a detailed description in a blog post I created after my son spent a full day making his video. This is the video he created. I think it's pretty awesome. Then again, I'm his dad, so that's par for the course, right?

If you're interested in doing sketchnote videos, you can find more detailed instructions along with a few sample videos right here.

#8: Do a Maker Monday

Maker Monday begins with a simple premise. Spend the first part of the day engaged in hands-on creative work. It might seem small, but it slowly leads to a maker mindset, where students learn to think like designers, engineers, architects, artists, and problem-solvers.

A Maker Monday could involve maker centers, where students do Scratch projects, cardboard prototyping, circuitry, and multimedia works. This works well when you don't have a class set of specific materials but you want students to be exposed to each maker activity. You might take students to a makerspace or you could have a mobile makerspace that you share with other members of your grade level.

Another option would be a maker challenge, where the entire class works on the same maker-related project, engaging in rapid prototyping as soon as possible. The idea here is that students make something with physical products that they are upcycling - often duct tape, cardboard, and plastic. Here's one that's a little more math and science related:

[arve url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8fPxa2rpeg" title="Design a Drone Landing System" /]
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You can download a free maker project here.

#9: Create Scratch Video Games Together

Think back to your childhood. Now, imagine making your own video game from scratch. Imagine if you could have created your own Frogger or Duck Hunt or Super Mario. It would have been epic, right?

That's the concept behind Scratch. I just introduced Scratch to my own kids. My daughter got really into the creating variations of Pong. My middle son has started making his own visuals and designing more in-depth games.

If you haven't checked it out before, go take a look at Scratch. It's a way to teach logic and programming through the use of blocks that students use to manipulate objects. Students can start out small by following the directions to create a Pong game. Afterward, you can encourage them to move on to a place where they hack the game and make it their own. Then, you can have them set up their own games that they truly design.

If you're interested in launching a Scratch video game, check out the site and start with the Pong game. I also have instructions on how I taught Scratch (the three phases) with middle school as well as a list of 8 lessons I learned along the way.

#10: Skype with an Author

This is something I never actually did with my students. However, I had the opportunity to Skype in with students who were reading Wendell the World's Worst Wizard (a book I co-wrote with my wife). The experience was awesome. It was so cool to see the questions that students came up with as they interviewed me.

Some of the biggest creative risks you can take have nothing to do with an epic new project. These are the deeply relational things you do as a teacher that model risk-taking in a way that can almost feel vulnerable:

Apologize. I know that doesn't feel like a big deal but it's often a huge deal for students when a teacher admits his or her faults. It helps create a classroom culture where people are open about their faults and willing to grow and improve. In other words, it's your chance to model a growth mindset.

Ask students to evaluate you. Create student surveys that elicit feedback and then share the results with your students along with what you will be doing in order to refine your instruction. This is a way to say, "I'm not afraid to hear critical feedback. In fact, I'm trying to design my instruction from a place of empathy."

Share your creative journey. Tell students what you are doing on your own personal Genius Hour. Let them see your passion and interest in creativity.

Share your epic fails along the way. Let students know that even experts struggle and make mistakes. Help them see that this is all part of the journey.

Ultimately, the most powerful creative element in the classroom is the teacher. You have the power to inspire students to take creative risks by modeling the process and being open and even vulnerable about your journey. You also have the power to create epic learning experiences that encourage students to take creative risks. So, in 2018, I would encourage you to choose one big creative risk and make it happen.

What creative risk are you planning to take with your students this year? Share in the comments below.

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10 Creative Risks to Take with Students This Year

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My daughter looks up from her cereal and says, "You know what day I can't wait for?" "Um, your birthday?" She shakes her head. "Next Christmas?" She shakes her head again and then says, "The first day back to school. I can't wait to see my friends and my teacher.

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Never give up.
5th-6th Grade

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Short, cute video for K-3.

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Motivational short video - How to succeed - cartoon

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In this activity, each student needs a washer on a thread.  It is the coolest way to prove to your students that their thoughts influence your body physically. Prepare yes/no questions in a very quiet classroom. Ask the students to concentrate and think about their answers. The washer will swing in the direction of yes or no. Kids freak! Good questions could be: Will you make the honor roll? Will you go to college? Will you get your dream job? Discuss their thoughts are powerful and actually are moving the washer. (Tiny muscles in the fingers.)

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This is a FUN video to talk about perspective. We both can watch this video and see two completely different things. Be open-minded, listen to others, collaborate. There is more than one way to solve a problem.

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Teach kids how the brain works. The benefits of having a growth mindset and model it.

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There is a lot of talk about growth mindset in the last few years. It's a great practice to use as an adult, but also great to teach our students as well. This blog post will outline some general information on teaching kids about growth mindset and some detailed ideas on how to make it work in your classroom.

1. What is Growth Mindset?

A growth mindset is a theory or an idea that our brains are not fixed at a certain intelligence level. We can continue to expand our minds and intelligence by pushing ourselves to do new things, try hard things, and redoing something until it's successful. A fixed mindset is that either you can do it or you can't. For example, either you can paint well or you can't. There is no in-between.

A fixed mindset may be the idea that when something is difficult, we need to walk away from it because it is simply too hard. That's the thought that our intelligence and our mind cannot complete the difficult task at hand. But as studies show and most of us have realized throughout our lives, we can continue to grow our intelligence and our mind. Growth mindsets are used in the workplace, in schools, and in everyday life.

2. How Growth Mindset Relates to Teaching

We can use growth mindsets in our classroom every single day. Since growth mindset is simply the ability to accept that our intelligence can keep growing, this is perfect for the school setting. Teachers can teach students to adopt a growth mindset when learning new things. Many students may shut down when it comes to difficult material, but practicing that growth mindset will help with their confidence.

Students may not immediately open up to this mindset, and it will take time. If they have a fixed mindset, when they see an assignment, they will accept they can't do it. Or when it comes to the special area class, if they have accepted that they aren't good at art, they attend that class thinking they won't be successful. A growth mindset will help them adopt the thoughts that, with effort, they can achieve beautiful artwork in the art class.

3. The Benefits of Growth Mindset

The benefits of having a growth mindset are that you will be able to achieve more. Your successes will be easier to accomplish with a growth mindset. It will give you the willpower to continue pushing yourself. The benefit of teaching students a growth mindset early on in life is that it will help them as adults. It will teach them to see failure as an invitation to keep trying until their successful.

Teach the science behind it.

Practice constantly.

Give tons of scenarios.

Be a daily model.

LOTS of praise for specific actions.

5. Ideas and Resources for Teaching Growth Mindset

I have collected online resources, mentor texts, free activities, and more to give you ideas on lessons and activities to start teaching growth mindset in your classroom tomorrow! Keep reading below to see all my fun and free ideas!

Technology Tie-In

(Source: Class Dojo YouTube Channel)
This adorable video is an excellent introduction to a growth mindset. If you use ClassDojo in your classroom already, then this video is even better! YouTube has many other kid-friendly videos for growth mindset lessons!

Weekly Growth Mindset Reflection Anchor Chart

Laminate an anchor chart and hang it near the calendar or somewhere where your students can see it and have access to it. Ideally, this weekly growth mindset anchor chart will trigger your students to actively think about how they can use their growth mindset. Once a week or throughout the week, students will reflect on how they used a growth mindset, then grab a Post-it note, and stick it to the anchor chart.

Foldable Scenarios or Weekly Reflections

This free and easy foldable can be used in two different ways. One of the ways is to use it as a weekly tracker. The students will reflect on their past week and think of a time where they used a growth mindset. First, they'll write their situation in the first box, then write a fixed mindset thought for that situation, and then, their growth mindset. OR you can use it when teaching growth mindset, and each student can come up with a different scenario and present their growth and fixed mindsets to the class.

Great Mentor Texts

Mentor texts and read alouds are always an incredible tool when teaching any topic. These six books that I've read and checked out are fantastic for teaching your students about the growth mindset. Below, you will find the six affiliate links to Amazon for these books to add to your library collection.
Your Fantastic Elastic Brain
The Most Magnificent Thing
What Do You Do with a Problem?
Beautiful Oops
Making a Splash
Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bike

Want a Freebie?

Here, I have a freebie flip book just for you! This special offer freebie will help your students learn exactly what growth mindset is and how they can achieve it.

My flip books are some of my favorite activities for kiddos. They include a reading text. The reading text under the 'Let's Read' tab features kid-friendly information about fixed mindsets and growth mindsets. The 'Let's Think' tab has three scenarios where the students have to brainstorm how each student can change their mindset. The 'Let's Sort' tab has a cut and glue activity that distinguishes quotes said by students that are either fixed mindset or growth mindset thoughts. And finally, the 'Let's Write' page has a space for illustrating a school scenario. Plus, a writing block for them to write what they've learned about growth mindsets. Read below about how to grab this special offer freebie!

**This freebie is part of my email list. It is a freebie for signing up. If you're interested in this flip book, all you have to do is sign up for free. It will give you access to more emails with freebies and great content! I'd love to have you join in on the fun!**

As soon as you sign up, check your email and your freebies will be waiting there! You'll open up your email, confirm your subscription to the email list, and after you confirm, the freebie will automatically download!

Here are a few other blog posts that I think you'll like!

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There is a lot of talk about growth mindset in the last few years. It's a great practice to use as an adult, but also great to teach our students as well.

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Looking for ways to help kids embrace their mistakes and keep working toward success? Growth mindset activities could be the answer. This concept may not be a miracle cure for all students. But many educators find it helpful in reminding kids that even though they're struggling to do something now, it doesn't mean that will always be the case. Here are some ways to open their minds to the idea that they really can learn new things, and that the effort is just as important as the achievement.

What is a growth mindset?

( Want a free copy of this poster? Click here!)

Psychologist Carol Dweck made the idea of fixed vs. growth mindsets famous with her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Through extensive research, she found that there are two common mindsets, or ways of thinking:

Fixed mindset: People with a fixed mindset feel that their abilities are what they are and cannot be changed. For instance, a person may believe that they're bad at math, so they don't bother to try. Conversely, a person may feel that because they're smart, they don't need to work very hard. In either case, when a person fails at something, they simply give up.

Growth mindset: Those with this mindset believe that they can always learn new things if they make enough effort. They embrace their mistakes, learning from them and trying new ideas instead.

Dweck found that successful people are those who embrace a growth mindset. Though we all alternate between the two at times, focusing on a growth-oriented way of thought and behavior helps people adapt and change when needed. Instead of thinking "I can't do this," these people say, "I can't do this YET."

Growth mindset is key for learners. They must be open to new ideas and processes and believe they can learn anything with enough effort. Teach kids to make this mindset their default with classroom growth mindset activities like these.

Our Favorite Growth Mindset Activities

1. Read a growth mindset book

These read-alouds are perfect for story time, but don't be afraid to try them with older students too. In fact, picture books can spark all sorts of interesting conversations among high schoolers!

Learn more: 18 Perfect Read-Alouds for Teaching Growth Mindset

2. Fold an origami penguin

This is such a cool way to introduce the idea of a growth mindset. Start by asking kids to fold an origami penguin, with no instructions at all. Talk about their frustrations, then give them the chance to follow instructions and ask for help. Kids will realize that learning to do something is a process, and you have to be open to trying.

Source: Little Yellow Star

3. Learn growth mindset words

Introduce important growth mindset concepts like creativity, mistakes, risks, persistence, and more. Ask students to share what they already know about these terms by writing thoughts on a poster. Hang these in your classroom as a reminder throughout the year.

Learn more: Create Dream Explore

4. Compare fixed and growth mindsets

Show students examples of fixed mindset statements, and compare them with more growth-oriented examples. When students use a fixed mindset phrase, ask them to restate it from a growth standpoint instead.

Learn more: Rainbow Sky Creations

5. Change your words, change your mindset

The things we say to ourselves are just as important as the efforts we make. Give kids sticky notes and have them brainstorm growth mindset alternatives to fixed mindset phrases.

Learn more: Making Learning Super

6. Make a cootie catcher

Kids always love these little foldable doodads. Grab two free printables at the link, and as kids fold, talk about what it means to have a growth mindset.

Learn more: Rock Your Homeschool

7. Discover neuroplasticity

That very big word simply means that our brains continue to grow and change throughout our whole lives. In fact, they get stronger the more we use them! This is the science behind the growth mindset, explaining why it really does work.

Learn more: Big Life Journal

8. Embrace the power of "yet"

When you add "yet" to a fixed mindset statement, it can really change the game! Ask students to list some things they can't do yet, and revisit the list from time to time to see what they've accomplished.

Learn more: Brown Bag Teacher

9. Work together in an escape room

Any escape room activity can encourage students to try new ideas and work together to figure out the answers. If you'd like one specifically geared toward growth mindset, visit the link for a ready-to-go option.

Learn more: Teach Create Motivate

10. Flip that flop!

Learning that it's OK to make mistakes is a huge part of growth-oriented thinking. Help kids recognize that and learn how to flip their flops with this fun, free printable activity.

Learn more: Keep 'Em Thinking

11. Lift a growth mindset barbell

This cute craft encourages kids to think of things they can already do and things they can't do yet. It makes a connection between working out to strengthen your body and thinking to strengthen your brain.

Learn more: Smitten With First

12. Sing "Everyone Makes Mistakes"

This Sesame Street ditty became an instant classic for a reason. Big Bird's sweet tune reminds us that everyone makes mistakes, and the important part is to just keep trying.

13. Seek out famous failures

So many famous people only accomplished their dreams after many years of trying. Share some famous failures with your students (see more at the link), then have them round up more famous failure stories on their own.

Learn more: Laura Randazzo

14. Analyze your errors

Mistakes are OK, but only because we can learn from them. When students get the answer wrong or aren't able to do something they want or need to do, encourage them to look back at their errors. Reflect on what went wrong, and use that knowledge to try again.

Learn more: Ashleigh's Education Journey

15. Use growth mindset exit tickets

At the end of a lesson or day, have students complete these exit tickets. They'll reflect on what inspired them, what challenged them, and when perseverance paid off.

Learn more: Tales From a Very Busy Teacher

16. Craft a class slogan

Put students into small groups to come up with a potential growth mindset slogan for the class. Bring everyone back together to look over the options, and work to combine them into one slogan that inspires everyone.

Learn more: Teaching With Simplicity

17. Glow and grow

Celebrating the efforts that lead to accomplishments is a key part of a growth mindset. Use this chart to encourage kids to recognize their "glowing" moments and set goals for "growing" moments.

Source: 3rd Grade Thoughts

18. Color some inspirational quotes

Coloring is a calming, reflective activity for many people. Give kids some of these pages to decorate, or encourage them to illustrate inspirational quotes in any way they like.

Learn more: A Grace-Filled Classroom

19. Experiment with coding and robotics

When students learn to code, "What if we try this?" becomes their go-to phrase. As you give your students the time they need to discover what works, the reward is in the process. Student coders become master revisionists, which allows them to deepen creativity to find success.

Learn more: 5 Ways Coding and Robotics Build a Growth Mindset in Your Students

20. Let families inspire their kids

This is such a cool idea for open house or even parent-teacher conferences. Share these free handouts with families, and encourage them to write about the times in their own lives when a growth mindset made a real difference.

Learn more: Brain Waves Instruction

What are your favorite growth mindset activities? Come share your ideas and ask for advice in the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

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20 Growth Mindset Activities To Inspire Confidence in Kids

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These growth mindset activities for kids help foster confidence and positive thinking. Encourage them to try and fail, then try again!

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What are some growth mindset for kids activities? How do I teach growth mindset to first graders? What growth mindset activities should I be doing in the classroom?
Growth mindset has taken the world by storm, and it definitely has a place in the classroom. Today I'm sharing some of my favorite growth mindset kids activities that you can use with your students. By creating a growth mindset classroom and weaving growth mindset activities for kids into our school day, we are helping build a foundation of self esteem and success for our students.
Read on for some fun and meaningful growth mindset for kids activities ideas! Looking for some pre-planned, low-prep activities? Check out the Growth Mindset Curriculum!
Growth Mindset For Students

What is growth mindset anyway? If you're not familiar with growth mindset, here is a brief overview. It explores the idea that some of us have a "fixed mindset", which means we believe our abilities are a certain way and that there's not much we can do about it. And others have a "growth mindset", which means they believe that they have the capacity to learn and grow and get better at just about anything.

Carol Dweck has led the way with research about growth mindset. But she says there's a lot more to it than just putting in effort to show improvement. While perseverance is certainly a trademark of growth mindset work, it's also about embracing and even enjoying challenges, rather than shying away from them.

But you're probably wondering, "How does this relate to my students?" Researchers are highly interested in the impact growth mindset can have on students in the classroom. Don't we want our students to be excited to challenge themselves, enthusiastic about learning new things, and perseverant through difficult stages of growth? Heck yes, we do! And growth mindset can help all of those things.

(Want more info about growth mindset? Check out this podcast episode with Carol Dweck.)

Growth Mindset Classroom

As teachers, we want to think about how we can incorporate growth mindset classroom activities throughout the school year. Back to school season is a perfect time to start, but you can do these activities really any time of year and they will still be very effective.

And luckily, there are a number of very fun ways to weave in these growth mindset for kids activities! Crafts, full-class activities, read alouds, and anchor charts are some of my favorites. You can get a full list of my favorite growth mindset read alouds here.

Here are some engaging and fun activities for growth mindset you can try in your classroom this year!

Growth Mindset For Kids Activities

Teaching your students the vocabulary to help them understand a "fixed mindset" versus a "growth mindset" is the perfect place to start. I love that this anchor chart has examples of both kinds of language, so that students get a clear idea of these different ways of thinking.

A fun way to make this a full-class activity is to read the statements out loud and have the students decide which side they should go on.

A great read aloud to pair with this activity is Your Fantastic Elastic Brain.

This cute crown comes with an adorable poem printed on it to help remind students that just because they aren't there yet, doesn't mean they won't get there!

Crowns are always a hit in my classroom! Students will love decorating these fun crowns as they set goals for things they can't do yet.

Creating a growth mindset bulletin board can be a great activity to do with your whole class. You can give them "fixed mindset" statement and let them brainstorm how to flip them into "growth mindset" statements!

Plus, the bulletin board then serves as a long-term visual reminder for students about the importance of using their growth mindset.

Setting goals is great growth mindset practice for our students. It helps them feel in charge of their learning, and it makes difficulties feel more expected. This craft is great because it reminds your students that not all goals come easy. Sometimes we make goals that will take more time and effort, and that's okay!

The word "yet" can be so powerful for your students! It's a great way to flip moments of frustration into positive light. You can make the word "yet" a common phrase in your classroom. Whenever someone is struggling with something, remind them "You just can't do it yet."

This anchor chart helps students brainstorm things that they want to achieve, and adding the word "yet" makes these goals feel far more attainable!

A great read aloud to pair with this activity is The Magical Yet.

Help your students practice turning negative thoughts to positive ones with this fun craft. Students paste the "fixed mindset" statements to the gray side of the brain, and then find the flipped statement to paste on the "growth mindset" side of the brain!

The messages we tell ourselves matter a lot. In fact, a lot of growth mindset activities and books for students are centered around messaging. Are we telling ourselves things from a "fixed mindset" perspective? Or a "growth mindset" perspective?

This fortune teller is full of encouraging growth mindset messages for students to use when they feel stuck. They can do it with a friend, or just use it themselves whenever they need some words of encouragement.

This is a fun way to get your students talking and thinking about growth mindset in the classroom. These dice have different questions and conversation starters about growth mindset topics. Put students in pairs or groups and let them chat about these different ideas!

Sometimes your students forget how much learning they've already conquered! Do they remember how long it took them to learn to walk? Or to master their ABCs? And now those things are second nature to them!

This growth mindset craft helps us look back at things that are now easy, and look forward to things that currently feel hard. But with practice and perseverance, those hard things will one day be easy!

These growth mindset coloring sheets are so fun! While I wouldn't use these just on their own, I do think they would be a great addition to some of these other activities. These would be handy to sprinkle in throughout the year to keep growth mindset phrases fresh and familiar.

Growth Mindset Classroom Activities

Hopefully, this has given you some great ideas for getting started with growth mindset in your classroom! These growth mindset for kids activities are so important for helping your students have a positive mindset and believe in their ability to learn.

And do you know what one of the biggest factors is in your students' success with growth mindset?
Their teacher's growth mindset! If we believe they can grow and learn, they are way more likely to! If you're looking for more support, check out my Growth Mindset Curriculum.
Which of these activities are you going to try first? Tell me in the comments!
xoxo
Laura

Resources For You:

Articles For You:
15 Growth Mindset Kids Books Every Teacher Needs To Have In Their Library 9 Amazing Ideas to Teach the Importance of Social Emotional Learning in Your Classroom Back To School Crafts You Need To Try This Year

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10 Growth Mindset For Kids Activities Your Students Will Love - Love Grows Learning

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Looking for some fun and engaging growth mindset for kids activities? These ideas will help your students practice growth mindset in...

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By now, you've probably heard all about the growth mindset. Specifically, many are talking about exercising the growth mindset in young learners. So what is it all about, and why is it so important, especially for our learners?

When it comes to young and impressionable learners, having a growth mindset helps shape their attitudes and beliefs about learning and intelligence. With a growth mindset, they understand that their abilities and intelligence are not fixed traits, but rather qualities that can be developed with effort and perseverance.

With this frame of mind as a basis for facing the challenges of learning mind, it empowers learners to embrace those challenges confidently, persist through obstacles, and view failure as an opportunity for learning and improvement. It cultivates a sense of resilience, self-confidence, and a love for learning, enabling learners to reach their full potential.

All it takes are the right tools, and these growth mindset activities are a perfect start. No matter if you're doing them at home or in the classroom, they provide enjoyable and stimulating avenues for learning the growth mindset in the younger years.

10 Fun and Challenging Growth Mindset Activities for Kids

1. Negative to Positive

This is a great introductory exercise that gets young ones familiar with the language of the growth mindset. It also helps them with understanding how to make the mental shift by altering their internal voice.

Write down a list of negative or limiting statements we can sometimes make about ourselves (e.g. "I'm not good enough" or "I'm too ______"). Next, show them how to place a positive spin on the phrase by merely altering the language we use.

For example:
"I'm not smart enough to figure this out" ... ... can become "I haven't got this figured out yet, but I will if I just keep trying."
In doing so, learners will start to make simple connections to how to change how we speak to improve how we feel about ourselves. Encourage them to give it a try with the rest of the sentences you've written for them.

Here are some simple examples of negative statements to begin with that they can quickly turn around with just a few changes:

2. Famous Fails

Many of our most notable accomplishments came in the wake of equally significant failures. Our history is full of such examples. Discovering who these people are and how they overcame adversity to succeed can be very inspiring stories.

Go on a search with your learners (or better yet, have them do the research themselves) for some of history's most famous failures. How did these people fail, and how did they come back even stronger to accomplish their goals and dreams? Here are some famous examples:

Abraham Lincoln -Lincoln was a failure as a soldier, a businessman, and a campaigning politician. He went on to become one of the most influential presidents in U.S. history.

Elvis Presley -Elvis was fired after his first Grand Ole Opry performance and promptly told he should just go become a truck driver. It's a good thing he didn't listen.

Walt Disney -Disney's former newspaper editor informed him that he had no imagination and lacked any good ideas. Later, thanks to his accomplishments, his name would become synonymous with the word "imagination."

Steven Spielberg -Spielberg was rejected by the California School of Cinematic Arts twice and still became one of the most famous directors in movie history.

Michael Jordan -This basketball superstar is famous for having claimed that he had missed over 9000 shots, lost almost 300 games, and missed a winning game shot dozens of times over his career.

Stephen King-King's very first novel, Carrie, was rejected by publishers over thirty times. King's wife retrieved the manuscript after he threw it in the trash and urged him not to give up. He didn't, and it became one of his most famous early novels.

"When it comes to young and impressionable learners, having a growth mindset helps shape their attitudes and beliefs about learning and intelligence. "

3. How Can I Contribute?

Part of building strong relationships and healthy communities is being able to offer something of value that comes from within us. Whether it be an idea we share or a talent we have, we can achieve great things when we contribute to people and networks that matter to us.

Have your learners sit down in pairs or in groups. From there, they can brainstorm all the ideas they can on how to contribute to their community. Some ideas might be:

Holding a fundraiser for a local business

Doing a public park clean-up

Volunteering at a local homeless shelter or senior care facility

Cooking meals for a local fire hall

4. Kindness Week Challenge

A little kindness goes a long way, but how far can a week of kindness go? Here's a perfect way for you and your learners to find out. This is one of those growth mindset activities that teaches them the altruistic value of being kind to others.

Organize a week that will involve either pairs or groups of students working together to perform one act of kindness a day. Have your kids keep a journal of the kind acts they engage in each day, why they chose those activities, what the results were, and what they learned from the experiences. Suggestions for activities could be things like:

Offering to help a neighbour with yard work

Performing an hour of cleaning at a local business

Paying someone a compliment

Making "kindness cards" to give out

Baking a dessert for a neighbour

Donating clothes that don't fit anymore

There are many other ideas to discover in the article 100 Acts of Kindness for Kids.

5. The Crumple Exercise

This activity shows learners two things: first, the power of seeing mistakes in a positive light, and second, that even uncomfortable feelings are still valid ones.

Have them write down a mistake they made that day on a piece of paper. Next, have them crumple the paper into a ball and hurl it at the wall or at the board with as close as they can get to the same feeling they have when they make a mistake. Give them a minute, and then ask them to pick up the paper, open it, and look at their mistake again.

As they look at what they wrote, encourage them to accept that everybody makes mistakes, no matter who we are or how hard we try. When they begin to accept this, you can guide them toward explaining out loud how they could do better next time, and what they'll do the next time they make a mistake.

The final step is to have them crumple the paper up again, and this time throw it away for good, symbolizing the mistake is in the past and is no longer critical. For fun, you can even have them shout out a word when they do it, such as "Done!" or "Next!" or "Goodbye!"

6. Grow-ga

Grow-ga (or Growth Mindset Yoga) is a physical activity that pairs up yoga with positive affirmations. It's a good concentration exercise, an exciting physical activity, and a fun way to teach learners about making constructive self-statements.

Choose some fairly basic yoga poses you know that learners would be comfortable doing, but will still find challenging. The next step is to attach growth mindset statements to each movement. Here are some ideas you can expand on:

As they perform each pose one after the other, have them channel all their good feelings as they call out the statements together while briefly holding the poses.

"Whether it be an idea we share or a talent we have, we can achieve great things when we contribute to people and networks that matter to us."

7. Plan of Action

As learners understand more about the growth mindset, they will come to the point at which they'll want to know more about planning in the face of failure. The Plan of Action activity lets them come up with their own ideas on how to proceed when they face difficulty.

The questions we ask in the action plan can be a worksheet, in the form of a list, chart, or table. What's important is leaving plenty of room for learners to write down their thoughts after each question.

Here are the Plan of Action questions that you can arrange on a custom worksheet:

What happened?

What was the result?

What were you thinking at the time?

What have you learned that can help you?

What new ideas do you have for moving forward?

What's your new plan?

What will you think about to keep yourself going?

Many of these questions are used in restorative practices in schools and are great channels into personal insights. You can use these questions as they are or come up with other variations.

8. Self-Awareness Checklist

The growth mindset means having a strong sense of ourselves. It means knowing our strengths and weaknesses, how we can improve, and what energizes us as well as what causes us stress. Through this exercise, learners will discover how self-awareness can contribute to self-improvement in many areas.

You can do this by delivering the questions either orally or by setting them down in writing. As you ask each one of them, encourage learners to reflect on the nature of the questions and write down the most honest answers possible.

I feel I am strong in the areas of _____.

I think I am weak in the areas of _____.

I learn best when I _____.

I feel the most stress when _____.

I find that I'm most comfortable when _____.

I find that _____ makes me uncomfortable.

The thing I need the most help with is _____.

I'm most comfortable asking for help by _____.

9. Accomplishment Jar

Achieving goals and accomplishing our objectives helps us grow and build on success There are lots of supportive ways kids can share those accomplishments and celebrate them with others. One easy and enjoyable way to do this is with an "accomplishment jar."

To do this, get a large jar (large enough to get your and into) or a small fishbowl. Next, make slips of paper with these questions: What's one thing that I accomplished today? How do I feel about it, and why?

Leave a small box beside the jar containing these slips and a few pencils. Now, direct your learners to fill out one or two every day along with their name, and place them into the jar.

At the end of every week or so, you can take the slips out and create a pile for each learners' name. Then hand them back so they can review their accomplishments and celebrate how much they've grown and what they've learned. You can even let them share their achievements orally if they so choose.

10. 3-2-1 Exercise

The 3-2-1 exercise is one of the growth mindset activities for learners that can also be a formative assessment activity.

3-2-1 consists of asking students to consider the following questions at the end of a day or week:

1. What are 3 things I've learned?

2. What are 2 things I want to learn?

3. What is 1 question I still have?

Water the Seeds of Greatness

Having a growth mindset challenges us to rise above negativity and limitation. It encourages perseverance in the face of failure, determination in the face of difficulty, and a focus on what is possible for us to achieve. For these reasons and others, the growth mindset is one of the most valuable attitudes we can nurture within our learners.

Author and keynote speaker, Lee works with governments, education systems, international agencies and corporations to help people and organisations connect to their higher purpose. Lee lives in Japan where he studies Zen and the Shakuhachi.

https://leecrockett.net

By now, you've probably heard all about the growth mindset. Specifically, many are talking about exercising the growth mindset in young learners. So what is it all about, and why is it so important, especially for our learners?

When it comes to young and impressionable learners, having a growth mindset helps shape their attitudes and beliefs about learning and intelligence. With a growth mindset, they understand that their abilities and intelligence are not fixed traits, but rather qualities that can be developed with effort and perseverance.

With this frame of mind as a basis for facing the challenges of learning mind, it empowers learners to embrace those challenges confidently, persist through obstacles, and view failure as an opportunity for learning and improvement. It cultivates a sense of resilience, self-confidence, and a love for learning, enabling learners to reach their full potential.

All it takes are the right tools, and these growth mindset activities are a perfect start. No matter if you're doing them at home or in the classroom, they provide enjoyable and stimulating avenues for learning the growth mindset in the younger years.

10 Fun and Challenging Growth Mindset Activities for Kids

1. Negative to Positive

This is a great introductory exercise that gets young ones familiar with the language of the growth mindset. It also helps them with understanding how to make the mental shift by altering their internal voice.

Write down a list of negative or limiting statements we can sometimes make about ourselves (e.g. "I'm not good enough" or "I'm too ______"). Next, show them how to place a positive spin on the phrase by merely altering the language we use.

For example:
"I'm not smart enough to figure this out" ... ... can become "I haven't got this figured out yet, but I will if I just keep trying."
In doing so, learners will start to make simple connections to how to change how we speak to improve how we feel about ourselves. Encourage them to give it a try with the rest of the sentences you've written for them.

Here are some simple examples of negative statements to begin with that they can quickly turn around with just a few changes:

2. Famous Fails

Many of our most notable accomplishments came in the wake of equally significant failures. Our history is full of such examples. Discovering who these people are and how they overcame adversity to succeed can be very inspiring stories.

Go on a search with your learners (or better yet, have them do the research themselves) for some of history's most famous failures. How did these people fail, and how did they come back even stronger to accomplish their goals and dreams? Here are some famous examples:

Abraham Lincoln -Lincoln was a failure as a soldier, a businessman, and a campaigning politician. He went on to become one of the most influential presidents in U.S. history.

Elvis Presley -Elvis was fired after his first Grand Ole Opry performance and promptly told he should just go become a truck driver. It's a good thing he didn't listen.

Walt Disney -Disney's former newspaper editor informed him that he had no imagination and lacked any good ideas. Later, thanks to his accomplishments, his name would become synonymous with the word "imagination."

Steven Spielberg -Spielberg was rejected by the California School of Cinematic Arts twice and still became one of the most famous directors in movie history.

Michael Jordan -This basketball superstar is famous for having claimed that he had missed over 9000 shots, lost almost 300 games, and missed a winning game shot dozens of times over his career.

Stephen King-King's very first novel, Carrie, was rejected by publishers over thirty times. King's wife retrieved the manuscript after he threw it in the trash and urged him not to give up. He didn't, and it became one of his most famous early novels.

"When it comes to young and impressionable learners, having a growth mindset helps shape their attitudes and beliefs about learning and intelligence. "

3. How Can I Contribute?

Part of building strong relationships and healthy communities is being able to offer something of value that comes from within us. Whether it be an idea we share or a talent we have, we can achieve great things when we contribute to people and networks that matter to us.

Have your learners sit down in pairs or in groups. From there, they can brainstorm all the ideas they can on how to contribute to their community. Some ideas might be:

Holding a fundraiser for a local business

Doing a public park clean-up

Volunteering at a local homeless shelter or senior care facility

Cooking meals for a local fire hall

4. Kindness Week Challenge

A little kindness goes a long way, but how far can a week of kindness go? Here's a perfect way for you and your learners to find out. This is one of those growth mindset activities that teaches them the altruistic value of being kind to others.

Organize a week that will involve either pairs or groups of students working together to perform one act of kindness a day. Have your kids keep a journal of the kind acts they engage in each day, why they chose those activities, what the results were, and what they learned from the experiences. Suggestions for activities could be things like:

Offering to help a neighbour with yard work

Performing an hour of cleaning at a local business

Paying someone a compliment

Making "kindness cards" to give out

Baking a dessert for a neighbour

Donating clothes that don't fit anymore

There are many other ideas to discover in the article 100 Acts of Kindness for Kids.

5. The Crumple Exercise

This activity shows learners two things: first, the power of seeing mistakes in a positive light, and second, that even uncomfortable feelings are still valid ones.

Have them write down a mistake they made that day on a piece of paper. Next, have them crumple the paper into a ball and hurl it at the wall or at the board with as close as they can get to the same feeling they have when they make a mistake. Give them a minute, and then ask them to pick up the paper, open it, and look at their mistake again.

As they look at what they wrote, encourage them to accept that everybody makes mistakes, no matter who we are or how hard we try. When they begin to accept this, you can guide them toward explaining out loud how they could do better next time, and what they'll do the next time they make a mistake.

The final step is to have them crumple the paper up again, and this time throw it away for good, symbolizing the mistake is in the past and is no longer critical. For fun, you can even have them shout out a word when they do it, such as "Done!" or "Next!" or "Goodbye!"

6. Grow-ga

Grow-ga (or Growth Mindset Yoga) is a physical activity that pairs up yoga with positive affirmations. It's a good concentration exercise, an exciting physical activity, and a fun way to teach learners about making constructive self-statements.

Choose some fairly basic yoga poses you know that learners would be comfortable doing, but will still find challenging. The next step is to attach growth mindset statements to each movement. Here are some ideas you can expand on:

As they perform each pose one after the other, have them channel all their good feelings as they call out the statements together while briefly holding the poses.

"Whether it be an idea we share or a talent we have, we can achieve great things when we contribute to people and networks that matter to us."

7. Plan of Action

As learners understand more about the growth mindset, they will come to the point at which they'll want to know more about planning in the face of failure. The Plan of Action activity lets them come up with their own ideas on how to proceed when they face difficulty.

The questions we ask in the action plan can be a worksheet, in the form of a list, chart, or table. What's important is leaving plenty of room for learners to write down their thoughts after each question.

Here are the Plan of Action questions that you can arrange on a custom worksheet:

What happened?

What was the result?

What were you thinking at the time?

What have you learned that can help you?

What new ideas do you have for moving forward?

What's your new plan?

What will you think about to keep yourself going?

Many of these questions are used in restorative practices in schools and are great channels into personal insights. You can use these questions as they are or come up with other variations.

8. Self-Awareness Checklist

The growth mindset means having a strong sense of ourselves. It means knowing our strengths and weaknesses, how we can improve, and what energizes us as well as what causes us stress. Through this exercise, learners will discover how self-awareness can contribute to self-improvement in many areas.

You can do this by delivering the questions either orally or by setting them down in writing. As you ask each one of them, encourage learners to reflect on the nature of the questions and write down the most honest answers possible.

I feel I am strong in the areas of _____.

I think I am weak in the areas of _____.

I learn best when I _____.

I feel the most stress when _____.

I find that I'm most comfortable when _____.

I find that _____ makes me uncomfortable.

The thing I need the most help with is _____.

I'm most comfortable asking for help by _____.

9. Accomplishment Jar

Achieving goals and accomplishing our objectives helps us grow and build on success There are lots of supportive ways kids can share those accomplishments and celebrate them with others. One easy and enjoyable way to do this is with an "accomplishment jar."

To do this, get a large jar (large enough to get your and into) or a small fishbowl. Next, make slips of paper with these questions: What's one thing that I accomplished today? How do I feel about it, and why?

Leave a small box beside the jar containing these slips and a few pencils. Now, direct your learners to fill out one or two every day along with their name, and place them into the jar.

At the end of every week or so, you can take the slips out and create a pile for each learners' name. Then hand them back so they can review their accomplishments and celebrate how much they've grown and what they've learned. You can even let them share their achievements orally if they so choose.

10. 3-2-1 Exercise

The 3-2-1 exercise is one of the growth mindset activities for learners that can also be a formative assessment activity.

3-2-1 consists of asking students to consider the following questions at the end of a day or week:

1. What are 3 things I've learned?

2. What are 2 things I want to learn?

3. What is 1 question I still have?

Water the Seeds of Greatness

Having a growth mindset challenges us to rise above negativity and limitation. It encourages perseverance in the face of failure, determination in the face of difficulty, and a focus on what is possible for us to achieve. For these reasons and others, the growth mindset is one of the most valuable attitudes we can nurture within our learners.

Author and keynote speaker, Lee works with governments, education systems, international agencies and corporations to help people and organisations connect to their higher purpose. Lee lives in Japan where he studies Zen and the Shakuhachi.

https://leecrockett.net

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10 of the Best Growth Mindset Activities for Young Learners - Future Focused Learning

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No matter if you're doing them at home or in the classroom, these exercises provide enjoyable and stimulating avenues for learning the growth mindset in the younger years.

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Grades 4th-6th

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Facing the Giants | The Death Crawl scene | Inspiring Movie Clips ep. 1

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What Can We Learn from the Chinese Bamboo Story?

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Growth Mindset: How to Overcome Fear of Failure

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By Watty Piper and Lorne Long

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CGI **Award-Winning** 3D Animated Short : "Soar" - by Alyce Tzue | TheCGBros

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Want a snapshot of where your students are currently at with their mindset?
Take the survey!

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Google Forms - create and analyze surveys, for free.

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For educators

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For Educators

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Developing a Growth Mindset with Carol Dweck

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Growth Mindset Activities for Elementary Students

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Whether you're teaching K-2 or 3-5, you'll find a wealth of information and resources for teaching growth mindset here. Try these growth mindset activities for elementary students today! Growth mindset activities are vital to elementary students' social-emotional learning. As a teacher, you want your students to develop into well-rounded humans.

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How to Foster a Growth Mindset Classroom

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How to Foster a Growth Mindset Classroom

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For Educators

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Of the many challenges educators face, one of the most formidable-and least obvious-is student mindset. Teaching students to comprehend, absorb, and apply new material and concepts is challenging under any circumstances. The undertaking is much greater, however, when students doubt their ability to learn.

Can simply believing you have the ability to learn increase your ability to learn? According to growth mindset researchers, the answer is yes.

A more detailed look at mindset theory, as well as some of the ways that teachers can foster growth mindset in the classroom, illustrates mindset development's importance in education.

What Is Growth Mindset?

One theory of intelligence holds that people can be categorized according to their implicit beliefs about ability. People with a fixed mindset believe that abilities are innate, while people with a growth mindset believe that they can acquire abilities through effort and study.

Carol Dweck, a psychologist, developed the fixed versus growth mindset theory. The Stanford University professor's pioneering research, as well as her 2006 book, Mindset:The New Psychology of Success, popularized the concept of fixed and growth mindsets.

To gain a better understanding of what growth mindset is, compare the differences between fixed and growth mindset outlooks and behaviors.

Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset

Fixed and growth mindsets profoundly affect the way that individuals respond to failure. People with a fixed mindset view failure as a result of their lack of ability, while people with a growth mindset see the opportunity to expand their abilities and to work harder and smarter.

The fixed mindset vs. growth mindset dichotomy can also be expressed in terms of goals. People with a fixed mindset wish to appear intelligent because they believe that failing to do so reveals a weakness. People with a growth mindset are much less apprehensive about how their intelligence is perceived because they believe that knowledge and ability can be improved through effort. These outlooks produce almost diametric goals related to learning: a person with a fixed mindset wants to avoid appearing unintelligent; a person with a growth mindset wants to overcome challenges.

While the basic concept of fixed mindset vs. growth mindset is simple, mindset designations are much more nuanced in reality. An important factor of the mindsets is that they can be different in different domains. For example, a person may have a growth mindset in athletic or artistic endeavors but have a fixed mindset in academic endeavors.

Furthermore, mindsets aren't absolute, immovable states. The fixed or growth mindset exists on a spectrum, and even those positions can vary. A person may have a predominant growth mindset in one area-math, for example-but an especially challenging problem may trigger a response that's more consistent with a fixed mindset.

Dweck has described the growth mindset theory as a response to the self-esteem movement, which held that lavishing students with praise builds confidence that leads to improved achievement.

Mindset researchers propose a different approach. Instead of giving students general praise or praising outcomes-an ineffective practice in Dweck's view-teachers should focus on praising students' efforts and the steps they take to overcome challenges and make progress. By doing so they reinforce the simple but powerful idea that ability can be improved.

Benefits of a Growth Mindset in Education

Dweck's early research demonstrated multiple potential benefits to encouraging a growth mindset in education. One of her studies showed that praising students' efforts rather than their intelligence made them more likely to pursue more difficult challenges. Another study demonstrated the influence of simple mindset interventions. Her research showed that students who were taught about developing intelligence went on to perform better in school and exhibit more motivation in the classroom.

Growth mindset has been widely embraced inside and outside of education. (Growth mindset has become a popular topic in the business world, for example.) However, the concept isn't without its critics. Skeptics point out that few researchers have been able to replicate Dweck's results, and much of the corroborating research that's been done has been done by Dweck and her colleagues. Still, mindset research continues to advance, and evidence of the benefits of a growth mindset in education continues to mount.

How to Foster a Growth Mindset in Students

Learning how to foster a growth mindset in students requires time and practice. The approach requires consistent instruction that reinforces and demonstrates the idea that students can improve their ability. At the most basic level, mindset techniques involve shifting emphasis away from outcomes and toward efforts and process. Rather than praising an accomplishment, the instructor praises the efforts and learning steps that led to the positive outcome.

Looking at examples of how instruction and language can be altered to encourage a growth mindset illustrates how teachers can change the way that students perceive the learning process:

Fixed mindset statement: "It's OK if you're having trouble. Maybe algebra isn't one of your strengths."

Growth mindset statement: "When you learn how to do a new kind of problem, it develops your math brain."

Another example stresses the importance of encouraging students to work through problems:

Fixed mindset statement: "Great effort. You tried as hard as you could."

Growth mindset statement: "The goal isn't to get it right immediately. The goal is to improve your understanding step by step. What can you try next?"

Teaching students to be encouraged when they experience difficulty can also reinforce growth mindset:

Fixed mindset statement: "Don't worry, you'll get it if you keep trying."

Growth mindset statement: "That feeling you're experiencing of algebra being hard is the feeling of your brain developing."

A growth mindset approach still demands optimal performance from a student-simply rewarding efforts isn't effective, and, in fact, it can be harmful if the student's efforts are ultimately fruitless.

Part of growth mindset instruction is teaching students to ask for help and to use any resources that can assist them. Just as students are still responsible for learning the material, teachers are still responsible for giving them the tools they need to learn.

10 Strategies for Fostering a Growth Mindset in the Classroom

Helping students develop a growth mindset requires deliberate effort from teachers, but many of the methods can be easily integrated in their existing practices. The following strategies and tips can help educators foster a growth mindset in the classroom:

1. Normalize struggle. Struggle is part of the learning process, and emphasizing and reinforcing that idea helps students react positively when they feel challenged.

2. Encourage engagement with challenges. Portray challenges as fun and exciting, and easy tasks as boring.

3. Embrace the word "yet". If someone makes the statement "I'm not a math person," adding a simple qualifier will signal that a process exists for gaining ability. "You're not a math person yet."

4. Tout the value of hard tasks to the brain. Promote the idea that brains are malleable "muscles" that can be developed. Research on brain plasticity supports the idea of neural growth, and mindset research has shown that believing the brain can grow has a demonstrative effect on behavior and achievement.

5. Demonstrate mistakes and celebrate corrections. Mistakes should be viewed as learning opportunities. Teachers can model this outlook in reactions to their own mistakes and steps they take to correct a mistake.

6. Set goals. Having students set incremental, achievable goals demonstrates the attainability of growth and progress.

7. Develop cooperative exercises. Working together to solve problems emphasizes process and reinforces the importance of getting help and finding solutions. It also deemphasizes individual outcomes.

8. Provide challenges. Part of developing a growth mindset is teaching students to overcome obstacles. A particularly hard math problem or complex writing assignment that stretches their abilities can provide opportunities for growth and further instruction that emphasizes problem-solving.

9. Avoid praising intelligence. This may seem counterintuitive, but praise for "being smart" reinforces the idea that intelligence is a fixed trait. This can be demotivating for the students being praised ("I'm smart; I don't have to try harder"), as well as for those who don't not receive the praise ("That student is smart; I'm not").

10. Don't oversimplify. "You can do anything!" may feel like harmless encouragement, but if students aren't put in a position to overcome challenges, they'll conclude that such statements are empty, and the educator will lose credibility.

How to Foster a Growth Mindset in Teachers and Administrators

Extending the concept of growth mindset theory to teachers and administrators is critical. Research suggests that growth mindset approaches are more effective in supportive environments. However, individuals interested in promoting growth mindset initiatives can encounter resistance. Cultural changes in any institution or system are difficult, but understanding those challenges is the first step to finding common ground and moving forward.

Overcoming Challenges

Changing the instructional practices and policies that teachers and administrators have established can be difficult for many reasons:

Teachers and administrators who have invested time and effort in their current methods of instruction and classroom culture may resist change, particularly if their methods have been successful.

Teachers and administrators who are routinely asked to make changes or adopt new teaching methods may feel skeptical about a new method's benefits.

Teachers and administrators commonly work under tight time constraints that make it difficult to learn new methods or implement new policies.

Teachers and administrators may have fixed mindsets themselves and discount the mindset theory's validity.

Efforts to overcome resistance to growth mindset initiatives should focus on the demonstrated benefits to students. A shared goal of helping students can ease the challenges of culture change.

Five Tips for Creating a Growth Mindset Teaching Culture

Working together to reframe their shared challenges and goals can help both teachers and administrators develop growth mindsets and culture:

1. Value the process over the result. Valuing the process over the result can be difficult in a results-driven environment, but teachers and administrators who value the growth mindset and its long-term benefits are more likely to stay the course.

2. View challenges as opportunities. Students aren't the only ones facing challenges; teachers and administrators can benefit just as much from an outlook that celebrates the process.

3. Experiment with different teaching methods and learning strategies. Helping students build the skills they need to improve is a key element of the growth mindset approach. Teachers and administrators who embrace a growth mindset shouldn't be afraid to experiment.

4. Celebrate growth. Finding teaching strategies that reach students and help them learn should be celebrated with the students, as well as with other teachers and administrators. This reinforces the emphasis on effort and process. It also provides opportunities to share valuable learnings.

5. Communicate about your growth mindset. Sharing successes and failures among teachers and administrators helps to establish a culture that values challenges and a growth mindset.

Providing Tools for a Lifetime of Learning

A growth mindset's defining characteristic-the belief that intelligence is malleable-provides a powerful formula for improving student outcomes. Students who believe that they can get smarter and that effort makes them smarter will put in the effort that leads to higher achievement.

The understanding that they can always learn new skills and overcome challenges through hard work is a lesson students can carry well beyond their school years. As the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated, many of the learning challenges that students will face can't be foreseen. By helping them develop a mindset that doesn't shrink from challenges and teaching them learning methods that can be applied to any subject or obstacle, educators prepare students for increasingly dynamic work environments and an increasingly complex world.

Educators interested in how education and learning can be life changing should explore American University's School of Education degree programs, including its online Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) and online Master of Education (MEd) in Education Policy and Leadership. Preparing teachers and policy makers to transform the education system to benefit all learners is a core principle of American University's School of Education.

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How to Foster a Growth Mindset in the Classroom | American University

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Embracing a growth mindset can help students learn more and overcome challenges. Explore strategies for fostering a growth mindset in the classroom.

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Every parent wants their child to be happy and realize their dreams. Inculcating a growth mentality has been strongly associated with fulfillment and happiness. Great things follow when children are aware that their minds can grow. The big question is, how do you assist your child in adopting this mentality? Let's check out 18 fun growth mindset activities for kids.

Herein are nine pointers and strategies to help your children develop a growth mentality through growth mindset activities.

1. Teach Them "How Can I Do This and That?"

This mentality approach is often taught to adults but is also applicable to children. You'll often find yourself thinking, "I can't accomplish this task."

An individual with a growth mentality will ask themselves, "HOW can I accomplish this task?"

Do you see the difference? By changing your mentality, you start a new line of thought. The best part is that you invite possibility and creativity rather than giving up.

Therefore, the next time your children use the phrase "can't," ask them how instead.

2. Share Good and Grit When Having Supper

Grit refers to how much you will persevere until you realize the objectives you've set. Grit is the amount of effort you will put into your work and your preparedness to prevail over challenges and keep going.

To develop grit, you have to find something passionate and exciting and improve it. Another way to think of it is to grow, improve, and succeed in that field over time.

To develop grit, associate yourself with individuals who also have grit. Find people committed to realizing their goals and work closely with them. The more you surround yourself with them, the more you will be like them.

At dinner time, you can vary the "high and low" by telling your children to communicate something good that happened as well as something "gritty." To put it in other words, share an experience that made you more determined.

If you do this every night at supper, you're teaching growth mindset to every family member and encouraging them to search for new challenges and opportunities for growth.

3. Create Some Affirmations and Have Your Kids Say Them Regularly

Over time, affirmations can change your perspective. Therefore, you should use affirmations to change your mentality. Put some of these affirmations to the test:

If I can't complete a particular task, I have not figured out how yet.

I can complete challenging tasks.

Difficulties make me stronger.

I preserve even in the most challenging situations.

I have the capability of discovering new ways to solve challenges.

I give my all in everything I do.

You can say these affirmations while showering or have your children say them as they take their breakfast.

4. Help them Define Growth Mindset

The next step involves having your children try defining a growth mentality. Do not give your kids the answer, as tempting as it may be.

At the end of this booklet, they'll get an opportunity to go over this topic again-it will be fascinating to see how much they have taken in.

When children have had an opportunity to define growth mentality independently, you can expound on what having a growth mentality entails. You can explain it as:

"Each person has their unique way of perceiving things. We can refer to this as our mentality-how we perceive the world and encounter things in life."

"Your mentality determines how you view yourself."

"When someone has a growth mentality, it implies that they comprehend that their brain can learn anything as long as they put in the effort and willpower."

"Conversely, an individual with a rigid mentality is more likely to give up easily and get discouraged when they can't accomplish a particular task or make an error."

"It's essential to understand that making mistakes is good as they assist us in problem-solving."

"It is okay when we feel like giving up once in a while. However, you should choose to have a growth mentality and keep striving to reach your objective."

5. Have Some Time and Set Goals

Next in our list of growth mindset activities is setting goals helps build our belief in ourselves.

Having objectives isn't just about mapping out your future and holding yourself answerable to every element.

It can be as simple as learning new skills such as skateboarding, planting a garden, or skateboarding for children.

Setting goals should be fun and should inspire you instead of feeling like a significant burden on your shoulders.

Let your child come up with their own goals. Don't try to influence your child to add academic excellence as a goal.

6. Try to Fix Negative Self-Talk

In line with our previous activity, this article can help your child start changing their thought process. It assists them in identifying the self-deprecating things they tell themselves.

Next, it gives them a new expression to use instead. This is another approach you can provide your learners to utilize when learning something new.

Students become more enthusiastic about the learning process once they discover that the brain forms new connections as they exercise and master something.

For instance, if you have a kid that is frustrated about their abilities in a sport, say basketball, you may be tempted to think it's too much for them, especially if you are not skilled in basketball.

Instead of dissuading them from playing the sport, you can tell the kid that as they practice, their brain is rewiring itself and establishing novel connections that make it simpler the subsequent times. Doing this will make them more enthusiastic about developing their skills.

When students know how their brains grow and work, they start cultivating a growth mentality.

8. Help Your Kids Model a Growth Mindset

It doesn't matter how much you teach your kids to develop a growth mentality. An ideal method for kids to cultivate a growth mentality is cultivating their own.

Children often learn by observing the behaviors of the adults around them. One of the best ways your children can understand this is when they overhear you voicing your thoughts when you go through a rough patch.

Rather than saying, " This is too difficult."
Say, " This is particularly challenging for me. I suppose I should continue practicing. "

Rather than saying, " I am not capable of doing this."
You can say, " I am yet to learn how to do this. "

Those are only two limitless instances of having and embodying a growth mentality.

The ideal method of teaching a growth mentality in your kids is to have a growth mentality yourself.

9. Have Some Time to Show Your Children Your Struggles

If you tend to hide your mistakes from your kids, you might find it difficult to model a growth mentality. Hiding mistakes is an innate instinct since you want to protect your kids.

However, showcasing your challenges can be a long-term gift to your kids in this instance.

Therefore, attempt to talk about your mistakes-even the best of us make mistakes-the difference is how we perceive them and what we learn from them.

One element of having a growth mentality is perceiving failure as a catapult for growth.

When your kids see your failures and how you overcome them-building blocks for growth-they will be more prepared to emulate you.

10. Set a Time and Praise Effort

Next in our growth mindset activities list. The best way to cultivate a growth mindset is to teach children that their brains work the same way as muscles. They have to strengthen it with persistence and hard work.

As a parent, you should praise effort rather than the outcome.

For instance:

Applaud the effort your child has put into accomplishing or achieving something ( "You've worked so hard to find a solution to that problem!") instead of commending them for an apparent permanent character (" You're brilliant! ")

The former is called process praise, and the latter is called people praise.

Process praise encourages an inner feeling of self-efficacy. It underlines that successes result from effort (which is within your child's control) instead of some fixed standard of skill or talent.

Carol Dweck, a professor at Stanford University, carries out exciting research on this subject. She first came up with a definition of growth and fixed mindsets, and she wanted to find out whether the type of praise used by parents impacted their children as they were growing.

Dweck collaborated with University of Chicago researchers to look into how mums praised their kids at one, two, and three years of age. After five years, they checked back with them.

After the research, Dweck told Quartz that they discovered that the process of praise projected the success of the kid in school and aspiration for a challenge after five years.

She added that the more the kids embraced a growth mindset in second grade, the better they performed in fourth grade, and the correlation was remarkable.

Applaud effort above outcome.

11. Read Some Mindset Books Together

Next in our fun growth mindset activities list is reading. Tales are an incredible way to acquire knowledge on a growth mindset and witness it in action. Below is a list of great books associated with growth mindsets, categorized by age:

Check out more in our list of The Best Growth Mindset Children's Books

12. Have a Session to Instill the Power of "Yet"

To acknowledge the "power of yet," clarify to the learners that it takes practice and time to succeed in challenging tasks.

Keep on reminding them to embrace an "I can't accomplish this YET" attitude, but that they WILL one day soon.

Get a book called Giraffes Can't Dance and note down growth mindset points using a graphic organizer from the text.

You can encourage your learners to use bullet journals to nurture a growth mindset.

A bullet journal is a free kind of journaling. For instance, it includes bullet points, highlighting, coloring and sketching.

Students typically enjoy expressing themselves freely in journals. Journals can also be an excellent way to express their understanding.

14. Free Up Some Time and Talk About Careers

According to Hall, there are two approaches to talking about careers.

The first is an occupational paradigm, which entails picking a career path due to circumstances, remuneration, and societal status.

The second approach is the vocational paradigm, extracted from vocare, a Latin word meaning "calling." A career founded on the vocation paradigm results in a transformed and fulfilled life as one's occupation is lined up with their purpose.

Instead of asking, "What would you like to be when you grow up?", ask, "What would you like to do when you grow up?" Or better yet, "What do you enjoy doing now?"

According to Hall, motivating someone to learn about a "blend of talents and gifts special to them" results in fulfilling futures that cause a tangible effect in society.

Rather than following a particular route based on a whimsical job position, the young man thinks about their interests and skills. Instead of "I'd like to be an electrical technician," it's "I love fixing things. I'm great at resolving problems."

Immediately you develop these interests; you can apply them anywhere; you're not doomed to a fixed mindset or path.

15. Do Some Yoga With Them

Yoga is a perfect activity for youthful people-it helps mindfulness, flexibility, and breathing. Young people can carry out positive affirmations during yoga poses by characterizing positive features of a growth mindset to every exercise.

For example, the lunge pose relates to having an open mind. While they pose, they visualize how they can achieve open-mindedness to accept constructive criticism and take away something from it.

Additional affirmations to assign to each yoga pose are: I'm creative, I'm caring, I work hard, I love to learn new things, and I'm focused.

16. Take the Memory Jar Challenge With Them

If your kid is a determined sportsperson, they may fill a shelf with medals and trophies. A proficient student may get certificates and reward postcards from school. But you can teach your children that they can acknowledge many accomplishments.

Another growth mindset exercise for kids is to get some paper squares and a big jar and tell your kid to log in the day's achievements.

Furthermore, you can note something on the paper if you observed them being so kind and compassionate to younger siblings or noticed they took a sanction onboard without uproar.

A growth mindset for children is more necessary while in lockdown. Open the jar each week or after a few days to celebrate and acknowledge their accomplishments.

17. Make a Vision Board Together

Do fun growth mindset activities for kids like making vision boards. A vision board will aid them to use their ideas of growth mindset and keep them occupied for some time. You can file the vision board with beautiful photos of things you want to accomplish, nudges of growth mindset values, and inspiring growth mindset statements.

Teach the kids to perform tasks with magazines or cut out printables that you can print and pictures from the internet.

If you have a corkboard, instruct your children to pin the cutouts on it or stick them on card sheets: make use of what's available.

18. Just Talk About Mistakes

Nothing about this is connected to appearing humble. Make your kid feel comfortable talking about every mistake along the way to teach them how to solve problems and finish work by trying a new and different strategy.

This will help them point out what they've tried and what hasn't worked so they can make another attempt and determine what does work. They can also develop excellent skills for working together with others, a valuable skill in the workplace.

Start Now and Instill Growth Mindset in Your Kids

There are several things to add to the growth mindset activities list. There's no superior approach to helping kids develop a growth mindset. The goal is to determine the activities that satisfy your needs.

Embrace the trial and error approach and experiment with new things to find what suits you when taking on a difficult task. All in all, trying these growth mindset activities will foster your mind.

Teach kids about Grit and Growth Mindset - What's the Difference & Can They Be Used Togethe r?

Make sure to read our tips and 25 Easy Ways to Instill Growth Mindset for Students and 26 Growth Mindset Bulletin Board Ideas

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Growth Mindset Activities for Kids - Mighty Kids

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To instill growth mentality to children we must expose them early. Check out this list of 18 fun growth mindset activities for kids.

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Great explanation how the brain works and grows!

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Helps your child think through how to get from "I can't" to "I can try."You can find a complete resource with posters, task cards and 9 worksheets in the following link:https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Growth-Mindset-Package-5267881...

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FREE Back to School Growth Mindset Task | All About Me | First Day of School

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Get your students in the right frame of mind with this beautiful and creative Growth Mindset "All About Me"Bunting collection.This is a FREEBIE version of the fully editable premium version, which can be found here.Students can set goals, include images and be inspired by our growth mindset statemen...

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5th and 6th Grade

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In today's world, what matters most is the growth mindset. In this flood of people with talent (and those without talent), the ones who are highlighted are those who have a strong and grown mindset. Growth mindset helps you in making quicker and better decisions, and to you prove yourself better than others! This may sound heavy at first, but it's just so simple! All you must do is grow your mindset using our free printable coloring pages, specifically designed to help you improve your mental spirit and boost your self-confidence. Alright, let's go on and check out our free growth mindset coloring sheets to print.

20 Free Growth Mindset Coloring Pages Printable:

A dream is the most important and driving factor for a strong mind. In today's world, people are afraid to go behind their dream, mostly because they are afraid of falling. But if you consider a career in something you don't like, how happy are you going to be? We must understand that life is just not about a considerable salary and a set home, it's about being happy and doing what you love the most!

Learning new things - typically those which are hard and challenging - is a key factor in growing your brain. When you learn something new, biologically, there are new neuron connections made in your head, which then make you stronger mentally. Learning harder things makes you think faster and deeper, exactly what a successful person needs!

New challenges always leave their mark, we always remember them and learn from them. When you are challenged, it makes you realize your downside and your strengths, which then helps in knowing yourself better. The more challenge you readily face, the more your mindset grows.

Can you read what's given in the image? It has 3 most important components to a stronger mind. It says effort, mistakes, and persistence. When you have these three qualities in you, no one can deny you have a strong mind! Well, print this image, color it shiny, and proudly paste it on your door to show the world that you have a very strong mind!

You know the best who you are. But in today's world, people try to mask who they are in front of other people, just to show that they are cool. But, honestly, what's cool is the honest and true you! This mind sounds cliched, but it's just a fact. Embrace your true self, whatever you are, accept it, and see how your success rate booms!

The two-word phrase, I Can, is perhaps the best phrase ever. Saying, "I can!" brings immense spirit and confidence in you. Nothing is impossible! I can do everything! There's nothing you can throw at me and I can't do! You just must believe you can, and there is nothing that can stop your soaring success!

Don't you feel immense poised when you read this? It's so true, but still, people ignore this phrase so easily in today's world. People just don't chase their dreams! Well, you don't have to be like the rest of the crowd! Show people you are different, show people you can! Color this page flamboyantly and tell the world you can do it!

Here is an amazing activity sheet which can help you grow your mindset. Just print it and start off! We can clearly contrast between having a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. Acceptance of change and being a risk taker pays off!

Well, do you claim to have a growth mindset? Prove it by coloring this complex image. Think of something outside the blue and put it onto this image. Show people that you can think different and you can accept challenges.

Being kind helps you see people from a different perspective. Having a different perspective is key to having a growth mindset. Moreover, if you are kind to others, others are kind to you too!

How do you ensure you have a growth mindset? This image talks about the various methods that can keep your mind growing. Just color this amazing poster and paste it on your wall!

As you can see, the small seed is ready to accept change and take a risk, which helps it to become a blooming flower. But if the seed did not have a growth mindset, it would always be that seed.

If you want to be creative, you require courage and face the stream of people in the opposite direction. But don't be afraid to do something different just because the others are moving differently. Just chill and do what you like!

There's only one difference between the sad and the happy people - their choice. Even in the worst condition, if you choose to be happy, it's the best! But even in the best condition, you choose to preserve your sadness, nobody can help you. It's all about your choice!

People who fall doing again-and-again but choose to stand up and fight once more and the ones who end up making a difference. Bill Gates never had a best friend in college, but he chose not to be all sad about it. Instead, he chose to fight, and today we have the largest software company Microsoft co-founded by him.

We always look at successful people and think, "he/she's so successful, we'll never be like them." But we always forget that they are also humans, and they too started from scratch - just like us!

Nobody is perfect, and we should choose not to run behind is just perfect - it's senseless. Instead, we should cherish the reality and who we really are, a key point for a growth mindset.

All those who look at the past daunt can never realize how beautiful today is, just like a summer morning! Forget all the past misery, and work to make today better!

Every day starts on a new page, and every day is just amazing if you look from that perspective. We can choose to just highlight the miseries of the day, but if we chose to look at how awesome it was, you're a growth mindset dude!

If you give your best to everything you do, you will always see success. Yes, you may fail no matter how hard you try, but you try again and finally be successful! Just keep doing your best!

Alright, young readers! How were today's growth mindset coloring pictures? Hope they helped you keep a growth mindset - which most of you surely already have! Post your feelings, your favorite coloring page, how this article helped you keep a growth mindset or anything else you feel like telling the world in the comments section below!

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20 Free Printable Growth Mindset Coloring Pages

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In today's world, what matters most is the growth mindset. In this flood of people with talent (and those without talent), the ones who are highlighted are those who have a strong and grown mindset. Growth mindset helps you in making quicker and better decisions, and to you prove yourself better than others!

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📖 Kids Book Read Aloud: The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes: A Growth Mindset Book, By Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein

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The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes:                READ ALOUD 

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The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes:                READ ALOUD 

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📖 Kids Book Read Aloud: The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes: A Growth Mindset Book

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She's a doll!

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How Every Child Can Thrive by Five | Molly Wright | TED

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📚 How Full is Your Bucket? For Kids by Tom Rath | Kids Book Read Alouds By Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer

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📚 How Full is Your Bucket? For Kids by Tom Rath | Kids Book Read Alouds

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Developing a Growth Mindset in Teachers and Staff

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Developing a Growth Mindset in Teachers and Staff