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Mathematical Mindsets: Videos and Lessons- ALL Grades

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Day 2 begins with a film explaining that mistakes are powerful. Grades 3 - 12 will experience an adaptation of one of our favorite lessons from our 2015 summer camp curriculum. This activity asks students to read and understand an interesting graph without numbers.

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Learn how to talk to students about the brain, and download a growth mindset lesson plan.

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Carol Dweck's work on mindsets is a well-known example of how our beliefs about our own learning affect our success. So if you're already teaching these mindsets to your students, keep doing it! But teachers who want to go even deeper into how thoughts affect actions might consider teaching students about optimism.

Teaching Optimism

Amy Lyon, the teacher in the grit video above, created a yearlong grit curriculum based on Martin Seligman's book The Optimistic Child. Pointing to years of research, Seligman argues that optimism is a skill that can be taught by changing how we view the setbacks we encounter in life. He also notes that parents and teachers must model and teach these skills, because children learn either pessimism or optimism from the adults in their lives.

To teach optimism, Lyon instructs students to become aware of their thoughts through a tool called a " grit pie." The pie itself represents a student's obstacle, and each slice represents a realistic cause of the problem. Students analyze whether their thoughts about the problem are permanent ("I stink at math and will never get good at it") or temporary ("I was distracted by my friends"), and whether they blame themselves ("I didn't ask for help when I was confused by my math assignment") or others ("the teacher doesn't like me") for the problem. Ideally, students' thoughts are temporary, and they take at least some personal responsibility for the problem -- both of which make positive change much easier.

Working with Emotions

Teach students how to work with their emotions. Just changing their thoughts is sometimes not enough for students, particularly if they tend to get anxious, appear depressed, or come from a traumatic home environment. For example, when a student with a permanent belief of failure faces an obstacle, emotions such as fear, despair or anger may arise so quickly that there's no time for changing his or her thinking to fend off the emotion. Thus, the student has been emotionally hijacked and needs to calm the emotions first and foremost.

To help these students, educators should first teach them to recognize and label emotional responses so that they become aware when their emotions are spinning out of control, followed by methods for calming difficult emotions. Research has shown that deep breathing and mindfulness practice are both very effective methods for regulating emotions.

Once students have calmed down, educators can help them "cognitively reappraise" the situation -- as taught in Seligman's book -- in order to change the thoughts and beliefs that caused the negative emotion.

Regulating Difficult Emotions

Emotion researchers have found cognitive reappraisal to be the ideal method for regulating difficult emotions. The other way people regulate their emotions is through suppression -- and teachers need to be aware of students who might be doing this, gritty or not. Emotion suppression means just that: pushing away rather than dealing with difficult thoughts and emotions. Long-term suppression can lead to increased negative emotions, anxiety and depression, as well as fewer close relationships and social support. Researchers have also found that emotional suppression is higher among adolescents than adults.

People who appear to have high levels of grit may actually be using emotion suppression to get through the tough obstacles, particularly if attaining goals is seen as a way to survive ("I have to get into an Ivy League college, otherwise my parents will think I'm a bad person") rather than thrive.

Building Resilience

Helping students cultivate positive emotions will also increase their ability to bounce back from obstacles and the negative emotions that often ensue. For example, researchers have found that highly resilient children use humor as a way to deal with stressful situations. Humor not only fosters positive emotions, it also connects us to others, thereby helping us to maintain positive social support networks -- which we all need when going for those long-term goals.

Sharing positive events with each other can also give students a boost in positive emotions. If students dwell on or savor a positive event, then they are more likely to recall that event -- along with the associated positive emotions -- in difficult times. Savoring has been found to not only give us a boost in well-being, but also to broaden our thinking, making us better problem-solvers.

Deepening Self-Awareness

Perhaps one of the unseen benefits of teaching these "grit skills" is that students will also gain a better understanding of who they are as human beings. And hopefully along the way, they will develop more empathy and compassion for those around them who may be struggling to reach a goal -- making everyone a winner in the end.

More Resources for Teaching Grit

Get the embed code, links to downloadable video files, and more resources for Edutopia's grit overview video, " Teaching Grit Cultivates Resilience and Perseverance," embedded above, or read a one-sheet overview of Amy Lyon's grit curriculum.
Editor's Note: This is the second of two parts. The previous post is "Teaching Grit: Social and Emotional Truth."

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Teaching Grit: How to Help Students Overcome Inner Obstacles | Edutopia

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Carol Dweck's work on mindsets is a well-known example of how our beliefs about our own learning affect our success. So if you're already teaching these mindsets to your students, keep doing it! But teachers who want to go even deeper into how thoughts affect actions might consider teaching students about optimism.

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Angela Duckworth's TED Talk on "grit" as one of the most important predictors of success went massively viral in 2013. Her 2016 book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance was an instant New York Times bestseller.

By now, Duckworth's concept has made its way into national education policy and public schools in California even grade schools and students on grit.

But despite grit's prevalence, Duckworth says the concept is often misunderstood. Duckworth's definition of grit is "passion and perseverance toward long-term goals," but she says people often overlook the passion part.

Perseverance and especially passion may sound unteachable but they aren't. It just takes time and consistency. Repeat the following activities with your child to help them develop their inner grittiness, putting them on the path to happiness and success.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our FREE When I Feel Worried Poster. Use this popular printable to make a plan with your child for when their worry shows up. Your child will have a list of their own coping strategies to calm their worry and anxiety.

1. Help Your Child Find Purpose

A study by psychology researchers including Dr. Carol Dweck and Dr. David Yeager indicates students are more motivated to succeed when they have a core purpose.

The study involved brief online interventions, including asking students to write how the world could be a better place, reading stories about how performing in school could help students positively impact the world, and having students think about their own dreams and how their education could help them achieve their goals.

As students developed the belief they could achieve purpose in life, they grew more motivated and performed better academically. They were also more likely to persist toward a degree.

You can help your child develop grit (both passion and perseverance) by discussing their goals and purpose in life. Then talk about the steps required in order for your child to reach their goal.

If your child is younger, try a simpler, more engaging approach like a dream board. Also called vision boards, dream boards are a powerful visualization tool to help kids create and achieve their goals.

On a sheet of poster board, your child posts images or text that reflect their passions, hopes, and goals. Visualizing what they want to achieve will help your child develop a positive mental attitude and focus on their passion and purpose.

Creating a dream board fosters grit because it will help your child celebrate their passions and link those passions to specific goals they would like to achieve. Plus, it's a fun activity for the two of you to do together!

2. Encourage Your Child to Conduct "Grit Interviews"

Children learn pessimism or optimism from the adults in their lives, so providing opportunities for your child to learn from positive resilient adults is key.

Your child can interview grandparents, neighbors, or other acquaintances who have worked hard toward a long-term goal.

These interviews will teach your child how to live life with grit in addition to the benefits that come with passion and perseverance.

You can share your resilience stories with your child as well. It's helpful for kids to understand that even adults can make mistakes, but then try again and ultimately solve a problem or reach a goal.

As your child hears stories about grit from people they admire (including you), they'll want to mirror these values in their own life.

3. Share Stories of Resilient Famous People

Your child can also learn from stories about famous people who used passion and perseverance to reach long-term goals, often with failures or setbacks along the way.

Stories like Michael Jordan not making his Varsity team, or J.K. Rowling's manuscript for Harry Potter being rejected almost a dozen times, will show your child how perseverance through failure can lead to great success.

If any of these famous people had given up when they experienced , they would never have achieved their fame and success. "Luck" is an illusion; success is about hard work and persistence toward something you're passionate about.

4. Teach About Grit Through Nature

We can certainly learn lessons about perseverance from nature. Just think about the Tupac Shakur poem "The Rose That Grew from Concrete."

The poem reads:

You can read this poem with your child to discuss what represents the concrete represents in their lives. What are their obstacles? Next, discuss how your child can "breakthrough concrete" like the rose. What can they do to overcome their obstacles and reach their dreams?

This activity is a fun way to practice components of Gabriele Oettingen's WOOP strategy and help your child develop grit. You can also show your child pictures or real-life examples of the resilience and perseverance of nature, then connect these images to how your child lives their own life.

Be sure to check out our Best Sellers Bundle PDF (ages 5-11). It includes our three most popular printable kits packed with science-based growth mindset activities, guides, and crafts for children. With over 50 pages, this kit will help your children or students understand they have the capacity to learn anything.

5. Teach About Grit Through Literature

Similarly, you can help your child learn about grit by reading relevant books, poems, or short stories.

For instance, read stories of perseverance such as The Little Engine That Could or Chelsea Clinton's She Persisted Around the World: 13 Women Who Changed History.

Use stories like The Hugging Tree: A Story About Resilience by Jill Neimark. It tells the story of a tree that grows alone on a cliff. The tree faces many challenges, but it continues to stand strong, find the positive, and ultimately help others with their own challenges.

These are fun, colorful stories your child will request again and again! As you read these stories, you can also help your child form connections to their own life. Talk about their challenges, their response to failures, and how to live their own life with grit.

Don't forget to download our FREE When I Feel Worried Poster so your child has a list of their own coping strategies to calm anxiety and worry.

6. Ask, "What's the Hard Part?"

When your child feels discouraged or tempted to give up, try asking them, "What's the hard part?"- Parenting blogger

Once your child has identified what is difficult for them, repeat the information back in your own words. This helps your child identify their biggest challenge, allowing them to break it down into a more manageable task.

After the two of you have identified the challenge, ask your child what they could do to fix or overcome "the hard part." They'll likely arrive at an answer and realize problems can be solved if they persevere and takes the time to think the problems through.

Don't give your child the answer, even if you have to guide them to it.

Helping your child find "the hard part" and navigate a way to overcome the challenge is a powerful way to teach them about grit.

7. Follow the "Hard Thing Rule"

Angela Duckworth teaches grit to her own two daughters using the "Hard Thing Rule." Duckworth's rule has three parts:

1. Each member of the family has to do something hard, "something that requires practice, something where you're going to get feedback telling you how you can get better, and you're going to get right back in there and try again and again."

2. You must finish what you start. Duckworth requires her kids to finish a season, a set of lessons that were signed up for, etc.

3. No one gets to pick the "hard thing" for anyone else, so your child chooses their own challenge.

This is a rule your whole family can follow, holding each other accountable, and setting an example for your child. The "hard thing" can be an instrument, a sport, a subject or area of interest, an activity, and so on.

The "Hard Thing Rule" combines passion (because you choose what to pursue) and perseverance (because you promise to stick with it), and your child will experience success or improvement with something challenging. This will build their confidence and teach them the benefits of grit.

8. Try the "Grit Pie" Exercise

This activity will work best with an older child, but a young child could complete it with guidance.

Amy Lyon, a fifth-grade teacher from New Hampshire, created an entire grit curriculum based on the book The Optimistic Child by Martin Seligman, University of Pennsylvania professor and co-founder of Positive Psychology. Lyon uses the "grit pie" activity with her students to teach optimism and help them become aware of their thoughts.

The pie represents an obstacle the student is facing. Each slice of pie symbolizes a cause of the problem. For each slice, students analyze whether their thoughts about the problem are permanent ("I'll never be good at math") or temporary ("My friend was talking too much and distracting me") and whether they blame themselves ("I should have asked the teacher for help when I didn't understand") or others ("The teacher didn't teach us this material!").

Hopefully, most of your child's problems will be categorized as "temporary" and they'll take at least some responsibility for causing the problem.

Point out these issues are temporary and within your child's control. How can your child make positive changes to resolve them? Completing this activity will show your child the majority of obstacles can be overcome with problem-solving and perseverance.

9. Share Your Passions

Lastly, you can inspire your child to find hobbies and interests they're passionate about by enthusiastically sharing your own passions.

Show your child your excitement about activities outside of working and parenting and devote time to developing these passions. Not only will this make you happier and more fulfilled, but it'll also set a great example for your child about pursuing your passions.

This will also encourage your child to openly share their own passions with you. Be supportive and interested in whatever your child is passionate about, and provide resources to help them explore and develop these interests.

Looking for additional resources to support building grit and resilience in your child? The Build Your Frustration Tolerance Masterclass is a self-paced growth mindset parenting masterclass where you'll learn how to help your child push ahead and persevere instead of quitting or giving up at the slightest setback. You'll get lifetime access so you can go through all the materials at your own pace. Our expert parenting educators will give you specific tools and strategies to raise a child who has the CONFIDENCE AND DETERMINATION to overcome their frustration and persevere.

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9 Activities To Build Grit and Resilience in Children

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Perseverance and especially passion may sound unteachable but they aren't. It just takes time and consistency. Repeat the following activities with your child to help them develop their inner grittiness, putting them on the path to happiness and success.

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Lessons, videos, classroom examples.

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Passion and perseverance for long-term goals

Strength of Will

"Ever tried. Ever failed. No Matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better."
-Samuel Beckett

Why does grit matter?

Excellence sometimes seems like the result of natural talent. But no matter how gifted you are-no matter how easily you climb up the learning curve-you do need to do that climbing. There are no shortcuts. Grit predicts accomplishing challenging goals of personal significance. For example, grittier students are more likely to graduate from high school, and grittier cadets are more likely to complete their training at West Point. Notably, in most research studies, grit and measures of talent and IQ are unrelated, suggesting that talent puts no limits on the capacity for passion and perseverance.

Pulse Check

To gauge your current level of grit, consider how true the following are for you.

I enjoy projects that take years to complete.

I am working towards a very long-term goal.

What I do each day is connected to my deepest personal values.

There is at least one subject or activity that I never get bored of thinking about.

Setbacks don't discourage me for long.

I am a hard worker.

I finish whatever I begin.

I never stop working to improve.

How do I encourage grit in others?

Model it. If you love what you do, let others know. Wear your passion on your sleeve. When you fail, openly share your frustration but go out of your way to point out what you learned from the experience. Emphasize playing the long game-life is a marathon, not a sprint.

Celebrate it. When you see grit, draw attention to it: "Your work this past quarter has demonstrated enormous dedication. I know it wasn't always easy." Praise passion: "You're so into this! That's just awesome!"

Enable it. The paradox of grit is that the steely determination of individuals is made possible by the warmth and support of friends, families, teachers, and mentors. Don't let people you love quit on a bad day.

Try This:

Help students build incrementally toward mastery.

Reflect on a personal success and learn from a personal failure.

Identify your values and write about why they are important to you.

Want it all? Download the full Grit Playbook.

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Videos about Grit

Help students build incrementally toward mastery.

Reflect on a personal success and learn from a personal failure.

Identify your values and write about why they are important to you.

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Passion and perseverance for long-term goals Strength of Will "Ever tried. Ever failed. No Matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." -Samuel Beckett Excellence sometimes seems like the result of natural talent. But no matter how gifted you are-no matter how easily you climb up the learning curve-you do need to do that climbing.