My grades in math were always lower than my grades in other subjects and since I received more praise for my creative writing efforts, I accepted my status of average math student and stuck with that notion all the way through my logics math class in college.  My left brain shouts out that because it’s logic, I’m not going to be able to do well with it.  There are some children in the classrooms I teach who are becoming more aware of their potential strengths and weaknesses in various activities.  When a teacher asks a child to write their name on their art work I have heard children respond, “I can’t do it.” Sometimes the teacher will say it’s okay and that he/she will write it for them.  Sometimes the teacher will offer help, or show by example.  One teacher, I observed said, “it’s okay if you can’t write your name yet.  You’ll get there.  We’ll practice together in lots of ways and before you know it, everything you create will have your special signature on it.  Just you wait and see.”  

By offering children the window of opportunity to know that they will be able to complete a given task at some point in the future prevents the shutting of a child’s creative door.  Without having to use the term growth mindset with children, we can model the importance of being flexible in thought and skill level.  This leads me to another point about people with a growth mindset.  I wonder if some people are more inclined to identify with a growth mind set if the influences of people in their lives are strong.  I also wonder if people who have a fixed mindset, like me regarding math, are embracing and strengthening skills they are more naturally good at like creative writing, for example.  

If I had focused equally on math and writing, perhaps my growth mindset about writing would not have been as strong.  It would be interesting to see how many people have fixed mindsets about math and if their other abilities were made stronger because of it.  I also wonder if people who did not do well on their SATs are more inclined to have growth mindsets by nature because they persist in other areas in the face of setbacks.  

On the other hand thought, a conversation I recently had with my eldest son, brings me great shame and sadness. Because I fear that I have fostered a fixed mindset. His grade came through infinite campus notifications and had dropped from an A to a C+. In our conversation, I felt like I was encouraging him to ‘work’ through the error by emailing the teacher to have a quick meeting after school to go over the parts he wasn’t understanding. But now, I wonder if I’m putting too much pressure on getting the A’s. I feel like as I’m starting new with the younger son, I also need to revisit creating a growth and “yet” environment for my older son as well. Because as the growth mindset person would say It’s never too late to try it a different way!