Growth Mindset in the Elementary Classroom (FREEBIE)

Have YOU read this book?

Mindsets in the Classroom by Mary Cay Ricci

If so, what did / do you think!?  I'm in chapter 6 and so far, so good!  I appreciate that the author has taken such a big idea and narrowed it down to the classroom.

My awareness of and interest in growth mindset started last fall when I switched to a new school district.  Being a "new" teacher again, I was required to participate in the mentor / mentee program and part of our time was spent discussing...

Mindset by Carol Dweck

This was a pretty good read in the sense that it taught me about growth mindset in general.  But if you're a teacher, I recommend Mary Cay Ricci's book instead.  She also has a resource book for teachers that I feel is worthwhile.

Read-to-Use Resources for Mindsets in the Classroom by Mary Cay Ricci

Okay, so are you wondering how I have applied my personal learning on growth mindset in the classroom?  Well, please read on!  :)

First off, I use a lot of short videos.  Class Dojo has a couple of series of videos that are AWESOME!

Here is the first video of the first series: "Growth Mindset for Students."  This series is complete (five in total).

And this is the first video of the second series, "Big Ideas," which is actually unlisted (I think because they are still working on this series), but if you have the link or you click on the image above, then you can view it.

Kizoom explains how challenges grow our brains.

Khan Academy does a great job of explaining things in kid-friendly terms in this video.

Of cooooourse, I also read a lot of books that have a growth mindset theme or lesson.  Here are some of my favorites!

  

Click HERE to read details on how we used Rosie Revere, Engineer in our classroom.  Ada Twist, Scientist does not come out until September 6th, 2016 (my birthday, eeeek!), but I'm sure it will be just as amazing as the first two!  You rock Andrea Beaty!

Speaking of authors that rock, let's throw Peter Reynolds into that boat!

And some more...

My husband claims that I say this about most children's books I read and own, but when I say, "Todd Parr is one of my FAVORITE authors!!" I really mean it.  :)

Todd Parr's colorful illustrations and simple (yet powerful) text make it the perfect book to use when first introducing your students to growth mindset.  FREEBIE ALERT: I created a response sheet that you can use with this book.  You can find it by visiting my TPT store.

If you want to talk with your students specifically about the brain, this is a good one!

Sometimes we include some growth mindset writing.  Growing Firsties has an A-MAZ-ING freebie that we use over the course of a couple weeks.  We discuss and work on a page here...a page there.

I am a huge proponent of school-to-home (and vice versa) communication, so of course I share with our families that we learn about growth mindset in our classroom.  For example, I sent home a FREE parent letter kindly provided to us by Sarah Gardner.

I also plaster our doors and walls with quotes that have a growth mindset theme.  Thanks to many of our gracious colleagues, there are LOTS out there for free!  Here are just a few examples of those kind teachers and their freebies:

Stephanie Ann

Boy O'Boy Designs

Tales from Miss D

Squeaky Altman-Lewis

I keep this hallway display up all year.  It is another FREEBIE...this one coming at you from Pinkadots Elementary.

On a final note, I have a "Growth Mindset" Pinterest board, in case you're interested in following.

Phew!  Seeing as I have not blogged in months and I'm on summer break, this required a lot of brain power, haha!  I hope you gained something from this post.  I'd love to hear how you use growth mindset in your classroom.  Feel free to comment below!

As always, thanks for stopping by!  :)

Growth Mindset in Action, Linky Party, and Freebie!

Okay, here is a "sharing" blog post for you!

In our first grade classroom, we have focused a lot of our character education time on growth mindset.  I had previously read (on other teacher blogs) that the book, Rosie Revere, Engineer, is great for reinforcing the idea of growth mindset...and boy, were those teachers right!

I wanted to do more than just read and discuss this fabulous book, so I went on a Teachers Pay Teachers hunt and found a fabulous product created by Kirsten Tulsian.  All the activities align nicely with the book.

I created a simple packet cover to stick on the front of the activity sheets because I really wanted the focus to remain on GROWTH MINDSET.  Whenever we come back to this project, it is a reminder to open up the discussion and/or reflection in a way that focuses on how we are keeping a growth mindset throughout the process.  You can pick it up for free by visiting my TPT store.

My favorite part about Kirsten's product is that she includes two S.T.E.M. activities.  Instead of picking one or the other, I gave my students a container with all of the gadgets and gizmos (just like Rosie in the book) for both of the S.T.E.M. projects and instead of specifying a certain product, I just told them their task was to make something that "goes in the air" (again, just like Rosie in the book).

Here are some "in action" photos of my students hard at work.  Just look at that partner collaboration!  :)

Do you have neat ideas for teaching the idea of growth mindset in your classroom?  I would love to hear them!

As a matter of fact, if you have ANY great ideas to share, I would love to hear those, too!  Please consider joining my linky party.

You can read specific details here if you wish, but the general idea behind the linky party is that we share great teaching ideas.  You can include any of the linky party images in your blog post.

Feel free to grab the linky party button below and...

...link up right below!

As always, thanks for stopping by!  :)