Mrs. Brant-Terry
Growth Mindsets
Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck has done a great deal of research on achievement and success and the importance of mindset. In a fixed mindset people believe their intelligence or talents are fixed. People with fixed mindsets are very limited in their thinking, avoid challenges and give up easily. In a growth mindset people believe through hard work and resilience they can develop their mind. Their brains and talents are just the beginning. People with growth mindsets accept that mistakes are a way to gain new knowledge and abilities.
Teaching through a growth mindset lens helps motivation,
initiative and resilience to thrive.
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| Overview of "I grow my brain" co-created with staff and students |
Many of my staff and I , have been exploring inquiry learning and Jo Boaler’s work on teaching math with a growth mindset. This year our whole school goal is “I grow my brain” by digging deeper into the learning skill, initiative, which we report on. (The two previous years we focused on the learning skill, responsibility).
Our teachers worked with all of our students to determine what “I grow my brain”, looks like , sounds like, feels like, what am I thinking when I am growing my brain and how this changes me as a student. We used the short video Brain Jump with Ned the Neuron: Challenges Grow Your Brain - YouTube one of our primary teachers discovered, to springboard our discussions with our students.
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| What "growing our brain" sounds like |
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| What "growing our brain" sounds like |
Once we compiled all of students’ thinking a master chart was created (chart format based on Sandra Dean’s Respect and Resiliency work, more can be found here) and posted throughout our school and copies sent home with our students to discuss with their parents. Since we have begun this school focus in the fall of 2014, our teachers are using “I grow my brain” language, and our students are using “I grow my brain language”.
It is so exciting to hear my staff and students talking about “growing my brain”. On our school Facebook page we regularly celebrate how “we are growing our brains”.
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| How does "growing my brain" change the way I am a student? |
Miss Brant
Growth Mindsets in Practice
Since Mrs. Brant-Terry first explained to me the concept of Growth Mindsets, I was immediately intrigued
by the theory, but had a hard time imagining it in practice. Nevertheless, I
began to hear it about the significance of a Growth Mindset more and more in education, including from
influential educators who have dedicated their life’s work to developing growth
mindsets, such as Jo Boaler and her YouCubed "Revolution”.
Nevertheless, I soon began to hear about the success mom was having at her
school, and how not only were the kids responding positively to the “Grow Your
Brain” philosophy, but how they kids were using the language for ”Growing Your Brain”.
This made me really excited, and when I saw a bulletin board on Twitter demonstrating how we can transform our fixed
mindset statements into growth
mindset statements, I knew Mrs. Brant-Terry would run with it and create
something truly inspirational!
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| Our examples of "not growing my brain" |
With Friday’s off this semester, I am often in Mrs.
Brant-Terry’s school volunteering. So on the drive into school at 7:00am, we discussed the tweet, and how we can create own version of the bulletin board make it meaningful to the
staff and students.
We ultimately created two displays, one section for “When
I say this I am not growing my brain…”
and one for “When I say this I am growing
my brain...” We decided we would demonstrate what "not growing our brain" statements look like - but we would allow our students to share what "growing our brain" statements look (and sound) like to them.
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| Our first student post: "I will try before I judge" |
After writing out what "not growing my brain” statements sound like, I
cut out some thought bubbles on bright paper, and began to hang our display up
in front of the main office. In the MIDDLE of hanging up our display, a student came running up and shouted “Hey Miss Brant – what
IS that??!” Thrilled to be our first student, he enthusiastically wrote our first example of how we grow our brain.
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| Near the end of the day - more students wrote about how they grow their brain |
Throughout the day students continued to come up to us and
announce “Hey Miss Brant and Mrs. Brant-Terry, I have something else I want to
put up on the wall!”
By the end of the day, the “When I say this I am growing my brain…” display was overflowing
with student comments, and sharing how they grow their brain.
