GROWTH MINDSET \have a GROWTH MINDSET. Jam th charge ef how smart | am betouse Tecan GROW: BRAIN Rice a musche oe Learcin% hard things. 1 can achieve ANYTHING with EFFORT ona RIGHT STRATEGIES. And when | fail er make a mistoke, tea GREAT tring, wccause vean LEAR gm them end I GET BETTER’: Big Life Journal LUSD Math Coaches 2018 http://mathlusd.weebly.com/mindset.htmlyoucubed Bullding a Mathematical Mindset Community (e\ Teacher nd students belleve oye ces Communication and connections are val rn maths at HIGH LEVEL! ‘Students work In groups sharing idecs ond visuals. Students are not racked or grouped by achievergent | ¢ Students relote ideas to previous lessons or topics 2 Seca enrotneongieceat 2 eae tari oer source 2 eee eee eerste en cmt 2 areata none nene coarser ator sutenstos0e con Serer seicalenccotaanc@O” | & Sesonarcoiotnce eave ar vescrd howe The maths bs VISUAL The mathe fs OPEN 10 ee casas see | « sucerscrenutestosoometneserent «© Students gesture to ilustrate their thinking Creativity Is valued and modeled, ‘Students’ work looks afferent from each ot «Students use ownership words - ‘my method’, “my ideo” ‘Students drow for eoch other when "a iferent ideas, methods, and perspe ‘The environment is filled with wowpee and | The classroom Is a risk-taking, MISTMKE VALUING CURIOSITY. environment «Students extend their work and investigate «Students share eos even when they are ion & Teacher Invites curlesty when posing tacks {Peers seek to understond rather thon correct © Students see maths as an unexplored purzie {Students feel comfortable when they are stuck oF wro 7 Students reoly askand pose questions. Kc @ “gf | # Teachers ond students work tagether when stuck Students seek importont information a> + Tosks ore low floor/highceling + “ve never thought of ike that before “er {Students disogree with each other and the teacher Recommendations for Task/Lesson D Powerful Questions to develop a deep level of understanding (Open the task to encourage multiple methods, pathways and representations, How Go you see that Kiea? Why does that answer make sense? Pose a problem before teaching the method, Why does that method work? Design a task that allows all Learners to contribute How is that method connected to others? to the tearni Wve room for extension. 0 the Learning and have room for extension. How can that idea be represented in different ways? Make opportunities for students to authentically “ Can you prove it? share their thinking with peers. ose Can you prove it visually? ‘Add a visual component. @ Can you justify your thinking? ‘Add the requirement to convince and reason, be Can you predict what would happen if. skeptical, Did you make any interesting mistakes? Gavwa pb Je Boole Vases arg ond Tiare Couniy ice ov& 3 youcubed afSuanford Unversiey When You Believe in Your Students They Do Better by Jo Boaler Mathematics classrooms are places where students: ‘Talk to each other and the teachers about ideas - Why did | choose this method? Does it work with other cases? How is the method similar or different to methods other people used? Work on mathematics tasks with a low entry point but a very high ceiling ~ so that students are constantly challenged and working at the highest and most appropriate level for them, Work on mathematics tasks that are complex, involve more than one method or area ‘of mathematics, and that often, but not always, represent real world problems and appli- cations ‘Are given growth mindset messages at all times, through the ways they are grouped ether, the tasks they work on, the messages they hear, and the assessment and grading. ‘Are assessed formatively ~ to inform learning ~ not summatively to give a rank with their peers. Students should regularly receive diagnostic feedback on their work, instead of grades or scores, Summative assessments are best used at the end of courses. Mathematics classrooms are places where students believe: Everyone can do well in maths. Mathematics problems can be solved with many different insights and methods. ‘Mistakes are valuable, they encourage brain growth and learning ‘Mathematics will help them in their lives, not because they will see the same types of problems in the real world but because they are learning to think quantitatively and abstractly and developing in inquiry relationship with mathyoucubed @) (an a Positive Norms to Encourage in Math Class By Jo Boaler 1. Everyone Can Learn Math to the Highest Levels. Encourage students to believe in themselves. There is no such thing as a “math” person. Everyone can reach the highest levels they want to, with hard work. . Mistakes are valuable listakes grow your brain! It is good to struggle and make mistakes. 3. Questions are Really Important Always ask questions, always answer questions. Ask yourself: why does that make sense? 4, Math is about Creativity and Making Sense. Math is a very creative subject that is, at its core, about visualizing patterns and creating solution paths that others can see, discuss) and critique, . Math is about Connections and Communicating Math is a connected subject, and a form of communication. Represent math in different’ orms eg words, a picture, a graph, an equation, and link them. Color code! 6. Depth is much more important than speed. ‘op mathematicians, such as Laurent Schwartz, think slowly and deeply. 7. Math Class is about Learning not Performing lath is a growth subject, it takes time to learn and it is all about effort.<3youcubed OLA Setting up Positive Norms in Math Class By Jo Boaler Here are 7 of my favorite messages to give to students in math class, and some suggestions from youcubed as to how to encourage them: Everyone can learn math Mistakes are Questions are to the valuable really important highest levels Math is about Math is about Math class is Depth creativity and connections and about learning not is more important making sense communicating performing than speed1. Everyone can learn math to the highest levels. Encourage students to believe in themselves. There are different parts to this — first we need students to know that they can achieve at any math level, and there is no such thing as a math person. Brain information is really good for this. Second we need them to have a “growth mindset” — believing that they can learn anything, and the more work they do the smarter they will get. ‘An important way to encourage a growth mindset is by praising what students have done and learned, not them as a person. So instead of saying “you are so smart”, say “it is great that you have learned that.” Some videos you might want to share with students to encourage positive brain messages and a growth mindset: hat is a mindset? growth There is a really damaging myth that pervades the US/ UK and other countries — the idea that some people are born with a “math brain” and some are not. This has been resoundingly disproved by research but many students and parents believe this. It is really important to communicate “growth mindset’ messages to students. Help them know that everyone is a math person and that the latest research is telling us that students can reach any levels in math because of the incredible plasticity of the brain.ell students that you love mistakes and that they wil be valued at all times, tell them that it is good to make mistakes as we know that when people make mistakes, their brains are growing. This single message can be incredibly liberating for students. Here are some suggestions for encouraging positive thinking about mistakes: 1. Ask students with mistakes to present mistakes (especially deep, conceptual ones) on the board so that everyone can learn from them. If one student makes a conceptual mistake, there are probably many others making the same one. 2. When students get something wrong — instead of being discouraging or sympathetic, say “your brain just grew! Synapses are firing, that's really good” 3. Ask students to read positive brain/mistake messages and choose their favorites that they will take on for the year. Eg “easy is a waste of time” “working hard grows your brain” “it is really important to make mistakes”. Ask them to draw brains with the messages on them that you can display on your walls, see right. 4. Crumpled Paper: Ask students to crumple a piece of paper and throw it at the board with the feeling they have when making a mistake. Then get them to retrieve the paper and color in all the lines, these represent synapses firing and brain growth from making a mistake. Ask them to keep the piece of paper in their ath folders/notebooks to remind them of this. 2. Mistakes are valuable Research shows thatwhen students make mistakes, synapses fire and brains grow. Brain activity is particularly strong in individuals with a growth mindset. It is good to make mistakes. ‘Activity 3 jollowell at Vista Unified. You! ican get the brain template at]ell your students that you love questions about math’ and that they are really important. Research shows us that question asking is linked to high achievement — yet as students move through school they ask fewer and fewer questions, for fear of being thought clueless. You don't need to be able to answer every question that students may come up with, sometimes it is good to say that you don't know but you will find out, or ask other students if someone would like to answer the question. Some suggestions for encouraging questions: 1. When good questions are asked, write them in large colored letters onto posters that you post around the room, to celebrate them. Show questions from a range of students. 2. Tell students they have 2 responsibilities in your classroom. One is to always ask a question if they have ‘one, and the other it to always answer a question from classmates if asked. 3. Encourage students to ask questions — from you, other students and themselves, such as: why does that work? why does that make sense? Can | draw that? How does that method connect to another? 4. Encourage students to ask their own math questions. Instead of asking questions for them, give them interesting mathematical situations and see what questions arise for them. 3. Questions are really important. In studies, —_ student question asking has been shown to steadily decline as students go through the grades in the US, showing this relationship: geen ws oN cate4. Math is about creativity and making sense. The key to understanding math is making sense of it. PISA data from 15 million 15% Many students believe that math is a set of formulas that year olds worldwide shows have to be remembered - this belief is associated with that the lowest achieving low achievement. Math is a very creative subject that students in the world are is, at its core, about visualizing patterns and creating those who believe that solution paths that others can see, discuss and critique. mathematical success comes from memorization. The USA Some methods for encouraging sense making and | | and UK are countries where creative math: the highest numbers of students believe this 1. Always ask students - why does that make sense? Ask this whether their answers are correct or incorrect 2. Encourage visual mathematics. Ask students to draw their solutions. Ask them to think about how they see math. In this video (hitp://voutu.be/iEqrX-gsSQg) Cathy Humphreys asks — students to make sense of 1 divided by 2/3 by drawing their js , solutions. a 3. Show mathematical ideas through visual representations. All mathematics can be represented visually, and visual representations give many more students access to understanding. We have many examples of visual mathematics on youcubed and in the classroom video above. 4, Use number talks that value students’ different ways of seeing math and solving problems. This video teaching number talks also shows visual solutions. hitp://youcubed org /teachers/2014/from-stanford-onlines-how-to-learn-math-for- teachers-and-parents-number-talks/ 5. When students finish questions, ask them to think of new, harder questions. These could be questions to give to other students. This is a really good strategy for differentiation.5. Math is about connections and communicating. Math is a connected subject, but students often think it is a set of disconnected methods. We made a video to show some connections and students loved it. youcubed.org/students/a-tour-of-mathematical- connections Mathematics is a form of communication, some people think of it as a language. Some strategies for encouraging connecting and communicating are: 1. Show the connections video. 2. Encourage students to represent their math results in different forms eg words, a picture, a graph, an equation, and to link between them, see below. 3. Encourage color coding, ask students to show with color where a mathematical idea is, see below. There is one squat a stage 1 For each addtional stage 2 scare sauces asjacen the eriginal ena four sides. += The figure contiaues to grow to the lt, right, Up, and ‘down, adding ‘our coua12s for each now stage.6. Value depth over speed. lany people incorrectly believe that being good at math means being fast at math. It doesn’t and we need to dissociate math from speed. When we value fast computation (as many classrooms do) we encourage a subset of learners who compute quickly and discourage many others, including deep slow thinkers who are very important to math (see sidebar). We no longer need students to compute fast (we have computers for this) we need them to think deeply, connect methods, reason, and justify. 1. Tell students you don't value fast work. Mathematical thinking is about depth not speed. 2. Don't let mathematical discussions be driven by the fastest students. 3. When asking for hands up, don't always take answers from the fastest students. 4. Don’t use flash cards, speed competitions, timed tests, instead value depth, creativity, different ways of thinking about math, and different explanations. A paper showing the research suggesting timed tests cause math anxiety is here: hito:/\voucubed.org/pdis/ — 26eivs* Research suggests that timed tests cause math ansety * “| was always deeply uncertain about my own intellectual capacity; | thought | was unintelligent And it is true that | was, and still am, rather slow. | need time to seize things because | always need to understand them fully. Towards the end of the eleventh grade, | secretly thought of myself as stupid. | worried about this for a long time. I'm stil just as slow. (...)At the end of the eleventh grade, | took the measure of the situation, and came to the conclusion that rapidity doesn't have a precise relation to intelligence. What is important is to deeply understand things and their relations to each other. This is where intelligence lies. The fact of being quick or slow isn't really relevant.” - Laurent Schwartz, Winner of the Fields Medal (A Mathematician Grappling with His Century, 2001) ae7. Math class is about learning, not performing. lany students think that their role in math class is nol to learn but to get questions right — to perform. It is important for them to know that math is about learning, and to know that math is a growth subject, it takes time to learn and it is all about effort. Some strategies for making math a learning, not a performing subject: 1. Grade and test less. Math is the most over-graded, over-tested subject in the curriculum. Neither grades nor tests have been shown to increase learning, from research, and both make students feel they are performing and not learning. Grades often make students think they are a reflection not of what they have learned but who they are. There is a video reflecting this at http://youtu.be/eoV BExuqBO 2. Instead, give diagnostic comments. These take longer but are extremely valuable and can be done less often. 3. Use “assessment for learning” strategies (see sidebar). 4. If you have to grade, then give grades for learning, not for performing eg for asking questions, representing ideas in different ways, explaining work to others, making connections. Assess the breadth of math, not just a small part of math — procedure execution. 5. You may have to give grades to your administration but that doesn’t mean you have to give them to the students. Grades communicate fixed messages about learning and are often counter-productive for students. Assessment for learning (A4L) jeaching strategies have been shown to drastically istudent achievement, if they are sed instead of summative tests land grades. It has been estimated that if teachers in England used strategies the achievement of their students would increase ico much the country would move, in international comparisons, from the middle of the pack to the top 5 (Black and Wiliam, increase 1998). At@» mindset works" MindsetMaker™ | Growth Mindset Feedback Tool Growth Mindset Feedback Tool Growth minded language motivates students to ensure they remain persistent, resilient, and focused on the process of learning. itis important to give learners feedback about how their process leads to a result so they can understand that their abilities will develop with effort. Use these language frames in the following situations: When they struggle despite strong effort + OK,so you didn't do as well as you wanted to. Let's look at this as an opportunity to learn. + What learning strategies are you using? How about trying some different ones? + You are not there yet. or, When you think you can't do it, remind yourself that you can't do it yet, + Lexpect you to make some mistakes, since we're learning new things. If we examine what led to ‘our mistakes we can learn how to improve, + Mistakes are welcome here! Our brains grow if we learn from our mistakes. + You might be struggling now, but you are making progress. | can see your growth (in these places), (Note: Say this only if they're indeed making progress). + Yes, it's tough - we come to school to make our brains stronger! fit were easy you wouldn't be learning anything! + You can learn to do it i's tough, but you can; let's break it down into steps. * Let's stop here and return tomorrow with a fresher brain. + Ladmire your persistence and | appreciate your mental effort. It will pay off. When they are lacking specific skills needed for improvement + Let me add new information to help you solve this, + Here are some strategies to figure this out. + Describe your process for completing this task. + Let's practice this so we can move it from our short-term to our long-term memory. + Give ita try - we can always fix mistakes once | see where you are getting held up. + What parts were difficult for you? Let’s look at thern. + Let's ask [another student] for advice—they may be able to explain it in a new way, suggest some ideas, or recommend some strategies. + Let's write a plan for practicing and learning. + Ifyou make [these specific] changes, we can reassess your score. Let's discuss a plan for you. When they are making progress + Hey, do you realize how much progress you've made? + That's a tough problem/task/concept that you've been working on for a while. What strategies are you using? They are really working for you, + [can see a difference in this work compared to your earlier work. You have really grown with _. + Ise you using your strategies/tools/notes/etc. Keep it up! + Hey! You were working on this for a while and you didn't quit! + Your hard work is clearly evident in your process/projecv/essay/assignment. + Look at how much progress you've made so far! Do you remember how difficult this was when you first started? Copyright © Mindset Works, Ine. Alright reserved. - 042016 @ MindsetMaker™@> mindset works: MindsetMaker™ | Growth Mindset Feedback Tool When they succeed with strong effort + Lam so proud of the effort you put forth. + Lam very proud of you for not giving up, and look what you have to show for it! + Congratulations - you really used great strategies for studying, managing your time, controlling your behavior, ete. + Iwant you to remember for a moment how challenging this was when you began. Look at how far you have come! + allthat hard work and effort paid off! + The next time you have a challenge like this, what will you do? + What choices did you make that you think contributed to your success? + It’s exciting to see the difference in your work now when we compare it to your earlier work. + Doesn'tit feel good to master this? How does it feel to master this? + Are you proud of yourself? Tell me what makes you most proud. When they succeed easily without effort + It’s great that you have that down. Now we need to find something a bit more challenging so you can grow. That's what we all come to school to do. + It looks like your skills weren't really challenged by this assignment. Sorry for wasting your time! + [don't want you to be bored because you're not challenging yourself, + We need to raise the bar for you now. + You're ready for something more difficult + What skill would you like to work on next? + What topic would you like to learn more about next? + Could you find two other ways to solve that problem? Solving problems in different ways helps us deepen our understanding and be able to apply it. + Can you help Billy learn what you've learned? By helping others, we not only contribute to their success, but we also deepen our own understanding, When they don’t put in much effort and then don’t succeed + lunderstand that it may seem daunting at first. How can we break this down into smaller tasks so it’s not so overwhelming? + What are your goals for this assignment/class/year? How can you make a plan to achieve those goals? What effort will be required? + It looks like you're not putting forth much effort. Is this the way you see it? If not, what you are doing, and how can I help you with some new strategies? + What are the barriers to your success? How can | help you overcome them? + Remember when you worked really hard for_ and were successful? Maybe you could try those strategies again. + Ifimprovement is your goal, i's going to take effort and practice to get there, Our brains wont grow if we don't try hard things. + What choices are you making that contribute to this outcome? If you want a different outcome, maybe you need to make different choices. itthat Copyright © Mindset Woks, ne. Alright reserved, - 042016 @MindsetMaker™About Mindset Works Mindset Works was co-founded by one of the world's leading researchers in the field of motivation, Stanford University professor Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. and K-12 mindset expert Lisa S. Blackwell, Ph.D. The team translates psychological research into practical programs and services to help students and educators increase their motivation and achievement. » Visit www.mindsetworks.com/free-resources for more growth mindset resources, tools, articles, and lessons. Contact us at infoamindsetworks.com for information about our programs and services. @) mindset works" Mindset Works and Brainolagy are registered trademarks of Mindset Works, Inca) RESOURCE 10°™ TT . 3 ‘Things I leamed about the brain: D srings Ihave a question about: J “tng about the brain that I want £0 learn tore about: Rexdy-to-Use Reso Prufrock Press Ine. Permission is granted to photocopy or repro ‘page for individual use onlyRESOURCE 11 z Z ; About Growth Mindset 3 Things I leamed about having a growth raindset: 2 Things I have a question about: T sing about having a growth raindset that I want to fear wore about:Ready-to-Use Resources for Mindsets in the Classroom Preassess What Students Already Know About the Brain Previewing the skills or concepts prior to the preassessment help prime the brain and activate background knowledge. The preassessment preview for elementary stu- dents might be as simple as a series of questions that initiate a discussion like the following: Teacher points to his or her head and says: © “Who knows what is in here?” @ “What do we use our brain for?” “Teachers will explain to the students that they would like to find out what the seadents already know about the brain and how it functions. For example, you could say, “I am going to give you a paper, and I would like for you to do two things.” Hold up a copy of the blank preassessment for the brain (see Resource 37: Blank reassessment of Students’ Brain Knowledge, p. 89). Ask students to draw a pic- cure of what they think their brains might look like inside the blank outline of the head. Then, students should write down anything that they know about their brain, Remind students that this is not for a grade, but to help you learn what they already know. A preassessment for secondary students might bea written and visual response to this prompr: “Write and illustrate everything you know about the brain.” After the students have completed the preassessments, review them, looking for patterns of responses (as illustrated on pages 102-103 in Mindsts in the Classroom, some may surprise you), and begin planning for instruction. Before you implement these learning experiences, give students some back- ground on how the brain works, telling them, “Inside the brain we all have brain cells called neurons. They are so small, we can’t see them unless we have very power- ful microscope. We have billions of neurons, some connect to each other and some are just sore of floating around.” Show them a picture or diagram of a neuron using, Resource 38; Neuron Illustration—Primary (younger kids; p. 90) or Resource 39: Neuron Ulustration—Secondary (older kids; p. 91). Ask students to talk about anything they notice abou the way the neuron looks. Then ask them to think about what might cause these neurons to connect to each other. Resource 40: Students Become Neurons (pp. 92-93) provides a lesson for teaching students about neurons, Ie emphasizes what might be happening in the brain when you first learn something new, not understanding yet and not having mastery: [have used this with all ages; in fact, at the high school evel, the entre class participated as neurons and they attempted to replicate their teacher's brain. “The Advanced Academics Office including their Primary Talent Development ‘Teachers in Frederick County, MD, took this lesson a step further—they developed the My Connections (see Resource 41, p. 94) graphic to remind students of neuralWays to Help Students Adopt Growth Mindsets connections in their brain. This chart can be displayed and referred to as students are learning as a continuous reminder of strengthening neural connections. They also developed a visual called “How Will Your Brain Learn and Grow Today?” (see Resource 42, p. 96) This visual is another way to remind seudents of the different stages of neural connectivity. Reflecting on Their Own Learning ‘Ask students to think about skills they have recently learned aswell as things they have known fora long time and understand fully. Using Resource 43: My Strongand “Not Yet" Neural Connections (p. 97), ask students to draw their strong and “not yet” neural connections. Ask students to think about things they understand and are very good at as well as chings chat they are just learning, but “not yet” under- standing fully, The new learning will be represented by a very thin or dotted line, the “not yet” learning should:be represented by a thicker line, and mastery learning should be represented by a very thick line between the neurons. (You may want to refer to Resource 42 to demonstrate this idea of the connections grower “thickex.”) Older students typically fill up the brain with many connections. Remind younger students to draw their neurons small (they don’: have to actually look like neurons) so that they can fit many connections in their brain. This is an interesting task to do quarterly so that they can compare their brain growth over time. “Yet” “The power of yer has become very prevalent in education recently, berween Carol Dweck's On the Power of Yet (hteps://www.youtube.com/watch’v=ZyAde4nlIm8) and Sesame Streets Power of Yer song (hreps://www-youtube.com/watch>y=X LeUyZyuvAs), I have seen that educators, parents, and coaches are embracing the importance of the word “yet.” In fact, in several middle and high school classrooms I visited, I noticed the word “yet” in big letters hanging on the classroom wall as a reminder, Resource 44 (p. 100) is a sample lesson (that was inspired by Frederick County, MDs, Advanced Academies Office) that could be used to talk with students about the power of the word “yet.” Resource 45 (p. 101) isa diagram that demon- strates how neurons and connections grow as seudents learn more—ie illustrates the amount of growth that occurs between birth and age 7. This can be used within the context ofthe Power of Yet lesson or independent of the lessonRESOURCE 37 4 ih Blank Preassessment of Si r Draw a picture of what you think your brain looks Write down or ask your teacher fo write anything that you know about your brain. "Now Fm Winds nthe Clara op. 100} by MC Res, 2013, Waco, TK: Proc Press. Copyright 2019 by Pik rss, Reprined wih permission ‘Ready to-Use Resources for Mindsetsin the Classroom © Peattock Press Inc. Permission is granted to photocopy or reproduce this page for individual use only.Mindsets in the «0 photocopy or reproduce this page for individual use only.RESOURCE 391 oe RESOURCE 40 Students Become Newrons Ask for three to five students to volunteer to be neurons. With elementary ‘and middle school students, you can have them hold a picture of a neuron or hang a cardstock neuron around their neck. What | find suc- cessful is taking one of the neuron illustrations in Resources 38 or 39, moke copies on cardstock, laminate if you can, and then cut them out with about an inch margin around them. Place a hole on any edge of the neuron and string a piece of yard or string through making o “necklace” of sorts. Students con wear these around their necks. ‘Ask the students if someone could share something new that he or she learned recently. Responses might include algebra, a foreign language, : sewing, a sport, and so on. For illustrative purposes, we will choose Dom's “#3; > response. Dom shared thot he just began learning division in math class. joss, tp ‘Announce that this group of neurons now represents part of Dom's brain." a8 Take a thin piece of thread and ask two of the student neurons to connect Ee using this thread, with each of them holding one end. This thin ® ~ connection will represent division. Explain to the students that Dom is just beginning to learn how to divide, so this is a thin new connection—it is not very strong yet. Ask Dom if there is something that he has learned and that he is getting better at but still might need some practice. In this case, let's say that Dom responds with “multiplication.” At that , two of the student neurons can connect using a thicker connection such as a piece of yarn. This represents a better understanding of multiplication than division, but it is not yet at mastery level. Then ask Dom for an example of a math skill that he has mas- tered—something that he understands so well that he could teach it to others. Dom responds with addition. Now two or three of the student neurons that represent Dom's brain will be connected by a thick piece of rope. (When possible, | like to keep the colors the same among the thread, string, and rope) Next, propose the following scenario: «a. Let's look at Dom's division connection: It is represented by a thin piece of thread, but what will happen to this connection after Dom has more experi- ence learning about and practicing division® Lets say that Dom persists ond puts forth a lot of effort and eventually becomes an expert in division. How Ready-to-Use Resources for Mindsets in the Classroom © Prafrock Press Inc. Petmission is granted to photocopy or reproduce this page for individual use only.RESOURCE 40 ~ CONTINUED will this connection change® At this point demonstrate how this thread of a connection is replaced with a strong, thick rope. b. What if, instead, Dom decides that division is just too hard for him and he gives up? What will happen to this connection? (twill remain o “not yet” connection or disconnect entirely.) c. Think about this: When Dom is on summer vacation he does not practice his division skills at all. On the first day of school he is given a preassessment to see what he remembers about math. What do you think might have hap- pened to his division connections? {They got thinner because they were not used.) They will strengthen a lot quicker since the learning is not completely new. He just has to practice. Ask students to think of a time when they felt frustrated learning something new. Ask them to visualize their neurons making stronger connections every time they push through the challenge and master new learning. Tell them to think about these neural connections when they are faced with a challenge. Remind them, “Once you build a strong connection, you have added density to your brain and actually made yourself smarter!” . Introduce the charts you will hang in the room: My Connections (Resource 41) and How Will Your Brain Grow and Learn Today (Resource 42)? You can also make copies for all ofthe students to keep on their desk, or inside their agenda book. .A suggested next step is asking students to complete My Strong and “Not Yet” Neural Connections (Resource 43) Ready-to-Use Resources for Mindsetsin the Classroom © Prafrock Press Inc. Permission is granted to photocopy or reproduce this page for individual use onlyI try, I practice, exe)Ways to Help Students Adopt Growth Mindsets connections in their brain, ‘This chare can be displayed and referred to as seudents are learning as a continuous reminder of strengthening neural connections. They also developed a visual called “How Will Your Brain Learn and Grow Today?” (see Resource 42, p. 96) This visual is another way to remind students of the different stages of neural connectivity Reflecting on Their Own Learning [Ask seudents to think about skill they have recently learned as well as chings they have known fora long time and understand fully. Using Resource 43: My Strong and “Not Yer” Neural Connections (p. 97), ask students to draw their strong and “not yet” neural connections. Ask students to think about things they understand and are very good at as well as things chat they are just learning, but “not yet” under- standing fully. The new learning will be represented by a very thin ot dotted line, the “not yet” learning should bé represented by a thicker line, and mastery learning should be represented by a very thick line between the neurons. (You may want to refer to Resource 42 to demonstrate this idea of the connections grower “thicker”) (Older students typically fill up the brain with many connections. Remind younger students to draw their neurons small (they don't have to actually look like neurons) so that they can fit many connections in their brain. This isan interesting task to do guarterly so that they can compare their brain growth over time. "Yet" ‘The power of yet has become very prevalent in education recently, between Carol Dweck's On the Power of Yer (hteps://www.youtube.com/watch’v=ZyAde4nIIm8) and Sesame Street's Power of Yet song (https://www.youtube.com/watch’v=X LeUvZvuvs), I have seen that educators, parents, and coaches are embracing the importance of the word “yet.” In fact, in several middle and high school classrooms I visited, I noticed the word “yee” in big letters hanging on the classroom wall asa reminder. Resource 44 (p, 100) is a sample lesson (that was inspired by Frederick County, MD's, Advanced Academics Office) chat could be used to talk with students about the power of the word “yet” Resource 45 (p. 101) is a diagram that demon- strates how neurons and connections grow as students learn more—ic illustrates the amount of growth that occurs between birth and age 7. This can be used within the context of the Power of Yet lesson or independent of the lesson“Ayuo asm penpearpur 3 aed sya 2onposdos 0 Adonoroyd 01 panuesl 5 uorsstuDg, sy 4 sasnosry 2) $UojJo2UUOg JEON 724 JON, Pue BUos7¢ KW) atv JDUNOSAYiAVGOL NIV4d 3181G3aD! “UDA| | NOA aio ayy ‘dn BuIAI6 ynouyim Ay NOA JapyOY YL jsmoi6 pud SUuDA| UlDIG JNA sADM JSAq a4) JO BUO SI SAD}SILU bunjow ‘ 0° 2e4xou S404M L) —__ jude] aw padjay saypysiu gAppoy Mosb pud WDA] UlDAG ANOA |IIM MOH AUD | JUN ButAyy daay |, ,,SOuly) Mau Adj O} > |, tv ADUNOSSaGrowth Mindset Sorting Activity For Younger Students: 1. Give each child a card with the words growth mindset and fixed mindset on it. . Read each statement together as a class. . Have students show whether they think the statement is a growth mindset or fixed mindset statement. After discussion, have a student put the statement under the appropriate heading. en 5 For Older Students: 1, Have students work in groups to read and sort the mindset statements. 2. Discuss which growth-mindset statements should replace fixed-mindset statements. Post a set of growth-mindset cards as a visual in the classroom. Discuss how you expect the community of learners to build their growth mindset though focused effort. Activity From: The Growth Mindset Coach by Annie Brock and Heather HundleyGrowth Mindset "tats Growth Mindset "hate Growth Mindset "tet Growth Mindset "att Growth Mindset “git Growth Mindset “aitGrowth Mindset | Growth Mindset Fixed Mindset Fixed Mindset Fixed Mindset Fixed MindsetFixed Mindset Fixed Mindset Fixed Mindset Fixed MindsetFixed-Mindset |Growth-Mindset Statement Statement Math is not my Ican grow my brain. thing. I'm not good at this. | Ineed to change my strategy. She’s/He's the smart | My hard work and kid in class. effort has paid off. Scores meanmore | I’mnot there yet. than growth.It's better to look smart than take risks. People can change. I will never be that | A good attitude is smart. important in learning. Ifeel dumb if I'm I'ma problem corrected. solver. Activity From: The Growth Mindset Coach by Annie Brock and Heather HundleyGrowing Your Brain Give each student a copy of the brain. Students create a growth-mindset brain. . Students decorate half of the brain with statements and symbols characteristic of a growth-mindset (as they understand it) anda fixed-mindset brain with statements and symbols characterics of a fixed-mindset (as they understand it). Students share their growth-mindset brains. exer 4, Activity From: The Growth Mindset Coach by Annie Brock and Heather HundleyFamous Mistakes 1, Ask the students: “What do a microwave, potato chips, and Play-Doh have in common?” (Allow time for student to come up with responses) Answer: All three products were created by mistake. In the case of Play-Doh, the doughy material made by Kutol Products was originally used to wipe soot off walls in the days when homes ran on coal stoves. Eventually people stopped using coal as a home heating source, and the company was going out of business until the owner found out that his sister, who was teacher, was using it as a sort of modeling clay in her classroom. By the next year, Kutol Products turned into Rainbow Crafts and has been marketing Play-Doh as a children’s toy ever since. 2. Explain to students that sometimes in the course of our schoolwork we get a wrong answer or stumble upon a different strategy, or way of doing something, and these moments can be great learning opportunities. 3, Students will use the Internet to research some familiar items that came about unintentionally or by mistake. Assign a topic (or have the choose one of their own), research it, and fill out the mistake survey. After that, students create a poster about the invention to show others the value of mistakes. ‘THE GREAT MISTAKE LIST Potato Chips Post-Its Super Glue Microwave Silly Putty Post-Its X-ray Images Penicillin Ice Cream Cones Plastic Liquid Paper Chocolate Chip Cookies Teflon Slinky Velcro Saccharin Popsicles Frisbee Research Questions: 1, How was the product created by mistake? 2. How do we use this product today? 3. How did learning about this mistake make you think differently about mistakes and challenges you face? Activity From: The Growth Mindset Coach by Annie Brock and Heather HundleyTeacher Feedback Stems ‘Activity From: The Growth Mindset Coach by Annie Brock and Heather Hundley Using feedback stems is a simple way to ensure that you're providing useful process-oriented feedback on student work. Make copies of the feedback stem, cut them into strips, finish the stem by writing specific process feedback and attach to students work. Inoticed how... Look at how much progress you've made on... Isee a difference in this work compared with... ladmire how hard you have worked on... Ican see you really enjoyed learning... Would it make a difference if you... Have you considered trying a different strategy to... You're on the right track here, and might consider...Mindset Quiz Place a check in the column that identifies the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree T. Your intelligence is something very basic about you that you can’t change very much. 2. No matter how much intelligence you have, you ccan always change it quite a bit. 3. You can always substantially change how intelligent you are. 4. You are a certain kind of person, and there is not much that can be done to really change that. 5. You can always change basic things about the kind of person you are. 6. Music talent can be learned by anyone. 7. Only a few people will be truly good at sports — you have to be “born with it.” 8, Math is much easier to learn if you are male or maybe come from a culture who values math. 9. The harder you work at something, the better you will be at it. 10. No matter what kind of person you are, you can always change substantially. 11. Trying new things is stressful for me and I avoid it, 12, Some people are good and kind, and some are not ~ it’s not often that people change. 13. Tappreciate when parents, coaches, teachers give me feedback about my performance. 14, Toften get angry when I get feedback about my performance. 15. All human beings without a brain injury or birth defect are capable of the same amount of learning, 16. You can learn new things, but you can’t really change how intelligent you are, 17. You can do things differently, but the important parts of who you are can’t really be changed. 18. Human beings are basically good, but sometimes make terrible decisions. 19. An important reason why Ido my school work | is that [like to learn new things. 20. Truly smart people do not need to try hard.Circle the number in the box that matches each answer. Sew | ve. [oo [Say T. ability mindset — fixed 0 1 2 3 2. ability mindset ~ growth 3 2 1 0 3. ability mindset — growth 3 2 1 0 ‘4. personality/character mindset — fixed 0 1 2 3 5. personality/character mindset — growth 7 7 1 0 6. ability mindset — growth 7 a 7 0 7. ability mindset — fixed 0 1 2 | 3 8. ability mindset ~ fixed 0 1 7 3 9. ability mindset — growth 5 2 7 0 10. personality/character mindset - growth 3 2 1 0 LI. ability mindset — fixed 0 1 2 3 12. personality/character mindset xed 0 1 3 5 13. ability mindset —growth 5 > 1 0 14. ability mindset — fixed 0 1 > 3 TS. ability mindset — growth 3 2 1 0 16. ability mindset — fixed 0 1 2 3 17. personality/character mindset — fixed 0 1 2 3 18. personality/character mindset growth 7 2 1 0 19. ability mindset — growth 3 2 1 0 20. ability mindset — fixed Total Grand TotalStrong Growth Mindset = 45-60 points Growth Mindset with some Fixed ideas= 34 —44 points Fixed Mindset with some Growth ideas = 21 —33 points Strong Fixed Mindset = 0-20 points Adapted from: /hwww.classroom20.com/forumvio,