Growth mindset Vs. fix mindset is what we are talking about today! Fixed mindset is believing that one is born a certain way and there is no room for growth or improvement. Growth mindset is embracing challenges and overcoming obstacles with the power of “I can” and willingness to persevere. Of course as educators you want your students to have the motivation to persevere through challenges they come across in and outside the classroom. Growth Mindset is a skill that can be taught and practiced. It is a skill that students will need to be successful as adults.
There are so many activities out there to help instill a growth mindset in your students. When you search growth mindset activities you will have pages of plenty to choose from. Here are a few activities that I like to use in my own classroom. These are activities that should be continuously used throughout the school year. Growth mindset is not learned in one sitting. It is a skill that has to be consistently practiced to be accomplished.
Days of the Week Themed Growth Mindset Activities
Growth mindset is a habit, not a one and done deal. Having a consistent plan to implement skill building tasks will help to develop a growth mindset in students. I know in my daily lessons I will have moments when we have 5-10 minutes left in class after instruction when we can complete a quick growth mindset task. Having a daily theme task for students to complete will help to consistently implement a growth mindset.
Read more here in my post “Growth Mindset Each Day of the Week” for ideas of quick 5-10 minute ways to get students thinking positively.
What Mindset are You? Questionnaire
Students can find out if they have a fixed or growth mindset just by answering a few questions. There are several questionnaires you can find by searching fixed vs. growth mindset. The London Academy of IT website has an interactive 8 questions test that also has videos explaining the power of growth mindset in the brain.
I like to have the students take the questionnaire then have a discussion about their results. This may be the first time students are hearing the terms “Fixed vs. Growth Mindset”. It helps to give the students guidance as to what their questionnaire results are and what they mean. Allowing the students to reflect on their own level and making plans to improve their thoughts to a more positive mindset.
Celebrity Failures
Teach a growth mindset with examples of famous failures. You could create a station and read articles about different leaders or celebrities that have overcome failure to be the success they are now. TeachersPayTeachers.com have some great activities for you to use HERE. There are several videos online that are useful as well. HERE is a video from Motivating Success “Famous Failures”. This video provides stories of iconic people and hopefully every student can identify with one featured person. Seeing celebrities have to overcome failure before they become successful will hopefully provide motivation for your students. Have a discussion on how failure is only a stepping stone to success. There is no success without trial and error, also know as failure. Mistakes are proof you are learning.
Listen to songs with a positive message
Students love music. While students are working you could play music with growth mindset messages. Here is a list of “80 Songs to help grow children’s mindsets”. Songs can inspire a growth mindset in students. They can set the mood of the classroom. Songs with uplifting and encouraging lyrics can lift students’ moods and increase their motivation and productivity.
Videos that help Explaining Growth Mindset
Many students will be visual learners. Reading about growth mindset will not register with these students as much as a video would. Try these YouTube videos explaining growth vs. fixed mindset. G.E.A.R. Up 2 Lead has some great movie clips for growth mindset HERE, check it out.
Create a Vision Board
Creating goals and plans to accomplish those goals will help students see their path to success. Sometimes all they need is a “road map” to clear their way to their goals. Create a vision board that has the students develop a growth mindset. You will need poster boards, or a sheet of paper. Magazines are good to cut out images the students want to add to their board. If they can't find images in the magazines they can draw their own picture. The students will need scissors and glue to add images to their boards. Have students search up different layouts of vision boards for inspiration to get started.
Here are some questions that you can ask your students to help them complete the vision boards.
What are your goals?
What are things you are dreaming of?
Where are places you want to go?
What makes you feel happy?
What are things that inspire you?
What are some things you want to try to do?
Who are people you love?
What are your most favorite things?
What part of your life do you look forward to the most?
What topic do you love to learn about?
If you had a special skill to help others, what would that skill be?
Having students create vision boards allows them to focus on what is important to them individually. What goals do they want to achieve, in school and outside of school? The board allows them to consider the “what ifs” of life, the possibilities. Allowing students to focus on the creation of new circumstances in their life, instead of getting stuck in the routines of life. The boards will help develop a “road map” that the students can create plans to achieve their goals.
Read Growth Mindset Books
For reading classes include some growth mindset books into the curriculum. Big Life Journal has “Top 85 Growth Mindset Books” list for you that is broken down by age. Have students focus on how the book represents a growth mindset. Have them figure out how the main character overcame an obstacle and what actions they had to take to overcome it. Additionally it is always a great idea to have the students connect the reading to their own life prospectives.
Dirty Snowball Games
Write mistakes made on paper and then crumple up the paper. Then the kids get to hurl it across the room.Just like a snowball fight. Students will then pick up someone else's mistakes and write on the paper something positive that can come from that mistake. Allow students to share their positive ideas to help fix the mistake or how that mistake would benefit that person. Finally, have students throw all mistake snow balls away. This act will symbolize that mistakes happen but we can put them in the past (trash) and move forward.
Do Mindfulness Yoga
Before researching for this blog I had no idea that “Grow-ga” was a thing. Grow-ga is yoga poses, but attaching growth mindset statements to each movement. I love the idea of connecting movement to the brain.
Students would stand in a yoga pose and then say phrases to help promote positive images of themselves.
Examples of positive phrases if you need them are:
I am hard-working
I am creative
I am strong
I am focused
I am curious
I am smart
There is research that shows movement with brain thoughts will help make new connections in the brain making it easier for the brain to access those thoughts later. How great would it be to help students make faster, easier connections to the thoughts of “I am focused”! I am not sure how well my middle school students will do with yoga. However, it is worth the try to help students feel positive about themselves.
Self-awareness to Self-improvement
A strong sense of self helps to guide one to self-improvement is a strong skill to have when developing a growth mindset. Getting students to be self-aware can be difficult. If you need help, have students answer questions to help them become more self aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Identify areas that the students would like to see improvement in themselves. This will only work if students are honest with their answers so they can reflect and improve.
Students should set SMART goals. These are goals that are S:Specific, M: Measurable, A: Achievable, R:Relevant, and T: Time-bound. Help students focus on one specific goal at a time. It can be overwhelming to try and change too much at once. Check in with the students daily or weekly to focus on their goals and if they are making progress.
Having students make a goal is easy. Getting students to measure their progress and continue effort towards the goal is the hard part. Students can review their progress and decide if they need to make adjustments to their goals. They need to remember that this is their plan to achieve their goal. It is just a plan, it is not carved in stone. They get to change it when they want. If it’s not working, fix it!
Celebrate even the smallest progress that students are making. Even if they feel like it was not a big deal. Remind them that effort was made and that needs to be acknowledged. Let them ask questions and seek out feedback from you or others to help them on their journey. Patience is key to completing even the smallest of goals. Progress is progress no matter how slow!! This is something I often have to remind myself of.
BONUS!!! Have an Accomplishment Jar
Have students submit answers to the questions “What do I feel that I accomplished this week? How does it make me feel, and why?”. You could have students write these on a slip of paper or provide a digital platform for them. I have found that when doing “feelings” with students, they do better when they are not called out in person in front of their peers. Making this as an anonymous activity will help students feel safer to answer honestly. Celebrate the victories they have, no matter how small they may seem.
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