The words “Growth Mindset” , “Beautiful Oops” and “Yet!” are commonplace in our second grade classroom.  These came about from our exploration of the work of Carol Dweck, a world-renowned Stanford University psychologist. Dweck took decades of research on achievement and success and developed the mindset theory.  There are two different mindsets according to Dweck:

​Fixed Mindset: This is the belief that intelligence and talent are fixed traits and talent alone creates success.  In other words, you either have it or you don’t.

Growth Mindset:  This is the belief that intelligence can be grown and that abilities can be developed through hard work and dedication.  Perseverance, grit and determination all play a role in growth mindset.

At PNA, students practice a growth mindset.  They are engaged in challenges and opportunities for growth every day.  Teachers support and lead them in developing a courageous and reflective way of thinking to not only come back from mistakes, but to not be afraid to make them in the first place.  One way of doing this is to provide students with the language they need to “train their brain” and strengthen their growth mindset.  Here are some of the books that we have discussed that give us this common language and motivation.

The second graders have tackled some different challenges these past few weeks in order to practice their growth mindsets.  Some of the challenges were easy and the students succeeded right away.  Others required a bit more grit and perseverance in order for students to accomplish their goals.

Students practiced giving and receiving feedback over a series of multiple drafts while using their “scientist’s eye” to sketch a butterfly and what they saw in their “one small square”.  Hearing and taking into consideration the feedback of others is an important skill that is hard to do sometimes.  Learning how to give positive yet constructive feedback is also a difficult but important skill the students are developing.

After reading the “Beautiful Oops” book, students were challenged with taking an “oops” and turning it into something beautiful.  They had to think in varied ways to turn torn, stained, scribbled on paper into an artwork for our class quilt.  They also took on a partner paper chain challenge in which they were given one piece of paper and a length of tape and challenged to create the longest paper chain they could.

The most exciting growth mindset activity was the test drop for their egg contraptions.  Students worked hard thinking up and creating their designs.  They did a great job encouraging each other and coming up with different solutions to challenges they encountered.  The excitement and nerves were

​The best part about seeing students tackle challenges is not necessarily their successful outcomes but hearing the students not only speaking to and encouraging themselves but how they began to encourage and help each other.The seeds of growth mindset in our second grade classroom have been planted and I can’t wait to watch these kids bloom in their abilities this year!

For more information on the idea of growth mindset, please see these resources.
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This article talks about the brain science behind growth mindsets.  https://www.mindsetworks.com/websitemedia/youcangrowyourintelligence.pdfThis site contains several short and kid-friendly videos that discuss growth mindsets and how you can train your brain.
https://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/growth-mindset-videos/

Carol Dweck’s Mindset book is another great source of information on this topic.