Teaching a Growth Mindset
One of the most common problems I find when teaching is lack of resiliency, or a “growth mindset.” Sometimes this is apparent when students are completing work, such as falling prey to distraction from peers, complaining the work is too hard, or obsessing over fine details.
We can debate the causes all day long. From possible side effects of COVID online-teaching, ADHD/ADD, coddling from parents, everyone has a different opinion about why many students are struggling with resiliency. Nevertheless, it is an issue for teachers that must be addressed.
I believe that we need to pause before we give in with immediate accommodations or even lessening the work load altogether. First we must address building a growth mindset to help students help themselves when faced with a challenge.
Growth mindset was first defined by psychologist Carol Dweck in the 1970s. Dweck coined the term, along with its opposite, fixed mindset. She researched characteristics of accomplished people and found that people who believed they had the capacity to learn and grow were more likely to succeed.
I believe this is especially true for students. If students start to show verbal negativity or resistance to trying new things, it may be that they are afraid to fail. It shows up in student self-talk (i.e. "I can do it" versus "I'll never get it" or "Let's try" versus "It'll never work").
As teachers and parents, we must promote the idea that through hard work they can achieve. We must model a growth mindset through our words and actions. Teachers can intentionally separate students from their mistakes when discussing concepts, and parents can share their own experiences of failure and learning.
I introduced the topic occasionally during our Morning Meetings. I let kids talk about a time when they made a mistake. I made sure to write down some of these "learning mistakes" on a poster. It was so sweet to see kids later referring to the poster to cheer up their friends when they made a mistake.
Over the years, many parents have asked me for my favorite kid’s books to help kids build their growth mindset. Here are a few of my favorites:
The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein was the favorite in my class last year. My students regularly brought up this book when we talked about making mistakes. The story is silly. She is a "famous" young girl who everyone knows can do things perfectly until one day she does make a mistake. I won't ruin the ending, but suffice to say it's pretty cute.
The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires is one of my personal favorites. I've read it numerous times before class projects. It's an abstract story about a girl who wants to make something magnificent, but struggles. The "thing" isn't defined, but the message is clear, creating something takes determination.
Why Can't I Fly?
by Rita Golden Gelman and Jack Kent is an oldie but a goodie. I had a set of these books in a guided reading batch that another teacher gifted me. It's a great one for teaching reading because it contains plenty of sight words and rhyming words. It's a fun story about a monkey who wants to fly. Her animal friends help her by sharing tips, but nothing seems to work. In the end, they help her in a fun way.
The Magical Yet by Angela DiTerlizzi (Author) and Lorena Alvarez Gómez (Illustrator) is another abstract storybook. It's beautifully illustrated to represent the imagination.
The Berenstain Bears and the Truth by Stan and Jan Berenstain. Although a bit old, my students loved the Berenstain Bears. We sometimes watched episodes of the TV show when we had special treat days. I love the fact that these stories resonate with kids. They can relate to the situations brother and sister get stuck in. This book led to many discussions about making behavior mistakes we learned from. While reading a book like this, I love asking the kids, "What advice would you give brother and sister?" They have some amazing answers.
What Do You Do With an Idea? by Kobi Yamada (Author) and Mae Besom (Illustrator) is a great one.
It is illustrated quite simply and the story is a bit abstract. The idea is characterized as a sort of animal that grows bigger. I like reading this before introducing a STEM project, even if we've read it before.
Ricky, the Rock That Couldn't Roll (You Rock Group)
by Mr. Jay (Author) and Erin Wozniak (Illustrator) is such a sweet story. The characters are rocks who like to roll down a hill. One of their friends can't roll because he is flat on one side, but eventually he does. It's a celebration of small achievements.
After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again) by Dan Santat is a fun book. It's from the fairy tale about Humpty Dumpty. It's about what happens after Humpty falls and gets put back together. He must rebuild his confidence to get up on the wall again.
Building a growth mindset is a process. Students need the right activities, feedback, and encouragement over time to build a growth mindset. A storybook is only one piece of the puzzle, but it can help you launch the discussion.
