Growth Mindset

To begin the year we have been talking about the difference between a fixed and growth mindset.

Mindsets are beliefs about yourself and your most basic qualities. Think about your intelligence, your talents, your personality. Are these qualities simply fixed traits, carved in stone and that’s that? Or are they things you can grow throughout your life?

We started by writing down something we feel we can not do, or are not good at.

We then looked at the two different mindsets.

Fixed Mindset

Refers to the belief that our basic qualities (intellegience and skills) are fixed traits which can not be changed. The way the students feel about their comment is a fixed mindset approach. People with a fixed mindset believe they are born with whatever smarts or talents they have and if your not good at something naturally you can’t develop it much.

Growth Mindset

People with a growth mindset, see their qualities as things that can be developed through their dedication and effort. They’re happy if they’re brainy or talented, but that’s just the starting point. They understand that no one has ever accomplished great things without years of passionate practice and learning.

We then brainstormed some words people might use and say to themselves if they have a fixed mindset. These sayings are often negative and make us feel sad and sometimes even angry.

Mrs. Baldwin explained that it is ok to make mistakes and they are important to make because that shows we are learning and challenging ourselves. The key is we need to be persistent and patient and never give up. This is the only way our brain will continue to grow and allow us to the best possible versions of ourselves.

 

Next we got our phrases we wrote and ripped them up because when we have a growth mindset we will achieve whatever it is that we write down, we just need to keep trying and be persistent!


We have been watching a series of videos on the Class Dojo site that have explained to us about growth mindset. Check the first episode out here!

Finally we worked with Ms Abela’s year 4 class to answer the following questions

What is Growth Mindset?

Why is Growth Mindset important in our classroom?

We all had to write our own answers first and then join in a group of 4 to create one answer combining all our ideas. We also created some posters to place around the room.


Below are some examples of some famous people who have had failures in life, but had a growth mindset to persist and succeed. Check out some below

Imagine a world without Harry Potter, Dr Seuss or even the taste of KFC chicken!

Why do you think it is important to have a growth mindset?

What words or phrases can you say to yourself when you are stuck or make a mistake?

Can you give an example when you have made a mistake and never gave up until you succeeded? How did you feel?

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