6th grade students use a growth mindset to solve a challenge
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Teacher and student growth mindset statements - side by side |
As a staff we know that having a growth mindset about our students is critical to their success. We also know that to live the growth mindset ideology, we must have the same beliefs about ourselves and our colleagues. If we were to have a fixed mindset about students that would result in treating students who struggle like they will always struggle. We must remember that if we treat students like they will succeed, they will. A fixed mindset is not helpful in teaching. If students have a fixed mindset about themselves we must remember that it might actually be due to the messages that we send them.
Knowing this, and after collecting some of our own data, we worked with Dweck and Hattie's ideas in our most recent staff meeting. Teachers came to common understanding about what it means to have a growth mindset, why it is important, and then they were asked to put those ideas into practice. They demonstrated the qualities and the effect of a
growth mindset to complete a collaborative challenge and all were successful.
They then discussed taking a big idea and breaking it down into an actionable step that they could implement immediately in their classrooms. These steps will be used to coach students to try different approaches to working and learning so that they are thinking more deeply. Staff also discussed doing the same for themselves and reflected on how that might help them to adjust instruction. Specific strategies were then shared.
During one of my classroom visits the next day, I was delighted to find one of our teachers taking his students through the same activity. I was able to see first hand the direct application of staff to student learning.
I see evidence of our growth mindset approach every day at BCEMS. Our teachers have a growth mindset about themselves, our students and each other. The beliefs we all hold have a dramatic impact on student achievement. What a fantastic community BCEMS is to learn in!