Practicing Growth Mindset in the Classroom: 3 Practices to Include in Your Classroom

Practicing Growth Mindset in the Classroom: Learning from my Teacher Mistakes

This is the second blog post in a series of posts about creating and establish a growth mindset in the classroom. Read the first post about creating a growth mindset here. In this post, you’ll read about three critical features for creating a growth mindset in the classroom.

I’ll admit it. I’ve made mistakes as an educator. Some of the biggest mistakes I’ve made include being too stubborn and too strict. Neither of these helped me practice a growth mindset in my classroom.

As a new teacher, I was pretty stubborn. I did not accept late work. I did not allow test retakes. I did not provide students a needed opportunity to learn from their mistakes. Instead, I forced their mistakes to be their end result. I wasn’t helping anyone.

Luckily, this did not last long. As I gained more experience as an educator, I naturally adopted more of a growth mindset before I even knew it was a “thing” in education. The end result was magical. Students tried harder, learned more, and strived to make me see their own successes.

Here are three ways to practice growth mindset in the classroom

1. Practicing Growth Mindset in the Classroom: Test Retakes 

Allow students to retake tests. Sometimes it takes receiving a bad grade on a test ignite a fire in a student. As educators, we shouldn’t stifle that passion to learn and grow. Instead, we should provide an opportunity for it to burn brightly. This means allowing students the opportunity to retake a test and learn from their previous failures and mistakes.

There are quite a few different ways to tackle test retakes. From giving the same same test twice and accepting the highest grade to having a revision assignment, there is a solution for everyone.

To help prevent students from not even trying on the test, I like to have students do test revisions for up to a certain grade. Students must write out the question, the answer they selected, explain why it is wrong, select the correct answer, and then explain why it is correct.

2. Practicing Growth Mindset in the Classroom: Late Work

Accept late work, but find out why it is late. Fear of failure is a great deterrent. When fear of failure is combined with an already shaky teenage confidence, it can result in a student completing his or her work. Sometimes a student might need a little more re-teaching so that they have the confidence and knowledge needed to complete and turn in an assignment. Accept student late work, but figure out why it is late.

In my classroom, I accept late work for full credit up to a certain point. For me, that is one week after the close of the unit.

3. Practicing Growth Mindset in the Classroom: Self-Assessments 

Conduct regular self-assessments and reflections. Periodically, go back and have students reflect on their learning, assignments, or tests. Reflecting on their effort, struggles, and achievement will really help students focus on maintaining a growth mindset.

Growth Mindset in the Classroom: Classroom Resource

Growth Mindset for the classroom. A resource packet for secondary ELA , middle school, and high school.
Growth Mindset Activities and Resources for the Secondary Class

Create and embrace a growth mindset in your secondary classroom with these engaging classroom resources and activities. These growth mindset activities were created especially for middle school and high school students, and they can be used all year long to reinforce a growth mindset in the classroom.

Introduce your students to a growth mindset with the growth mindset student survey and reflection activity. From there, have your students complete an assortment of the included growth mindset activities. Throughout the school year, use the growth mindset resources like the assignment reflections and exit tickets to reinforce a growth mindset.

Here’s what you’ll receive:

  • Growth Mindset Survey
  • Growth Mindset Vocabulary
  • Growth Mindset Individual and Group Activities
  • Growth Mindset Exit Tickets
  • Growth Mindset Classroom Resources
  • Growth Mindset Bulletin Board Activities
  • Growth Mindset Reflection Activities
  • and more!

More Growth Mindset Resources to Incorporate in Your Classroom

Practicing Growth Mindset in the Classroom. Here is a look at some of the mistakes I made as a new teacher and how I grew to be a better teacher and include growth mindset in my classroom. #growthmindset #secondaryELA #classroom #englishteacher #teachinggrowthmindset

 

Christina

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Email

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

SUBSCRIBE NOW