We do emphasize the growth mindset. For example, we emphasize persistence, changing “I can’t do it” to “You don’t understand it …yet.”
In the problem-solving unit, talk about approaching problems in different and creative ways. Model making mistakes and model correcting errors constructively. Talk about the fact that programs and apps are revised. Talk about the design cycle. Every version has a step for revision/improvement.
Hi,
I am a special education teacher and I am always implementing the growth mindset. I teach all inclusion courses and sometimes students with disabilities feel overwhelmed in an inclusion setting. I also have students who have reported feeling inferior to others because they don’t believe they are smart enough to be in a general education setting. Many of my students are grade levels behind in math and reading skills, but it is my job to implement a growth mindset whenever I am working with my students. Building that motivation and helping students learn that they can get smarter or they the can work hard to succeed is very rewarding.
I try to get the learners to see what they are doing from a global perspective as a 21st century learner
I try to implement growth mindset by having the students complte a critical thinking component
I find that some students become anxious by challenges that appear to be out of their ability level while others tackle it head on. Arming students with the step-by-step processes, demonstrations, challenging practice activities, resources, troubleshooting tools are all key to teaching students to use resources and past experiences to apply effective techniques for developing viable solutions to challenges. While I encourage peer teaching/learning, I also encourage independent thinking and use of the insurmountable resources readily available to them. I believe I am a living, breathing example of the growth mindset as I willing build my curriculum based on the learning styles and needs of my students. My students and I often talk about this, deciding as a team what would we can do to take the lessons to the next level.
Growth mindset is used in all of my lessons. It is the way I approach my teaching and the way I have the kids respond. During this unit, when students came to me with problems I would remind them to use positive phrases when dealing with challenges.
The curriculum allows for growth mindset because of how it is setup for students to create, discover, and research for their own individual answer. Supporting growth mindset during the problem solving process can be as simple as focusing more on the process than the actual outcome.
I implement a growth mindset by introducing the topic in the first week of school. We discuss being openminded and word choice and being ok with failure and looking at it as a growth opportunity.
I implement growth mindset by consistently encouraging students to do their best. This does not mean you have to make an A or B but just do your best and continue to be good thinkers.
Everyday i tell my students how smart or intelligent they are. All answer to questions are celebrated whether they were right or wrong. All failed test can turn into a passing test if they are wiling to explain what the correct answer is.
I promoted a growth mindset during each of the algorithm activities- handshke, fence, tower, etc. Students were forced to think for themselves and collaborate to share ideas in order to problem solve.
One way I try to institute growth mindset is by reminding my students of the things they have already accomplished on their own. I also break down large goals that may seem overwhelming into smaller steps that they see as attainable and will help them stay motivated to push through and grow as students.
I sneak the growth mindset into my classes with puzzles they answer for 1 pt extra credit. I use Rebus puzzles that challenge the students to take in all clues from the puzzle (how it is written, where it appears in the box, the colors, the direction it is written in, etc) and determine the word or phrase that it represents. At first many of the students weren’t interested, but the more I’ve done them the more students have become interested in solving them, to the point that now if I pop one up on the screen everyone stops to figure it out. If they can’t figure it out I don’t give the answers, I just tell them to think on it. Many times, someone will come to me later in the day and give the answer. I relate this to there problem solving in programming in that issues with a program have “clues” as to what is happening and why and that they just need to follow the clues to determine the solution.
I spend a good deal of time explaining that the brain works by producing and sending chemicals (neurotransmitters) through the synapses between neurons. Working through hard problems stimulates the production of these chemicals and grooves pathways between neurons. The more chemically-grooved pathways you grow between neurons, the more options your brain has for finding a “path” to solving a problem. If problems are easy or rote, the brain doesn’t bother producing more chemicals, so you need hard problems for the brain to grow dendrites.
I make a point of praising students when they are feeling the “pain” of mental struggle. I play the role of personal trainer, encouraging them to “feel the burn”. A muscle gets stronger by repairing it itself after you “damage” it (in a controlled way) through exercise that is not comfortable. In a similar way, you should not be “comfortable” in your learning. The brain pays no attention to tasks that are comfortable and it doesn’t bother to record anything about the task. However when you struggle with a task your brain sends out lots of neurotransmitters, making connections to stored prior knowledge to try to find a solution. When you finally solve the problem, with as much autonomy as possible, your brain rewards you with pleasure chemicals that produce a brief “high”. This is the “aha” moment that always feels so good when you solve a hard problem. I tell them I don’t want to rob them of that “aha” moment by helping them too much. I answer questions with clarifying questions, but I’m not there to provide answers.
As I said above, I praise them when they are struggling because they are challenging themselves and telling their brain that it is up to the challenge. Students don’t need praise when they solve a problem because their brain is already rewarding them with that wonderful “aha” feeling.
I also encourage them to mentally step away from a problem when they feel like they’ve hit a wall. If they have truly given all their effort then they have sent the message to their brain that this is an important problem and their brain will continue to work on it on it’s own. We have all experienced this when trying to remember something you once knew well, such as a name (e.g. “what was the name of my 2nd grade teacher???”) You wrack your brain (the burn) but can’t think of it. Then hours, sometimes days later, it pops into your head because your brain continued to work on it and delivered it to you even though you were engaged in many non-related activities. I remind students to take advantage of this amazing ability their brains have.
To encourage growth mindset, I remind students often that computer science is about problem solving - and that there is a process to this that everyone can achieve.
Most of my students have had a bad learning experience somewhere in their lifetime that has convinced them that they are not smart and never will be smart. They have convinced themselves that education is not important to them. Now that they are incarcerated and have to go to school everyday, I try to give them a positive educational experience. I praise their work whenever I can and try to get them to see their own growth. When I ask them to look back at when they were struggling with this chapter or this concept, they can see how much they have grown. I love to hear a student who struggled with Algebra tell a newer student, “Oh yeah, Algebra isn’t that hard.”
I love the videos with this lesson. I will incorporate them in my classroom. Most of the students that I see have done a lot of drugs that have damaged their brains. Learning that they can rebuild those pathways gives them hope.
I really like the concept of a growth mindset as it reduces the performance pressures in the classroom. I encourage students to share alternate methods for doing things am willing to admit my mistakes and learn from them.
I practice growth mindset in the classroom, by recognizing small victories. Some students struggle with obtaining larger task, but understand many of the smaller challenges.
Teaching code provides opportunities to challenge our students. My strategy is to teach a unit that usually includes a set of commands previously studied and new commands. After a direct instruction session, I give an assignment in which students will apply their knowledge and understanding. The debugging process keeps students engaged and helps in developing a logical reasoning process.
I try not to simply give an answer to a student but rather re-direct the question back at them with a, “well, what do you think, how would you begin to tackle that problem, etc.”. Ask open ended questions that allows them to have some input that begins to deepen their involvement with the subject. Walk them partially down the path and let them see that they have some knowledge but may not yet fully understand. Put them with groups furthers their knowledge with possibly a different perspective…