Teaching Students to have a Growth Mindset

Ever since I read the book Mindset by Carol Dweck a few years ago, the whole idea of a growth mindset has really stuck with me.  I highly recommend reading it if you haven't yet!  After reading the book, I've tried to make little changes in the way I praise and talk to my students.  For example, instead of saying, "You're great at ___!," I try to highlight effort and hard work.  Instead of talking about strengths, I try to talk about how persevering and effort is what leads to success and learning.  But until this year, I hadn't explicitly taught this kind of thing to my students.

I absolutely love using Quantum Learning in my classroom, and this year I decided to introduce my students to the Eight Keys of Excellence.  One of my favorite keys is Failure Leads to Success, and I decided that this key was the perfect way to finally teach my students about a growth mindset.  We started by watching this amazing video from Kahn Academy about how we are all born to learn:

Then, our class had a conversation about how this video connected to the Failure Leads to Success key.  The video shows a baby learning to walk, and we talked about what would happen if every time a baby fell, he or she decided to give up.  We talked about all of the times we've said, "I'm not good at ____," or "I can't ___," or "___ just isn't my thing."  Then, we made this anchor chart to help us re-frame our thinking and create a "Failure Leads to Success Mindset."

Last, we read one of my all-time favorite picture books, Salt in his Shoes.  I had the kids listen for times that Michael Jordan showed a "Failure Leads to Success Mindset" in the story, and to give me a thumbs up when they heard an example.  All in all, it went great.  I loved explicitly teaching my kids how to re-frame their thinking and inner conversations, and I have already loved referring back to the lesson with my kids when they start to get frustrated and give up.  My students even remind me that "failure leads to success" when I make a mistake during teaching!  Awesome. :)

Current Classroom Management Win: SLANT

My giveaway for the Haiku Sprint Duffle ends tomorrow--what are you waiting for??  Go enter--it's as easy as leaving a comment.

I love being part of my school's PBIS universal/tier 1 team.  Developing school-wide behavior goals, implementing action plans, and planning celebrations for when we meet those goals is something I really enjoy doing.  Back in March, we tried a new goal that was hands-down my favorite to date.  One thing that several of us on the PBIS team had noticed we were struggling with was attention and eye contact during instruction.  Ever since hearing about it during my Quantum Learning training a few years ago, I've practiced SLANT with my kids:

S: Sit Up

L: Lean Forward

A: Ask Questions

N: Nod your Head

T: Track the Speaker

Every fall, I teach my kids what it means to "SLANT" during instruction and turn and talks.  We practice nodding (appropriately...), sitting so that our body sends a message to the speaker that we are listening, and holding eye contact with the speaker.  When we're learning the skill, I will walk around the whole room talking, encouraging the kids to turn in their chair and follow me with their eyes.  This is my favorite element of SLANT--while I know that eye contact expectations differ across cultures, I let the kids know that in our classroom, eyes on the speaker sends the message that we are engaged, listening, and interested.  

Anyways, back to our PBIS team.  After talking about our attention struggles, we decided to set SLANT as our school-wide goal for March.  Every day for three weeks, classrooms worked to earn a letter to spell the word SLANT, with the end goal being to earn enough letters to participate in our school community celebration.  I loved this goal SO MUCH!  We were already practicing SLANT, but this goal lit a fire under my kids to send the speaker--whether it's me or a student--that they are ready to listen and learn.  Loved the difference I saw in my class, especially during the "Spring Slump" that happens so often in classrooms come March!

What are some of your slam dunk management strategies this year?

Being my Best Self

Or, "Why nobody likes a tired, stressed, crabby teacher"

I am EXHAUSTED tonight.  And, for the second night in a row, I'm skipping my workout.  But I'm okay with that.  Yesterday I just wasn't up to it after a rotten day at school (the only cure for which was Mad Men and falling asleep on the couch at 8:30...), and today I think I just need a mental health night after another long (but thankfully not rotten) day.  Oh, and my IT band is HELLA TIGHT again--sweet.  Sometimes I think skipping a run makes it tighter, but I'm hoping a night of foam rolling and icing will help!

It seems like I have a consistent trend of having just plain sucky Mondays at school.  Yesterday was one of those, "And WHY am I a teacher again??" kind of days...the kind of day when I pause and think, "Is there any possible way that I can keep doing this job for the next 30 years?"  Thankfully I don't have those days very often anymore.  You guys, I love teaching.  I love my students.  But the pressure is ridiculous.  I feel more this year than I ever have before that if my kids don't make their projected growth targets, it will be 100% my fault.  It's just a lot to handle sometimes.  Add a nutty group of kids on top of that pressure and it's easy to lose sight of what really matters (and lose my patience...).  I should probably have taken a deep breath and read this sign that I have hanging by my desk a few times...

Adapted from Quantum Learning

Today was MUCH better.  Before the bell rang I committed to giving the day ENERGY.  I forced myself to let go of the stress and worries and frustrations and gave it all I had.  The difference in my kids in comparison to the day before was ridiculous--in an awesome way.  See, when things are breaking down in the classroom it's easy to blame it on those crazy kids, but some times it helps so much to look at your own actions and think, "What can I be doing differently?"  The thing is, when I let the stress GET TO ME, I forget to enjoy teaching.  When I don't enjoy teaching, my kiddos don't enjoy learning.  And of course when my kiddos aren't enjoying learning, they check out.  Give up.  Quit.  And inevitably find one million and one ways to derail my lesson.  This is no good for anyone.

source

Maybe I need this sign hanging by my desk too!

But when I bring energy to my teaching?  It's amazing what they can get excited about.  A few of the kiddos were even talking about how interesting our nonfiction guided reading books about women's suffrage were.  *love*  Really, there's no question that it's worth it.  So, here it is:

Consider this my personal commitment to being my best self every day at school until break (and beyond...).  My students deserve it.  They are worth it.  That means that no matter how stressed and tired I am, I WILL be bringing a high level of energy to every single lesson--even the boring ones on fractions. :)  WHO'S WITH ME??

After a successful day teaching, at 3:00 I found myself staring at....A PROJECT.  I don't know about you, but I'll be in the middle of a task that actually needs to be completed when suddenly I have an overwhelming urge to clean out my closet, rearrange my furniture, or alphabetize my files...(go ahead and mock.  I embraced this psycho part of my personality LONG ago!)  This happens CONSTANTLY in my classroom!  I've reorganized my cabinets and rearranged the furniture more times in the past 3 years than some teachers do in their whole careers.  (Usually when I have stacks of grading or lessons to plan!)  Anyways, I digress.  Last year I shared the simple system I used to keep desk clutter at a minimum...

This worked GREAT for me last year, but to tell you the truth, this year it's done nothing but collect dust.  Well, let me clarify that--I still dumped papers in the "to file" and "to grade" bins, but never emptied them.  "To copy" papers were being stored in piles on my desk.  Why?  No clue.  Consequently the "file" bin help math handouts and random literacy sheets from September that still needed to be filed.  On a high from my high-energy day, I decided to tackle this project.  Of course it evolved to a total reorganization and inevitably a big old mess in the process...

But hallelujah everything is in its place now.  I can rest peacefully tonight. :)  Don't know why I didn't think to take an after picture!  After that project, spending far too long stressing over the formatting on a math test, and stopping at the library to pick up picture books for a literacy lesson, thoughts of running were far long gone, having been taken over by two clear thoughts: GET FOOD and GET OUT OF HEELS asap.  

Sooo after that rambly post, I'm off to eat my effortless dinner, curl up on the couch, and enjoy some mindless Glee.  Oh, and there might be some peppermint ice cream in my near future... (That is, of course, before I start digging into my leg with my foam roller... :)  

Teachers: How do you keep a positive attitude and a smile on your face despite the incredible stress and pressure of the job?

Who's with me on my commitment to being my best self and bringing ENERGY to the classroom??

Affirmations

By now you probably have noticed that I am a big time believer in positive mantras.  Not only do I use mantras to get me through almost all of my runs, whether they're keeping me from quitting or pushing me to a personal best, I use them in my life too.  I swear, the mantra "Trust the Process" got me through my entire sophomore year of college.  So, you can imagine my elation when I attended a 5 day Quantum Learning training earlier this summer and saw positive affirmation posters all over the walls of the gym we were meeting in.  AMAZING!  If you are unfamiliar with Quantum (I was until this summer), I don't even think I can scrape the surface of describing it except to say that this training was unbelievable--in every moment, I thought to myself, "This is the kind of teacher I want to be."  Quantum is basically a teaching style (not a program!) that is designed to help kids LEARN in the ways that work for them and teachers teach their best while enjoying teaching.  (<--That's totally my interpretation of the experience, not their official motto or anything.)  It's energetic, exciting, and every piece of it is backed by research on how the brain works, so you know every tip and strategy you're given is really based on kids' brains and real learning.

ANYWAYS (that was a long tangent...), one small piece of Quantum is the affirmation posters that were all over the room.  Quantum research says that even when kids are just looking around the room, their brains are constantly taking in and processing information on the subconscious level.  They suggest putting posters with positive, first-person affirmations on your walls. From the Quantum website: "These supportive and inspiring posters can set the tone for a classroom and help create an environment of trust and safety – the kind of place where students learn best. In a students’ study areas they’re a good reminder of the things they need to remember about themselves."   So, even though I am not an artist and loathe my handwriting, I decided to tackle making some affirmation posters of my own yesterday.

Teacher Mom is very artsy (she used to do professional calligraphy and everything!), so you better believe I brought construction paper and markers over to the parents' house last night and enlisted her help...

Thanks, Teacher Mom!

(Guess which signs Teacher Mom made?...)

It's such a tiny little thing and these posters won't in themselves make a difference, but I love this concept.  I know that for me, if I were struggling on a test or an assignment, seeing a poster that says, "Everything I do deserves my best effort," just might help a little bit.  No, they won't change the world.  But will those random cutesy posters we buy at the teacher store change the world?  This year, my walls will still have anchor charts and math definition reminders on them, but you better believe that every free space is going to have an affirmation poster. :-)

Channel your inner 10-year-old...What affirmation would motivate and encourage YOU??