#inspire180days

Learn From Your Mistakes and Move On!

Raise of hands how many of you say, "Practice makes Perfect?" Hands down, please. Now have you ever thought about "Practice makes Better?" When I started learning more about growth mindset and that mistakes are ok I started saying, "Practice makes us better!" I had to change my mindset that I don't need my students to be perfect I need them to learn and grow by making mistakes. This post is going to be all about how to teach your students a growth mindset and change their mindset that they don't have to be perfect and to move past their mistakes.

To start the process of discussing a growth mindset I like to have my students write down one thing that they felt they couldn't do, weren't good at, or didn't like. Then we tear them up or shred them to symbolize the first step in throwing away those negative thoughts.

Runde's Room: Change your mindset lesson

After we shredded our negative thoughts we discussed more in-depth about growth mindset using the following activities.

HOLY MOLY, Did you know your brain grows just like a plant?

To begin this lesson I start again by looking back at our word splatter from the perseverance lesson and take a look closer at fixed and growth mindset and mistakes. We discuss their meanings and what they might look like. I add real-life pictures to our word splatter that represents these words. I also use the Ned Show lesson plans for my growth mindset lessons. I start first with How to grow a brain lesson. This lesson comes in two versions K-2 and 3-6.

In the K-2 lesson, you are introducing a fixed and growth mindset by comparing how a plant grows and a brain. This lesson includes compare/contrast, writing prompts, letter writing, and discussion cards.

In the 3-6 lesson, you define fixed by making a list of things that are "fixed." Then discuss the difference between fixed and growth mindset. They have also provided two videos that show the different mindsets and discussion questions to use. This lesson also includes writing prompts, and an activity where they write growth mindset messages to place around your classroom.

TIP: I would combine the activities from K-2 with the videos in 3-6 to teach these lessons. The videos are a great representation of a fixed and growth mindset for any age level.

Runde's Room has another activity that would be so fun to do with your class called Growth Mindset Drama Circle. It is made for upper elementary but you so could tweak it to fit your little's. This activity helps your students to explore fixed and growth mindset by acting out specific scenarios. Super fun!!!

Another great activity from her blog is Growth Mindset Stick It Together. This activity students write on sticky notes about growth mindset then work together to come up with the best answer for what growth mindset is and why it is important to have it.

After finding the meaning of growth mindset and a discussion of what it sounds like, looks like, feels like I like to read the story The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires to close these lessons out. I love this book because it is about a little girl with a big plan to make the most magnificent thing. She quickly discovers that her perfect plan doesn’t work as perfectly as she planned. Through a wide range of emotions, she learns that by having perseverance and a growth mindset, her plan can still work in the end as long as she is willing to keep trying new ideas.

Here is a link for
an online version
from youtube.

The Ned Show lesson has great discussion starters, writing prompts, and a super fun hands-on activity to use with this story.

Last, create a deconstruction/construction zone. Bring in lots of random things like feathers, blocks, pipe cleaners, rubber bands, rocks, popsicle sticks, cotton balls, different kinds of paper, foil, anything you have extra of and want to get rid of. Encourage your students to be creative to make something new, reminding them to be in a growth mindset – be flexible, redesign when necessary and most importantly, to never give up.

Another great idea to teach a growth mindset is combining Fairy Tales and Stem. I love this idea from Whimsey Workshop Teaching!

She has several different bundles to help teach this concept using stem. Love this!!

Another great story to use to talk about mistakes and moving on is The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein. The Ned Show has a lesson plan to follow for this story as well.

Here is a link for
an online version
from youtube.

Next, I made this display for us to reflect on how we persevered, how we made mistakes, how we challenged ourselves, how we grew our brains during a lesson. They would answer one of the question stems on a post-it note and then place on the brain. It is a great visual and a great entry point to have those discussions with your students about growth mindset and the lesson you just taught.

How did you grow your math brain today?

How did you challenge yourself?
Describe a strategy you learned.
Describe a mistake you made.
Tell a math word you learned today.
Tell about something you tried new today.

How did you grow your reading brain today?

Did you read with expression?

Did you read fluently?

Tell about your thinking today.

Did you ask questions while reading?

What did you visualize while reading?

Questions to think about during a mistake lesson could be :

What is a mistake?
How do you feel when you make a mistake?
What mistakes did you make today? Describe it
When could it be good to make a mistake?
Explain how you challenged yourself today.
What makes a good learner? I will grow my brain by....

Last, encourage and inform your parents about a growth mindset and how to help at home. Here is a great letter to explain it to parents and ways they can have a growth mindset at home.

TPT Link

More Resources:

We are Teachers:18 Books on Teaching Growth Mindset

Beautiful Oops! shows young readers how every mistake is an opportunity to make something beautiful. Beautiful Oops! is filled with pop-ups, lift-the-flaps, tears, holes, overlays, bends, smudges, and even an accordion “telescope”—each demonstrating the magical transformation from blunder to wonder.

Your Fantastic Elastic Brain: Stretch It, Shape It teaches all the ways that the brain can develop with exercise, just like the rest of our bodies. Dr. JoAnn Deak offers a fun and engaging introduction to the anatomy and functions of the brain that will empower each young reader to S-T-R-E-T-C-H and grow their fantastic, elastic brain!

Welcome to Ms. Green's math class, where students are learning to persevere to solve new math problems. Even the most reluctant young mathematicians will want to follow Ms. Green's students as they work together to solve the fun and challenging problems. Ms. Green's students ask questions, try out different ideas, believe in their math power, and learn from each other. These books cover growth mindset in math and the 8 Mathematical Practices.
Here is the Author's Website. Her website includes ebooks and readers' theatre scripts covering the math practices and routines in math using math problems. The readers' theatre scripts are for upper elementary (3rd-5th).

Another great website to teach growth mindset and mistakes in math is YouCubed. You can find videos, tasks, and math lessons based on growth mindset under the tasks and more tab.

Click on my theme tab to see how I transformed my room into Mistakes are Beautiful.

Videos:

Do you have any other ideas on how to teach growth mindset to our students?

Please share your thoughts and lessons in the comment section.

If at First You Don't Succeed TRY, TRY Again

I think I can, I think can so I did.

When I started to write this post that saying came to mind. I never thought when I started teaching 12 years ago that I would be teaching students how to persevere or that it is ok to make mistakes. I was taught just like the rest of you I'm sure you just do it, you don't give up till it's done, and practice makes perfect. We not only have to change our mindset but we now have to change our students because they are so quick to quit. I see my soon to be six year old wanting to quit when things get hard and I really have to encourage her to keep going and not to give up. Come on it's a lot easier to just give up right? We can't allow our students to give up anymore! I have compiled lessons, books, hands-on activities, and videos to help teach our students how to believe in themselves and persevere through the hard tasks all year.

The Little Engine that Could

I like to start this lesson with a word splatter with the following vocabulary from the story and words that help to teach the following lessons perseverance, determination, practice, merrily, steadily, indignantly, and weary. I ask the students if they know any of the words, are there any words they don't know and is there a connection between the words. Then we discuss their meaning and what it looks like in real life.

TIP: As I go over the vocabulary and discuss what it means and looks like I add a real-life picture next to each word. I try to use real-life pictures instead of clip art so my students can make a connection to it and see what it would look like in the real world.

Here is a link

for an online version

from youtube.

Next, I read the story The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper. We discuss the problem, solution, how the little train and the toys felt, and what helped the little blue engine get over the mountain. I also ask the question can you relate to any character in the story and why? Did I hear you say you've encountered struggles and obstacles in your life? Then, I discuss how the little train and engine encountered obstacles but because they persevered they made it over the mountain. To represent this in real life I pull out a basket of lemons.

I ask for a volunteer to come to the front. We then as a class brainstorm things that have been difficult or been an obstacle for them. For every obstacle, I hand the child a lemon. By the end, the volunteer will be trying to hold all the lemons with two hands, which will be difficult. I then relate this struggle to perseverance and not giving up like the little blue engine.

Next, I show this video.

Then, we discuss instead of always thinking you can't what are things you can do, that you are confident in, and are really great at. I place 10-15 different posters around the room and they have to go around and write their name on what that they think they are strong at. They are given 5 minutes to write names. Poster Topics: talking to people, artist math, reading, writing, working with other people, memory, athletic, persevere, kind, helpful, creative, explain thinking clearly, neat, musical, etc.

Last, I ask them to go stand by the number one topic that they are so confident in and could teach someone else. We discuss and look around where and what everyone is standing on. Hmm... I'm wondering if I struggled with something could I go to one of my friends to help me? Next, they sit back down and are given a piece of paper. They look around the room and now write 3 things they think they are the weakest in. Give 5 minutes. Now have them stand back up walk around and look at their weaknesses and then look at the names on the posters. What friends can you go to seek help and learn from them? How can you use these friends this school year? How can you use your weaknesses to become a better learner? Can you use your friends to become a better learner?

I also read the story Thank You, Mr. Falker, by Patricia Polacco to teach never giving up. I use the Ned Show lesson that goes with this story. We write about our struggles and talk about our emotions and how those events have impacted our lives and actions when we felt that way.

Here is a link

for an online version

from Storyline Online.

I end the day with a team problem-solving activity. I tape a 6-foot piece of tape on the floor. I ask the team of 4-5 students to stand on the tape. I tape a number to their shirt. The team has to put itself in order without stepping off the line. You could do this with a balance beam if your gym teacher has one. A great way to end your day on perseverance and never giving up.

Perseverance in Math:
I also like to use this lesson to teach math practice 1: make sense of a problem and persevere in solving them. The Teacher Studio has great ideas to help in teaching this.

Other great sites for ideas on teaching mp1or growth mindset in math are: ThinkMath, PBSLearning Media, YouCubed.

TIP: Remember you don't have to do these lessons in one day. You may want to spread them out through out the first couple weeks and have in your plans a 30-minute block for perseverance lessons. You will also want to pull these stories and lessons back out when you see your students starting to quit and giving up to quickly.

How do you teach perseverance in your classroom?

Please leave your teaching ideas in the comment section. Thanks for stopping by!

Kindness Counts

After you have taught your rules, opened the door for communication, and worked on team building there is still one piece to the first week of school missing.

TEACHING KINDNESS!

I loved this quote and it made me realize not to forget this important part to the success of our classrooms.

Last year I started a kindness challenge and every week we tried to do one thing to spread kindness. I know you are thinking when did she have time to do this! We completed these acts for morning work and believe it or not they would ask to stay in for recess to work on their kindness challenge.

I began by having a discussion about what kindness is. We made an anchor chart that listed what they thought kindness meant.

Here is an example:

TIP: I like using visuals when making anchor charts so my ESL students have an image to see. After your students have said what kindness is you can later print out pictures that represent the words they used for them to refer to.

Next, I showed the video below and followed the lesson plan on The Ned Show. This lesson has great discussion starters and activities to pay it forward.

Then, I read the story Kindness is Cooler, Mrs. Ruler and followed the discussion questions and lesson from The Ned Show. They loved being able to share their writing responses and playing Pay-It-Which-Way that is all provided on the lesson plan.

Here is a link
for an online version
from youtube.

Sorry this picture
isn't the best but gives
you an idea of how I displayed
our acts of kindness last year.

This year instead of counting the first 100 days of school we are going to count 100 acts of kindness and place them on to a Kindness Counts wall. Each day I will write the act we will complete for the day on a heart and place onto the wall.

I also read the books below and completed some of the activities on The Ned Show kindness lesson plans.

Here is a link
for an online version
on youtube.

Some of my favorite activities from the Each Kindness lesson plan is the human pay-it forward chain, the pay-it forward kindness chart, and the ripples of kindness.

I love the story The Kindness Quilt and having the children to design a quilt that shows kindness to display in the classroom.

TIP: Remember these are all things that can be done through out the year. They don't have to be completed the first week. I like pulling these books back out when I see my class starting to exhibit behavior towards each other that doesn't represent kindness.

My last favorite kindness activity is the kindness rock project. This year I had my students design a rock that promoted kindness, inspiration, and love. We used rocks that I had bought from Dollar Tree. First, they painted them then used sharpies to finish decorating them. Then, they placed the rocks around the school to promote their love for the people inside our building.