HeArt of Growth Mindset 1: I Can Learn Anything!

After understanding this Growth vs Fixed Mindset from my previous post, I started my classes by introducing this concept TO the pupils with age appropriate materials. This is suitable for high readiness learners (7-8 yo) and target group of 9-10 yo low-high readiness learners (my current class size is 35-40 pupils).

The post will take the following format:

1. Video/Songs/Books for introduction
2. Suggestions for Main Activity – suitable for

• Educators [Ed] (approx 35- 40 mixed ability 9-10yo pupils)
•  Parents [P].
• Materials Needed

*If I mention Ed or Parents, it means it is specific for the context. Otherwise, both Educators and Parents can use the resources I mentioned.

I shall share the presentation and processes in this post. Please note that this post contains a lot of resources that REQUIRE TIME to go through patiently even though it may look like a short post. It is meant for us to have a more in-depth understanding of this concept. Only when we spend the time and reflect on them, can we grow in our own mindsets. In turn, these will also slowly cascade down to our young ones.

I started by showing the class this video.

 

It was a totally new idea that the class were unsure of what to make out of it. Some did nod in agreement in terms of the fact that babies do have to learn to make noise before getting to intelligible words. Startling yet logical analogy of how there was a time when Einstein couldn’t count to 10 and Shakespeare had to learn his ABCs just like us! It was a start of planting new seeds of perspective here.

We discussed about what are some examples of famous people who had to learn a basic skill before becoming good and famous for their talent.

Next, they viewed Class Dojo’s series 1.

Class Dojo has a simple yet comprehensive way of teaching kids. However, I will only be using the series according to the topical progression of my lessons. You may also simply use this whole series to impart knowledge. I chose to stagger them as I believe we all need time to process each segment and apply them into our lives. Only then can real mindset shift begin. Moreover, Mojo series gives the lighthearted and simplified version for pupils who cannot keep up with more challenging videos that I present.

You may access through HERE to follow through with their Q&A for a more reflective journey. I skipped this section as this class has short attention span and I do not wish to intimidate them with too many questions in the first lesson after the above introduction.

For Parents, you can just have an informal discussion or encourage the start of a Growth Mindset journal where they can record down the challenges they face through drawing a comic, using colours to represent the bad incident or just writing down how they feel etc.

For Ed, I used The Growth Mindset Lesson Plan Part 1 and Part 2 (p31-39) in The growth Mindset Coach. Refer to it for your classroom teaching. These activities took a good 2-3 sessions to complete. 

Seesion 1. Preflection, ‘I can Learn Anything’ video and discussion, Student Reflection.

Session 2-3: Self Assessment on measuring the growth vs fixed mindset spectrum of pupils, exploration of what growth mindset is and sorting of samples of fixed vs growth mindset statements. These help pupils learn to be aware of the common ‘fixed’ mindsets and recognise how they can change those statements to growth ones in the latter lessons.

I also included this chart from The Little Executive to help them understand clearly this Fixed vs Growth Concept. I asked them to copy the chart and choose minimum of 2 concepts below to illustrate what each statement means.

I googled and found this lesson plan on Growth vs Fixed Mindset as well. It is from this amazing UK Libraries. There are tonnes of information on this! We just have to discern what will be suitable for our target group of children and how we can effectively best lead this mindset change.

For Parents, you can check out this website for the below fixed vs growth mindset to do with your kids. You can cut up and ask them to identify and sort out the fixed vs growth mindset statements.

Photo Credit: msomearasmultiage

As Educators and Parents, we must first be very clear about what the above are before we can teach our younger ones. Mindsetkit has great resources for both Ed and Parents. I strongly encourage ALL to go through the sessions here as it will clarify our roles as Parents and Educators. Let this new concept and ideas rewire the workings in our brains first before implementing any of the above.

My goal is to let them have a taste of healthy food for thought. They may reject or be uncomfortable with the new food, but it is an introduction, the first step to a healthy direction!

In conclusion, I introduced

1. I can Learn Anything
2. Definition of Fixed vs Growth Mindsets
3. Examples of Fixed vs Growth Mindset statement/thinking

The next lesson will be an introduction on our most fascinating part of the body : The Brain.

Till then!

Do follow us if you wish to journey with us on our growing Hearts through growing Minds! I will be touching on resources that I use to teach my class in The heArt of Growth Mindset Series 1.

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