Have you adopted a growth mindset philosophy for your classroom? Teachers want to encourage students and help them grow. We want to help students understand that there are things we don’t know yet. We want to promote the importance of trying new and difficult things. We want students to understand that their talents aren’t fixed and that there is opportunity for learn and get better.
Under any circumstances, teaching can be challenging. A teacher’s role has always included modeling and demonstrating effective learning. We guide students by example, and that includes our own mindset.
How can we model growth mindset in the midst of a pandemic? Between frequently changing daily routines, working with quarantined students, and trying to engage students in Zoom calls, it is all we can do to get through the day. Teachers are exhausted.
And yet, teachers are showing up day after day.
According to Mindset author Carol Dweck, “the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life.”
What kind of mindset are you bringing into the classroom? Are you modeling a growth mindset?
Here are some ways you can maintain a growth mindset:
Recognize that you do have control.
It is true that there are many things going on in the world that you can’t control. You can’t control the pandemic, or the election. But you can control some things. Focus on the things you can control and work to make those things as good as you can.
For example, you can’t control whether or not a student shows up for school. You can make the classroom experience a positive one so that students will want to come. You can’t control whether or not a student will do classwork, but you can try to make those assignments meaningful, interesting and relevant so the student will be more likely to do them.
Focus on how far you have come and how far you will go.
We often teach students to say, “I can’t do it yet.” Do you allow yourself the same grace? Chances are there are many things that you are doing now that you weren’t doing when schools shut down at the beginning of the pandemic. You’ve learned and adapted. You’ve leveled up your technology game. You’ve prepared for on-line learning. You’ve rewritten lesson plans.
Be proud of what you have already achieved and be excited for how much you will continue to improve in the future.
Continue to model resilience and perseverance.
Resilience and perseverance are two hallmarks of a growth mindset. If you are still teaching, you have been resilient and you have persevered. We often tell students that they can do hard things. Remind yourself that you are doing hard things. You are also modeling for students how to do hard things.
Keep high standards and a nurturing atmosphere.
It’s tough out there. During a pandemic, it seems plausible to lower our standards. If we lower our standards, more students will achieve them. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if we set standards too high, without giving students the means of reaching them, students will fail.
Dweck offers a proven solution. Keep standards high, but teach students in a loving, caring manner. Growth mindset teachers are warm and accepting. They believe their students can and will learn. Teachers with a fixed mindset judge students and determine who is capable of learning. They are quick to give up on students who don’t demonstrate mastery.
Growth mindset in teaching also means that teachers must guide students. They can’t just assign work and then grade it. They need to explain and demonstrate. They not only explain how to do things, they also explain why the learning is useful or important.
Teachers with a growth mindset teach students how to reach the high standards. Rather than judging students for what they don’t know, they offer students a path to learning. According to Dweck, when teachers are judging them, students will sabotage teachers and themselves by not trying. When students understand that school is for them and will help them to grow their minds they don’t sabotage, they start caring.
Recognizing your own mindset and choosing to have a growth mindset will help you get through the toughest days of teaching. It can also help you to continue to grow and thrive., not only in school, but in your life.
*Dweck, C. (2006.) Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Ballantine.
Do you ever wonder if you are making a positive impact? You’ve been working really hard, yet some of you are questioning. Does what I do matter? Do students even notice or care how much I am working for them? When students are missing or disengaged and parents are angry or upset, how can I even win?
In all likelihood, you have found yourself hijacked at school. You had plans, and something happened to derail them. Parents demand something that is unrealistic. Emotional stressed students have a melt down or create behavior challenges. You are overwhelmed with too many demands on your time, attention and abilities.
