Growth Mindset: A Grown-up Post

We have the power to learn just about any skill.

This post is more for the "grown-ups" today:

I set out on a mission this summer.  I was not sure what would really come of it, but I knew one thing.  I knew that my students amaze me each year.  I have two outgoing, hard-working, bright groups of kindergarteners come to me each September.  Many of these students have never stepped foot in a classroom, let alone a large public school.  Some of these students have never been to America until a few months before the school year begins.  Yet, for the most part, these children enter with smiles, hang on my every word and gesture.  They are an astouding fascination.  The most successful of these small children show the same characteristics: perseverence, the ability to problem solve and grow from failure and an eagerness to reflect on hopes and goals.

Well, I remember I used to feel that way.  I used to think I could be anything I wanted to be.  You know what?  I actually still can be!  With a growth mindset we can do many of the things we otherwise thought we could not while thinking with a fixed mindset.  After beginning to learn more about growth mindset while reading Carol Dweck's book, Mindset, I realized that it is not only crucial to bring these ideas to the classroom but that I should also instill in myself a notion to switch back to my primal growth mindset.  This is why, in this blog, you will see me discussing the farfetched ideas of swinging from a trapeze, flying a helicopter and learning how to do one-footed turns on ice skates.  These are all things I would not have thought I could do before.  Now, I realize, that with dedication and hard work I can go as far as I want when learning new skills.

Here is Carol Dweck's book.  It is available at most libraries.  :-)

Your young child may appreciate reading these books while reflecting on all of their accomplishments so far.  Then, maybe you can make a list of 3 things they would like to learn to do one day.