Tag Archives: Mindset

The Power of Yet…

Gotta love Sesame Street!

 

“Do you want to grow up to be an author, an astronaut, a scientist, or a doctor? That’s great! But maybe you don’t know how many bones are in an arm or even how to spell…yet. Believe in yourself, work hard, stay focused, and one day you’ll get to where you want to be. That’s the power of yet.”

The Growth Mindset

What is the growth mindset?

Have you ever really struggled with a new concept? How did you feel? Were you able you overcome? How?

Research shows that mindset greatly affects how well one succeeds in new or challenging situations. To simplify it, I’ll quote Henry Ford, “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.”

What does this mean to our students? The most successful students know that they can grow their brain, retrain themselves to improve, and get better by learning from their mistakes.

When you fail, do you criticize yourself, or your approach? Do you try again?

Being willing to try again after a failure is key. Students, especially those who sit quietly puzzled for fear of looking dumb, are incapable of reaching their potential if they follow this path. Asking questions, making attempts, and yes, failing, are what help us learn. This messaging needs to make it to our students’ ears. When we fail, we must reflect and evaluate, and then try again.

When you succeed, is it just because you are super smart, or because you have mastered your strategy through trial and error?

Most masters at anything will tell you, they are not intrinsically their most capable, but they have become so with thoughtful, continued effort.  We must praise the process, not the person to ensure students continually take responsibility for their results, and reinvest in themselves.

Below is a great site for parents to consult. We can help our students succeed by giving them the gift of a growth mindset. It is not an instantaneous shift, but a practice best adopted familially  and communally.

https://www.mindsetkit.org/growth-mindset-parents