The Growth Mindset Mentality

What does the term growth mindset mean? It’s a belief that your skills are not fixed from birth; rather, you learn new skills throughout your life! Your brain is a muscle and it learns new things from practice.

This idea came to my knowledge from both my grad school program and my school staff meetings. I am a Middle School Social Studies teacher and my school took on the mission of a Growth Mindset staff after reading the book “The Growth Mindset Playbook: A Teacher’s Guide to Promoting Student Success (Growth Mindset for Teachers)” by Annie Brock and Heather Hundley.

I loved this idea from the start! As a teacher, I am a lifelong learner in general but the belief that you are not born with a set of skills and rather you learn them along the way is a great way to live your everyday life.

The saying is “I am not there…yet.” We as people are works in progress. We are always trying to improve ourselves instead of just being a finished product.

This was such an encouraging thought process for me. I have a lot of anxiety which often limits my actions of trying something new. I am a perfectionist that hates failure. So, I will not try something if I know I will not be successful.

How do I know if I never tried? Here’s the answer: It is based on what others have told them.

When I was told that, my mind was blown! A great deal of our self-perception is based on what others think and not our self—the irony. This is not a way to go about your life.

So, I tried an exercise with my students based on the idea of the Growth Mindset. I had students create a T-chart in their notebooks. On one side of the chart they wrote down skills they are good at, and on the other side of the chart they wrote down skills they need to improve on. Then, I asked them to share their chart if they were comfortable.

One student volunteered, which took a lot of courage. He wrote he was good at math and science and needs to improve on talking more in class. I then asked, “How do you know you’re good at those skills?”

He responded that he knows based on what teachers, family, and friends have told him. I then made my own T-chart on the board doing the same activity. I did this to be open to my students and myself. I shared that I have anxiety and what people say to me determines many things I think about myself.

Then the next step was to write down the phrases on both sides of the chart that they have heard to make them think they are good at certain skills or need to improve in other skills.

I asked no one to share because I wanted my students to reflect on their own. I gave them five minutes to think to themselves about what they wrote down. I wrote on the board the phrases that I always hear as well.

Then, the final task was to erase or scribble out those negative phrases about the skills they need to improve on.

This step created a clean slate for them. As a class, we will work on having a growth mindset and we are all capable of learning new skills. A growth mindset is all about focusing on the progress, not the finished product. This is important in encouraging students and people in general.

Phrases to use to help encourage people should focus on complimenting their work ethic, not their intelligence. Saying things like:

“You worked so hard on this, you should be proud!”

“You have been practicing and it shows!”

“I appreciated how focused you have been on this project!”

“Your choice to come to extra help was very responsible of you because it shows you care about your studies!”

The list goes on and on but, the main focus of Growth Mindset is that you can achieve skills by working hard and you’re not just born with a set of skills and that is it!

For example, I’m a teacher, but I’ve also always loved to write. So, now I am trying to share my writing skills on a platform. I would have never thought I would try to do this, but here I am trying a new outlet to share my passion.

If you are passionate about something and have never tried it before because you were afraid of what people would think, here’s the deal: do it anyway.

This pandemic has taught me many things, but the huge lesson it taught was life is short and can change at any time. We don’t have time to hesitate! Try a new skill and if it is not for you, that is okay. You learned something. It’s okay to make mistakes—they are lessons!

I had to shove this notion into my brain because I was so used to thinking “Do not try anything unless you are good at it.”

I am not perfect, I will never be the perfect teacher, writer, daughter, sister, girlfriend, or friend. Let me tell you though, I am going to try my best. I am going to be open to trying new skills and not giving up right away if I’m not amazing at first.

I will work on asking for help when I need it, I do not have to do everything on my own. Be a lifelong learner and encourage others to always try their best. Be kind to others but, most importantly be kind to yourself. Grow your mindset and see how much you’ll glow.

“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!”

-Audrey Hepburn

Originally Posted on Medium.com in "Get After It Today"