Growth Mindset
"Soar" is a short animated story that demonstrates the growth mindset as the main character, Mara, dreams of one day building airplanes. She builds these model planes in the countryside, trying again and again to make them fly – but fails every time. That is, until a miniature 6-inch-tall pilot drops out of the sky. The boy's fantastic flying contraption is broken, and Mara is the only one who can return him to the sky before it's too late.
The image above is one of the scenes from the short animated movie "Soar." To view "Soar," click here.
Dear Families,
I believe that the growth mindset is important to instill in students since their attitude determines the outcome of learning tasks and interactions at school. Children who believe they can do better, do better! Children who think intelligence is fixed give up easily. I am passionate about helping my students see the potential in themselves and believing that they are capable of growing as a learner. My goal is to help students who are hitting the mark to challenge themselves more, and those who are struggling move from I can’t do this to I can’t do this yet.
According to leading Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, mindsets are beliefs individuals hold about their most basic qualities and abilities. In a growth mindset, people believe that intelligence and abilities can be developed and changed through persistence and hard work. Individuals with the growth mindset have a desire to be challenged and believe that they can improve with effort and practice. People with a growth mindset see mistakes as an opportunity to learn and grow their intelligence.
With a fixed mindset attitude, people believe that mistakes are an indication that they are a failure, and thus a loser. Individuals with a fixed mindset believe that intelligence and abilities are innate traits that cannot be changed. This results in the viewpoint that talents and “smarts” are what lead to success, not effort. These people often give up easily and may blame others or outside circumstances when they fail at a task.
Mindsets themselves are learned, and they can be changed. Building a growth mindset and achieving great things doesn’t just happen; students will need to work hard for it and will have to try again and again. I believe that all children can develop their abilities through dedication and hard work; brains and talent are just the starting point. I will be here to coach my students along the way since I know that the growth mindset creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. I will guide students to use mistakes to his or her advantage when they fail. When children see mistakes as opportunities to grow, he or she will learn and grow their intelligence. As a student is learning and growing, they will feel a sense of ownership over the process and will be on their way to developing a growth mindset.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Limond
To learn more about the growth mindset, consider viewing the resources below by clicking on the titles.
- Raise the Bar Parents: What is a Growth Mindset? - Ways to help children to become resilient learners.
- Growth Mindset for Parents - Videos and articles demonstrate how to promote a growth mindset through the types of praise we give kids and through our response to mistakes.
- Famous Failures - Take inspiration from both the famous failures and the lesser known failures in this video. All of these failures were followed by perseverance and enormous successes.