23 minute read
Strategies for Developing Positive Mindsets That Create Motivation
Teachers can help students develop a growth mindset and realize the joy of learning by teaching them about neuroplasticity, or the brain’s ability to grow and change. Students can learn about the different parts of the brain and their function to understand more about the brain’s capacity to learn (Robinson, 2017). When people have new experiences, their brain creates new connections which are strengthened through repeated use (Center on the Developing Child, 2020). The exciting thing about this is that people can rewire their own brain and become smarter at any time through acquiring new information and using new strategies to study and practice.
Isn’t it motivating to think that it is within your control to change your capacity to learn? Finding the place where students are making mistakes is the key to effective instruction. If students are truly challenged, they shouldn’t get it right away. Experiencing initial confusion and having to exert effort to make meaning are an indication the brain is forming new connections and new learning is taking place. When teachers teach students to think of learning challenges or the opportunity to learn from mistakes as helping to grow their brain, they respond more positively and persevere despite initial discomfort or difficulty. Instead of thinking of mistakes, confusion, or challenges as a sign they are just not smart enough, students learn to view the unsettled feeling of not understanding as an indication of an opportunity for growth. Experiencing confusion is often what causes students to stop, reflect, and use or modify their use of strategies. Developing a tolerance for confusion and an ability to sustain motivation to work through problems to create meaning is essential to accessing higher-order thinking (Miller, 2013). These are the complex thinking skills beyond basic fact recall and memorization that allow for critical and creative thinking.
When teachers help students to develop a growth mindset through instruction and modeling, their motivation, grades, and achievement increase (Phi Delta Kappa International, 2012). It gives students a reason to put forth effort in school. The following strategies help students practice the growth mindset mentality and develop a positive response to their own mistakes.
Exercising Your Brain to Help It Grow (Grades K–12)
Exercising students’ brains will help them understand that the level of effort they put in affects their ability. This activity is a way to teach students about the parts of the brain and how the brain forms new connections when students learn new things. Do this activity at the beginning of the year.
INSTRUCTIONS
Introduce this activity by saying something like, “We used to think that you were born with a certain amount of intelligence, and that’s all you got. Now, scientists know that when you work hard and tackle new challenges in school or life, you can help your brain grow and make more connections. Like a muscle, our brain gets stronger when we exercise it and do hard things.” Implement the following actions to conduct this activity.
1. Introduce the book Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by educator and psychologist JoAnn
Deak (2010), which explains the different parts of the brain and how the brain works. Ask students to tell you what they already know about the brain. Consider showing students a diagram of the brain or a short age-appropriate video on neuroplasticity. 2. Begin reading the book while students listen and label parts of the brain and record information about the functions. While reading, stop occasionally to discuss and ask questions to check comprehension. At appropriate points in the book, stop to have students write about and illustrate the following. – A time they tried something that was hard at first, but with practice, they were eventually able to do easily – A time they made a mistake and were able to use this mistake to grow their brain – A time when something they learned in the past made it easier for them to learn something new 3. Have students share their responses aloud in pairs or in a think-pair-share. Have them discuss or write down two things: (1) something they learned about the brain and (2) one way they can use what they learned about the brain to help themselves stay motivated when they are feeling discouraged or frustrated in school.
EARLY ELEMENTARY (GRADES K—2)
Give students the parts of the brain on pieces of paper and glue them to a blank picture of the brain. In Your Fantastic Elastic Brain: Stretch It, Shape It—Lesson Plans for Teachers, Little Pickle Press (2012) provides a free printable map (bit.ly/3tZcoED). Students too young to write about their learning experiences can tell them to a partner or draw a picture and share their stories aloud with the class.
UPPER ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL (GRADES 3—8)
Students listen to the book (if you are reading the book aloud) and create visual notes by drawing and labeling a picture of the brain with the parts of the brain and its functions. Students use a blank brain map to make their drawing accurate. Then they list things they tried in school or life that were hard at first but became easier with practice (talking, walking, playing soccer, and so on). Learning this new thing helps grow their brain.
HIGH SCHOOL (GRADES 9—12)
Students add to the preceding activity by including a time they made a mistake and were able to use this mistake to grow their brain. They could also think about a time something they learned in the past helped them to learn something new. The students then illustrate each experience with a picture or series of pictures. This book focuses on brain development in the first ten years, but high school students may enjoy researching and writing about whether teens can continue to grow their brain, build new connections, and learn new skills. (Good news: they can!)
Creating Growth Mindset Statements (Grades K–12)
Challenging situations can make it difficult for students to maintain a growth mindset. Everyone has triggers that cause them to take on a fixed mindset. Educators can teach students to take these discouraging fixed mindset thoughts and reframe them as growth mindset affirmations to help keep students motivated. Have students place these affirmations in a visible location. Students who are mindful of fixed versus growth mindset language can help coach themselves and their classmates toward a more growth-oriented focus. Students can use this activity adapted from the strategies in Carol Dweck’s book, Mindset, to gradually change their attitude and motivation by changing the way they think (Dweck, 2016).
INSTRUCTIONS
Explain to students sometimes people say things to themselves that are not very nice or encouraging. Luckily, they get to choose how to think and respond. With practice, everyone can change the way they talk to themselves.
You may want to show students a video clip or comic strip or read a story that provides an age-appropriate example of counterproductive or discouraging self-talk. Instead of giving up or giving in, students learn to challenge and question conclusions and talk to themselves in a more encouraging way. See figure 2.1, which explains how to do this.
EARLY ELEMENTARY (GRADES K—2)
Students can do this as a class activity. Students brainstorm as a whole class to answer the following question: “What fixed-mindset statements do you say to yourself or hear others say before beginning a task, while you are working, or if you become discouraged?”
The teacher lists the students’ statements. Then the teacher asks students one of the following questions: “How would you rewrite these as more encouraging growth mindset statements?” or “How would you say this in a kind way to a good friend to encourage them?”
UPPER ELEMENTARY (GRADES 3—5)
The teacher gives the students the situations to begin this activity as a whole class. Then, students can work in pairs; one student comes up with the discouraging statements, and the other reframes them using the preceding monitoring questions.
MIDDLE SCHOOL (GRADES 6—8)
Give students the situations and as a class or in pairs, have students brainstorm the fixed-mindset statements in the instead of column in figure 2.1. Students then come up with the growth mindset statements individually using the monitoring questions for the elementary grades. They add their own examples and check back with their partner or the whole group to share and compare.
In This Situation:
When I am doing challenging mathematics problems, and I make a mistake . . .
Instead of:
I am just not a mathematics person. No one is good at something new right away. It takes practice to become good at mathematics.
Try Thinking:
When I am trying something new, and I can’t do it perfectly right away . . . This is too hard. I can’t do it. I have never done this before, so my brain is stretching and growing. It may be challenging, but I will figure it out if I keep working hard.
When I get my test back and I got a seventy-nine and my friend received another one hundred . . . I will never be as smart as her. She is using some great strategies! I am going to try to learn from her.
When I get a problem wrong, make a bad grade, or make a mistake . . . I am a failure. I should just quit before I make a fool of myself. I can figure out what went wrong so that I can learn how to do it better next time.
Source: Adapted from Dweck, 2016.
FIGURE 2.1: Growth mindset statements.
Visit go.SolutionTree.com/studentengagement for a free reproducible version of this figure.
HIGH SCHOOL (GRADES 9—12)
For high school students, don’t provide text for the in this situation column in figure 2.1. Instead, students do the following using a piece of paper folded vertically into three columns. • In the first column (in this situation), students record situations where their fixed mindset voice shows up. These do not all have to be school situations, but some should be. Students ask themselves, “What situations make me feel discouraged or frustrated at school?” • In the instead of column, students write down discouraging thoughts they may have when they are about to begin a new task or while they are working. Students ask themselves, “What do I think to myself?”
• In the try thinking column, students then reframe their fixed-mindset statement into a growth mindset statement. Students ask themselves, “How would I say this in a kind way to encourage a good friend who is struggling?”
Students consider the following questions, “Are there certain times that I switch into a fixed mindset or say things that are not very nice to myself?” “When can I use this strategy to help myself stay motivated?” and “How does changing the way I talk to myself change the results I am able to produce?”
Fixed-Mindset Characterizations (Grades K–12)
This activity adapted from Dweck (2016) helps students recognize, call out, and check their fixed-mindset voice. Instead of listening or reacting to their negative internal voice, students learn to talk back to it using their growth mindset statements. Fixed-mindset characterizations help students recognize their fixed-mindset voice and its effect on their thoughts, actions, and the ways they interact with others.
INSTRUCTIONS
Students create and draw a character to represent their fixed-mindset voice. Then they write a description of their character. Make sure students know what a character is and that students in third grade and up understand the parts of a paragraph. Consider presenting students with several examples of cartoon or popular age-appropriate characters (villains, monsters, or heroes) to identify and discuss their traits. This will help students think about what their fixed-mindset voice sounds like when it shows up, and the effects of listening to that voice.
Students in grades K–2 can make a classroom display where they draw their fixed-mindset voice as a monster with speech bubbles that include fixed-mindset statements the students think or hear others think from the previous activity. These can be things like, “I am not good at this” or “My idea didn’t work, so I give up.” Then they can draw their growth mindset voice like a superhero talking back to their monster with statements like, “This is new to me, but I can improve with effort” or “I can try another idea.” Students in grades 3–8 can work individually or in pairs to draw versions of their characters and will have more statements next to each character. Students who have trouble writing can use voice-to-text software and design their character on Google Slides (https://google.com/slides/about) or Google Docs (https://google.com/docs/about).
It may help to ask students the following questions. • “When does the fixed-mindset voice show up?” • “What does the voice say?” • “What effect do these negative thoughts have on you and your actions?” • “What would happen if you talked back to your character using the growth mindset statements?”
HIGH SCHOOL (GRADES 9—12)
Show students the example in figure 2.2. Have students name and draw their own fixed-mindset characterization, then write a description of their character while considering the preceding questions for kindergarten through eighth grade. Next, they write a second paragraph describing how they could “talk back to” each fixed-mindset statement with a growth mindset statement. (You can include a picture or characterization that indicates growth like a body builder or a superhero with a cape alongside these statements for this activity.)
Negative Nellie shows up at the most inconvenient times, whenever I am thinking about trying something new or starting a challenging project. She also arrives when I am facing a difficult situation, make a mistake, or receive negative feedback or a bad grade. At first, she pretends like she is just trying to help me. This is how she sneaks her way through the door and why she is holding gifts with an evil grin on her face. She doesn’t want me to embarrass myself or work really hard and then fail. She tries to convince me she is protecting me when really, she is holding me back. I know she is not helpful at all and is only there to plant seeds of doubt and whisper discouraging thoughts. When I listen to her, I feel depressed and angry. She wants me to stay in my comfort zone, avoid trying new things, and give up. When I think about her messages, they really don’t make much sense. When I talk back to her and teach her my growth mindset statements, she loses her evil powers.
Source: Adapted from Dweck, 2016.
FIGURE 2.2: Fixed-mindset characterization example.
Visit go.SolutionTree.com/studentengagement for a free reproducible version of this figure.
Students ask themselves, “What should I do when I hear my fixed-mindset voice say something discouraging? What can I do to help encourage myself? What can I do to help encourage my friends and classmates? How does the way I talk to myself affect my ability to learn and try new things? How does the fixed-mindset voice cause me to think, act, and respond to other people?”
Crafting a Vision (Grades K–12)
Now that students have examined their mindset, the next step is to have students consider what success looks like to them. This is their vision, and it will be based on their values and may help them sort out what is of value to them. A vision board is a great visual way for students to begin thinking about their goals. A vision board is like a collage. It is a collection of pictures, sometimes with a few words that create a visual representation of things a student may be interested in doing, what they want to learn, places they wish to go, careers they are interested in, or obstacles they are struggling to overcome. This creates the “big picture” or frame of reference that students can work from when setting more short-term and specific goals. Crafting a vision enables students to think about their long-term goals and connect them to short-term goals for this school year. A sample vision board created by a sixth-grade student is included in figure 2.3 (page 48).
Make lots of friends. Read more and get good grades.
Make more money and start saving more. Take care of my pets.
FIGURE 2.3: Vision board.
Show students some examples of a vision board. There are many examples and how-to videos available online for creating a vision board on multiple platforms.
INSTRUCTIONS
Students think about things they hope to achieve personally or in school by the end of the school year. They can consider goal-oriented questions like the following. • “Is there anything you struggled with last year that you would like to work on this year?” • “What interests do you want to find out more about?” • “What books do you want to read?” • “What is a skill that you wish to improve?” • “What is something you would like to learn this year or in this class?”
EARLY ELEMENTARY (GRADES K—2)
Students draw or find pictures to represent their answers to these aspirations.
UPPER ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE (GRADES 3—8)
Same as for kindergarten through second-grade students, but these students also describe their goals with a few words.
HIGH SCHOOL (GRADES 9—12)
Use the same approach for third- through fifth-grade students, but also include visual representations of long-term goals related to their short-term goals. This could include pictures to answer the following. • “What colleges am I interested in attending?” • “What are my future plans?” • “What careers am I interested in?”
Students can add their vision board to a front clear pocket on their strategies notebooks so they see their goals often. It is also possible to create a digital vision board using Google Slides or Google Drawings (https://docs.google.com/drawings).
Students ask themselves, “How does what I do in school each day relate to my vision? What do I need to change to work toward my vision? What are some small steps I can take right now to begin working toward the vision on my board?”
Determining School and Classroom Values (Grades K–12)
In this activity, students list classroom values and draw a picture to represent their interpretation of what acting on each value looks like. Coauthors Lauren Porosoff and Jonathan Weinstein (2018) define values as how a student chooses to act or “qualities of action that make life meaningful” (p. 6). They posit in-school values answer questions like the following. • “How will I approach school?” • “How will I choose to do this assignment?” • “How will I choose to relate to my peers?” (Porosoff & Weinstein, 2018)
Usually, students choose values for themselves that are adverbs like courageously or responsibly (Porosoff & Weinstein, 2018). While goals describe exactly what students are going to do, values answer the question of why they are going to do it. Values form the basis for the identity or the type of person one wishes to become. Habits expert James Clear (2018) explains it this way: “Each action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become” (p. 38). For example, you may have the goal of keeping your papers in a binder. You may be doing this because you value organization. To accomplish this goal, you must have a process that leads you to develop the habit of putting your papers in a binder. By developing this habit and practicing each day, you are becoming a more organized person. Determining classroom and individual values helps students explore their meaning and encourages them to think about how they can use their actions to live according to their values in the classroom, school, and at home.
Since values is an abstract concept, it may help to provide students with some examples. Find a detailed list of values from Porosoff and Weinstein’s (2018) book Empower Your Students (visit go.SolutionTree.com/studentengagement). This list may be helpful for developing classroom values or helping students determine and elaborate on their individual values.
INSTRUCTIONS
Students brainstorm a list of classroom values together as a group. This list can replace class rules and may include the following.
In this class: • We celebrate the accomplishments of our classmates. • We always do our best work. • We persist through challenges because we can do hard things. • We view mistakes as opportunities for learning. • We show kindness and respect to everyone. • We approach challenges with curiosity.
It may help to ask students: “What are some guidelines that would help you and your classmates be productive and feel safe and happy in this classroom? Can you make a value word into a sentence to create a classroom value? What are some real-life examples of the classroom value you created?”
EARLY ELEMENTARY (GRADES K—2)
Students may enjoy thinking of examples of actions that would exemplify each value or what each value would look like in the classroom. They can draw pictures and describe actions compatible with each value. For example, for “We show kindness and respect to everyone,” a student may draw a picture of themselves inviting a student who is eating alone in the cafeteria to sit with them. Another student might interpret it as listening carefully to the teacher and draw a picture of that scenario.
UPPER ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL (GRADES 3—8)
Students complete the preceding early elementary activity similarly, but these students can use the school or district’s set of core values as a springboard to create their classroom values. For example, if the school values include respect for self and others, commitment to lifelong learning, and always giving your best effort, students can write their own interpretations of these values or draw a picture of what they would look like in action. Use these pictures for a classroom or schoolwide display of each value and its many interpretations or associated actions.
HIGH SCHOOL (GRADES 9—12)
Individually, students list values or things important to them, along with ways they may demonstrate these values through their actions. It is fun for students to do this through visual notes. For example, if students value excellence, they would ask themselves, “What would excellence look like at school?” Each student may list things like putting forth their best effort on each assignment, getting to school on time even when they feel like sleeping in, or doing the required reading so that they can contribute to class discussions. Each student lists written descriptions and draws a picture of what each value would look like. Students can think of examples of how repeated actions determine the type of person someone will become. Tying
habits and goals to the type of people they wish to become gives students the motivation they need to stick with these values. It is the difference between completing an assignment because your teacher or parent is making you and completing an assignment because you know you value hard work and dedication.
Students ask themselves, “How do my values connect to the way I act and the decisions I make each day in school? What can I do if my values do not match my actions? How can focusing on my values help me stay motivated in school?”
Helping Students Create Hooks and Connections to Learning (Grades K–12)
Students must feel both capable of and see the value in doing the work. Many students set a goal and focus exclusively on achieving the result. This is a quick way to become demotivated because it seems difficult to reach the goal from their current position. Instead, teach students to focus on linking the tasks they do each day to their values, interests, and goals. By doing this, students make the work they do at school meaningful and make connections between their daily choices and the outcomes they wish to achieve. Professors Lonnie Rowell and Eunsook Hong (2013) list three factors that influence whether students value learning tasks. Students may consider the following when deciding how much effort to put toward a task; these factors can determine the level of internal motivation. 1. Intrinsic value: Are the materials and activities interesting? 2. Attainment value: Are they important? 3. Utility value: Are they useful to me?
Teachers help students see the purpose of an assignment by addressing the preceding questions in the hook to their lesson. Students can also practice creating their own hooks for learning by thinking about how they can make their assignments more interesting, important, and useful. This activity helps students practice connecting what they are learning to their own interests, goals, and values to spark internal motivation. Employ this activity whenever students learn a new skill.
Students encounter plenty of learning situations and must figure out their own reasons why the material is interesting, important, or useful. If students always rely on the teacher to spark their interest, they will not cultivate their ability to spark their own interest. This is especially important when they encounter a teacher who is not particularly dynamic, or the subject is not exactly in line with their interests. Thinking about the utility of a skill before jumping into learning the skill helps students to activate prior knowledge and make connections.
INSTRUCTIONS
Ask students to think of times when something was interesting to learn or when they felt engaged in a lesson. What hooked them into the lesson? What made them want to learn about the topic?
EARLY ELEMENTARY (GRADES K—2)
The teacher will need to lead and model the approach to finding a hook for learning. Go through the following steps with students as a part of introducing a new topic to the whole class.
Students complete the graphic organizer in figure 2.4 by considering the following. 1. Students consider how they can make the topic they are learning interesting. Is there a way they have enjoyed learning something new before? For example, would they like to look up a video, see a virtual tour of an exhibit, model it with manipulatives, or create a song or essay about it? Does the topic relate to any of their personal interests? 2. Students try to orient themselves to the important skills they need for this task. What could the possible applications of this skill be outside school? 3. Students outline the possible uses of a particular skill now and in the future. How could this skill connect to their long- and short-term goals? 4. Students connect the current task back to larger goals and personal values. How does engaging in this particular task align with the students’ personal values, classroom values, or both? How can they make this task meaningful?
Name:
Class or Section: Teacher:
Creating Hooks
How Can I...
Make this interesting? We are learning about the U.S. Civil War in history. In the past, I have been more interested in history when I could watch a video or visit a battlefield to find out more about the content and backstory instead of just reading facts and seeing dates on timelines.
Orient myself to the important skills?
As a citizen and future voter, it is important for me to be informed about the history of the United States.
Outline the possible uses of this skill?
Know how engaging in this particular task aligns with my goals, vision, or values?
These facts will be useful when I am taking the tests required to graduate. I will also need to take history in college. I am sure this skill will come up again. My grandpa likes to visit the battlefield parks, and now I will know what he is talking about.
I want to graduate from high school and go to college. This information helps me do well in this class and on the required testing.
FIGURE 2.4: Creating hooks example.
