Growth Mindset, Picture Books, The First Two Weeks of School!

I LOVE picture books!  I love sharing them with students of all ages!

1.  Everyone loves a story!
2.  Picture books are short enough to read aloud.
3.  While the text and pictures are engaging, there are often complex themes to which you can make great connections with older students - yes, even high schoolers!
4.  Picture books can spark the discussion that you want to have with students!

Here are a few excellent books to consider when discussing, illustrating, and connecting to growth mindset!  There are more as well!

Introducing Growth Mindset with Video

How do you introduce growth mindset?  How about using a video clip for the first week or two as your warm-up ... invite students to find the growth mindset connection!  Check out these videos for ideas!

#EduRead discussing Mathematical Mindsets Chapter 4

#EduRead discussing Mathematical Mindsets Chapter 2

#EduRead discussing Mathematical Mindsets Chapter 1

#70Days: Growth Mindset!

WOW!  Our #EduRead conversations have been amazing the past few weeks.  This week it was an engaging conversation around growth mindset.  The participants shared awesome resources!

I decided to gather the resources here so that I can find them easily in the next few weeks!

First of all, take time to read the article that prompted our conversation: Even Geniuses Work Hard.  If you haven't had a chance to read C. Dweck's book, Mindset, now is a great time to get started! Also, if you get a chance to take Jo Boaler's course on How to Learn Math, that is definitely worthwhile as well! And if you need a shortcut, check out this packet!

Good mathematics is NOT how many answers you know  –  but how you behave when you don’t know. (See post!)

How to inspire growth mindset in our classrooms:

1. Help students identify their mindset - use a "quiz" like this one or this one or this one or this one!
2. Teach the vocabulary.  Put these words on the board, "Word Splash," and ask students to categorize them:  ability, attitude, challenge, effort, fixed mindset, grit, growth mindset, intelligence.
3. Share a picture book, The Most Magnificent Thing by Spires
4. Share videos about making mistakes and overcoming: Peter Parker, Michael Jordan, Other Famous Failures
5. Share your own failures!
6. Ask students to write about learning something new and the mistakes, failures they encountered (riding a bike, skating, ??)
7. Create a "failure quote wall" and share mistakes made!
8. Share a quote of the week!  See examples here, here, and here!
9. Be careful what you say ... use this feedback tool!

I plan to make a "no sew banner" for my classroom with one or both of these phrases:

GRIT = SUCCESS

THE POWER of YET

Maybe, just maybe, I'll have that banner ready for a #made4math entry this summer!
By the way, check out the post, the video, and the article on the power of yet!

What great resources do you use to promote, encourage, inspire a growth mindset!?!

#70Days Creating a Risk-Free Environment

Students thanked me for being patient.  Parents thanked me for being nurturing.  Their words, not mine.  But I know some students were intimidated in class, afraid to share their thoughts.   This hurt me.  In the coming year I want my classroom to be safe, risk-free, above all else!

So today I asked on Twitter, #mtbos What specific activities or actions do you take to create a safe, risk-taking classroom environment?  

@jrobbins00 I reward/praise students for failing or getting incorrect answers if answering in front of class.

‏@MCorioFCPS Use interest inventories to build relationships. Also, try the QFocus Techn. to get kids purposefully asking ?s.

‏@MaryBourassa Counting circles & estimation 180.

‏@MaryBourassa Also when putting up a solution, they can choose to make mistakes. No one knows if mistakes are on purpose or not.

@luvbcd Model that mistakes are OK.If Ss see you make a mistake & explain where you want wrong they'll feel safe to do same.

@Borschtwithanna Blogged last night about activities that promote the idea that failure is okay and necessary.

When @MCorioFCPS mentioned interest inventories I realized that was a place I could start.  I use one every year.  I assign it, collect it, read through them ... and promptly file them.  I don't use the information in them effectively, honestly, very little.  This year I want to do something with the information.  I'm not sure what that will look like and if you have good ideas, I'd love to hear them.

I also want to use an idea I found in Math Tools, Grades 3-12: 60+ Ways to Build Mathematical Practices, Differentiate Instruction, and Increase Student Engagement by Silver, Brunsting, Walsh, and Thomas.  Students will answer a question for our warm-up activity that will identify a favorite something.  We'll combine the data and do a quick math activity with it. For example, what is your sports jersey number (or favorite 2-digit number)?  In your group of five, solve this equation with your numbers (a, b, c, d, and e):  a + bx + c(x + d) = e.  Other activities include their favorite shape, their favorite ice cream, their favorite song.  By sharing our favorites aloud and using the data, I hope to help students get to know one another better and get to know me as well.

‏@MaryBourassa mentioned counting circles and estimation 180.  I used Estimation 180 a few times this past year.  My students loved it and asked for more.  But I got caught up in "covering" curriculum and didn't take the five minutes to enjoy the estimation.  There, I confessed.  I have to fix that.  

I was unfamiliar with counting circles so I looked it up.  I found Sadie Estrella's presentation at Twitter Camp last year.  But as I watched it I wondered how I could make that work with advanced students in Algebra 2.  Then I read @jacehan's blog about counting circles in Algebra 2.  He provided some excellent ideas!

I remembered last year that someone posted a weekly warm-up routine handout.  I scanned through #made4math and found the one that @algebraniac1 made.  I like hers and plan to modify it since we are on an A/B schedule.  I think using a warm-up routine that taps into some of the super math sites with engaging visual math situations will help promote discourse and give opportunities for all of us to make mistakes and learn from them.

This past year I used My Favorite No fairly often in the second semester.  I think this activity helped our community of learners become comfortable with mistakes because we talked about what the student did well as well as the errors made.  Using the process early in the year, and more regularly may help us accept the idea of mistakes more easily.

In our #EduRead chat on Wednesday night we talked about using growth mindset language and teaching students about grit.  @kklaster mentioned teaching the vocabulary, grit, frustration, comfort zone, and telling students, "Today is a 'grit' day" so that they are prepared for a struggle! She writes about teaching "grit" here!

I look forward to more reading this summer - how to create a safe, risk-free environment.  If you have specific activities, please share in the comments!

School's Out ... PD on the horizon ...

School has ended!  YaHOOO!

Now I am thinking about professional development ... the kind I structure for myself as well as the work that my school wants me to participate in.

I want to read at least two books ...

The first one is Embedded Formative Assessment by Wiliam.  Formative assessment is and continues to be the primary initiative in our school.  Our principal and all others who visit our room, comment on lessons, evaluate our work, expect to see standards broken down in chunks and assessment of each of those chunks.

I chose this particular book on formative assessment because of druin's compelling thoughts as she read the book recently.  I look forward to sharing what I learn as she did!

The other book I want to read is Mindset by C. Dweck.  I work with students who lack motivation in math.  I want them to believe that they can grow in their math ability ... that ability is NOT fixed!  This blog post attracted my attention!

I also noticed this book/author when signing up for a MOOC this summer!  The MOOC is from Stanford University, EDUC115N How to Learn Math.  The following concepts are discussed:
CONCEPTS
1. Knocking down the myths about math.
2. Math and Mindset.
3. Teaching Math for a Growth Mindset.
4. Mistakes, Challenges & Persistence.
5. Conceptual Learning. Part I. Number Sense.
6. Conceptual Learning. Part II. Connections, Representations, Questions.
7. Appreciating Algebra.
8. Going From This Course to a New Mathematical Future.

I'm hoping that through the reading and the participation in the Stanford course, that I'll be better prepared to lead students to a growth mindset and ultimately success in Algebra.  

This past year all my students passed the course, and 95% passed the state end of course exam.  I'm celebrating that success but I want a deeper understanding and more tools for making this next year even more successful!

What professional reading or activities do you have planned for this year?