I’ve shared a little bit about growth mindset in other posts here on the blog, but I can’t believe I haven’t dedicated an entire post to the important concept. Growth mindset is a way of thinking that can transform your classroom and empower your students to reach their highest potential. Let’s explore what it is, why it matters, and how you can nurture growth mindset in your students.

What Is a Growth Mindset

A growth mindset is the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed with effort, learning, and persistence. A good way to explain a growth mindset is by telling your students that their brains are like a muscle that gets stronger the more they use it. 

Understanding the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset is crucial to creating an environment where all students can learn and grow.

A fixed mindset is the belief that abilities, intelligence, and talents are static traits that cannot be changed. Students with a fixed mindset often think, “I’m just not good at this,” or “I was born smart.” They tend to avoid challenges, give up easily, and feel threatened by the success of others. This mindset can limit their potential because they are less likely to try new things or push their boundaries for fear of failure or criticism.

On the other hand, a growth mindset is the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication, effort, and learning. Students with a growth mindset embrace challenges, persevere in the face of setbacks, and see effort as a path to mastery. They are inspired by others’ successes and view failure as a learning opportunity, which fosters resilience and adaptability.

For example, instead of thinking, “I can’t do this,” a student with a growth mindset might say, “I can’t do this yet.” 

Why Growth Mindset Matters

By promoting a growth mindset, teachers can help students unlock their potential, encouraging a more positive and productive approach to learning and development. 

Growth mindset is an important part of SEL (social-emotional learning) that helps students see challenges as opportunities for learning and improvement. This mindset encourages resilience, adaptability, and a willingness to embrace new challenges across all subject areas (and life!). Students with a growth mindset are more likely to embrace challenges, persist in the face of setbacks, and see failure as a pathway to success. That’s a super important life skill!

Ways to Cultivate a Growth Mindset

Growth Mindset lessons and growth mindset “talk” have truly become a staple in my classroom. I have had a growth mindset display for years, which is a great visual mindset reminder for all of the lessons below. 

You can also download this FREE activity to go with it! I selected several of my favorite growth mindset quotes, added some thoughtful reflection questions, and included a couple of biographies about famous people who have a growth mindset.

Teach Students About Their Brains

I teach a brain unit at the beginning of each year and tie it in with the science behind a growth mindset, which is an important life skill to develop!

Here’s a list of the books we use for our brain unit (Amazon affiliate links):

• The Fantastic Bureau of Imagination
• Bubble Gum Brain
• How To Train Your Pet Brain
• Your Fantastic Elastic Brain
• Lobe Your Brain
• Big Brain Book
• The Brain is Kind of a Big Deal
• Brains! Not Just a Zombie Snack

Growth Mindset Journal

After learning about how the brain works and its structure, we focus on a growth mindset with this Growth Mindset Paired Passages Journal. This journal introduces students to the concept of a growth mindset, including brain research, how to cultivate a growth mindset, and what the differences are between a fixed and a growth mindset. It features four pages of growth mindset introduction and five sets of growth mindset paired passages!

Students read 10 inspiring stories in the form of paired passages (one fiction and one nonfiction for each story) about people who faced challenges and overcame obstacles with a growth mindset. Each set of paired passages includes opportunities for annotating the text with growth mindset questions, plus two written responses for students to reflect on the characters in the stories.

Picture Books for Growth Mindset

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Picture books are one of the greatest tools we can use to teach our students. There are so many different layers and components to each book. Each book has its purpose (or multiple purposes), and sometimes you have to dig and find it. 

That’s why I created an entire Moving Mountains with Picture Books SEL curriculum. I wanted to implement specific lessons that would resonate with kids and have a lasting impact on their mental health. So, I set out to create a full year of lessons focused on critical character-building skills using one of my favorite things ever – picture books!

I created this The Thing Lou Couldn’t Do picture book companion to help students learn about and develop a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset. Simply grab the beautiful picture book The Thing Lou Couldn’t Do by Ashley Spires (Amazon affiliate link) and pair it with Moving Mountains for the perfect SEL literacy resource.

You’ll teach your students allll about a growth mindset with five days of complete lesson plans for SEL tntegration to help your students: 

• define growth mindset and identify the differences between and growth and fixed mindset.
• apply their knowledge about growth mindset when learning something new, experiencing challenges, and facing new situations.

Download A FREE Book Companion

You can try one of our book companions for FREE to use with Thankful by Elaine Vickers! The plans include the perfect picture book companion activities to help students learn the importance of gratitude.

Daily Reflection Journal

This Daily Writing and Self-Reflection Journal will also help you build essential writing skills while incorporating a growth mindset, self-reflection, and character development all year long. It’s the ultimate way to incorporate SEL with writing standards for all 40 weeks of school!

Each daily journal is two pages.

Page one is the self-reflection piece. On this engaging page, students are prompted to think about their lives, emotions, and character.

Page two is a more in-depth journal prompt. Here, students are given a full page to create a variety of writing. On this page, students will create personal narratives, use critical thinking, write letters, reflect on an experience, and more!

More Strategies to Encourage a Growth Mindset

Finally, here are additional practical strategies you can implement in your classroom to cultivate a growth mindset among your students:

1. Praise the Process, Not Just the Result: Shift the focus from praising innate talent to applauding effort, strategies, and perseverance. Instead of saying, “You’re so smart,” try, “I’m impressed by how hard you worked on this!”
2. Use Growth Mindset Language: Incorporate phrases that reinforce growth mindset thinking. Encourage students to add “yet” to their self-assessments. For example, “I don’t understand this… yet!” This small shift in language can make a big difference in their outlook.
3. Set Achievable Goals: Help students set realistic, incremental goals that they can work toward. Celebrate small victories along the way to keep motivation high and illustrate progress.
4. Reflect on Mistakes: Create an environment where mistakes are seen as learning opportunities. Encourage students to analyze what went wrong and how they can approach the problem differently next time. Reflection journals or group discussions during morning meetings can be effective tools for this.
5. Model Growth Mindset: Be a role model for your students. Share your own challenges and how you worked through them. When they see that even their teacher learns and grows, it reinforces the idea that growth is a continuous journey.

By infusing these growth mindset strategies into your daily teaching, you will not only help your students develop a growth mindset but also create a supportive classroom culture that values curiosity and learning. Remember, every student has the potential to grow. Let’s nurture their potential together!