Remote Learning Round-Up: Mindset
I am in a weird spot. As a school psychologist, the work I do with students, be it psychological testing, screenings for well-being, or classroom consultation, does not translate very easily to virtual classrooms. In the span of a month, the world has turned upside down. I had read rumblings of COVID-19 leading to school closures. I never thought that this could mean shutting down school for the foreseeable future. The doors shut initially on March 13th for us in Massachusetts. They said we would be back on March 30th. Then April 7th. Now they are saying May 4th (May the 4th be with us), I doubt that to be the case. States nationwide are announcing schools will be closed for the remainder of the year. Learning is moving to the digital, remote world, and we are figuring it out as we go.
Working as a mental health provider in schools, my primary role is to offer support to educators and students alike. I do this by helping my students access learning in a way that fits their own individual needs. A classroom is not a glove-fits-all experience. We cannot assume anything about the environments our students are now learning in. I feel like since we accelerated into distance/remote/virtual (whatever your district is calling it) learning, there has been a deluge of resources, opportunities and experiences. I am overwhelmed by the nonstop flooding of information.
I have been creating themes to organize the resources I have come across, some geared towards teachers, others catered towards families. Some are just articles I have read or visuals I have seen that resonated with me. This is how I am attempting to navigate remote learning. I am taking the downpour of information and filtering it into manageable buckets (I live for a good metaphor, I cannot help myself).
I thought starting with mindset seemed appropriate. Mindset is a collection of thoughts and beliefs that shape your view of reality. After all, shifting our own mindsets is the first step in preparing ourselves to tackle remote learning. A positive attitude and a flexible mindset are key to make the online transition as smooth as possible.
Articles
These articles I have read helped me to bridge the necessary shift in mindset to tackle this pandemic:
Teaching Through a Pandemic: A Mindset for This Moment (Edutopia)
Empowering Our Minds Against a Pandemic (Psychology Today)
Managing the Stress and Uncertainty of Coronavirus (Harvard Business Review Podcast)
How to Keep the Greater Good in Mind During the Coronavirus Outbreak (Greater Good Magazine- UC Berkeley)
A Brain Hack to Break the Coronavirus Anxiety Cycle (NY Times)
Instructional Resources
These educational materials help introduce the idea of a growth mindset to your child/student. These are all things kids can do to expand their understanding.
Growth Mindset Lesson Plan for Grades 6–8 (Common Sense)
Growth Mindset Mini-Lesson (NearPod SEL)
Growth Mindset Coloring Sheets
25 Instant Family Positivity Boosters (Printable by Big Life Journal)
Growth Mindset Themed Children’s Movies
The Power of Yet (Sesame Street); Follow up prompt for writing: Think about a time when you could not do something well. Describe the time. What feelings did you have? Why is it important to believe in yourself?
Bruno Mars and the Growth Mindset (Sesame Street); Journal Prompt: Ask the following question: Where can you use the power of “yet” in your own life? Have students make a poster of one thing they have not learned — yet.
Growth Mindset Reflection Worksheet (Understood for All, Inc)
Questions to ask your students/children that encourage growth mindset (Understood for All, Inc)
Visuals
These are some visuals that have appeared on my Facebook feed the last few weeks and made me think.
Additional Resources & Research
These are additional resources on a growth mindset that are more generalized pre-COVID-19, but are still excellent resources.
General Resources
- Decades of Scientific Research That Started a Mindset Revolution
- Mindsets and Math/Science Achievement
- Mindset Works — Resources to ignite with the power of growth mindset
- Mindset Assessment Profile Tool — NY Department of Education
- Growth Mindset Feedback Tool — Mindset Works
- Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
- The Power of Believing You Can Improve — Carol Dweck, TedTalk
- Fixed vs Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets that Shape Our Lives — BrainPickings
- Revisiting Growth Mindset — Carol Dweck, EdWeek
- How to Help Every Child Fulfill Their Potential — RSA Animate
- Growth Mindset: A Driving Philosophy, Not Just a Tool — Larry Ferlazzo
- The Mindset Kit: A free online course from Stanford about activities and strategies to help students develop growth mindsets.
- Academic Tenacity: Mindsets and Skills that Promote Long-Term Learning — A report summarizing the research on non-academic factors like growth mindset, grit, and self-efficacy that allow students to work harder and smarter over time.
- Strategies for Helping Students Motivate Themselves — Larry Ferlazzo
- 100 Growth Mindset Quotes from History’s Greatest Thinkers — EdTech
- How to Weave Growth Mindset into School Culture — MindShift
- Why Talking About the Brain Can Empower Learners — Mindshift
- Taking Teachers from Binary to Continuous Growth Mindsets — EduLeadership
- Promoting Growth Mindset Means Checking Biases at the Door — Experts say educators must confront personal biases before they can address students’ mindsets
- 100 Percent is Overrated, The Atlantic — People who are labeled “smart” at a young age don’t deal well with being wrong
- Stanford Professor Urges Teachers to Rethink Math Instruction — EdSource
- Recognizing and Overcoming False Growth Mindset- Edutopia
- Teachers Seize On ‘Growth Mindset,’ But Crave More Training — EdWeek
- Mindset Resources on Facebook
Resources for Educators
- Creating a Growth Mindset in Your School: Playbook, Vol. 1
- Being a Growth Mindset Facilitator — Dr. Jackie Gerstein
- Novels for Young Adults that Teach Growth Mindset — Edutopia
- The Best Resources on Helping Students Develop a Growth Mindset — Larry Ferlazzo
- Growth Mindset Reflective Questions for Teachers — Dr. Jackie Gerstein
- A Professional Development Workshop: Growth Mindset
- Developing a Growth Mindset in Teachers and Staff — Edutopia
- Cultivating a Growth Mindset in Staff and Students — Center for the Collaborative Classroom
- Nudges That Help Struggling Students to Succeed
- 5 Ways Instructional Leaders Can Foster Growth Mindset in Teachers — TeachBoost
- Leadership Resources and Growth Mindset for Leaders
- Nurturing Intrinsic Motivation and Growth Mindset in Writing — Review tips from a high school English instructor about how to conduct better conferences with students; take a look at specific examples of process praise and feedback that can encourage autonomy, purpose, and choice. (LITERACY)
- Growth Mindset and the Common Core Math Standards — Cindy Bryant (MATH)
- ‘Not a Math Person’: How to Remove Obstacles to Learning Math — Katrina Schwartz (MATH)
- The Intersection Between Growth Mindset and Maker Education (MAKERSPACE)
Infographics, Posters, & Charts
- Changing Our Mindset (infographic)
- 10 Growth Mindset Statements (infographic)
- The Force: Intelligence can be Developed (infographic)
- Growth vs Fixed Mindsets — Graphic representations of growth vs. fixed mindsets as described by Carol Dweck
- The Educator and the Growth Mindset (infographic)
If you know of any materials related to learning about or teaching mindset, please share in the comments. I am always eager to learn more (after all, I got to keep that growth mindset)!
Next time I will be doing a deep dive into creating schedules and routines.