The Learning Brain: Growth Mindset and Effective Effort in the Classroom

Jared Peet – History Departmentjpeet@acs.edu.lb

1. Your intelligence is something very basic about you that you can’t change very much.

2. You can learn new things, but you can’t really change how intelligent you are.

3. No matter how much intelligence you have, you can always change it quite a bit.

4. You can always substantially change how intelligent you are.

Intelligence: How Smart You Are

1. You are a certain kind of person, and there is not much that can be done to really change that.

2. You can do things differently, but the important parts of who you are can’t really be changed.

3. No matter what kind of person you are, you can always change substantially.

4. You can always change basic things about the kind of person you are.

Personality & Character: Who You Are

1. You have certain talents, and there is not much that can be done to really change that.

2. You can try to master new things, but your basic talents can’t really be changed.

3. No matter what talents you have, you can always change them somewhat.

4. You can always significantly change your talents.

Talent: How Gifted You Are

1. Your intelligence is something very basic about you that you can’t change very much.

2. You can learn new things, but you can’t really change how intelligent you are.

3. No matter how much intelligence you have, you can always change it quite a bit.

4. You can always substantially change how intelligent you are.

Intelligence: How Smart You Are

1. You are a certain kind of person, and there is not much that can be done to really change that.

2. You can do things differently, but the important parts of who you are can’t really be changed.

3. No matter what kind of person you are, you can always change substantially.

4. You can always change basic things about the kind of person you are.

Personality & Character: Who You Are

1. You have certain talents, and there is not much that can be done to really change that.

2. You can try to master new things, but your basic talents can’t really be changed.

3. No matter what talents you have, you can always change them somewhat.

4. You can always significantly change your talents.

Talent: How Gifted You Are

GOALS – Why are we doing this?

Students will not fear failure.

Students will become more

meta-cognitive.

Struggling

students will learn “effective

effort.”

Objectives: Participants will know:

• A person’s ‘mindset’ about intelligence has a significant effect on his or her achievement, success and happiness.• There are six elements of ‘effective effort’ that are each essential components in turning “hard work” into achievement.•Practical steps to “saturate the environments” of their classrooms with a growth mindset

Evidence about Ability(Defines who you are)Fixed

Evidence about Progress(Defines where you are)Growth

EVENT

Goal = Look Smart

Goal = Learn

PERFORMANCE

It’s All About Perception!

Challenges Embrace Challenges Avoid Challenges

Obstacles Persist in the face of setbacks

Get Defensive orGive up Easily

Effort Effort = Path to mastery

Effort = Only for ‘ungifted’

Criticism Learn from Criticism

Ignore Negative Feedback

Success of Others

Find lessons and Inspiration Feel Threatened

Growth MindsetDesire to LEARN

Fixed MindsetDesire to LOOK SMART

Effects of the Mindsets on Achievement

Saturate the Environment

Goal:Change

Mindsets Teach Effective

Effort

Praise & Feedback

TEACH EFFECTIVE EFFORT

Teach Effective Effort

Commitment

Time

Focus

Strategies

Resourcefulness

Feedback

Effective Effort Pyramid

SATURATE THE ENVIRONMENT

COURSE POLICIES AND PROCEDURESDAILY ROUTINES

STORIES AND VISUALS

Policies and Procedures:Syllabus

Policies and Procedures:Late Work and Test Corrections

Daily Routines

• The Five Bs– Brain– Book – Board– Buddy– Boss

• “I don’t know . . . Yet!”• Email a week

Saturate the Environment

Course Structure

• Course Goals

• Grading Policy

• Late work

• Other?

Daily Routines

Stories & Visuals

Can’t…Yet!

PRAISE AND FEEDBACK

STUDENT-TEACHER INTERACTIONS

Praise & Feedback

“You learned that so quickly! You’re so smart.”“If I don’t learn something quickly, I’m not smart. I should avoid doing things that I can’t learn quickly.”

“Look at that drawing. Martha, is he the next Picasso or what?”“I shouldn’t try to draw anything difficult or they’ll see I am no Picasso.”

“You’re so brilliant! You got an A without even studying!”“I’d better not study or they won’t think I am brilliant.”

“I’m disappointed in you.”“You’re lazy.”

“Something is wrong with me. There’s no reason to bother to try. I can’t change. There’s nothing I can do about this situation. I feel bad about myself.”

“Wow- you put a lot more time into this than before and look how it came out!”“Great job today in class. You were really focused on the work and didn’t let yourself get distracted.”“I’m impressed by how you tried this over and over until you got it without giving up.”

“You’re stuck on this problem. Can you find a different approach?”“This essay has a lot of grammatical errors. Who could you ask to proofread it for you?”

Clear Feedback

• Students need honest, constructive feedback– Don’t protect them from failure!

• “Yeah, that’s sort of right. Who can build on that?”

• “That’s not correct, but pay attention because you’re about to learn something, and that’s awesome!”

Saturate the Environment

Goal:Change

Mindsets Teach Effective

Effort

Praise & Feedback

Is it working?

“For next time I will use the study tips Mr. Peet gave me when I had a meeting with him. I must use homework assignments as a study guide, use Powerpoints as resources, always focus on details and don’t just read I should take notes and discuss the topic with another person to show how much I know and understood.”

-Student who scored a C- on first test

Is it working?“To do better, I must follow the steps to effective effort. I realized I have been doing 3 things wrong. I haven’t been asking the teacher questions when I am stuck, I have been multitasking a lot and this leads to loss of full focus on studying for the test, and I have been underestimating the time needed to study for the test. I realized that I should ask Mr. Peet a question every single time I am a little confused. I should also split up my time by watching TV and entertaining myself for 2 hours before so I can satiate my entertainment needs so I don’t feel the need to multitask with Facebook and TV and that way I can be fully focused on studying. I have made a plan so that I study for the maximum amount of days, for 1 hour everyday just so the material can sink in and so I have enough time to ask Mr. Peet all necessary questions.”

-Student who scored a B+ on first test

QUESTIONS?

Jared Peetjpeet@acs.edu.lb