Day 76: The Secret to Success May Be in the Words We Use

Helping Kids Create a Dynamic-Learning Mindset

Those of us who work with children or who have children of our own have been in a situation where a child has shut down and declares, "I'll never be good at this."

Typically, we adults empathize with the frustrated kid because we know that learning something new can be frustrating.  So what do we usually say? "Don't worry, you'll get it. You're smart!"

We say this because we know it's true: The child will get this because they've figured things out before.  However, when we say things like "you're smart", we are actually doing more harm than good.

In his book Opening Minds: Using Language to Change Lives, Peter H. Johnston makes a compelling argument to be careful about how we respond to kids.  Johnston explains that when we say things like "you're smart", research shows that we are actually telling kids you are either smart or you are not.  We are reinforcing what Johnston and Carol Dweck call a "fixed mindset".  This is a state of mind from where the phrase "I'm not good at this" comes.  Kids (and adults) believe that you either get it or you don't when research actually suggests otherwise.

Johnston suggests that the words we use can help kids change their mindset to more of a "dynamic-learning" mindset, where the possibility of learning and getting better at something drives us to keep at something that is challenging.  Instead of saying "I'm not good at ________", we should be teaching kids to think "I'm not good at this yet."  Doing so will reinforce many positive outcomes:

• Kids will take more risks with their learning;
• Kids will not be afraid of failing;
• Kids will discover that learning is mostly an experience in not knowing at first.

To underscore these outcomes, Johnston cites a study by Dweck of children and fixed versus growth mindsets.  Researchers had two groups of students take a "non-verbal-reasoning" test.  One group of children was told after taking the test, "This is your score.  It's a very good score.  You must have worked hard."  Researchers told the other group of students, "This is your score.  It's a very good score.  You must be smart."

Next, both groups of students were told that the next day they were going to take more of the tests but that they could choose the next one.  They could take an easy one, like the one they already took, or one that is more challenging but one from which they might learn more.

We would expect the kids who were told they were "smart" would have a boost in their self-esteem and take the challenging test.  However, only about one-third of the "you-must-be-smart" group took the challenging test.  

On the other hand, more than 90% of the "you-must-have-worked-hard" students took the challenging test (p. 12).  Furthermore, the "worked-hard" students did better than they did on the first test.  And the "you-must-be-smart" kids?  You guessed it - they did worse than they did on the first test (p. 13).

Such a small difference in language can have profound effects on how kids see themselves as learners and how we adults can help create a foundation for success.  I highly recommend parents and teacher read Opening Minds.

Day 75: Painting to Rediscover the Joy of Reading

There are moments when even the things that brings joy and happiness into our lives gets a little too familiar.  It happens at our jobs, at home, or with our everyday routines.  This sometimes happens to readers too, especially young readers. We forget why it is we love reading - our excitement dwindles and we stop looking forward to picking up a good book.  

Recently, 2nd graders in Mrs. Ley and Mrs. Baker's class stepped outside of their routine in order to reconnect with their love of reading.  With the help of Mrs. Wendt, students created paintings inspired by the book Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Cooney.  The book is a story about a woman who wanted to bring joy and beauty into the world by planting lupine, a beautiful purple flowering plant.  The excitement of painting generated by the students helped rekindle their love of reading.

Finding a unique way to reconnect to the joy of reading taught us that sometimes we need to break free from the routine to help ourselves remember to find joy in the things that we do everyday.

Day 74: Roger, 5th Grade Student

Fractions Were the Worst Thing in My Life.

"I couldn't get anything right.  I didn't understand it.  It was confusing.  I felt like I would never catch up and that I failed myself."

Many of us can relate to the feelings Roger, a 5th grade student in Mrs. Humm's class, felt about fractions.  When we don't understand something, it can affect us in different ways.  If we know it is important to understand something, yet find ourselves constantly not "getting it", it can make us feel very defeated as learners.  This is where persistence pays off.

Roger worked with Mrs. Humm to keep at it when it came to understanding fractions.  "Mrs. Humm found a way to make it easier.  [For example], I always thought you had to subtract the denominators from each other.  Like 1/5 - 2/10 would be 1/5.  She said not to subtract the denominator and that cleared up everything.  That one thing opened the door for me."  After that, Roger felt confident about the work he was doing with fractions.

Lessons like these stick with us as we continue to grow as learners because we proved it to ourselves that we can set goals for ourselves and achieve these goals.