How to Foster a Growth Mindset: In Your Students and Yourself

Transcription

1 How to Foster a Growth Mindset: In Your Students and Yourself Welcome to today s webinar. The webinar will start promptly at 11:00 a.m. Central time. Until then, you may hear periodic announcements of our start time, but don t worry if you hear silence for a while. We are here and look forward to sharing today s topic with you. While you are waiting, you might enjoy taking our Mindset Quiz at You can download the slides and other materials we will be discussing today at the Handouts Tab (next to the Chat Tab).

2 How to Foster a Growth Mindset: In Your Students and Yourself July 2017

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4 Keys to Mastering Mindset Mindset How we think about change How we think, how we change how we think Cognition Meta- Cognition How we think about how we think

5 Fixed and Growth Mindsets Fixed Mindset Intelligence and talent are inborn traits In order to be successful, you have to have natural talent Failure and mistakes are to be avoided Growth Mindset Intelligence and talent are developed In order to be success, you must learn from mistakes Mistakes are opportunities for learning

6 Fixed and Growth Mindsets Fixed Mindset I just can t do this. Everyone else had an unfair advantage. More excuses. Avoidance. Growth Mindset I can do this if I work at it. I just haven t figured it out YET. I wonder what I can learn from this mistake.

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8 Look Carefully at Your Own Mindset We all have some growth mindset ideas and some fixed mindset ideas. Think about: Times you have failed or have made mistakes Times that someone gave you negative feedback Something you really weren t very good at when you first tried it and how you developed your ability Areas where you have a greater growth mindset or more of a fixed mindset Your patterns and triggers

9 Understand How Brains Grow The brain s ability to grow and change (neuroplasticity) is what a Growth Mindset is all about and why it is so powerful. Understand what learning is in the brainand how the brain changes can be a strong catalyst for a Growth Mindset.

10 How the Brain Works

11 The brain is composed of about 85 billion brain cells (neurons) which communicate at junctures called synapses.

12 What neurons actually look like in your brain.

13 Cerebral cortex neurons in a newborn and a two-year-old. This is a picture of learning.

14 Learning & Memory Learning is the act of making and strengthening connections between thousand of neurons forming neural networks or maps. Memory is the ability to reconstruct or reactivate the previously-made connections. Neurons that fire together, wire together! Our brains are shaped by our experience and our brains must construct our understanding of the world.

15 Mistakes Involve New Neural Connections

16 Two Brains Playing a Computer Game

17 Our Brains on Mistakes

18 If we believe this, how do we express it? DON T CARRY YOUR MISTAKES AROUND WITH YOU. INSTEAD, PLACE THEM UNDER YOUR FEET AND USE THEM AS STEPPING STONES.

19 Your child/student has gotten a C+ on a test. Which statement will most effectively reinforce a growth mindset? 1. That s ok. You probably will never use that type of math in the real world. 2. Boy, that test looks really hard. It doesn t seem like the teacher was very fair. 3. You have the ability and I m sure you ll get a better grade the next time. 4. A C+? That s a pretty good grade, all things considered! 5. Well, this time you earned a C+. What will you do differently next time?

20 Think about These Statements Wow, you re so smart. You aced that test and barely studied for it. That s OK. Spelling isn t that important. That teacher of yours sure picked some hard spelling words this week. Don t get down on yourself. You ll get it if you just keep trying. Hey, it s ok. You tried your best and that s all we can expect. You re a real natural. Way to go.

21 Another Story They didn t win So Mom went out and bought him a trophy.

22 Ways to Foster a Growth Mindset Present skills as learnable. Convey that you value learning and understand what it takes to develop abilities. Convey that it doesn t all depend on innate talent. Give feedback that promotes learning and trying new strategies and approaches. Make it clear that you (and other adults and peers) are resources for learning. We will all help each other learn. Model your own growth mindset (I wonder what I can learn from that mistake/experience.) Teach about how the brain learns.

23 Statements that Foster a Growth Mindset When you learn something new, it grows that part of your brain. That feeling of math being hard is the feeling of your brain growing. The point is not to get it all right off the bat. The points is to build your understanding step by step. What do you think you can try next? Well, you ve figured out some ways it didn t work. Let s see what else we can try. You re really making progress. I can t wait to see how you will continue to grow your ability.

24 Keys to Mastering Mindset Mindset How we think about change How we think, how we change how we think Cognition Meta- Cognition How we think about how we think

25 Cognition: Intelligence G? (one thing) Gf (Fluid Intelligence) and Gc(Crystallized Intelligence) (two things) Ability to reason and problem-solve in novel situations Multiple Intelligences (Several things) The imagination network and the executive network The ability to assemble and integrate multiple mental processes to solve new challenges and to learn from them

26 Cognition

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31 Cognition

32 Growth in Proficiency Levels by Cognitive Process Students with SLD 90 is the level expected of normally developing student Control Pre-Test Control Post-Test BrainWare Pre-Test BrainWare Post-Test Executive Functions Visual Working Memory Verbal Working Memory Processing Speed Short Term Memory Auditory Processing Broad Attention "Effect of Neuroscience-Based Cognitive Skill Training on Growth of Cognitive Deficits Associated with Learning Disabilities Sarah AbitbolAvtzon. Learning Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal. 2012

33 Qualifying as Gifted in South Carolina Performance on Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) and/or academic performance. 96 th percentile composite score on CogAT, or 93 rd percentile in one subtest plus performance or achievement testing. In , no students in a particular elementary school qualified for the gifted program. In , all second graders in that school used BrainWare SAFARI to develop their cognitive skills.

34 More Students Qualified as Gifted Age Percentile Rankings Before and After Cognitive Training Student ID Verbal Quantitative Non-Verbal Composite SC107 35/50 57/87 65/95 55/84 SC110 55/91 71/77 88/99 75/95 SC111 16/35 38/60 73/94 40/69 SC151 91/93 79/86 84/95 88/94 SC154 50/40 77/84 92/96 79/81 SC161 62/89 84/91 89/97 83/95 SC165 27/71 43/69 73/93 48/83 SC173 91/98 77/95 73/98 84/99 SC /71 86/95 85/98 81/95

35 Growth at All Ability Levels Percentage of Students 16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 9% 6% 14% 14% 9% 9% 12% 10% 14% 11% 11% 10% 11% 15% 7% 11% 4% 8% 4% 10% Pre-Test Post-Test 2% 0% Percentile Ranges BrainWare SAFARI: Broad-Based Improvement of Cognitive Ability, The BrainWare Company, 2010, additional unpublished data

36 Best Predictors of Giftedness Love of work, persistence Having a purpose in life Deep thinking Tolerance of mistakes, being open to change Risk-taking Feeling comfortable as a minority of one Afuture image of themselves From a presentation at Learning and the Brain by Scott Kauffman, a psychologist, author, and Co-Editor of The Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence,

37 Keys to Mastering Mindset Mindset How we think about change How we think, how we change how we think Cognition Meta- Cognition How we think about how we think

38 Metacognition Thinking about thinking. Analyzing how we can learn from mistakes. Planning how to approach a learning task. Monitoring comprehension. Evaluating progress. Understanding how to best use our cognitive abilities and how to continue to improve them.

39 Insights into How an Individual Learns

40 Strengths Complex Reasoning STUDENT is an extremely capable learner with all complex reasoning skills well within or above the expected range. The ability to work capably and consistently with information in different formats (visual, spatial and language-based) provides a strong foundation for understanding complex concepts across subjects. Provide STUDENT with authentic opportunities to nurture these skills and to discover his true interests so he continues to experience new challenges, enjoy learning, and strengthen his problem-solving skills. Visual Memory STUDENT Sstrong visual memory can contributeto efficient learning and retention across subjects. Visual memory can be especially helpful in remembering images such as graphs, charts and designs. Visualizing or drawing a picture could help STUDENT more efficiently remember what he reads or hears. Visual note-taking might also be a good option.

41 Skills to Support Flexible Thinking While STUDENT's flexible thinking iswithin the expected range, it is not as strongas his reasoning skills. You might notice more frustration than you might expect with novel problems or unexpected situations. It also might impact his ability to transition between tasks or adapt to new instructions. If STUDENT ever has difficulty with novel problems or making adjustments, You can coach him how to generate and evaluate multiple alternatives. Having strategies can help in more comfortably handle new types of challenging problems. Attention STUDENT had significant difficulty on the attention task. it will be important to continue to support his attention. STUDENT might benefit from reduced distractions and more frequent, schedule breaks to support his focus..

42 Really Getting Growth Mindset Our blend of mindsets evolve over time (work on it). When you hear praise the effort, not the outcome, BEWARE! It isn t just about grit or perseverance or stick-to-it-iveness, it is about smart practice. Different strategies Getting help from peers or adults It is also about the outcome. Don t tell them they did well when objectively they didn t. Help them understand where they are and what they need to do to reach a new level. Don t just espouse a Growth Mindset. Establish policies to reward, development opportunities, specific feedback.

43 Where Can a Growth Mindset Get You?

44 Questions?

45 Let s stay connected Betsy Hill bhill@mybrainware.com