What is Mindset?

And why does Mrs. Katchen teach this?

Every so often a truly groundbreaking idea comes along. This is one. Mindset explains:

• Why brains and talent don’t bring success
• How they can stand in the way of it
• Why praising brains and talent doesn’t foster self-esteem and accomplishment, but jeopardizes them
• How teaching a simple idea about the brain raises grades and productivity
• What all great CEOs, parents, teachers, athletes know

Mindset is a simple idea discovered by world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck in decades of research on achievement and success—a simple idea that makes all the difference.

In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. They’re wrong.

In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities.

Teaching a growth mindset creates motivation and productivity in the worlds of business, education, and sports. It enhances relationships. If you read Mindset, you’ll see how. I highly recommend it! It changed my life and my teaching!

Here are some pictures from a lesson on Mindset. Student worked independently to answer a couple questions. Then they worked with a group of 3-4 students to listen to each others ideas and work together to find another way to answer the question. This time they incorporated everyones ideas and/or created an answer based on new thinking developed from having an open mind while listening to each others ideas. What an amazing exercise. You would be so proud of how hard they worked on this.