USING GROWTH MINDSET TO MOTIVATE STUDENTS

Thomas Westenholz, the founder of Positive Edge Program, authored a short article on how to use growth mindset to motivate students, including a list of five easy ways to use growth mindset in improving students’ motivation.

Here, I linked each of Westenholz' five “easy ways” to various related on-line resources. Many of these resources would be great to show to your students.

1. Introduce growth mindset in your classes: TED Talk by Eduardo Briceno, and Carol Dweck speaks at Stanford University.


2. Use mistakes as a learning opportunity: Celebrate Mistakes, an on-line lesson for teachers


3. Administer positive praise: A Study on Positive Praise and Mindsets
   Disclaimer: while growth mindset emphasizes “process over product,” praising effort alone or telling students "you can do anything" does not improve performance. Please see an excellent Edutopia article on “false growth mindset.”


4. Show students examples of past failures: Famous Failures


5. Help students find value in learning: Trevor Ragan's The Learning Machine