Growth mindset is a fairly new concept that is sweeping the education world. It is the idea that our brains are capable of changing and growing, and that we need to believe is this in order for growth to occur. Fixed mindset, on the other hand, is the idea that we are “born with what we have.” People with fixed mindsets believe they are not capable of learning or succeeding in a certain task or skill. Instilling students with a growth mindset is important in every subject, but it needs to become a necessity in math.
Students will often enter middle and high school math having an idea about whether they are a “math person” or not. This thinking is detrimental to the success of the student in learning and achievement. Students who think they are good at math will become easily discouraged when they are faced with math that is far beyond their current ability. They are afraid of messing up and so they do not try something new or more difficult. Students who think they are not a math person, will not feel like they can do or learn any new math. They become discouraged and frustrated easily during math class, which can also lead to classroom management problems.
When instilling a growth mindset in your math students, it is important to teach them that when they make a mistake, their brains grow. Students are often afraid of making mistakes in a math class, and so teachers must create an environment where students feel comfortable trying new things and failing or making mistakes. One way to do this is to pick a favorite mistake and share out why you liked the mistake and what can be learned from it. Another way is to have class “math talk” in which students are sharing out their thoughts and critiquing each other’s thinking. This allows students to learn from each other without being afraid of being wrong.
Miss Wieberg 