1. Growing Smarter:
Techniques that Teach Every Kid
How to Grow a Better Brain
Presented by
Betsey Kennedy
Big Shanty Intermediate
elizabeth.kennedy@cobbk12.org
4. “It has been a long trip," said Milo,
climbing onto the couch where the princesses
sat; "but we would have been here much sooner
if I hadn't made so many mistakes. I'm afraid it's
all my fault."
"You must never feel badly about making
mistakes,” explained Reason quietly, "as long as
you take the trouble to
learn from them. For you
often learn more by being
wrong for the right reasons
than you do by being right
for the wrong reasons.”
5. Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset
• Growth Mindset
– Believe that ability is changeable
– Success is the result of effort
– Smart is something you get, not
something you are
• Fixed Mindset
– Believe that ability is set and
unchangeable
– Accomplishments are related to
natural ability rather than effort
or practice
6. Characteristics of Students
with a Growth Mindset
• Understand that even people with high levels
of intelligence must put effort into their work
• Welcome challenges and stick to difficult tasks
• Find inspiration in the success of others
• Reach higher levels of achievement
7. Where does IQ fit in?
• Intelligence develops over time as a result of
experience
• Alfred Binet
– “A few modern philosophers… assert that an individual’s
intelligence is a fixed quantity, a quantity which cannot be
increased. We must protest and react against this brutal
pessimism… With practice, training, and above all, method, we
manage to increase our attention, our memory, our judgment
and literally to become more intelligent than we were before.”
• Robert Sternberg
– The major factor in whether people achieve expertise “is not
some fixed prior ability, but purposeful engagement.”
8. Characteristics of Students
with a Fixed Mindset
• Seek tasks that prove their intelligence
and avoid tasks that do not
• Little desire to learn
• Intense interest in how they will be
judged
• Believe that effort is not necessary if you
have natural ability
9. “Milo quickly pulled the rule book
from his pocket, opened to the page, and
read, “Ordinance 175389-J: It shall be
unlawful, illegal, and unethical to think,
think of thinking, surmise,
presume, reason, meditate,
or speculate while in the
Doldrums. Anyone breaking
this law shall be severely
punished!”
10. Problems
Caused by a
Fixed Mindset
• Likely to decrease effort when faced with a
challenge
• Academic achievement decreases
over time
• Experience less fulfillment from
learning
• More likely to cheat
11. Occurrence of
Fixed vs. Growth Mindsets
• 40% of students exhibit fixed mindset
• 40% of students exhibit growth mindset
• 20% have mixed mindset
Mixture
20%
Fixed
40%
Growth
40%
12. Teachers can help students to
change their mindsets.
(For better or for worse!)
“You can swim all
day in the Sea of
Knowledge and still
come out
completely dry.
Most people do.”
13. Model a Growth Mindset
• Tell your own stories
• Show pleasure in taking on a challenge
• Apologize when things are easy
• Give work that truly challenges all students
14. “Everybody is so terribly sensitive
Find Examples about the things they know best.”
• Look for examples of growth
mindset and fixed mindset in
books
• Talk about the mindsets in famous individuals
– Great examples of growth mindsets:
• Michael Jordan (cut from high school basketball team)
• Walt Disney (first company went bankrupt)
• Dr. Seuss (first book was rejected by 27 publishers)
• Thomas Edison (sent home from school because he was “too
stupid to learn anything;” later said “I never failed once. I invented
the light bulb. It just happened to be a 2,000-step process.")
• Point out examples in the classroom and school
15. Emphasize Effort
• Praise students for their effort rather than the final
result
• Keep a weekly Effort Log
• Start a classroom “Wall of Effort” to
include famous individuals and
everyday people
• Display work that demonstrates
great effort
“The only thing you can do
• Effort Tickets easily is be wrong, and that's
hardly worth the effort.”
16. Study the Brain
• Teach students the basics of how the brain
works
• Bring up lessons in context (Example: talking
while others are reading)
• Learn about how the
brain makes new
connections and what
happens to bored,
underused brains
(www.Brainology.us)
17. Build Your Brain
• Help students to imagine the brain as a muscle
that can get stronger through workouts or wither
if not challenged
• Teach students about learning styles and help
them to discover their own
• Provide problem-solving
scenarios that encourage
growth mindset thinking
• Draw mind maps and think
about how they change as
we learn more
18. “Ah, this is fine," he
cried triumphantly, holding
up a small medallion on a
chain. He dusted it off, and
engraved on one side were
the words "WHY NOT?"
"That's a good reason
for almost anything - a bit
used perhaps, but still quite
serviceable.”
19. References
Atwood, J. R. (April, 2010). Mindset, motivation and metaphor in school and sport: Bifurcated beliefs and behavior in two different
achievement domains. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Education Research Association, Denver, CO. Retrieved from
http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED509344.pdf
Blackwell, L., Trzesniewski, K., & Dweck, C. (2007). Implicit theories of intelligence predict achievement across an adolescent transition: A
longitudinal study and an intervention. Child Development, 78(1), 246-263. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/
pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&hid=9&sid=3805fb9b-c998-445f-8a5e-476c4db8b13a%40
sessionmgr13
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House Publishing Group.
Dweck, C. (2007). The perils and promises of praise. Educational Leadership, 65(2), 34-39. Retrieved from
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=8&hid=6&sid=4c0a8aa2-861c-482d-b223-1098ea72d9d5%40sessionmgr12
Dyer, H. (1969). Issues in Testing. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED053164.pdf
Jacobson, M.D. (1999, April). I feel like I’m the dumbest in the class: Effort, persistence, and achievement motivation in the classroom. Paper
presented at the meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal. Retrieved from
http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED437415.pdf
Santrock, J. W. (2008). Essentials of life-span development. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
