1. What is your mindset?
A B
•I prefer writing tasks •I prefer kinds of
that challenge me, writing that I am
even if I don’t already good at, and I
succeed at first. avoid writing if I
might make a
mistake.

2. What is your mindset?
C D
•I think that people •I think some people
can become better are naturally talented
writers with practice writers who do not
and instruction. have to learn to
write.

3. What is your mindset?
E F
•If I get critical •If I get critical
feedback or make a feedback or make a
mistake, I need to mistake, I must not
work harder and get be good at what I am
more feedback. doing.

4. Growth and Fixed Mindsets

5. Answers B, D, and F
I prefer kinds of
writing that I am
already good at, and
I avoid writing if I
might make a I think some people
mistake. are naturally
talented writers
who do not have to Do you notice these
learn to write. attitudes in
students?
I think some people
are naturally
talented writers who
do not have to learn
What effect does it
to write. have on them?

6. Fixed Mindset
• Skills are uncontrollable and pre-determined
• Can lead to:
– Giving up
– Avoidance
– Performance focus
– Devaluing effort
– Blame and
helplessness Also called “Entity View” or “Goal
Oriented”

7. Terrell Owens
• GB: I've always wanted to hear
this from TO. Your theory of "If
you got it, flaunt it."
• TO: It's basically just being
confident in who you are. It's like
if you and I were in a contest or
we were going out to the beach,
you would probably be reluctant
to take your shirt off. Right, but in
my case, I work out, I feel like I
have a nice body, then I wouldn't
have a problem taking my shirt
off. I have a number of friends
who tell me if they had my body
they would probably walk around
naked. So that's basically where
that comes from. You just got to
be confident in who you are, and
don't let anybody say or tell you
anything different.

8. Juan Manuel Marquez
On losing to Manny
Pacquiao:
"This is the second robbery
of the two that we had, and
I think this was even more
clear than the first… We
won with the clearer
punches. The audience
protested because they saw
us win again. I thought I got
robbed. It happens again
and again. I don't know
what else I can do to win."

9. When have you found yourself in a
fixed mindset?
What were the benefits and
drawbacks?

10. Other Favorite Fixed Mindsetters

11. Answers A, C, and E
I prefer writing tasks
that challenge me,
even if I don’t
succeed at first. Do you notice these
attitudes in students?
I think that people can
become better writers What effect does it
with practice and
instruction.
have on them?
If I get critical feedback or make a
mistake, I need to work harder
and get more feedback.

12. Growth Mindset
• Skills are malleable and accumulative
• Can lead to:
– Perseverance
– Seeking challenge
– Learning focus
– Valuing effort
– Responsibility
Also called “Incremental View”
Or “Mastery Oriented”

13. Drew Brees
What do you like best about
golf?
I love just how hard a game it
is. It's something you can
never master. You can get
close, but it's one of those
games that keep you coming
back for more. As frustrating
as it can be at times, that one
great shot or one great hole
keeps you coming back.…
You're still working toward
something: you're trying to
birdie every hole, you're trying
to play better than your
handicap. And you play golf
with people you like. There are
so many great elements to it.

14. Jackie Joyner-Kersee
“Some might attribute my
transformation to the laws of
heredity…. But I think it was
my reward for all those hours
of hard work on the bridle
path, the neighborhood
sidewalks and the schoolhouse
corridors…. There is something
about seeing myself improve
that motivates and excites me.
It’s that way now, after six
Olympic medals and five world
records. And it was that way
when I was in junior high, just
starting to enter track meets.”

15. When have
you found
yourself in a
growth
mindset?
What were
the benefits
and
drawbacks?

16. Other Favorite Growth
Mindsetters

17. Mindset Warning Signs

18. Discussion
• Where do you think your mindset comes
from? Where do you think your students’
mindsets come from?
• Do you want to change your mindset? Why or
why not?

19. Changing your mindset
Step 1. Learn to hear your fixed mindset “voice.”
• approaching a challenge
• hitting a setback
• facing criticism
Step 2. Recognize that you have a choice.
Step 3. Talk back to it with a
growth mindset voice.
Step 4. Take the growth mindset
action.

20. Example: “How to Be Creative”
Jonah Lehrer, Wall Street Journal
Creativity can seem like magic. We
look at people like Steve Jobs and Bob
Dylan, and we conclude that they
must possess supernatural powers
denied to mere mortals like us, gifts
that allow them to imagine what has
never existed before. They're
"creative types." We're not….
But creativity is not magic, and there's no such thing as a creative type. Creativity
is not a trait that we inherit in our genes or a blessing bestowed by the angels. It's
a skill. Anyone can learn to be creative and to get better at it. New research is
shedding light on what allows people to develop world-changing products and to
solve the toughest problems. A surprisingly concrete set of lessons has emerged
about what creativity is and how to spark it in ourselves and our work.

21. Example: “How to Be Creative”
Jonah Lehrer, Wall Street Journal
• James Dolan Replied: This is part of the myth that's
perpetuated by this class which says "you can be
anything you want to be" rather than "find what you
do best and work hard to refine it." It results in a lot of
disappointed and frustrated people doing mediocre
work.
• Gary Wilmot Replied: "I have always been able to do
it" . . .well, fine for you, but what about those that
want to learn to do something other than just what
comes naturally to them? Just tell them not to
"perpetuate the myth" . . . ? Being satisfied with what
only comes easy to you sounds a lot like the exact
opposite of innovation.

22. Example: “How to Be Creative”
Jonah Lehrer, Wall Street Journal
Avner Mandelman Wrote: The idea that all people have the same potential…
is nonsense. People are different, and even different groups of people are
different. Pigmies are shorter, Masai are taller. Sure, you can train the first at
great expense to play basketball and do long jumps, but why not train the
Masai instead? Similarly, some humans are much more creative, others much
less. Forcing a non-creative person to be creative is like forcing an introvert to
become a salesman-- or a pigmy to play basketball. You can do it, sure. But
it's a waste of resources, bad management, and bad social politics….A non
creative person can be made into Artistic Director, just as a pigmy may
indeed be taught to play basketball, but the chances of either being good at
what they are inherently bad at would be so low that encouraging them
borders on the irresponsible. Instead of such false egalitarian theories, why
not invest time and effort in trying to find people's inherent different abilities
(and inabilities), and make sure they can contribute to society-- and to
themselves-- in the best way they are capable of?

23. Further Reading
“How Not to Talk to Your Kids”
New York Magazine

24. Further, Further Reading
Four mistaken beliefs:
1. Students with high ability are more likely
to display “mastery oriented” qualities
2. Success in school directly fosters mastery-
oriented qualities
3. Praise, particularly praising a student’s
intelligence, encourages mastery-
oriented qualities
4. Students’ confidence in their intelligence
is the key to mastery-oriented qualities