First- Growth Mindset. We discussed growth vs fixed mindsets. We learned the most important word: YET! We read When Sophie Thinks She Can't and practiced turning fixed mindset words to growth mindset words.
Second- Positive Self Concept/Growth Mindset. We shared a strength with the class then we crumpled a paper as we thought about something we are still working on and might make lots of mistakes while doing. Those creases represent the new connections in our brain--mistakes make us SMARTER! We read The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes.
Third- Feedback. We talked about what feedback is (information), who might give us feedback, how we might get that feedback, and how to respond. We focused on constructive feedback and compliments. We read Thanks for the Feedback, I Think.
Fourth- Goal Setting. Reviewed growth mindset and the importance of learning new things to grow our brains. Tried a class activity that was pretty hard! Used SMART goal setting steps to set a goal and then retried our activity successfully!
Fifth- Watched this science experiment. Discussed how our words affect each other. Gave each student a piece of paper and listed unkind phrases that have been overhead this year. Each time the students felt uncomfortable they were to wrinkle paper to represent their level of hurt. We looked around and saw how we all feel differently. They were asked to put their paper back to “pristine” condition. They couldn’t so we talked about how we are responsible for keeping each person's sheet wrinkle-free.