I don't think I've ever been this happy with my bulletin boards before. They make me smile. They represent what I think is important. They are useful to students. They spark conversations.
The bulletin board behind my desk is called "Change Your Words - Change Your Mindset!" This year, I'm working to help my kids develop a growth mindset. Many of them have had a fixed mindset instilled in them through their families. They have been raised to believe that they are either a "math person" or "not a math person." This summer, I read Carol Dweck's Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
. I do believe that this was a life changing read for me. It's changed how I think about things in my own life. And, it's changing how I structure things in my classroom.
This is not an original idea. It was inspired by a pinterest link from @druinok. I took what was supposed to be one poster and made it into an entire bulletin board.
. I do believe that this was a life changing read for me. It's changed how I think about things in my own life. And, it's changing how I structure things in my classroom. This is not an original idea. It was inspired by a pinterest link from @druinok. I took what was supposed to be one poster and made it into an entire bulletin board.
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| Change Your Words - Change Your Mindset Bulletin Board |
The words printed on gray cardstock represent a fixed mindset. People with a fixed mindset believe that we each live in a box. There are skills that are in our box, and they will always be in our box. There is nothing we can do to change that. And, there are skills that are outside our box. They, too, will remain where they are. They believe that intelligence and ability are fixed, defined. Effort is not required. Failure is bad because it is viewed as defining. Those with a fixed mindset avoid challenges for this reason.
The words printed on colored cardstock represent a growth mindset. People with a growth mindset view themselves as plants. They have the ability to grow, but they must choose to grow. They believe that we are in complete control of our intelligence and abilities. If there is something we cannot do, it is because we have not put in the hard work necessary to master it.
I'm asking my students this year to listen for people speaking in the fixed mindset and to offer them a statement in the growth mindset instead.
If I truly believe that mistakes are good and that is how we learn, my classroom grading policy needs to reflect that. This year, I am adopting SBG in all three of my preps for the first time. I've kinda played around with it in my Algebra 2 classes, but I've never started pure SBG from Day 1.
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| SBG How to Learn... Bulletin Board |
While searching for posters that embody the elements of SBG, I found a flow chart poster made by Sarah Rubin who blogs at Everybody Is A Genius. This flow chart was inspired by the blog of Kelly O'Shea and her work with SBG. Again, I liked the idea of a poster, but I really wanted something bigger and better than a poster. So, neither of these bulletin boards are original. I just put my own spin on them.
I changed the coloring to better represent my grading structure. The orange cardstock represents what we do with interactive notebooks and in-class practice activities. The purple cardstock represents homework. The pink cardstock represents quizzes. And, the yellow cardstock represents demonstration mastery. Yay!
Someone on twitter mentioned that this is how you learn anything. Absolutely! It's actually SBG generic. I just titled it "How to Learn Math" because, well, I teach math.
The arrows are cut out of sparkly silver art foam, in case you were wondering.
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