This year in 4th grade my goal is that all my students believe in themselves. That each student understands that they have the ability to do great things this year and in their future! Even if they can't do or understand something YET, they know with effort, perseverance, and the right support everyone can do hard things.
This is called having a growth mindset and it is one of the main goals in my classroom this year. A growth mindset means that in our classroom we can learn anything! We will not be tricked into thinking that we are not good at something. We will understand that mistakes are part of learning and actually MAKE US SMARTER!
All year long we will learn to motivate and encourage ourselves and others through positive talk from a growth mindset. We will squelch out any fixed mindset talk that wants to keep us down and change our words to change our mindset.
Also as your child's teacher I commit to praising effort and teaching my students to embrace the struggle. I want them to learn that when we make a mistake, or fail, we need to identify what went wrong and try something different. Fourth grade is a big transition year. Students are coming to a new school and are introduced to subject areas they have not experienced in the past. Mistakes will be made and lessons will be learned. I am here to support my students as they learn that their own actions, behaviors, and efforts are what lead to success!
You can help your child develop a growth mindset too!