Growth Mindset: How the Packers' Loss Turned into Our Win

I sat and watched in disbelief as the game ended...

My beloved Green Bay Packers had just blown a 12 point lead to lose the final playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks.  Whereas I had already started planning the green and gold appetizers I would serve at my Super Bowl party, I was now it total...utter...shock.

How did this happen?

According to NBC Sports, the statistics were definitely in the Packers' favor to win when they were ahead.  The Seahawks only stood a 1.8% chance of coming back from the 12 point deficit with 10 minutes left in the game to beat the Packers and earn their trip to the Super Bowl.

1.8%.

That's IT.

Returning to school the next day, my good friend Bridget and I were talking about the game and she asked, "How can we turn this loss into a learning moment for our students?"  Surely, our young southeastern Wisconsin students would be majorly bummed that the Packers blew it.

This got me thinking.

This past year, I have been learning a lot about growth mindset and implementing it in my classroom. I have written about how a growth mindset has helped us in math and how the word "YET" is now a part of our daily classroom vocabulary.  The Packers' loss -- or rather, the Seahawks victory -- was a perfect way to talk about growth mindset.

When my 4th graders arrived and we we had our "Thirty Second Share" about our weekends, I took the time to address the football game.

I asked my students how many of them thought the Packers were going to win.  Almost every hand went up.

Then I shared the statistic with them.  I explained (in very 4th grade words) what probability was and that some experts had predicted that the Seahawks only stood a l.8% chance of coming back and winning the game.  To make it even more concrete, I explained that that was like less than two pennies out of a dollar.

"Ohhhh...."

"But they did it," I said.  "The Seahawks worked hard and put forth a great effort and won the game.  They didn't care if they only stood a 1.8% chance of winning.  They just did what they had to do and the rest took care of itself."

Then I asked students to think about someone in the room who they felt was an awesome reader.  You know the ones -- they always have a book in their hands,  talk about books, seek out new books, actually read during silent reading time. How do we think they became that way?

It wasn't by sitting back and doing nothing.

Sure, maybe they were born with some talent, but if they didn't nurture it with effort, nothing would come of it. What about someone in our classroom who is good at math?  Did math just come easy to them?  Nope, they put in a lot of hard work and effort to get to where they are today.

I then asked my students to think of something in school that is giving them some trouble and to consider the amount of effort they were making in that area.  Were they able to see that maybe, just maybe, they were having trouble because they weren't putting in their best effort? That a little extra effort could be the difference between success and staying the same? Between being that awesome reader and one who just gets by? Between understanding fractions and failing at them?

So the word "EFFORT" has now joined the word "YET" as a regular part of our classroom vocabulary.  It's right there, on the front board, as a constant reminder of what's important to help us learn.

Math Troubles? Write About It!

We are just finishing up our long division unit in math and I've got to tell you...this was a painful one (for both me AND the students).

Unlike any other year that I've taught math, my students really struggled with finding a method that worked for them.

Some of this can be blamed on Common Core, I am sure.

Whereas we used to teach one tried and true way to do a division problem (now called "digit by digit," but some of us may know it by its other name, Does McDonalds Sell Cheese Burgers Rare?), students now need to have exposure to dividing a variety of ways, especially those based on place value.

We have been working on long division for four weeks.  In the beginning, I'm sure my students thought I was trying to torture them.  Complaints and whining ("This is hard...") brought about my need to introduce the word "yet" into our classroom vocabulary.  (See this post for more information on how the word "yet" transformed our thinking.)

Every day was painful...for all of us.

Being a writing person, I decided it would be a good idea to have my students get their worries and concerns down on paper so we could discuss and address them.  I had them write me a letter telling me:
     1.  What they knew about division.
     2.  What their concerns, confusions and worries were in regards to division.
     3. Anything else they wanted me to know about their thoughts about division.

I collected these letters and kept them in their writing Treasure Chests.

Fast forward three weeks...Lots of practice, lots of collaboration, lots of reassurance, lots of perseverance, lots of the word "yet."

We are now getting ready to take our division test.  The mood and attitude toward division has changed DRAMATICALLY in my classroom.  There is confidence and composure and dare I say it -- excitement -- for division.

Today I had the students write me another letter telling me:
     1.  What they knew about division.
     2.  What their concerns, confusions and worries were in regards to division.
     3.  If they felt they were ready for the test, giving evidence to support their thinking.

Here are a sample of their letters.  Each picture shows the before and after letters for the same students:

Reading their "after" letters today brought me such joy!  There was a definite change in the tone of the letters.

I shared the before and after letters with the students and we talked about why there was a difference in the letters.  They told me that perseverance, patience, and hard work helped them understand.

One of the best parts of these letters is that now my students have them as a part of their memory.  The next time we do something hard in class (say...fractions), we can recall the before and after letters of division as proof that we WILL make it through, as long as we work hard and understand that even though we may not get it "yet," we WILL.

Goals, Goals, Goals & Laminator Love!

Well....it's almost that time again....Back to School!  I was in my classroom yesterday for the first time to drop off some books and to put up a few bulletin boards. I start teaching summer school in two weeks and then we are officially back on the 27th. 

I have to admit...I am looking forward to it!  Not that I don't enjoy my lazy days of summer, I do!  But I am ready for a change.  Besides, the weather in Wisconsin has been very chilly for the past week and it doesn't look like we will get out of the 70's for awhile so I think even Mother Nature is ready to go!

With that in mind, I am linking up with Jess at I {heart} Recess for her monthly goals linky party.  This month's theme...Back to School!

Personal:  Spend more time writing
A part of participating in the National Writing Project at UW-Milwaukee was that we wrote EVERY day.  What I discovered is that I love to write and it could become a new hobby for me.  I have always loved writing, but just didn't do it on a regular basis.  Now, I will be more committed to carving out time every day to write.

Organization:  Put it away
Hello, my name is Jennifer and I'm a piler, not a filer.....OK, now that I've admitted it, I can face my piling addiction and start getting a handle on it.  I make great piles -- and I know where everything is in that pile -- but I want to start to de-clutter my life and that begins with getting rid of piles. 

Planning:  Write it down
I have told myself "I'll remember that for next year, I don't need to write it down" on so many occasions, I can't count them!  Truth is, I don't remember...and now some great ideas that I had last year are probably gone.  :(  This year, I will be more committed to keeping track of my ideas and plans so I can stop this cycle of forgetfulness.

Professional:  Learn more about Mentor Texts & Writing Circles
My research project for the UWM-WP was about using mentor texts to REVISE writing.  (If you want to read more about it, you can read about it here and here.)I will present my research again at a conference in November so I need to keep learning more about them.  Also, as a result of my friend Kelly's research at the UWM-WP, I have a new-found obsession with Writing Circles.  I am reading the book right now by Jim Vopat and there is a possibility that I may get to meet him and work with him on some action research so I want to learn as much as I can!

Students:  Create a community
Creating community is so important to do at the beginning of the year!  I want for us (this includes my students) to create a classroom where every student is valued and feels safe to share their ideas and take chances to grow.

Motto:  They don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care!
This motto is compliments of my Classroom Management professor, Dr. Corey Thompson.  It's pretty self-explanatory and goes back to a sense of community and respect.

Make sure you head on over to I {heart} Recess to share your own Back to School goals!

I'm also linking up for the first time with Covered in Glitter and Glue for What I'm Loving Wednesday.

Like many of you, I have fallen in love with my laminator.  I bought it last year and am so glad I did!  It is really nice to have so many of those small projects done before going back, instead of having to stand in line for the laminator.  As a matter of fact, this little guy will be getting a lot of use today as I laminate my new Number of the Day task cards that I just designed and put up for sale on my TpT store.  I will blog more about those tomorrow so check back!

 

 

 

And since this is Wednesday and I haven't linked up with Teach N' Tex for PMA Wednesdays in awhile, I want to throw this one out there because I think it fits in perfectly with goal setting as we head back to school.

Source:  http://www.debsphotographs.com/photoblog/2011/04/crossfit-update-eight-months/

So here's to hoping that we will all "find a way" to meet our goals this year.  May this be your best year yet!

Workshop Wednesday, PMA & What Happened to July?

OK, so I look at the calendar and it says JULY 3rd....but from the weather we've been having around here in Wisconsin lately, you could have fooled me!  Check out the temperature this morning when I was on my way to Kohl's:

It's supposed to be WARM outside....I am wearing a sweater, for crying out loud!  (I guess days like today are Mother Nature's way of showing us that she is still in charge...)

But at least I got to meet my BFF for breakfast...

Blueberry pancakes....yum!!  Icky, rainy weather...yuck!  {Read to the bottom and there might just be something to lift your spirits.... :)

First, joining up with Teach & Tex for PMA Wednesdays.  I firmly believe that our thoughts create our reality and when I saw this on Pinterest, I knew I had to share...(I wish I could give credit to who ever created this, but the link was broken...:(

See...it's all in how we look at things!

Now on to Ideas by Jivey's very fun Workshop Wednesday.  Her regular weekly Workshop is taking a vacation during summer vacation, so she is having a month-long Workshop Wednesday.  You can link up at any time and go back often to see who else has shared a great idea!

This month's topic is Workshop Preparation....How do you prepare for workshops in your classroom?

I run a Writer's Workshop format for writing.  One of the "must-do's" (in my opinion) for writing workshop is have students maintain a Writer's Notebook.

When I first started doing this, I just had them clip everything inside a 1" three ring binder.  But I'm sure you know what happened...papers got mixed up, lost, destroyed, etc., etc., etc.

So I decided that I needed to use divider pages between each section of the Notebook.  Simple, right?  I copied each divider page onto different colors of card stock, three hold punched them, and had the kids clip it right into their binder.  Then we went back and added some notebook paper between each section and a big bunch of notebook paper at the back.  (Also handy for when you ask kids to take out a piece of paper....)

I have added my Writer's Notebook Divider Pages to my TpT Store.  I have three themes (monsters, birds & aliens) and if you purchase the divider pages, I will customize up to three additional pages for you at no additional charge.  (In case I don't include a page that you would regularly use.)  Each set costs only $2.00.  I hope you will check them out!

I promised that if you read all the way to the bottom, you might find something fun!  With all of the icky weather we've been having lately, I've been spending a lot of time reading -- the mailman delivered THREE boxes from Amazon today!  (Lucky me!)  So I'd like to give away one $10 Amazon gift card and your selection of one of my new Writer's Workshop Divider Pages to one lucky winner.  (I don't want to be the only one getting a gift from the mailman!)

Enter with the Rafflecopter below by midnight on July 11th.  You can enter every day if you'd like!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wishing you sunny skies and positive thoughts wherever you are!