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This is an old NPR piece (2007) about Carol Dweck's research. QUOTE from Dweck: "If you think about a child who's coping with an especially challenging task, I don't think there's anything better in the world than that child hearing from a parent or from a teacher the words, 'You'll get there.' And that, I think, is the spirit of what this is about."

This article addresses three common MISCONCEPTIONS about growth mindset: 1 I already have it, and I always have. 2 A growth mindset is just about praising and rewarding effort. 3 Just espouse a growth mindset, and good things will happen. Dweck argues that we need to address those misconceptions and be aware of our own fixed mindset triggers: QUOTE "One reason why is we all have our own fixed-mindset triggers. When we face challenges, receive criticism, or fare poorly compared with others, we can easily fall into insecurity or defensiveness, a response that inhibits growth."

This is good advice for teachers, and it's also something you can do for yourself as a student: 1. Tell them, over and over and over that 'Brains can get stronger.' 2. Pay attention to effort over results. 3. Catch them being persistent. 4. Be specific with praise. 5. Encourage a healthy attitude to failure and challenge. 6. Use the word 'yet', and use it often. 7. Show them that they don't always have to be successful to be okay. 8. Encourage them to keep the big picture in mind. 9. When they do well without effort … 10. And when they put in the effort but don't do so well … 11. Permission to fail.

QUOTE "Watch for a fixed-mindset reaction when you face challenges," [Dweck] urged teachers. "Watch for it when you face a setback in your teaching, or when students aren't listening or learning. Do you feel incompetent or defeated? Do you look for an excuse? "Watch what happens when you see an educator who's better than you at something you value. Do you feel envious and threatened, or do you feel eager to learn?" When criticised, teachers should "learn from the feedback" rather than feeling "defensive, angry or crushed," she said.

Here are the subheadings in this very useful article which provides an overview of Dweck's growth mindset discoveries: The Opportunity of Defeat Confronting Deficiencies Proper Praise Making Up Your Mind-set A for Effort

This article works through the process both of deciding when to quit something and also the benefits of learning to say "no" ... and both of these are important skills to have as you continue to grow. The article is about work and the business world, but it can easily apply to school as well!

Main points; read the article for lots of details: #1 Caring for others builds resiliency against stress #2 Purpose in life reduces stress #3 Focus on how stress can help students grow

The article discusses people's reactions to failure ("we feel guilty; we try to knuckle down; or we diminish our goals") and proposes alternatives: QUOTE "We should seek adventures, and learn from our mistakes. Envision our future selves. And know when to quit."

Read the article to find out more about each one: 1. If you find criticism hard, know you're not alone 2. Know that there is always help 3. Adjust to change 4. If you get something wrong, figure out how to fix it 5. Find a support network 6. Balance is key 7. Stay mindful 8. Proceed with kindness

Read the article for more details about these growth-provoking questions: 1 What do you know? What don't you know? 2 How do you achieve goals to learn something new? 3 How do you show what you know and can do? How do you tell your story with narratives and numbers?

This great article asks you to ponder how science really works: instead of accepting the facts as given, we grow by poking and probing. Sometimes exploring the unknown can make us uncomfortable, but by pursuing what is uncertain and unknown, we will be more innovative in our thinking and learning.

QUOTE "The key to instilling a growth mindset is teaching kids that their brains are like muscles that can be strengthened through hard work and persistence." Dweck explains: "I know how powerful it can be when implemented and understood correctly. Education can be very faddish but this is not a fad. It's a basic scientific finding, I want it to be part of what we know and what we use."

1. start by defining what a complaint is 2. track how often you complain and what about 3. separate yourself from chronic complainers 4. turn complaints into solutions 5. use the "but-positive" technique 6. change "have to" to "get to"

Read the article for details about each piece of advice: 1. Don't Compare Yourself to Others 2. Abandon Perfectionism 3. Be Vulnerable to a Trusted Community 4. Embrace a Growth Mindset 5. Set Goals that are Within Your Control 6. Treat Your Work Like an Experiment. 7. Trust Yourself

These two detailed posters present the notion of growth in Yoda's teaching, while Darth Vader opposes growth.

This article by Eduardo Briceño categorizes mistakes this way: STRETCH: positive mistakes that happen when we're trying to expand our abilities (high intentionality, high learning opportunity) AHA: also a positive mistake, but one that results when the mistake comes as a surprise (low intentionality, high learning opportunity) SLOPPY: there are not good mistakes; they happen when we lose focus, don't pay attention (low intentionality, low learning opportunity) HIGH-STAKES: these are negative, potentially catastrophic mistakes, without a chance to learn and redo (high intentionality, low learning opportunity)

This article discusses the research of Charan Ranganath (UC Davis) on the brain chemistry of curiosity and the role of dopamine. QUOTE "What Ranganath wants to know most is why some people seem naturally more curious than others. Lots of factors, including stress, aging and certain drugs can affect dopamine processing in the brain, he says."

This is a fabulous of 50 ideas to open your mind and grow your creativity. Pick one and give it a try!

QUOTE Perhaps most importantly, the resilient children had what psychologists call an "internal locus of control": they believed that they, and not their circumstances, affected their achievements. The resilient children saw themselves as the orchestrators of their own fates. In fact, on a scale that measured locus of control, they scored more than two standard deviations away from the standardization group.

This is a talk by Carol Dweck about the dangers of perfectionism. It starts with a great anecdote from her childhood: one of her teachers seated the students in IQ order!