Blogging Communiy March Strategy

I have been so excited about a new mindset strategy I have been using with my groups as of last week.  This is for my spring AR but I have to share how it is going so far.  2 weeks ago I spent a class time sharing about the Growth Mindset with all of my 1st and 2nd graders.  We talked about putting aside all of our thoughts about I can't read, I'm stupid, I can't, I'm not good at this....and replace the sayings or add onto some of them with the work YET.  Instead we talked about working hard, putting in effort, it's not about how smart but how hard you work, everyone is at a different level of working hard, and some have to work harder than others.  We talked about how our brain makes connections when we read and that if we don't work hard, there are no connections.  So, we went online and picked out a flaming brain picture.  I made each student their own poster and everyday they come in having worked hard or making a connection, they draw a line on their brain from one side to another.  I also asked them what they learned when they read.  The first day, they had no idea what to say.  They couldn't even remember what they read.  Some didn't even read the night before.  Since that day, they have come in excited about working hard and they mostly can remember what they read.  They can even pull out themes from the stories.  I had a parent pull me aside and ask me what I was doing because her son was so excited to read the night before.  She shared how he normally threw a fit when reading and that for two nights he just got his book and sat down and did his reading.  She was so happy.  I can hardly wait to see if the kids stay motivated and begin to enjoy reading.  If we can change the mindset from I hate reading, to I enjoy reading I'll be happy.  Not that testing is the focus for this, but I hope their hard work will translate into an increase in fluency and comprehension on the spring assessments.