Mindset Works’ Blog

We are so excited to share these new guides with our customers!  These guides feature new lessons based on the most recent research about motivating adolescents and helping them develop a growth mindset.  Many tasks were revised to align with the Common Core State Standards so that teachers and students can use Brainology classroom time to continue their practice in these important speaking and listening, reading, and writing skills. Finally, each unit in Brainology has specific recommendations for differentiation (based on Carol Ann Tomlinson's work) and scaffolding instructions so that all students can access the material and progress successfully through the program.  You'll find the updated curriculum and guides under My Resources.

For more information about the Brainology^® program, click here to view an excerpt on our website.

Thank you,

The Mindset Works Team

About Mindset Works

Mindset Works was co-founded by one of the world's leading researchers in the field of motivation, Stanford University professor Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. and K-12 mindset expert Lisa S. Blackwell, Ph.D. The Company translates psychological research into practical products and services to help students and educators increase their motivation and achievement. For more information, visit http://www.mindsetworks.com.

Thank you for all of your entries into the 19th Growth Minded Educator Contest! The Growth Minded Educator of August is: Matthew Barrett!

Congratulations to our winner, and thank you to all who participated!

Below is the winning entry to the contest question: "Growth minded people use feedback to help them grow. How do you provide opportunities for your students to provide feedback to one another?  Send us a description of what you and your students do!":

To encourage feedback among my college students, I created a class wiki where they all have usernames that are anonymous to each other, but not to me.  This allows them to give feedback and discuss topics without fear of judgment, rejection or reprisal--I see much more participation on the wiki than I do in the classroom.  Just this semester, I've created a system for peer graded essays on the wiki, where each essay gets a grade averaged from 3-5 other students who graded it using a rubric.  So far, it's been very successful; I've seen better essays in general because they are more familiar with the rubric, and the essays have increased in quality so far over the semester.  I still have to watch for lazy grading, but this system has lightened my workload and increased the GM of my students.

Matthew Barrett--The Brain Trainer

About Matthew Barrett

I teach Psychology and Human Growth at Saint John's River State College in Florida, and I run my own brain training business (Brain Trainers Mental Fitness LLC).  I love sharing growth mindset concepts with students as well as with my private clients.  Even at home, my wife and I have added "yet" as a third "magic word."  When anyone says, "I'm not good at this/that!" we say, "What's the magic word?" It may get some grumbling, but they say "...yet," and then we talk about how effort is so much more important than natural talent.

www.brain-trainers.net

www.facebook.com/braintrainer

www.linkedin.com/in/braintrainer

Thank you for all of your entries into the 18th Growth Minded Educator Contest! The Growth Minded Educator of August is: Carol Hultman!

Congratulations to our winner, and thank you to all who participated! We received some fantastic submissions, and are excited to share a list of our favorite submitted titles.

Below is the winning entry to the contest question: "What is your favorite growth minded children's book?":

I teach in a middle school, perhaps a very important time in the lives of Tweens to focus their efforts on developing a strong mindset as they begin to shape their futures. By chance or luck, I saw this book in California while on vacation: "Your Fantastic Elastic Brain" by JoAnn Deak, Ph. D.

 It begins with what is your brain, a muscle? No, it is an organ in your body. It explains the five major parts of the brain and their functions. This is great vocabulary for the middle level. It explains how your brain began at birth to how you continue to train your brain as you grow. Did you know that making mistakes is how our brain learns and grows? It then gives real life examples . . . you are a Neurosculptor! (Love that term!) This is where students design their future. After introducing neurons, it is time to build one. I got this idea from a class I took...

Thank you for all of your entries into the 17th Growth Minded Educator Contest! The Growth Minded Educator of June is: Kelly McDonough

Congratulations to our winner, and thank you to all who participated! We received some fantastic submissions, and will reach out to some of you to discuss ways to share the other entries.

Below is the winning entry to the contest question: "Summer is a great chance to catch our breath, break the routine, and do things that we don't have time for the rest of the year. How do you plan to stretch, grow, and recharge this summer?":

The Growth Minded Educator Contest is our way of capturing and sharing collective learning experiences, and recognizing the efforts that educators have put into instilling and cultivating a Growth Mindset in their students.

April 2013 Contest Results

We had some terrific entries to April's contest, and our winner is... Gerry Wass!

Congratulations to our winner, and thank you to all who participated! We received some fantastic submissions, and will reach out to some of you to discuss ways to share the other entries.

Below is the winning entry to the contest question: "There are many free Brainology resources on the Mindset Works webpage.  Which Free Resource have you used in your classroom? Share your results and/or students' work with the community!"