Day 3, Fri Aug 12, 2016

Target: Recognize that  Voice = Choice when it comes to having a growth mindset as we solve problems about our amazing brains.

Entrance Ticket
I greeted the students at the door, but today I was checking homework. They only had to do one problem of their choosing from the Neuron Facts last night. If they did not have it, they had to quickly do one outside. Message sent: You are doing your homework in this class.

Growth Mindset
On the growth mindset web site they make a point of the “voice = choice,” meaning that we have a choice whether or not to listen to the fixed mindset thoughts that we all have, They give a 4-step breakdown of how to shift from a fixed to a growth mindset. I had fun soliciting the help of a very ancient visual of a devil and an angel on your shoulder.

Neuron Fact Problems
So then came time to practice recognizing the fixed voice and talking to ourselves in the growth voice, while doing challenging math problems. They already sit in groups of four, so I had them spend the rest of the period working through the Neuron Fact Problems, which I created from the Facts on the front side of the paper.  They were to call out any fixed mindset words or actions demonstrated by their partners. They actually did. I worked the room with Neuron stickers and Nicki. I honored about half the groups. I was pleasantly surprised at how well my crew worked.

During the lesson, as I worked the groups, I asked  one student how she got her answer, and she told me that she had copied from her partner. I praised her for her honesty, then paused the class and brought their attention to our classroom norms.

These were originally shared with us by Dr. Juli Dixon (@thestrokeofluck) in a math training at our district. They became very popular among our teachers. Our new principal has implemented them schoolwide, providing posters for every classroom. I drew the students attention, that we “Share, Don’t Copy.” When we share, one person explains, the other listens, then question follow if we don’t understand or if we disagree. If these three norms are occurring then writing down someone else’s solution is not copying.

After a half hour of solid work, we debriefed where we saw evidence of a fixed mindset and where we saw evidence of a growth mindset. This whole activity was very well received by the students. I gave them advance notice that Monday we will be debriefing their actual solutions to the problems.

Wrinkle Sprinkle

• Share, Don’t Copy.
• The equals about 3 lbs.