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Today I want to share my newest Change Your Words Change Your Mindset Bulletin Board. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy with my bulletin boards before. They make me smile. They represent what I think is important. They are useful to students. They spark conversations.
This year, I’m working to help my kids develop a growth mindset. Many of them have had a fixed mindset instilled in them through their families. They have been raised to believe that they are either a “math person” or “not a math person.”
This summer, I read Carol Dweck’s Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. I do believe that this was a life changing read for me. It’s changed how I think about things in my own life. And, it’s changing how I structure things in my classroom.
This is not an original idea. It was inspired by a pinterest link from @druinok. I took what was supposed to be one poster and made it into an entire Change Your Words Change Your Mindset bulletin board.
The words printed on gray card stock represent a fixed mindset. People with a fixed mindset believe that we each live in a box. There are skills that are in our box, and they will always be in our box. There is nothing we can do to change that. And, there are skills that are outside our box. They, too, will remain where they are.
They believe that intelligence and ability are fixed, defined. Effort is not required. Failure is bad because it is viewed as defining. Those with a fixed mindset avoid challenges for this reason.
The words printed on colored card stock represent a growth mindset. People with a growth mindset view themselves as plants. They have the ability to grow, but they must choose to grow. They believe that we are in complete control of our intelligence and abilities. If there is something we cannot do, it is because we have not put in the hard work necessary to master it.
I’m asking my students this year to listen for people speaking in the fixed mindset and to offer them a statement in the growth mindset instead.
Free Download of Change Your Words Change Your Mindset Bulletin Board
Change Your Words Change Your Mindset Bulletin Board (PDF) (4716 downloads )
Want more classroom decorations? Check out my posters page!
Gayle Yodowitz
Friday 7th of September 2018
Hi Sarah, Love your bulletin board idea! Planning to use it for my AVID classes- a college readiness class for middle and high schoolers. I am hoping you can help me. I can't open or convert the odg file. Any suggestions? Thanks, Gayle
Anonymous
Monday 11th of September 2017
Hi Sarah, For some reason it won't let me download the file :( Can you please help! This will be amazing in my classroom to help my students. Thanks
Unknown
Thursday 26th of October 2017
Just FYI, my district tech person had to change a setting on my firewall in order to download from box.com. Now things work swimmingly!!!!
Sarah Carter (@mathequalslove)
Monday 11th of September 2017
Send me an email, and I will email the file to you. mathequalslove(at)gmail(dot)com
Anonymous
Thursday 13th of July 2017
I am completely grateful that you have offered this for free! I just started a new position and was assigned two extremely large bulletin boards in the hallway and this will really help with the time spent on creating something so large! It can be applied to any grade level. I thank you and the time you put into this!
Unknown
Thursday 8th of June 2017
Sarah, I just tried to download the mindset posters and it seems they are not on box.com anymore. Can you help me? swalton@parchment.k12.mi.us Thanks, Shani Walton from Kalamazoo, MI
Unknown
Tuesday 2nd of August 2016
I LOVED your boards so much I decided to copy a few of them. I had to change a few things, but I loved it. Thanks so much for all the ideas. You helped change an empty, previously decorated by a coach classroom into something that I can actually be proud of. Thanks!