Let’s talk about the growth mindset in the classroom especially if you are a special education teacher. I want you to think back to when you were a freshman in college and becoming a teacher. I know it seemed like it was so far out of reach. But at that time, it was our priority. It was what we wanted, (well at least most of the time, it was our priority.) Our mindset was focused on becoming teachers! We put ourselves to work and accomplished a huge goal. We were oh so excited to begin our first year of teaching!
MINDSET! One small word that can have such a huge impact on ourselves, students, co-workers, and even our school year.
MINDSET MATTERS
The importance of our attitude and growth mindset in the classroom is something that slips away as we get bogged down in the stress and paperwork of teaching. We can all experience many different emotions about data collection, progress monitoring, building rapport, and all the other stressors that go with a teacher’s day. I have heard some people describe it as monsters that build-up due to their procrastination. When I ask them why they procrastinate on this one thing, their answer is because they dread it. As special education teachers, we need to step out of the mindset of what we are doing this just because we HAVE to. We need to be in the mindset that there is a reason WHY we are doing this and the reason is the STUDENT.
STUDENT FOCUSED MINDSET
Our mindset needs to be STUDENT FOCUSED! If I sit down with my data and I am already dreading doing it and I am only doing it because I have to have the information down on a piece of paper or to just mark another thing off of my to-do list, am I really helping that student? Have I really taken the time to see what the data says? My attitude and mindset can really help or hurt my students even when I am not directly working them, but just working on their paperwork. We, as teachers, need to get back to the student-focused mindset even when we feel bogged down. We became teachers to help students succeed!
HOW DO I GET THERE?
Ask yourself, why am I working through this data? Who am I trying to help? What can my student gain from this information? How can I use this information to enhance my student’s learning? These are all questions you can ask yourself. It will help you get back to that student-focused mindset when you begin to have those bogged down moments.
CHALLENGE YOURSELF DAILY
Being teachers, we put our students up to this challenge every day.
“Give it your best and you can accomplish more than you can imagine”
So I would like to give you a challenge. The next time you start to feel bogged down and doing things just because you have to, I challenge you to try to have a student-focused mindset. I bet you see a whole lot of change. Not just in what you can see about your students, but in how your day, week, and year begin to go!
