Helping students build resilience, confidence, and self-awareness is just as important as teaching academic content. That’s why incorporating growth mindset and SEL activities and social-emotional learning (SEL) lessons into your classroom can be a game-changer. If you’ve been looking for ready-to-use resources that encourage students to reflect on their learning, embrace challenges, and develop healthier attitudes toward mistakes, my Growth Mindset and SEL Activities for the Secondary Classroom resource is designed just for you.

Why Growth Mindset Matters in Secondary Education

As middle and high school teachers know, the teen years is a time when students often doubt their abilities. Many believe that intelligence and talent are fixed traits rather than skills that can grow with effort. Teaching students about the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset empowers them to see mistakes as opportunities for growth rather than setbacks.

Pairing this with social-emotional learning (SEL)—skills like self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship building, and responsible decision-making—helps students thrive not only academically but also personally. For ideas on how to incorporate a growth mindset in your classroom, check out this blog post: 5 Ways to Incorporate a Growth Mindset in the Classroom.

What’s Included in This Resource:

This comprehensive packet includes over 60 pages of activities, handouts, and reflections you can use all year long. Some highlights include:

• Student Self-Assessments and Surveys: Tools that help students reflect on their mindset, strengths, and goals.
• Fixed vs. Growth Mindset Handouts: Clear visuals and explanations to help students understand the difference.
• Exit Tickets & Reflection Sheets: Perfect for formative assessment and daily mindset check-ins.
• Redo Slips: Encouraging students to revise work with purpose instead of seeing mistakes as failure.
• Vocabulary and Coloring Activities: Engaging ways to introduce growth mindset and SEL terms while promoting mindfulness.
• Mindfulness & Gratitude Activities: Including the Emotion Wheel, Gratitude Jar, and mindfulness drawing.
• Collaborative Projects: Such as a classroom quilt or poster project that builds community while reinforcing SEL skills.
• Narrative Essay Assignment with Rubric: A deeper writing activity that allows students to reflect on growth, resilience, and perseverance.

Every activity is created with secondary students in mind—age-appropriate, reflective, and designed to spark meaningful classroom conversations.

How to Use These Growth Mindset and SEL Activities in Your Classroom

These growth mindset and SEL activities are flexible and can be used throughout the year. Teachers have used them:

• As back-to-school icebreakers to set a positive tone.
• For Mindful Mondays or weekly SEL check-ins.
• After major assessments or projects to encourage student reflection.
• During end-of-unit reflections to track growth over time.
• As decorative classroom projects like the Growth Mindset Quilt to create a positive learning environment.

Add these Growth Mindset and SEL Activities to your Classroom Today!

Create and embrace a growth mindset in your secondary classroom with these engaging growth mindset and SEL classroom resources and activities. These growth mindset activities were created especially for middle school and high school students, and they can be used all year long to reinforce a growth mindset in the classroom.

Introduce your students to a growth mindset with the growth mindset student survey and reflection activity. From there, have your students complete an assortment of the included growth mindset activities. Throughout the school year, use the growth mindset resources like the assignment reflections and exit tickets to reinforce a growth mindset.

You can purchase these growth mindset and SEL activities here!

Teachers like you said…

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Angela Watson says, “Fantastic resource! This is the best growth mindset product I’ve seen for the secondary level, and I’ve done a LOT of searching. Thanks for a great product that will make a huge difference in students’ motivation and engagement!.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Jenny V. says, “Teaching students about growth mindset is really essential. Even high achieving students can stumble, and they can be perfectionists. Understanding that mistakes are a learning opportunity is important. These activities really demonstrate that well- like think alouds.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Nicole T. says, “My students loved these! This was a way for them to look at their day and be able to change their own negative thinking into positive thoughts. This activity has really allowed my students to become more open in class and hold not only themselves but each other accountable for how they present themselves around school.”

If you haven’t incorporated peer editing into your essay units, you are truly missing out. Anytime I can use positive peer interactions in an assignment I find heightened engagement and a better turnout of essays. Find my top reasons for including peer editing below, and don’t forget to check out my resources.

Reasons why you should include peer editing in your next essay unit

1. So students can write to a wider audience.

When my students write essays that only I will read, they tend to write what they think I will like. Especially when students write later in the year, they’ve “been there done that” with writing for me. Most students know what I’m nitpicky in, possibly what my own biases are (even the most objective teacher may inadvertently share personal opinions from time to time). When they peer edit, they also consider the other students who will be reading the paper. In fact, I usually preface and emphasize that they are writing for the wider audience and NOT to just me.

2. So students are more engaged.

Without peer editing, you end up with students quietly typing for the entire writing portion of the unit. I find I spend a lot of time redirecting students to tasks because they get bored and need a break. When there are peer editing sessions, students can vocalize concerns, chat with peers about ideas for writing, and are in general more engaged with their writing. I also find students are more apt to finish work in a timely manner when they know they have the opportunity to have someone review their work before turning in a copy to be graded.

3. So students can think critically.

It is one thing to think critically while writing a paper. It is another to read someone else’s paper and assess it. Assessing and thinking critically about ideas and how they are formed in written format is an important skill. I find it helpful to start by providing students with a checklist. I also have them work from the same rubric I will use. We discuss what to think about when you are the reader, and the types of phrases and assessments that are most valuable to give to a writer.

4. So students can learn appropriate criticism skills.

Not only do students need to learn how to criticize a work without being critical, but students also need to learn how to take criticism without taking it personally. When I frontload peer editing skills, I ensure students understand that the editing process is meant to help them improve as writers. My suggestion would be to introduce peer editing on research-type essays rather than any personal or creative writing essays. It can be challenging for students to separate themselves from essays that include their personal lives, or a creative work they’ve poured themselves into.

5. So you save yourself some time.

Of course, this isn’t the top reason, but it does save me some time. First, students who have taken the peer editing portion seriously tend to have fewer things for me to “grade.” When I’m not writing endless notes from students who turned in their one and only draft, I save myself some time. I also save some stress from trying to get in touch with each student for one-on-one sessions. Instead of trying to meet with every student by myself, they can meet with each other to get questions answered. I’m still available for specific questions, but I also find that I can answer to a group of students who pass around the answer as they work together. If I select peer groups based on strengths and weaknesses, I know that I’ve set students up to succeed by having my good editors with my poor spellers. My students who excel at ideas but not so much with organization can be paired with someone strong in that area. All in all, I save myself that stress and time simply by allowing my students to peer edit.

If you’re interested in peer editing resources, I have a checklist and a peer editing station resource available in my store. You can also find this great bundle of goodies if you’re looking for a full set of handouts and printables to introduce your students to peer editing.

If you aren’t using bell ringers in your secondary ELA classroom – you should. Starting class with bell ringers is an excellent strategy to help your students learn your classroom routines.

I can’t say enough good things about what bell ringers have done for the routine and structure of my classroom. They do not require much upfront work and preparation once you decide the process you want for bell ringers. And there are so many bell ringers you can find ready-made (check out the end of this post for a couple of my favorites). Here are five reasons you should start your class with a bell ringer.

Starting Class With Bell Ringers

1. Bring Routine

A great benefit to starting class with a bell ringer is how it will bring routine to your day. Class can often start in chaos as students make their way in from the hall, continuing conversations, and shifting into a new subject. I’ll have students who are still amped from a P.E. class, students who just finished a math exam, and students who have snuck in late to the school day. Having a bell ringer ready at the start of each class means my students know what to expect when they come in. I help them shift their mindset to my class, and I tone down the chaos without having to do much of anything. This gives me those first few minutes of every class to do my other duties like attendance, changing papers and lessons for the new class, or sending on students who stayed behind from the previous class. 

2. Set Class Tone

When we come in, we are ready to get to work. I expect that they get themselves ready to go for the lesson ahead, and I maintain that expectation throughout the lesson. I also use my bell ringers as a way to set the tone for class as well. In addition to an established routine, having a bell ringer ready sets the tone for class. You may choose grammar and vocabulary review as your go-to bell ringer, which is a different tone than if you start with journals daily. Maybe you will review terminology, or give pre-reading questions, or free write for three minutes. Whatever you decide, think about how students will be able to get started and what you want from them moving forward in class.

3. Create Class Culture

One of the reasons I love bell ringers is creating class culture. I want my students to have positive experiences in my class. I like to give students opportunities to express themselves with journal bell ringers and then invite them to share with partners, groups, or occasionally to the full class. It is a valuable opportunity to learn about student experiences and beliefs and needs. We can learn from each other and hopefully be more gracious and understanding as the year progresses. Even if you do not want to journal every day, taking some time weekly to allow students to share personal insights or free-write can go a long way in developing class culture.

4. Build Independence

When I create the routine of starting each class with a bell ringer, my students then learn independence. Having predictable expectations leaves little room for guessing. My students know that when the bell rings, they get seated, and begin their bell work. You may have them write in a designated space in a notebook, or pick up a paper from the front of the room, or use a digital resource to mark their participation. Small victories lead to big victories, and I’ve never regretted teaching my students to take care of their class routine themselves.

5. Quick Assessments

Another great benefit of using a bell ringer is they are a perfect opportunity for quick assessments. Need to check for understanding? Make it a bell ringer. Need to determine what they already know about a subject? Bell ringer. Need students to be accountable for specific information? Bell. Ringer. My goal is never to make a bell ringer “meaningless” although that doesn’t mean I “grade” every bell ringer. I select a couple a week to turn in, or have sometimes had students submit their work biweekly. This keeps students on their toes, and lessens the likelihood that they will blow it off. 

I have a ton of great bell ringer activities you can find here. Some of my favorites are my Classroom Community Bell Ringers, and Growth Mindset Bell Ringers. What types of bell ringers do you utilize in your classroom? Have you seen benefits to your class routine and culture by implementing this routine?

Incorporating a growth mindset in the classroom can have quite a few benefits. According to the American Psychological Association, “Growth mindset is the belief that a person’s intelligence and abilities can grow and improve with practice, and researchers have found that brief exercises that increase growth mindset can help keep students motivated when they face challenges, improve their grades, and even increase college graduation rates.”

However, it should also be noted that a growth mindset isn’t a quick fix. Students will need time to process, think about, and reevaluate these concepts throughout the year.

When incorporating a growth mindset into the middle school and high school classroom, teachers should focus on spreading out activities and incorporating them throughout the year rather than all at once.

Here are five ways to incorporate a growth mindset in your classroom

Growth Mindset in the Classroom: Growth Mindset Posters

I have these growth mindset posters displayed in my classroom, and I love how my students see these positive and encouraging quotes all year long. Each poster includes a growth mindset quote. These growth mindset quote posters are a great resource for students to refer back to throughout the entire school year.

Growth Mindset in the Classroom: Growth Mindset Activities for the Secondary Classroom

Create and embrace a growth mindset in your secondary classroom with this Growth Mindset Activities for the Secondary Classroom resource! Introduce growth mindset to your students with a survey, and then complete the activities to help reinforce a growth mindset in your classroom. This resource includes more than 40 pages of useable resources specifically designed to help your middle and high school students develop a growth mindset.

Growth Mindset in the Classroom: Growth Mindset Escape Room

Engage students in hands-on growth mindset activities and challenges with this fun and exciting Growth Mindset Escape Room Activity! This activity will help you facilitate conversations about perseverance, commitment, and achievement!

This resource includes teacher directions, student directions, and all of the printable resources necessary to hold an escape activity in your classroom.

Plus, there are also activities for before and after the escape room to keep the growth mindset conversation going! It is the perfect activity for teaching growth mindset in your classroom!

Growth Mindset in the Classroom: Growth Mindset Bell Ringers

These growth mindset bell ringers are designed with middle school and high schoolers in mind and will get your students thinking and reflecting. There are 30 growth mindset bell ringers in this resource, and each bell ringer includes a growth mindset-inspired quote and a brief writing response.

Students will read the quote and write either an argument, informational, or narrative response. For further classroom engagement, teachers can have students share aloud their responses and create a classroom discussion that paves the way for growth, reflection, and learning. Each day you decide to start class with a growth mindset bell ringer and display the writing prompt on the overhead projector. Students will walk into the classroom, see the prompt, and begin working on their responses.

Growth Mindset in the Classroom: Growth Mindset Character Analysis Activities

Ideal for any novel or short story, these growth mindset character analysis activities help you and your students focus on a growth mindset in an entirely new and unique way.

These character analysis growth mindset activities will help you and your students analyze characters in any work of fiction as to whether they have a growth or fixed mindset. These activities focus on character traits, learning from failures and mistakes, and supporting everything with evidence from the text. This resource includes 12 different organizers, 4 writing prompts, and rubrics.

For further reading about facilitating a growth mindset in the classroom, you can check out this blog post about growth mindset novel recommendations for students and this blog post about growth mindset writing prompts.

A great way to incorporate a growth mindset into the middle school and high school ELA classroom is by introducing it through literature. As we read and teach novels in our classroom, discussing how characters persevere to overcome substantial obstacles can have more of an impact on our students’ lives than we imagine. You and your students will love these growth mindset novels!

It is important to have your students read books that tell stories of growing up. High schoolers are especially focused on trying to find themselves and who they are. By reading texts that tell the stories of characters who have a growth mindset, students will feel like perhaps they are not that different either. Your students finding who they are, and feeling like they belong is a valuable lesson easily learned through these kinds of novels. Here are 9 different novels, both classics and young adult fiction, with a significant growth mindset that your students will love to read.

Growth Mindset Novels for ELA Students

1. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

In this novel, the reader watches the main character, Janie, grow up from her teenage years to her forties. Each part of the story develops her character and we watch her grow as a person, learning something from each interaction she faces and also how she overcomes the difficulties of her different husbands. There is growth in her identity as she continues on her journey.

2. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Persepolis is a graphic memoir-novel, but it still is a great example of growth. It tells the story of Marjane’s childhood growing up in Iran during the Revolution. The illustrations show a teenager going through the normal hardships of growing up, with the additional hardships of finding yourself in a society that isn’t accepting. There are small moments of growth within Marji herself, as she watches her country fall apart, but this also creates the overall mood for the entire story.

3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

This is another memoir type of novel, where Maya Angelou looks back on her life and how the horrors of her childhood have turned her into the woman she is. Angelou highlights the significance of each event in her life as a young girl with the poetic nature of her writing. The reader is able to notice how everything affects her growing up, and who she becomes by the end of the book.

4. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

This novel focuses on a group of boys growing together. It highlights the significance of finding your group of friends and how your friends have an impact on who you are. Ponyboy, the character who grows a lot throughout the story, spends more and more time with the other boys and they have to face a lot of challenges, specifically the death of one of their closest friends, furthering Ponyboy’s growth as a person.

5. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

This novel follows Esperanza, a young Latina girl growing up on Mango Street in Chicago, showing her determination to leave and find a better life for herself. Esperanza meets people along the way, whom she will model her life after and try to avoid becoming like. She knows what she wants out of her life, and the story illustrates how she tries to achieve it while still showing her determination to grow along the way.

6. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Pip in Great Expectations grows from a young orphan to an adult throughout the entirety of the novel. He deals with a lot of loss in his life and this causes him to develop into the adult he becomes. But Pip grows despite the loss because he does not let it hurt him; instead, he carries his growth mindset throughout his story, making the novel better.

7. Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

This is one of the more recent novels on this list, and it is a young adult book telling the story of a high schooler who is worried about coming out to his family and friends while being blackmailed about his secret, so there is a lot going on in Simon’s life that causes him to grow as a character. He soon learns it is best to just be himself and becomes happy with who he is, who he has grown to become, and thus overcoming his worries. Because this secret is the drive of the story, Simon’s growth mindset is the most important theme.

8. American Streetby Ibi Zoboi

American Street is the story of Fabiola, an immigrant from Haiti coming to America with her family. Fabiola has to face the hardships of what this new life for her means, including when her mother is detained; and with all the horrors of trying to adapt to a new kind of life, her character develops. She has to navigate through this new life and faces roadblocks that may deter her determination of growth, but she will eventually grow to become a strong person.

9. All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

This is a young adult novel focusing on contemporary racism through the lens of two high school boys of different races. Quinn, a white student, witnesses his black classmate, Rashad, get beaten up by a police officer, and now that he understands what is happening in the world, he realizes he can be part of the solution. Quinn has to learn more about the people around him, and he is determined to see the world as it is for other people. Rashad, despite what has happened to him, learns how to grow and how to help others who are also suffering through injustices and racism.

Growth Mindset Teaching Resources:
Growth Mindset Activities and Resources for the Secondary Classroom
Growth Mindset Escape Room
Growth Mindset Bell Ringers

This post includes affiliate links.

At the beginning of every single school year, I agonize over whether or not to accept late work. Finding the balance between being firm and strict, but yet also caring, nurturing, and empowering is difficult to find. If you lean too far one way, you will lose students in the middle of the year.

For the first few years of my teaching career, I changed my late work policy with each new school year. One year I would accept late work at any point in the year, and the next year I would not allow any late work whatsoever. During the years when I would accept late work, I always seemed swamped and overwhelmed. During the years when I didn’t accept late work, I had less assignments to grade and saved a lot of time. I also thought that I was teaching my students about responsibility and accountability.

Allowing students to turn in late work is time consuming. You must be super organized, have a system in place, and put in extra time grading all of those late assignments that come rolling in toward the end of the grading period. It is much easier to simply say no. “No, I do not allow any late work. You are in high school now and you simply must know that there are deadlines and consequences for not meeting such deadlines.”

But what does that really teach our students? By not allowing students to turn in any late work, we are saying that once a time passes, we no longer care to see what they know, what they’ve learned, and what they have to share with us. By not allowing students to turn in any late work, we are saying that the learning stops. By not allowing students to turn in any late work, we are denying our students an opportunity to cultivate a growth mindset.

So even though it requires extra time and organization on my part, I will gladly accept late work from my students. However, even though I accept late work, I make it perfectly clear to my students that I do not look favorably at constantly missing deadlines.

My Late Work Guidelines

1. Do not make a habit out of turning in assignments late.

We are all human. We make mistakes, we forget things, and we miss deadlines. It happens. And in almost every single case, missing a deadline does not have an end-all-be-all hard-stop consequence. If we miss paying our taxes on time, we simply pay a late fee. If we forget about paying the electric bill, we have a 15 day grace period. If adults have failsafes such as these, so should students. I truly feel that it is important to realize this when we are dealing with our students.

2. Students must put in extra effort to turn in assignments late. 

If a student is going to turn in an assignment late, I want to talk to them. I want to know why it was late. I tell students to come to school early or stay after the end of the day to make up assignments. I will even grade the assignment right then and there and update their grade. While this is time consuming, it also does wonders for relationship building. I want my students to know that my door is always open. They can always come in before or after school to make up work they might have missed.

This is the second blog post in a series of posts about creating and establish a growth mindset in the classroom. Read the first post about creating a growth mindset here. In this post, you’ll read about three critical features for creating a growth mindset in the classroom.

I’ll admit it. I’ve made mistakes as an educator. Some of the biggest mistakes I’ve made include being too stubborn and too strict. Neither of these helped me practice a growth mindset in my classroom.

As a new teacher, I was pretty stubborn. I did not accept late work. I did not allow test retakes. I did not provide students a needed opportunity to learn from their mistakes. Instead, I forced their mistakes to be their end result. I wasn’t helping anyone.

Luckily, this did not last long. As I gained more experience as an educator, I naturally adopted more of a growth mindset before I even knew it was a “thing” in education. The end result was magical. Students tried harder, learned more, and strived to make me see their own successes.

Here are three ways to practice growth mindset in the classroom

1. Practicing Growth Mindset in the Classroom: Test Retakes 

Allow students to retake tests. Sometimes it takes receiving a bad grade on a test ignite a fire in a student. As educators, we shouldn’t stifle that passion to learn and grow. Instead, we should provide an opportunity for it to burn brightly. This means allowing students the opportunity to retake a test and learn from their previous failures and mistakes.

There are quite a few different ways to tackle test retakes. From giving the same same test twice and accepting the highest grade to having a revision assignment, there is a solution for everyone.

To help prevent students from not even trying on the test, I like to have students do test revisions for up to a certain grade. Students must write out the question, the answer they selected, explain why it is wrong, select the correct answer, and then explain why it is correct.

2. Practicing Growth Mindset in the Classroom: Late Work

Accept late work, but find out why it is late. Fear of failure is a great deterrent. When fear of failure is combined with an already shaky teenage confidence, it can result in a student completing his or her work. Sometimes a student might need a little more re-teaching so that they have the confidence and knowledge needed to complete and turn in an assignment. Accept student late work, but figure out why it is late.

In my classroom, I accept late work for full credit up to a certain point. For me, that is one week after the close of the unit.

3. Practicing Growth Mindset in the Classroom: Self-Assessments 

Conduct regular self-assessments and reflections. Periodically, go back and have students reflect on their learning, assignments, or tests. Reflecting on their effort, struggles, and achievement will really help students focus on maintaining a growth mindset.

Growth Mindset in the Classroom: Classroom Resource

Create and embrace a growth mindset in your secondary classroom with these engaging classroom resources and activities. These growth mindset activities were created especially for middle school and high school students, and they can be used all year long to reinforce a growth mindset in the classroom.

Introduce your students to a growth mindset with the growth mindset student survey and reflection activity. From there, have your students complete an assortment of the included growth mindset activities. Throughout the school year, use the growth mindset resources like the assignment reflections and exit tickets to reinforce a growth mindset.

Here’s what you’ll receive:

• Growth Mindset Survey
• Growth Mindset Vocabulary
• Growth Mindset Individual and Group Activities
• Growth Mindset Exit Tickets
• Growth Mindset Classroom Resources
• Growth Mindset Bulletin Board Activities
• Growth Mindset Reflection Activities
• and more!

More Growth Mindset Resources to Incorporate in Your Classroom

• Back-to-School Growth Mindset Activities
• Growth Mindset Escape Room
• Growth Mindset Bell Ringers

Many schools across the nation are adopting a growth mindset approach to education. Schools and classrooms that embrace a growth mindset see the value in learning as a process and strive to help students put forth their best effort.

So, what exactly is a growth mindset? According to Carol S. Dweck, a psychology professor at Stanford University, there are two kinds of mindsets: fixed and growth. People with a fixed tend to see themselves with fixed intelligence and capabilities, whereas people with a growth mindset believe that they can increase their intelligence and improve their capabilities through effort and determination.

In the classroom and beyond, real learning occurs when students put forth the effort to break through barriers, accomplish difficult tasks, and learn from mistakes.

To help facilitate a growth mindset in your classroom, I’ve created a Growth Mindset resource, especially for secondary teachers.

As a teacher, there are five simple steps you can take to create a growth mindset approach in your classroom.

1. Model Growth Mindset

I am a firm believer in leading by example. Students watch every single move we make in the classroom, and they take note. If their teachers accept mistakes and learn from them, if their teachers embrace challenges, if their teachers put forth the effort to make class great, chances are that students will do the same. Be open and honest with your students. If a student asks you a question that you don’t know, turn it into a learning opportunity for everyone and look up the answer right then and there. You and your students will learn something new.

2. Focus on Small Goals

Regularly talk about and set small goals with your students. Setting and achieving small goals in class will help boost your students’ self-confidence and make them see that they can learn and grow with effort and determination. Be a part of this process as well. Set your own goals with your students. Doing so will model this behavior for them.

I also like to have my students set small goals at the beginning of the school year. This Back-to-School Growth Mindset Activities resource is a great tool to get students started on the right foot!

3. Praise Effort, Not Outcome

As a parent and a teacher, I cannot emphasize this enough. Only praising student outcome will typically lead to only the brightest and most talented students receiving praise. This is harmful to the average and marginal students because it can validate fixed mindset thoughts they might already have. Instead, praise effort. Your struggling student might not write the best essay, but if you see that student really making an effort, that effort should be praised. Students thrive with positive feedback, and they will continue to put forth their best effort if they feel that teachers notice it.

4. Set High Standards

Part of establishing a growth mindset in your classroom is to set and maintain high, yet not unrealistic, standards in your classroom. Hold students accountable for achieving those high standards, and praise their effort when you see them trying. Setting high standards in your classroom might take some extra work. You might have to directly teach a concept a bit more or model more of what you expect from your students, but the students will quickly adapt.

5. Learning is a Process

One last, key step to creating a growth mindset in your classroom is to emphasize (to yourself and your students) that learning is a process. The final test, the final assignment, the final task, the final essay should not be the final result. Instead, it is more about the journey to that final task and everything the students did and everything they learned in the process.

My students love completing this Growth Mindset Escape Room challenge! It’s a great activity for the beginning of the year, and it is also a great activity for a mid-year kickstart!

Establishing a growth mindset in your classroom can help your students tremendously. After focusing on fostering a growth mindset in my own classroom, I’ve seen a lot of improvement with my struggling students who sometimes get overlooked.

To create a growth mindset in my own classroom, I’ve done a few things. First, I start each week with a growth mindset bellringer. These bellringers are a great way to begin the week on a positive note. Each bell ringer includes an inspirational quote about success, hard work, failure, or determination and a brief writing prompt. Check out my Growth Mindset Bell Ringers HERE.

In addition to my Growth Mindset Bell Ringers, I also like to incorporate various growth mindset activities and resources into my secondary English classroom. First, I like to have students take a growth mindset quiz. This quiz allows students to assess themselves to determine where their mindset it. This allows students to be more open to changing their mindset. Then, I incorporate resources such as growth mindset oriented exit slips and assignment reflections into my weekly and daily routines. Finally, I integrate growth mindset activities into my curriculum. I include vocabulary that focuses on growth mindset, group activities that require students to analyze various types of thinking, and writing prompts that help students embrace learning as a process.

All of these resources are available in my Growth Mindset Activities and Resources for the Secondary Classroom activity resource.