90% of staff admit to having to provide "more support" for students suffering from mental illness over the past 2 years... Although a range of factors can affect our young people, we have to admit that much of the anxiety they face is a result of stress at school and the pressure to succeed.
Yes, we want our students to succeed and do their best but not to the point that they are self-harming, or worse. We can do some simple things as teachers to take some of that pressure off and start recognising students for their growth mindset attitude and positive character rather than just their grades. Here is an idea that you easily implement straight away!
Yes, we want our students to succeed and do their best but not to the point that they are self-harming, or worse. We can do some simple things as teachers to take some of that pressure off and start recognising students for their growth mindset attitude and positive character rather than just their grades. Here is an idea that you easily implement straight away!
You want your students to be recognised for their positive mindset, their effort, their resilience, their problem solving skills and support of other students - not just the grades they get. One effective way you can do that is with these growth mindset table tents!
The idea is simple: you hand them out to your students to proudly display on their desk when you recognise they are displaying a growth mindset quality, which will motivate them and build up their confidence and self esteem too! You can even let other students award them to one another when they observe demonstrations of a growth mindset to help build camaraderie and a positive classroom community!
These are quick and easy to make: simply print and fold! You can print them onto card stock for more longevity or shrink them down before printing to make them smaller to save paper. There are 2 options included: 20 pages with 2 different tents on a page, or 40 pages with 2 versions of the same tent on each page. This just makes it more convenient for you to print as many as you need for your classroom. Although there are 40 great designs and sayings to choose from, you may want to just focus on one growth mindset strategy at a time such as "problem solving" so then you can print a few pages of the problem solving tents for example!
These table tents have designs on both sides so that when they are on display they can be seen from both angles - plus, how wonderful will your students feel having another member of staff or their parents come in the room and see them with this proud achievement on their desks! (Pretty awesome for observations too, just sayin'....!)
Not only are they great for public recognition and appreciation, but they are so convenient for you too as you'll save so much time writing personalised notes and there's no need to spend anything on class rewards either - score!
Finally, let's talk design! Let's be real, sometimes the resources you download often have similar illustrations on them and one resource can quickly blend into another. I wanted to ensure that these table tents would turn heads in your classroom and be really special! So, you'll notice that they have a unique watercolor design with illustrations that have been created by me specifically for this resource - so you're guaranteed to be completely unique!
I hope you like this idea and try it out in your classroom! If you want to download the table tent seen below to see how it works, you can get it right here for FREE! (This cactus one is my personal favourite! 😉)
If you want to learn more, check out this short preview:
If you want to get all 40 designs then you can download them here from TpT (USD) or here from TRF (GBP)!
Thanks for reading! If you found this valuable leave a comment below or share it out!
Recognising a growth mindset is arguably even more valuable than recognising achievement. It's important to reward positive characteristics that will help our students be their best in the future, even more than rewarding them on how well they can pass a test. So encourage your students to have a positive mindset and praise them on their resilience, grit, kindness, determination, problem solving skills, creativity, reaching their goals - and so much more!
How do you currently celebrate a growth mindset in your classroom? Leave a comment below!
Recognising a growth mindset is arguably even more valuable than recognising achievement. It's important to reward positive characteristics that will help our students be their best in the future, even more than rewarding them on how well they can pass a test. So encourage your students to have a positive mindset and praise them on their resilience, grit, kindness, determination, problem solving skills, creativity, reaching their goals - and so much more!
How do you currently celebrate a growth mindset in your classroom? Leave a comment below!
