How to get your students positive about learning using Growth Mindset Pennants

After the initial emphatic hugs and tears of joy after being reunited with their friends after a long summer apart, the enthusiasm of being back at school can decrease pretty quickly for teens!

I guess it doesn't help that we drill them with admin and rule reminders on the first day back..! Although those steps are often necessary to get them back into their routines, it doesn't have to be such a tedious experience. Here are some ideas to get your students inspired  and ready to learn when they come back to school, or whenever you feel it's time for a refocus!

1) If you've been following me for a while, you may know that I am a big advocate of "big kids" colouring. There are so many studies that prove its effectiveness at reducing stress and helping with concentration. If you're interested in learning more about this, check out some of these articles:

7 Reasons Adult Coloring Books Are Great for Your Mental, Emotional and Intellectual Health by Huffington Post
Health Benefits of Adult Coloring Books by WellnessMama
7 Amazing Benefits of Coloring for Adults by LifeHack

I have a whole range of teen friendly colouring pages and they are all based around positive quotes or Growth Mindset: you can see the whole collection of colouring pages here!

This set is the latest to be added and it's something a little different as they are pennants! The idea is that they are coloured in and then hung up around your room in a chain! Simply punch a hole in each corner as seen below, then tie a string through them all and hang them wherever you like! There are 10 different quotes in total in this set.

The best bit is that these are all positive quotes about learning, and the fact that students can take some ownership in expressing themselves by colouring in these in will mean they have their own unique stamp on your classroom decor! ​It's also an easy and effective way of incorporating Character Education into your lessons too.

​2) The second thing to get them feeling positive, is to actually allow them to have an informal chat with their friends about their summer and what they are looking forward to this year, all while they are colouring these in. You could even do a speed dating type activity where students move around every few minutes so they can have a chat to more people in the room. To avoid a complicated mess, I'd keep a pack of pens or pencils on each desk that stays put so students are not fumbling carrying around loads of things while they move! This is a great way of building your class community and making good use of this relaxing colour-time!

​3) To get them really thinking about the significance of these quotes, ask them to analyse one/some/all of them, and reflect on what they mean and how they can apply to them to their own attitude towards learning. To make this really easy for you, I have a free quote analysis resource (available in the VIP area) that you can use in my store that's perfect for this activity! 

​4) I previously mentioned that students really like putting their stamp on their classroom, so why not give them some ownership on decorating their space! It's so easy for us to get a little possessive about decorating our rooms, but students like having a say too and they're more likely to feel part of the community if they make some of the decisions or have their work on display. So why not set aside some time at the beginning of the year or during your morning meetings, for students to design a wall display or an area of the room. You can then do a class vote on the best designs and they can then have the responsibility of making it happen! Less work for you and more ownership and greater sense of community for the students = win!

5) The final idea to get your students positive about learning when coming back to school, is to set a fun homework or research task whereby you could ask them to find some of their own favourite growth mindset quotes. They can then make their own classroom decoration or resources based on their favourite quotes! All this focus on positive attitude towards learning will really get it in their subconscious and set them off on the right foot.

I hope you have found some of these ideas helpful! If you do use any of my colouring pages, please send me a photo - I would LOVE to see how you're using them and what your students are creating! You never know, there might be a little gift in it for you too! ;)

UPDATE: I have now extended this series to include some "self-esteem" specific pennants to help boost confidence and character in your students too! Check them out below:

I wish you the best start to the school year - let's make this the best one yet! 

If you'd like to try one of these out for free, you can download it immediately by simply filling in the box on the right!