Have you Introduced Growth Mindset This Year?

I've got a passion for getting students excited about math and changing every-single-mathitude {yes, that's math + attitude} I can into a positive one. If we expect to get anywhere with our students in math class, we MUST change their mindsets, attitudes, and belief in themselves.

Differentiation in math + growth mindset is this perfect fusion of my passion and teaching style! I'm always there to motivate my students and inspire them to feel AWESOME or differently about how they have felt about all things "school" in the past.

Many of you have introduced the "Growth Mindset" way of thinking to your students this year, but after those introductory lessons, you may be wondering, "What's next?" If you are asking yourself this question, I think you are amazing! 

You have already laid a solid foundation for helping your students understand the "power of yet," you are helping them understand how their brains work, and that intelligence is NOT something we are born with that stays static. We can learn things that we never thought were possible simply by allowing our neural pathways to develop, coming back to challenging things again and again, and keeping our minds open to believing that WE CAN LEARN, we just may not have learned it yet.

I bet you've already figured this out, but it is nearly impossible to teach multi-digit multiplication to a student who has decided math is hard, believes they do not know and cannot learn their math facts, and quite frankly, hates math and groans the moment it begins.

But, I believe we can give all students the instruction they need {and deserve} by using leveled and differentiated resources in our classroom.

Now, you might not be able to do this all the time, every day for every single math objective you teach, but I PROMISE from experience, struggling students gain more traction when you teach and have them practice in a way that carefully links one learning goal to the next. Your average students will gain more confidence because they start out with an easier form of the objective and work their way up to new learning, and you will not feel so guilty about your high-performing students who learn things very quickly because you are prepared with the next step to increase the levels of difficulty for them. {Can you say #thismagicmoment? Sounds amazing, right?!?!}

With my huge passion for growth mindset and differentiated math assessments, I got hit {smack} hard this weekend with a light bulb idea! How could I resist offering something on Facebook that you can use to help infuse your classroom with differentiation and growth mindsets? Well, I couldn't :)

If you are teaching 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade math this year, I have got something for you that I think is really special! If you've introduced Growth Mindsets {or mathitudes ;) } to your students and are ready to really infuse your math class with learning that actually allows students to practice having a growth mindset,

I'm going to be posting a problem set every Saturday morning that you can plan to use in your classroom during the upcoming week.

Are all of your students on the same level math-wise {tongue in cheek ;)}? No? Then, these cards will be perfect for offering intervention, on-grade level, and extension for your higher students. You can use these for morning work, bell-ringers, or exit tickets! They will be great for review or pre-assessing even if this specific standard is not what you are working on right now. Here's place value card #1:

I imagine teachers displaying these on the smartboard and having students write their answers in their math journals or on piece of paper. I'd have everyone start at #1 and build up to the more challenging problems.

Depending on how much time you give and students' abilitites, some students may not finish all of the questions, and that's okay!

You want students to begin thinking in terms of how far they can "stretch" their brains.

Things in math do get more challenging {oh, 4th and 5th grade math teachers, I see your hands are up!}, but I truly believe that

if students can see the span of where they came from to where they will be going, they are more capable of believing in themselves. Isn't this the true purpose and true power of differentiation? #canigetawitness? #ifeellikeiampreaching!

Each "task card" was developed by studying the 3rd grade, 4th grade, and 5th grade standards. 3rd grade teachers, you will see problems that go beyond your grade level's expectations, but they may be perfect to try with your students to see how deep their mastery goes. 4th and 5th Grade teachers, your students will be able to take a step down, move to work on grade level standards, and then go a step beyond if they are ready.

If you are teaching 3rd, I won't be hitting all of your objectives, but you will find some questions that work really well for your curriculum (two cards focused on rounding whole numbers are on their way soon!). If you feel that some of the questions go beyond what your students can grasp, you can enlarge the image, crop it in powerpoint, or cover it up with your smartboard features. You could also just print cards that go beyond your standards to use as a "fast finisher" task for some of your higher students to try.

What else might you want to know about these freebie posts on Facebook? 

I will number each post and title it with the domain/concept it focuses on. The first post is labeled Place Value #1. You will be able to use the search bar on my facebook page to find the task cards by typing in "Place Value #1," "Fractions #2," etc.

Shhhh! Here's card #2 that I am posting tomorrow morning! You get a sneak peek because you are an awesome blog reader! :) I'm also going to post an extra card on Thursday and then will begin my Saturday's only posts. I want to make sure you have a few question sets to choose from so you can get rolling with incorporating these into your classroom routine!