LearnStorm Growth Mindset: Dave Paunesku on student effort

The one thing I really like about the LearnStorm activities is that they, uh, they introduce students to the growth mindset concept, to neuroplasticity, to the fact that the brain grows and changes. Um, and they introduce the importance of effort.

It's really helpful for teachers to call out and recognize students when they're putting forth effort. But it's also really important for them not to use effort as a kind of consolation prize, to say it's okay that you didn't learn anything because you worked hard. The idea is to really remind students all the time that by putting forth effort, they're really preparing their brain to grow.

They're really kind of getting all their pistons and their brain firing, and that even if they don't master a particular concept yet, the intellectual effort they put into it will eventually pay off with them, kind of preparing their brain to understand the process of that content over time.

So it's really important to not just focus on effort but to focus on the combination of effort and using good strategies. To really call attention to the fact that if you're working really hard at something, well, you know, maybe you should persist for a while.

But if you're really spinning your wheels, it might be more helpful to step back and to think about is there a different strategy I can use? Is there someone I can talk to to help me think differently about this particular kind of problem or this particular concept, to make sure that the effort I'm putting in is actually paying off with helping me grow that ability?