Having a Growth Mindset

The first month of elementary school is all about establishing routines, building relationships and creating a welcoming environment in the classroom where students can feel safe to explore and learn. Which is how a second grade science lesson involving the JFK garden turned into a lesson on having a growth mindset.

 

With a bounty of ruby red heirloom tomatoes fresh off the vines, teachers Anne Byrnes and Gabrielle Lappe announced to their class they would be making tomato salad. 

 

“What’s better than tomatoes and basil?” asked Lappe, “we are going to let you taste it if you want.”

 

Some students got excited. Others did not. Tomatoes are not for everyone. With an opportunity to change minds, Byrnes and Lappe got to work.

 

“We are going to put on our science coats and look, listen and observe. We are going to make predictions and graph our findings,” said Byrne. “Maybe after you go through the process, maybe you taste the flavors and you will change your mind about tomato salad, or maybe not.”

 

Byrnes uses the idea of having a growth mindset as a classroom management system and spends the first month or so of school introducing what it means and its importance.

 

 “Students learn to take on hard things, persevere, and not fear making mistakes,” said Byrnes, “I feel it empowers the students to take on their learning challenges. “

 

On a white board, students were asked to place a sticky note under the heading, “I like tomato salad,” in either the “yes” column or “no” column. Of the 22 students, there were 6 blue sticky notes in the former and 16 in the latter.

 

While Lappe chopped the tomatoes, she explained how the basil and tomato seeds were planted by last year’s classes and how they were taken care of in the garden over the summer. Students then got a chance to smell and feel basil leaves and passed around the green part of the tomato.

 

“Yum! The basil smells so good,” said Joey Graff, “It’s so strong.”

 

“It reminds me of when my dad makes sauce,” said Kennedy Harrow, “he uses a lot of basil.”

 

The students each received a Dixie cup with a few pieces of tomato, basil, olive oil, salt and pepper. They were given the opportunity to try it. Many of the students did, some did not. Were minds changed? Actually, yes! The sticky note column for “yes” had moved up to 11; the sticky note column under “no” had moved down to 11. 

 

“Wow,” said Lappe,” when you see these results you see how in the beginning you might think to yourself, ‘I can’t do something’ or ‘that seems hard,’ but with a growth mindset you realize you can do something, your mind can change.”

 

The lesson, which started out as one thing, turned into something else altogether.