I recently participated in an online course called “How to Learn Math.” This course was focused on increasing a child’s chance of becoming a successful learner within the context of the math classroom. However, becoming a successful learner goes beyond math and pervades all aspects of life.

One key element to successful learning is the student’s mindset.

Children with a fixed mindset believe that they were born with a certain level of intelligence. This leads to children not trying or not bothering with learning. They believe that it’s doesn’t matter how hard they work, they will not be able to do better.

Children with a growth mindset believe that they can do anything with hard work and dedication.

Another important element to success in learning was believing it’s okay to make mistakes.

When we make mistakes, our brain grows.

We learn to try again, we learn to persevere, we learn to problem solve and we learn to face challenges.

Mistakes are Wonderful Opportunities to Learn

To listen to Professor Jo Boaler discuss mindset and the potential to grow your brain, please take the time to visit this link for mindset and this link for making mistakes. The website was created by a fellow participant for his high school algebra students and their parents based on our coursework.