Thought of the Day: Tuesday, January 13th, 2015

Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right.
~Henry Ford

I'm finishing up my grade 4 net games unit this week and much of what I have focused on with my students is trying to instill in them the importance of developing more healthy mindsets. The Henry Ford quote above is simple, yet there is such powerful underlying truth to it. Throughout this unit, I have had to address mindset quite a number of times as many students experienced anger and frustration at not being able to execute the basic skills necessary to push them forward with their learning. 

I worked hard to get them to understand that the beliefs that they hold about themselves can greatly affect the rate of progress that they make in the unit. It was imperative to me that they have a realistic perspective on things and to know that despite mistakes and failure, switching their mindsets into the correct gear was pivotal in helping them better persevere through this difficulty. Together we celebrated even the smallest of successes which I hope helped in creating more of an 'I think I can' attitude in this unit. As educators, we must ensure that we design opportunities to address mindset with our students. To me, it's so worth it to generate powerful discussions about mindset on an ongoing basis in PE.