This January, our fourth- and fifth-grade class at Love Elementary continued our Happiness Project by learning about growth mindset. After focusing on kindness, mindfulness, gratitude, and social connections, we spent the month talking about how our brains grow when we try new things, make mistakes, and don’t give up. It was awesome!
Growth mindset means believing that you can get better at something with effort and practice even if it feels hard at first, which most things do. Scientists say that when we challenge ourselves and learn from mistakes, our brains actually make new connections. Our teacher gets excited when we make mistakes in class. She says our brains are growing with each mistake we make.
To help us understand growth mindset in real life, we actually got to interview songwriter Marty Dodson on our class podcast, Little Minds Big Talks. Marty told us that he has written around 10,000 songs, but only a few hundred have ever been recorded. At first, that number was shocking, but Marty explained that each song helped him learn, improve, and grow as a songwriter. His story taught us that success doesn’t come from being perfect all the time. It comes from practicing, failing, and trying again and again.
We didn’t just talk about growth mindset; we shared what we learned with others. As a class, we wrote informational letters about growth mindset to athletes and teams, including the College of Alameda, the Oakland Roots, the Golden State Valkyries, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Sacramento River Cats. In our letters, we explained what growth mindset is. We told them how mistakes help the brain grow, and how athletes can use it when training, losing a game, or learning a new skill. We also included encouraging messages and drew pictures to cheer them on.
We even snuck in an invitation to be guests on our podcast. So far, we’ve heard back from the Valkyries, which made us really excited. We’re still waiting to hear from the other teams, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed. One classmate got down on his knees and started praying!
This month taught us that learning doesn’t stop just because something is hard. Growth mindset helps us stay curious, brave, and confident. We can do that in school, sports, and life.
Next month, our Happiness Project will continue as we explore new ways to build happiness and emotional regulation together. Whatever that means. I guess we’ll learn next month!
We’re excited to keep learning, growing, and sharing what we discover with our community. We hope you’ll keep following our journey. In our class, we believe little hearts can make a big difference. And together, we can make Alameda even more “big brain” and a happier place.
