Having a Growth Mindset in the New Year

This year, I put a large emphasis on having a Growth Mindset. Like many teachers across the country, I have been utilizing this to help students focus on fulfilling their fullest positional in learning ...at least that is the goal ;) 
I started the year off with some fabulous resources from TPT teachers that really got the kids thinking of what a Growth Mindset and how to achieve it. After coming back from Winter Break, I wanted to give the kids a chance to revisit this, to look at old goals, and set new ones for the New Year. 
First, we reviewed our classroom and school expectations. I gave students a power point page with questions that reviewed expectations for a specific setting (example: the hallway, the carpet, the library, etc.). They then worked with their partner to create one of the following to help us review: 

• Create a skit or play 
• Sing a song 
• Create and perform a rap
• Make a poster and explain it
• Pose a question and choose answers from audience members

These were my two rappers - did you notice the one on the right's shirt? Yes, it does say "AND PEGGY" which translates as "She is a Hamilton Fan" which means, she is obviously cool ;0)

It was fun to see the different presentation styles the students chose. 

Question and Answer style 

Skit in action! 

Once we did that, I borrowed a fantastic idea from Create.Dream.Explore. I wrote growth mindset vocabulary on large chart papers - as a class, we discussed the meaning behind these words and thought about why they connect to having a growth mindset. Using that knowledge, we then went around with our pencils and jotted down, around the words, what those words meant to us and how we felt they could help us be successful. 

I just loved all the thinking they shared and encouraged them to start using these words throughout our learning time. 

We also wrote our current classroom growth mindset goal on a banner to hang with our vocabulary. If you are interested in this packet, you can purchase it from Christina Winter here. 

Valentine's Craft Idea

In our school, teachers sign up for evenings to help watch the kiddos during PTO meetings. Recently, it was my week and I decided to go crafty with the little gals that I had. I was inspired by THIS pinterest craft from Crafty Morning's Blog. This is a simple and totally adorable Valentines Craft for just about any age. The little ladies I did it with were 5 and loved it! 

Materials Needed: 
Googly eyes 
Scissors
Black Sharpie marker
Red solo cup 
Red, Pink, and White construction paper 

Small, medium, large heart templates for kiddos to trace (if you are doing it with little ones) 

glue 
tape 

 How stinkin adorable are these little guys ???

We used our scraps to create Valentine's Princess Crowns as well as heart garlands with glitter :) 

From now on, I am always picking the PTO meeting near Valentine's Day for babysitting *grin*