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Growth Mindset in the Music Classroom

Growth Mindset Header
Growth Mindset in the Music Classroom

January 21, 2017 //  by Linda//  6 Comments

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Growth Mindset is on my mind lately. Our principal has been emphasizing that we help kids think of working the process, getting better, and improving.

Growth Mindset at my School

As a group, our teachers came up with ideas that go along with the letters in our mascot name.  I made separate 8 1/2 inch sized posters and a large poster for our school that are all now posted all over the school to help us work with our kids. This is the 11 x 17 one.

 

Ideas for Using Growth Mindset in a music classroom Part 1

Here are some ideas:

I can help my students work together and collaborate as they make musical compositions. I can also guide them to help each other on the recorder. They can learn and decode the notes, and think about the meaning of a classical music composition.

Students can learn to persevere as they learn to improve at reading rhythms. They will also learn to persevere as they struggle to learn to read notes or play the recorder or ukulele. They can also learn to work hard at learning parts for our choir concert, learning to understand the musical alphabet or the pentatonic scales, and learning how to sing and identify them.

We can learn to ask questions as we listen to a new composition and think about why someone expressed themselves in a certain way. Furthermore, we can ask how one instrument, such as the piano, is like a ukulele and explore both to figure out the answer. In addition, we can ask and explore in 1st grade how the words of a song fit with the rhythm. In 2nd grade, we can also ask and work to understand how a half note is longer and where the solfege syllable re fits in with the notes we already know. We can ask questions to understand music better in every grade.

Ideas for Using Growth Mindset in a music classroom Part 2

As we explore musical concepts, we can think out loud in groups. This helps every student, no matter their level to learn to think in new ways. All are lifted.

We can offer solutions as a class or in small groups when we discuss or think out loud about musical compositions. Further, we can figure out the meaning of a song, how to move in a new or different way to music, or how to derive a rhythm for a song we know.

We can also reflect our learning in ways such as evaluating how well we are singing a song in the choir, our progression on our recorder playing, evaluating ourselves on our understanding of a new concept. One simple way of doing this is having students hold up one finger for not understanding and four fingers for knowing it well enough that they could teach others.

It doesn’t have to be hard. I made a recorder log so my 5th graders can keep track and evaluate their progress in our black belt system. Each student will write the date and the belt name. Then they will keep track of how many times they have practiced it before trying to pass it off, and whether they passed it off. I have occasional conferences with them to discuss their progress and give the log to parents at parent/teacher conferences.

Packs that Encourage Growth Mindset

Here are some FREE packs I have made to help your kids with a growth mindset.  Recorder Black Belt System Freebie, and Musical Moments Listening Sampler, Engine Engine Beat Book Sampler, Bubble Spot Active Listening Pack or my brand new I am Kind Music Composition Project pack.

More Growth Mindset Resources

I was inspired by a “We Are Teachers” blog post about Growth Mindset books to read in class. Check out some music books that look like gems.

 

 Fun book about Willie Persevering
to learning to whistle. 

DrumDream Girl: How One Girl’s Courage Changed Music

 

Here is the full “We Are Teachers” blog post with other book ideas.

 

  • Category: Growth MindsetTag: freebies, Growth Mindset, Power teaching

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Elizabeth Caldwell

      January 27, 2017 at 9:54 am

      I love the ideas that you've come up with for seamlessly integrating growth mindset in the music room- honestly I think music teachers are ahead of the game in this area! The poster looks fantastic as well. Thank you so much for sharing.

      Reply
      • Linda

        February 26, 2017 at 5:24 pm

        Thank you! The whole poster idea was a collaboration of all of the teachers in our school. We even have a song that goes with it and my 6th graders love playing and singing it on ukulele.

        Reply
    2. iqra

      May 6, 2017 at 1:45 pm

      nice post

      Reply
      • Linda

        May 18, 2017 at 2:49 am

        Thank you!

        Reply
    3. Katie

      August 8, 2018 at 2:26 pm

      I really like the bubble spots. Thank you for the wonderful resources, and thank you also for making them free! It is much appreciated.

      Reply
      • Linda

        September 1, 2018 at 5:26 pm

        Katie, you are so welcome! Bubble spots are magical, aren’t they? I am so glad it has helped you!

        Reply

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