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Mistakes can be harmful too

This is the elementary and middle school version of growth mindset activity #3: Mistakes as puzzle pieces. There are 3 parts to this growth mindset activity. To assign the activity to your class, assign all 3 parts. 
Here are three common ways we allow mistakes to hurt our learning process:
1. We get discouraged. A mistake triggers our fixed mindset voice, and we get frustrated or give up.
It’s a missed opportunity if we don’t course correct when we hear thoughts such as “I’ll never be good at this” or “I’m just not a math person”.
Sad Thinky Pinky
2. We don't reflect on our mistakes. We ignore the mistake or don’t spend time reflecting on why it happened. This is a missed opportunity to understand a mistake and avoid making it again!
Thinky Pinky not reflecting
3. We avoid taking risks or doing tasks we've made mistakes in before. We avoid situations because we don’t want to make mistakes again, and then we miss out on learning opportunities.
Thinky Pinky avoiding risks

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