I've been telling 2nd graders for a while now that I am going to show scientific proof that growth mindset is a real thing and not something I just made up! We have been talking about parts of the brain so we can understand the basics, and our last lesson we talked about neuroplasticity. Yes. Second graders can pronounce that!!
I demonstrated using pipe cleaners between three "neurons" and how when we first try something, the "pathway" for this activity is a thin connection. If we push through the challenge and continue to practice, the pathway gets thicker - thus, the activity gets easier. We talk about if we were to give up and have a fixed mindset about something hard, that neural pathway would remain rather weak... but if we continue to practice, the pathway for that activity (math, reading, riding a bike, shooting a basketball) becomes stronger and you don't even have to think about it because your brain has such a thick neural pathway for that!
Next time your 2nd grader is saying "I just can't do this!!", remind them that they need to strengthen the neural pathway for it ;)
This is amazing! I'm so grateful our kids get to learn about this at such a young and important age! Thank you Mrs. Flier!!
ReplyDelete