Tell them to Think of Their Brain as a Muscle
Research shows that students do better in school when they are told they can get smarter by training their brains to get stronger— like a muscle.
Does your child see intelligence as something fixed or something expandable?
Students who think intelligence is fixed become preoccupied with whether they look smart or dumb. They also tend to avoid difficult tasks. |Not good!
But students who believe they can develop and expand intelligence usually like being challenged. They try harder, are more persistent and worry about making mistakes and looking dumb. This is good.
In one experiment of 12 year old students with similar math achievement scores, those with a fixed mindset did worse in math than those who were taught that the brain is a muscle. And, the gap between the two groups widened over the years.
Carol Dweck, a psychologist and researcher at Stanford University said:
“We taught them that the brain forms new connections every time they applied themselves and learned,” she explained. “It gave them a new model of how their minds worked, and how they had control of their brains and could make it work better. The idea is to free them from the tyranny of fear of looking dumb. The name of the game is learning.”
Students need to understand that their intellectual potential is not fixed. So do parents and educators.
Some games that exercise the brain to get stronger can be found here.
Moreover, there are many ways to be smart that are undervalued in school and at home—so-called multiple intelligences.
Students at Sparks of Genius learn that their brain forms new connections when they work hard to learn and learn. They also learn how to take full responsibility for learning buy controlling their mind and their brain to work better.
Sparks of Genius personal trainers use a high tech (software) high touch (character development) formula to help students train their brain for success
We identify, ignite and nurture many intelligences. It’s a great way to increase student achievement.
To learn more about your child’s learning potential
fill out the FREE 39-Point Learning Assessment now. http://sparksofgenius.com/screens.html.
Dr. Rohn Kessler
