growth mindset Archives • TechNotes Blog

About this time of year when I was a teacher, I was starting to take down my posters and bulletin boards. I had the time at the end of school to look at my walls and decide my decorating plan for the next year. I made a quick sketch of my room and could then spend the summer making those crucial decisions. Now, secondary school teachers (I am talking to you, Jennifer Bergland) might not be able to relate, but I know my elementary educators know what I am talking about.

The classroom posters included in this blog can be used for special months of celebration or hung all year long. Take a look as all are free and the only cost to you is to print them off.

Pass It On Classroom Posters

The Foundation for a Better Life is a nonprofit organization founded in 2000. They are best known for their “Pass It On” campaign which offers inspirational messages. You might have seen or heard their messaging on television, radio, and billboards. Teachers may download and print the billboards at 8.5” x 11” poster size. Many citizens and celebrities are featured doing amazing work for humankind. Celebrities include: Nelson Mandela, Mia Hamm, Whoopi Goldberg, and Garth Brooks. Citizens are: Brooks Dame (donated bone marrow), Alex Scott (raised $1M to fight cancer, including hers), Oral Lee Brown (sent 19 kids to college), and Joshua Williams (started a nonprofit at age 5, fed 20,000 so far)

STEM Role Models

Women You Should Know (WomenYSK) provides a set of eight racially and ethnically diverse female scientists and mathematicians from around the world. The poster set was drawn by female illustrators and is available in eight languages. Selections include: Dr. Hayat Sindi, Tu YouYou, Rosalind Franklin, and Juliana Rotich

One World Posters

Teaching Tolerance was founded by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 1991 to eradicate hate by fighting intolerance in schools. Their work has evolved in the past 30 years, so they have chosen a new name: Learning for Justice. They are still working on reducing prejudice to tackling systemic injustice. One of their best resources are the One World posters. More than 30 are available in high resolution 11” x 17” poster size. Download the PDFs and print off a selection for your classroom. Selections include: Toni Morrison, Laverne Cox, Frida Kahlo, Fred Rogers, and John Lewis

March for Science Posters

Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya has created six custom posters to help celebrate both women and science. The posters are free to download here. Selections include: Katherine Johnson, Chien-Shiung Wu, Maryam Mirzakhani, and May-Britt Moser

Department of Energy Classroom Posters

The Department of Energy has 12 free printable posters of women who have made notable contributions to American history. Included in the set are female astronauts, physicists, mathematicians, and chemists. Find the sets here to download. Selections include: Hedy Lamarr, Barbara McClintock, Ellen Ochoa, and Ruby Hirose.

Jen Bengel African Americans TPT Posters

Black History Month Posters

Jen Bengel has shared her daughter, Malaya’s, art work with a set of free posters available at the Teachers Pay Teachers marketplace. There are 15 prominent African Americans. Each person has two posters; one has a quote and the other one has the contribution of the individual. Selections include: Sojourner Truth, Crispus Attucks, Coretta Scott King, and Shirley Chisholm.

Kid President

Kid President has a series of YouTube videos and has been a positive influence on students and teachers. The online platform, We Are Teachers, has pulled together several Kid President quotes. Find the five free printable posters here. Selections include:

If you can’t think of anything nice to say, you’re not thinking hard enough.
Life is tough, but so are you.
Give the world a reason to dance.
Be somebody who makes everybody feel like a somebody.
The time to be awesome is now.

Growth Mindset Classroom Posters

A set of six Growth Mindset posters are available from We Are Teachers. They promote positive thinking and a can-do attitude. Selections include:

I can learn from my mistakes.
I can do hard things.
First Attempt In Learning.
Mistakes are expected and respected.
It’s not failure because I haven’t given up yet.
I can’t do it . . . YET.

Women’s History Posters

Mike Rawls shares 41 minimalist images of iconic women. They include figures in politics, sports, activism, and entertainment. Download the complete free set here. Selections include: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Taylor Swift, Simone Biles, and Temple Grandin. There are newly added posters of Kamala Harris and Amanda Gorman.

Earth Day Posters

Since 2010, NASA has celebrated Earth Day with the release of a gorgeous illustrated poster. The high-resolution printable PDF files are available for download from the NASA website.

Naomi Harm Women's History Mnth bookmarks

Bonus: Very Cool Bookmarks

Naomi Harm is the founder and CEO of Innovative Educator Consulting. Download her printable bookmarks to celebrate women during Women’s History Month or anytime. Selections include: Sheryl Sandberg, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Oprah, Maya Angelou, and Serena Williams.

If you run across a great set of free classroom posters, please email Peggy at preimers@tcea.org and I would be happy to spread the poster love. Happy decorating!

Some Brain Basics

There are several basic facts about the brain and learning that we need to understand first:

Learning arises from changes in the connections between brain cells, not the addition of new brain cells. It was found that rats raised in a laboratory with an environment that was enriched with stimuli to encourage learning developed 25% more synapses than control rats did. “With practice, neural networks grow new connections, strengthen existing ones, and build insulation that speeds the transmission of impulses” (source). This effect occurs whether a more stimulating environment is experienced immediately following birth or during maturity. In other words, connections can continue to be formed throughout our lives, so we should never stop learning new things.

Learning involves changing the brain. That seems like a simple statement, but let it sink in for a minute. In order for real learning to take place, physical changes must occur in the brain itself. That implies that some effort is required.

Adequate sleep, nutrition, and exercise encourage robust learning. If we are lacking in any of these areas, our brains cannot learn as effectively.

Moderate stress is beneficial for learning, while mild or extreme stress are detrimental. This seems really key to me. Often times, as teachers, we try to make the learning as easy as possible for our students. But the research shows that we need to be under some stress in order for our brains to “step up” and fully tackle new information. Too much stress, however, and learning stops.

Where Does a Growth Mindset Fit In?

30 years ago, Carol Dweck and her colleagues began studying student attitudes about failure. After some research, they defined two different views that students had about the work they were doing: either a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. A growth mindset is defined as the underlying belief that we can get smarter and that effort on our part makes us stronger. That belief leads to learners putting in extra time and effort, which leads to higher achievement.

So a growth mindset actually changes behavior, which then grows the connections in our brains to further cement new learning. And, if someone has a fixed mindset (“there is nothing I can do to be smarter”), that belief can be changed to a growth mindset with intervention and practice so that greater learning can occur.

Putting Brain Research and a Growth Mindset into Practice

As educators, it’s important for us to model what we want our students to do. And that’s equally true for having a growth mindset. So what have you done lately to increase the connections in your brain? What new learning have you engaged in? What are you doing to be smarter?

If you haven’t been learning as much as you should, and if the learning you have been doing is not causing moderate stress, then I would recommend you consider taking one (or several) of TCEA’s online, self-paced courses. Based on the latest research on learning, each course is designed to engage you, motivate you, and challenge you, all while providing practice, examples, and resources on important educational topics. Whether you want to up your tech skills with a course in Google or Canvas, robotics or iPads, Microsoft or Seesaw, there is a course for you.

And TCEA’s courses are not just about technology. We also provide online courses that can be completed within a few days on John Hattie’s research on effective teaching and learning strategies, digital tools to help students master critical mathematics concepts, social/emotional learning in the classroom, using library resources to better cover content, and ensuring student engagement and empowerment with self-reported grades.

About the Courses

Each course provides at least 12 hours of CPE credit for professional growth, a digital certificate, and a digital badge. In addition, the courses are constantly updated with new information, the latest research, and additional resources. And they are priced for educators at between $29 and $49 dollars a course with discounts available to campuses and districts for multiple purchases.

There are currently 30 different courses available, with new ones being offered each week. Take a look at them today using a growth mindset and see how you can increase the connections in your brain and improve outcomes in your classroom.

growth mindset

Free Classroom Posters to Engage Students