Towards a Growth Mindset Culture in the Classroom: Implementation of a Lesson-Integrated Mindset Training
Table 5
Pen pal task (samples; translated from German).
Student
Letter
Student A
Dear seventh-grader,
I am also in seventh grade, but by the time you will have this letter, I’ll be already in grade eight. Well, anyway, I should tell you something about physics. So, for me, physics is easy at the moment, and it can be easy for you, too, if you take to heart the following points:
(i) Listen well and put your hand up regularly if there is something you don’t understand
(ii) Look into your physics book more often and repeat everything that you have learned
(iii) Don’t be afraid to say something/to give a wrong answer. In physics, it is right if you can find a logical justification for your answer
(iv) Everybody can learn physics; your brain is trainable!
Student B
Dear seventh-grader,
I know from my own experience that physics doesn’t sound very exciting and I have to admit that physics is not my favorite subject, but physics can also be real fun. For example, you carry out cool experiments and most of the time, it is not boring. Maybe you don’t believe it but EVERYBODY CAN LEARN PHYSICS AND BE GOOD AT IT! Here are some tips: (1) It helps to pay attention during the lessons (at least pretend to listen—it makes the teacher happy). (2) There is no harm in repeating the content before a test. (3) Always do your homework. (4) Dare to put your hands up, even if you are unsure, and make presumptions. (5) Give a chance to physics! I hope you can learn from that and have a bit of fun!
