Reading difficulties can chip away at a student's self confidence and self perception. Very often students experiencing reading struggles feel like they are less than, or they are failing...they may even feel like they aren't good at anything.

Explicitly teaching students how to develop a growth mindset will prove to be very beneficial. This is a skill that will carry them through their entire life.

If you sense that a student is down and doesn't hold confidence, sit down and have them write a list of the negative statements that are floating in his or her mind.

Then have them rewrite these statements, putting a positive spin on them. (See the visual for a specific example).

In this visual I also list common statements that students may believe about themselves. What we as teachers and parents want to do, is to quickly turn these around and turn their negative thinking into positive thinking WITH action.

Challenges are part of life. We all have them and will always have them. Learning how to accept them and live alongside with the challenges is key. We want kiddos to see a problem AND see the solution. Feel the pain of disppointment AND get up and carry on. Feel scared AND do it anyway.

Being kind to ourselves and our unique situation is so important, and even more so, is believing in ourselves even if others don't.

So let's help our students get that #growthmindset

Teaching curriculum in important, but teaching them a necessary life skill is just as valuable! ❤️💪